Slowly, the weight of that grief begins to lift, and it’s replaced by the warmth of his embrace. My body goes limp in his arms, and I’m suddenly so exhausted I can’t keep my eyes open. I don’t know if I doze off or if I lose track of time, but when I open my eyes again, I’m in bed with Wynn. My face is resting on his chest, and the soft strum of his heartbeat soothes me.
“I couldn’t do it,” I whisper and turn my head to look up at him.
“Thank fuck.” His hold on me tightens ever so slightly. “I can’t lose you, Kate.”
"I can't lose you either." I stare into his eyes because I want him to know this is ripping me apart too.
"You're not going to lose me," he says, but how can he be so certain?
"I could lose you, or you could end up hating me,” I tell him, because both would be devastating.
"I could never hate you. Right now I only have hate and disdain for your father. I'd be pissed at myself for letting you slip through my fingers because of that." He takes a deep breath and reins in his emotions. "You can't do that to me, Kate. You can’t just disappear."
"You don't understand." I’m trying to get him to see reason, but clearly it’s not working.
"I'm not going to pretend to understand what you're going through, but you need to know that if you run, I won't stop looking for you." I open my mouth to speak, but the look he shoots me has me promptly pressing my lips together. "It will become my only mission in life, so if you've got it in your head I could lose my medical license because of some shit your father might do, well, then know my medical license won't mean anything if I'm chasing you down."
He's not joking or exaggerating. I can see the pure determination in his eyes like it’s some kind of challenge. I bury my face in his chest, and I feel a strong desire to stay here forever. Wynn's making me believe that might be possible.
"I wasn't strong enough to leave,” I tell him because I don’t believe that I would have ever opened that door. “And I know it was selfish."
"It wasn’t selfish," he grumbles, making his chest vibrate under my cheek. "You can't run forever, Kate. With me, we can take him on together."
Together. That word is so foreign to me, but I long for it. Even when my mother was alive, I still felt like I was in this life all alone.
"Are you only doing this because you feel obligated after what happened to my mother?" Wynn doesn’t owe anyone anything. He’s already done more than he probably should have.
"Only? Absolutely not.” He motions between us. "We go beyond that. I would want to help anyone in this situation, but I wouldn’t bring them home with me. Or want to spend the whole time sucking and kissing every inch of their skin and calling them ‘baby girl’ so they understand they're mine.”
"Better not," I mutter, not wanting to think about those things.
"There is no need to pout,” he chuckles. “There isn't anyone but you, Kate. I knew it the first time you stepped into the room with me. It took everything in me not to chase after you when you left. The only thing that stopped me was knowing you were safe."
"You felt that too?" I was drawn to him from the start when I should have been worried over his connection to my father. In the end I wasn’t, because I didn't run that day or the next. In fact, I'd hoped to see him again.
"I did." He nods. "I started hanging around more and hoping for the chance to run into you again. When I saw the article your father released about you being missing, I got worried you might run. That's why I was in one of the exam rooms. I was pretending to work and trying to sort out what I should do while staying close to you."
“So what do we do now?” I ask. “Do I hide away here forever? That's not realistic, and we both know it.”
"Don't get me wrong; keeping you tied to my bed and tucked away safely has its appeal, but I wouldn't do that to you."
"I'm not saying I'm opposed to this idea."
A deep chuckle rumbles from him, and it makes me relax. The tension between us and what I'd almost done has melted away.
"Don't tempt me, baby girl." He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. "But we both want a life together. A real one."
"I want that more than anything," I confess.
"Then you have to trust that I'll make that happen. Can you do that for me?" He grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, moving in closer. "Will you hand over all your trust to me?"
"Yes, Daddy."
A smile spreads across his lips. "That's my girl."
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
