Similar to the role Sage had inherited in her family. If the situation was reversed and Luke had been waiting for word of his brother, he’d be pacing the room, talking to the staff every five minutes, and mothering his family to make sure they were all taken care of. Just like Sage would do for her sisters. Maybe they had more in common than she thought.
She’d only endured two sips of the nasty beverage before Doreen came back in. “Lucy, why don’t you take a quick turn? I don’t think he has the energy to visit with all of us. I told him you were all here, though.”
Lucy jumped out of her seat and dashed down the hall. Graham handed his mother a cup of coffee and kissed the top of her head. Blake joined the duo and wrapped his mother in a tight embrace as well. Affection. Another mannerism all the Rileys—well, maybe not Lucy—had inherited. Disappointment weighed heavily in Sage’s belly. While she couldn’t see Luke today, at least he was going to be okay, and he had his wonderful family to take care of him.
“Mrs. Riley?”
“Oh, honey. Call me Doreen. Please.”
“Doreen. May I borrow your phone? I left mine at home. I need to call my sisters. Give them a report and ask them to pick me up.”
Doreen stroked Sage’s hair in that motherly way again. It felt…nice. “Luke asked if you could stay with him. The nurse agreed, as long as you promise to let him sleep. I told her you looked dead on your feet and would probably crash on that uncomfortable chair in his room.”
“Oh.” Sage covered her mouth with her hand, wondering how her eyes could produce so many tears in such a short amount of time.
“Like I said, Luke loves you, and so do we.” Doreen kissed her cheek and gave her a reassuring hug.
Lucy returned shortly after and walked up to Sage. “I’d call you a bitch for being chosen to stay with Luke, but I know what he’s like when he’s cooped up. I’d say this is perfect payback for putting him through hell these past few months.” She tried to sound tough and serious, but Sage could read through the words. And the tears.
“I’ll gladly accept my punishment. And Lucy?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks.” They shared a secret smile before Sage headed down the hall toward Luke’s room.
Chapter Sixteen
Luke
His head hurt like a son of a bitch, his throat felt like he swallowed a box of finishing nails, and his leg…well, the doctor had shot so much numbing shit in his leg that he couldn’t feel a thing below the waist. He knew once the meds wore off he’d be cursing up a blue streak. The only thing to keep his mind off his pain was remembering Sage’s phone message.
She had sounded nervous. Sage didn’t do nervous. Cool, calm, collected, and in control. He’d hoped she wanted to talk to him about getting back together. That was the only thing that kept him going the past twenty-four hours. And was probably why he’d been distracted and didn’t notice the floor giving way. Had he been more focused on his job and not his love life, he may not be in this situation. But hell. Sage was here.
When Lucy came in for her quick visit, she rattled off some story about a drug dealer and Sage coming to the rescue with ten thousand dollars and Lucy paying her back by being her secretary slave. The story didn’t come out of Lucy easily and she hiccupped a lot in between sobs, and Luke was high as a kite on morphine so he wasn’t exactly sure what to make of what he heard, but he got the gist. Sage was the reason for Lucy’s personality makeover. He didn’t care. He just needed to see her.
“Can I come in?” she whispered from the door.
“Yeah.” She looked adorable in her fancy satin pajama pants and his Red Sox sweatshirt. He’d been looking for that for months. Now he knew why he couldn’t find it. “Have a seat.”
“How, um. How do you feel?” She toyed with the cuffs of the sweatshirt that hung off her frail body. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, had bags under her eyes, and her hair was a mess. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful.
“Probably as good as I look.” He wanted to tell her how much he missed her, but until he knew why she’d called him, he didn’t want to set himself up for hurt and rejection again. “So I hear you’re Lucy’s new boss.”
Sage’s eyes rounded in surprise. “She told you?”
“Yeah. Just now. How did you get her to change?”
“I didn’t change her. She did it all on her own.”
Now that, he didn’t believe. “So you would have hired her as your personal assistant if she still had the pink hair and ring through her eyebrow?”
“I did.”
“Really?” He didn’t mean to sound so skeptical, but his family had been trying to convince Lucy to tone down the appearance for years.
“You can’t make someone change who they are, Luke. They have to want to.” Sage paced the small hospital room. He tried not to focus on the shape of her butt, or the curves he knew were hidden under the bulky sweatshirt. Damn, he’d missed her. “You of all people should know that. I couldn’t be who you wanted me to be. I can’t be that person. I never will be. You want—” She turned abruptly and bit her lip. “I’m sorry. You’ve been through a horrific ordeal. I didn’t mean to…I should let you rest. I’ll go now.”
“No. Don’t leave. Fight with me, please.” Anything to distract him from his condition.
“I didn’t come here to fight with you.”
“Why did you call me yesterday?”
“You got my message?” Sage sat in the plastic chair in the corner—too far away—and folded her hands in her lap.
“I contemplated all morning as to how long I should make you sweat it out, knowing you don’t like to wait. And then I got called in to the fire and, well, the rest you know.”
“You deliberately made me suffer waiting for your call? You stubborn jackass.”
Luke laughed. “I missed fighting with you. And I really like your outfit.”
“I didn’t come here to fight with you.” She pulled at the hem of the sweatshirt.
“So you’ve said. Twice. So tell me, why did you come?”
“I was concerned. I wanted to know you were going to be okay.”
Thank God he wasn’t hooked up to a heart monitor or she’d see the havoc she was doing to his insides. “You could have waited at home for someone to deliver the message.” Tell me you care about me.
“Waiting isn’t my strong suit, as you pointed out already.”
“It isn’t mine either.” He tried to shift his body, but the contraption holding up his left leg didn’t offer him any wiggle room.
“You’re the most patient man I know.”
Luke laughed. “Honey, you don’t know many men, then.”
“No, you’re wrong. I’ve never met a man as calm and understanding as you. No one else would put up with the crap I’ve put you through.”
“Does that make me a sucker?”
“Maybe.” She shrugged and stifled a yawn, slouching in the chair. “You need your rest.”
“When was the last time you slept?”
“Yesterday?” Sage blinked slowly, her head falling heavily forward. “I couldn’t sleep,” she murmured, “until I knew you were…okay.”
Luke studied her as she slept. The face of an angel. The temper of the devil. He finally fell asleep too, with a smile on his face.
***
Sage
The ripping of Velcro woke Sage up from a deep sleep. Slurping up her unladylike drool, she swiped the back of her hand across her mouth and took in her surroundings. Two nurses were on either side of Luke’s bed. One taking his vitals, the other changing his IV bag.
Stepping out to give him privacy, she wandered down to the waiting room and poured herself a cup of the black piss-water the hospital passed off as coffee. Sitting in the uncomfortable chairs, she took in her surroundings. Only a few hours ago she sat here with Luke’s family, not sure what his outcome would be. She flipped through a magazine, tossed it aside, and then picked up one of the coloring books. Spiderman, princesses, and
zoo animals.
Sage glanced down at her feet, then noticed her legs and cupped her braless chest with her hands. So caught up in worry last night she’d left the house in her pajamas. She must look like a fool, yet no one in the Riley family, or even the nursing staff, eyed her peculiarly. As if they saw harried, half-dressed women in the hospital all the time.
Was that what being in love was like? Not caring how anyone else looked at you and only focusing one hundred percent on the person you love? She didn’t care that she could pass off as a homeless fool, all she cared about was Luke’s health and wellbeing.
Picking up the animal coloring book and a handful of crayons, Sage started coloring. When she was happy with her work, she tore the page from the book, wrote a quick note on the top, folded it and put it in her sweatshirt pocket. She forced herself to finish her caffeine—she refused to think of it as anything more—before heading back to Luke’s room. Opening the door, she could hear him complaining to the nurses.
“When can I eat?”
“When the doctor says your stomach can handle it.”
“Great. Thanks for the Jello.”
The nurses chuckled as they wheeled their cart out of the room.
“How are you feeling?” she asked as she stepped in.
“I’ll be feeling better when I can eat human food and get out of this bed. My ass has fallen asleep and I can barely move. My leg itches and I can’t reach it, I’m poked and prodded every fifteen minutes, and I haven’t touched you in ages.”
“Where?” Sage walked up to the side of the bed and studied the leg that hung in the air.
“Anywhere. Your face, your hands, your breasts. I want to touch you anywhere and everywhere.”
Sage blushed and tried to hide her smile. “Where is your itch?” Luke’s flirtatious grin filled his face, his dimples doing crazy things to her core. She laughed and shook her head. “Where on your leg?”
“My calf.”
Sage gently touched his leg and his body tensed. “Sorry. Did I hurt you?” His leg hung in traction and everything but his ankle and foot was covered in bandages.
“No, not at all. Yeah. Right there. A little on the inside. Oh. Yes.” He closed his eyes and relaxed his hands. She smiled at his obvious content. “Now my other leg itches.”
His right leg was covered with the thin, white hospital sheet, and she wasn’t about to go on a fishing expedition. She ran her hands over the sheet, starting at his knee and working her way down to his foot and back up again.
“Mmm. You always had that magic touch. Can you massage my shoulder too?”
She skimmed her hands up his leg, skipping over his groin area that began to tent under the covers, and stroked his forearm. She massaged his bicep and traveled to his broad, thick shoulders. Her hands were too small to grab the entire shoulder, so she moved front to back, side to side, using a combination of soft and hard touches.
“Sage.” He stopped her, binding her wrists with one of his hands. “This. This hurts too,” he whispered, moving her hands to his heart.
“I don’t know how to do this.”
“To do what?”
“Us. A relationship. You’re too good and I’m too messed up. You deserve someone who can—”
“Shh.” He released her hands and placed a finger over her lips. “You don’t get to make those decisions for me. I choose who I want. And I want you. I’ve always wanted you. Hard-headed, strong-opinioned, stubborn, a pain in the ass and a heart of gold. You, Sage. Just you.”
“I don’t understand, Luke. I’m not worth anything.”
“Oh, baby.” He pulled her down until she was sitting next to him, and stroked her face. The Riley family stroking, touching, holding. Oh, how she wanted to fit in with his family. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. I noticed how special you were the second you told me about your pregnancy. Well, not then.” He smiled at the memory. “When I learned the truth about your pregnancy. You’ve been taking care of others for so long you’ve never allowed someone to take care of you.” Sage leaned into his touch. “I won’t ever ask you to change, but I’ll always ask you to be honest with me. And I’ll always be true and honest with you. If you need space, I’ll give it. If you need comfort, I’ll provide it. As long as I’m with you, sweetheart, I’m the happiest man in the world.”
Tears streamed down her cheek and she used his sweatshirt to swipe them away. “That was the speech I had planned for you. I don’t want you to change either. I want you to be honest and kind and hovering.”
“Hovering? You think I hover?”
“Totally. But I love you for it.” Sage gasped and pulled away, never expecting to say those words. Never having said them to anyone before except to her sisters, and even that was a rare occurrence.
Understanding shone in Luke’s eyes. “I love you too. You are moody and organized to a fault, but I love you anyway. Faults and all.”
“I have a lot of them.”
“I must really love you, then.”
Taking the paper out of her pocket, she handed it to him. “I made something for you.”
“A picture?” He laughed as he unfolded it. His smile turned serious, his brows furrowed as he studied her artwork. “I’ve never seen a purple giraffe before. Or a green zebra with purple stripes. I like the orange sun with the smiley face, though.”
“It’s a Sage Wilde original.”
“It’s a bit messy. And totally adorable. I especially like the personalized message:
To Luke, You make me want to color outside the lines. Love, Sage.
Did it hurt? To color this way?”
“I actually giggled while turning the zebra green. The picture is absolutely ridiculous.”
“And I love it.”
“I’m going to try, to let go a little.”
“Sweetheart.” Luke took her hand and pulled her toward him. “I don’t want you to let go. I want you to be happy. If that means organizing the crap out of your life and having neat, clean spreadsheets to map out your day, then so be it. But I want you to smile more. Laugh every day. To love life. And hopefully, me.”
“As much as it pains me to say it, you are my hero.” She leaned down and kissed him. The love and passion she’d kept bottled up for years poured out of her and into him, making them one.
“Get a room,” Lucy called from behind her. The line Sage had said so often to her sisters and their husbands.
“Get lost,” Luke called back without taking his lips from hers.
“You have the rest of your lives to make out. I came to visit with my brother. Shove a cheek.”
“You’re going to get your ass fired if you keep that up,” Sage said as she pulled away from Luke.
“Yeah, my boss can be a real bitch, but she’d never survive without me. Especially since she’s going to be caring for my invalid brother for the next few weeks.”
Moments later the rest of the Riley clan came pouring in the room, bearing gifts of flowers, candy, and a steak and cheese sub.
“Rachael. The only one who truly loves me,” he said as he unwrapped the sandwich and took a hearty bite. “And Sage. She loves me too.” He grinned at her embarrassment, winking as he shoved more of the sandwich in his mouth.
Epilogue
Sage
“You know, you could save a lot of money by giving up your condo. You haven’t spent a night in the place for the past month. You’ve already taken over my closet and bathroom, might as well move in with me.” Luke hobbled on his crutches across the kitchen. “And you look sexy as hell in my kitchen wearing nothing but my shirt.”
“Back down, fireboy.” Sage swatted his hand away from her bare butt. “I’m trying to make you breakfast.”
“Mmm.” He nuzzled her neck. “Let’s eat in bed, play hooky from work, and make love all day.”
“Which would be no different than any other day for the past four weeks.” She flipped over the last pancake, turned off the stove, and elbowed Luke out of the way. �
��Sit. Breakfast is ready. And we need to talk.”
“About you moving in?” Luke leaned his crutches against the wall and sat, stretching his left leg out in front of him. He toyed with the leg brace, loosening the Velcro straps, and pulled his plate closer.
“Yes. And other things.”
“Seriously?” He looked up from his pancakes with a big goofy grin on his face. The man was sex on a stick. His hair needed a trim and was sticking up on the right side, probably from Sage running her fingers through it and pulling at it while Luke made love to her this morning. “I have a no clothing after nine rule, you know. You’ll have to sleep naked every night, just like you’ve been doing.”
“Yes, you’ve reminded me of your rules a hundred times.” Sage smiled and picked at her pancakes. “But…”
“But?”
“We said we’d be one hundred percent honest and upfront about everything. I don’t want you going into this relationship blind, or with visions of something that’s never going to happen.”
Luke turned serious. Pushing his plate away, he cupped her chin in his palm, tilting her head up so she was forced to look at him. “What has you spooked, sweetheart?” The tenderness and compassion in his voice melted her straight lines.
“I’m not spooked. But I…I need to tell you something that may have you second guessing your investment into our relationship.”
“I’ll never second guess us. But go on.”
She picked up her fork and twirled it between her fingers. Her heart fluttered and sunk, rose again, stopped beating, raced faster. All in a matter of seconds. If the no babies thing was a deal breaker…shit, she’d die. She’d literally die without Luke in her life. Honesty. She loved him enough to be honest with him. That was a deal breaker as well. She sucked up some courage and let it spill.
Wilde For You (The Wilde Sisters Book 3) Page 20