“I was,” she whispered. “I was petrified that I’d never see him again. Brett, what am I going to do?”
“For starters, you’re going to let me take you to the hospital. You’re going into his room and tell him how relieved you are that he’s alive. After that, you’re on your own.”
“Thanks, Brett. I’m very fortunate that you’re my friend too.”
“Don’t mention it, Lyssa. Just make a little fuss over him. His parents came and are staying at my house and Kiley is telling Jordan after his show, so they’ll be here in the morning. Family concern is great but I think knowing that you care will do wonders for Shane. He missed you more than he tries to let show. It’ll mean a lot to him that you came.” When she looked skeptical, he added, “Trust me. He may not say it but he’ll be thrilled to see you.”
* * * * *
“Alyssa,” Jesse greeted her with a hug, “good to see you. He’s doing fine. Go on in, stay as long as you like, I made sure no one will question your presence when they come in to check on Shane.”
“Thanks,” she murmured quietly. When she stood, hesitating, Brett opened the door and guided her through.
“Not that you’ll need us but we’ll be here.” Brett squeezed her hand before he eased the door closed behind her, giving them as much privacy as possible.
Alyssa slowly approached the bed, intimidated by the tubes attached to Shane’s sleeping form. Even though Brett assured her that he was fine, she was frightened by his appearance. She hadn’t expected to find all the usual hospital bells and whistles after she heard his injury wasn’t life-threatening. Standing beside his bed, she was unsure of what to do. She wanted to touch him but didn’t want to disturb him. He looked so pale and vulnerable lying there.
When a tear dripped onto Shane’s hand, the sensation roused him from the drifting state he had been in. “Am I dead?” he asked, startling Alyssa.
Alyssa hadn’t realized he was awake until she heard his question. “Shane,” she sobbed, unable to control the flow of emotion that suddenly overwhelmed her.
“Oh fuck, they had to take my leg. They said I would be okay. Damn!” Shane’s mind only registered the worst possibilities. Why was she here? Why was she crying?
“No, Shane, it’s still there,” Alyssa managed through her tears.
“Thank God.” He struggled to fight through the haze of whatever they had given him when he returned to his room after visiting Flynn in recovery. “Campini, calm down. What are you doing here, scaring me like that?”
Alyssa was rapidly regaining control. “Me scaring you? How the hell did you think I felt when Brett called and said you were shot? Damn you, McKade, you promised me!”
“Hold on, I promised not to get shot in the head. You didn’t say anything about my leg.” He reached for her hand but she was too far away.
“Ooh! I ought to…” Alyssa hit the bed next to him in frustration.
Shane sucked in a breath and winced. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh Shane, I’m sorry,” she said with a fresh burst of tears as she began to pace next to the bed.
“Stop calling me Shane. It scares me when you do that.” He still couldn’t reach her. “Hold still, Pix. I can’t keep up with you right now. You’re making me dizzy, bouncing around like that.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated with another sniffle.
“Please stop apologizing. Come here.” He held out his hand to her. “I’m okay, really.”
She swiped her eyes as she grabbed his hand. “But…”
“Oh, right. I will be fine. I was shot in my thigh and they had to put in some pins to fix the bone but they assured me that I would be perfectly fine in a few weeks. I shouldn’t even limp after everything is healed. I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Brett called me.” She was clutching his hand tightly between both of hers.
“You said that but I don’t understand why.”
“I sort of asked him to let me know if anything happened to you. I never thought he’d actually need to. What happened?”
“Wrong place, wrong time. I’m sorry, Pix. He shouldn’t have bothered you.”
“Bothered me! McKade, if you weren’t already stuck in that bed, I’d put you there for that remark. Of all the lame-ass, stupid things, that has to be one of the most idiotic I’ve ever heard. Bothered me.”
“Wait. Please. That didn’t come out right. I’m at a disadvantage here. I can’t really think at the moment, with the drugs they gave me, so you’ll have to cut me some slack.”
“Oh, God, I’m such a jerk!”
“No you’re not.” He smiled. “You came.”
“Yeah, I came.” She finally relaxed enough to look at him.
“That mean you care?”
“Yeah.”
“Lots?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, ’cause I love you, Pix,” Shane sighed as he pulled her hand closer and kissed her palm. “How long are you staying?”
What! He said he loved her! He couldn’t. Could he? It had to be the drugs. He couldn’t possibly be serious. No way! “Um, morning.”
“Mm.” He nuzzled her hand against his cheek. “Then crawl in and sleep with me.”
“I can’t do that.” She snatched her hand away and paced again. “I’ll hurt you.”
“Not if you get in carefully. Come on, Pix. I need to feel you next to me, even if it is here and we’re not naked. Please? I’ll sleep better if you’re holding me.” He stretched his hand toward her after he patted the bed.
“Shane, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“You called me Shane again. Are you sure I’m not dying? If you know something I don’t, then my last wish is to hold you one more night.”
“You sure I won’t hurt you?” She looked undecided.
“If you do, it will only be when you actually get on the bed. Come on, Campini. A little pain in exchange for comfort from the woman I’m gonna marry is worth it.”
The woman he was going to marry! Whoa, he didn’t sound that drugged but clearly he was. He had to be. Why else would he be saying such outrageous things? Maybe being shot affected his mind in some way. It must have. Between that and the drugs, he clearly wasn’t thinking straight. Not able to resist the pleading expression on his face, Alyssa slipped off her shoes and inched into bed next to him.
Shane urged her to lie so she was fully against his side with his arm around her, holding her there. “I missed you, Pix. This makes it almost worth being shot.”
“Hardly,” she actually laughed. “I think it was a little extreme. I’m coming home, McKade. It may be another month but I will be back eventually.”
“But don’t you see? This gives you the excuse you need to admit that you love me too. Face it, Campini. We’re never going to find what we have with anyone other than each other. You must have left as soon as you hung up with Brett. You have to love me or you would have waited. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? My Queen, dropping everything and rushing to my side. I knew it.”
“Shut up, McKade.” She started to pull away.
Shane clamped his arm, trapping her. “God, that hurts! Please stop squirming.”
“I’m sorry.” She went limp against him.
“Sh, Pix. You don’t have to respond right now. I’m not expecting you to give in easily. Fight against it all you need to, as long as you need to. Just know that I’ll be waiting when you’re ready for me. I figured out that you’re who I was describing when we talked about that professional woman. We both know you need someone to take care of the everyday things in your life. I want to do that. As soon as I can, I’m getting out of the city. I’ll find us a house near Jordan and Kiley’s. I’ll make sure it has plenty of room for your studio. And I’ll find one that has a tub big enough so I can pamper you. Someday, when you’re ready, we’ll even have a kid. I can picture him.”
“Him?” she decided to let him ramble.
“Sure. We’ll na
me him Charlie, after my grandfather. He would have adored you, Pix. You’re feisty, just like my grandmother was. Unless you’d rather name him after one of your grandfathers.”
“No, Charlie is fine.” She couldn’t believe this conversation. Hopefully, he was so drugged that he wouldn’t remember it in the morning.
“Good, I’m glad we have that settled.” He kissed her forehead. “Now…”
“Sh, Shane. That’s enough for one night. Get some rest.”
“Oh, right.” He let her snuggle into his side, resting her hand on his chest. “You really okay with moving out of the city?”
“Sure. Whatever you want. I can work from anywhere.”
“About the house…”
“You’ll find us a great house. I’m not at all worried about it.”
How bizarre! Here she was, agreeing meekly with all his ideas. She must be as shaken by his injury as he was. Good thing he was so drugged. Even if he did remember any of this, she would be able to convince him that he had imagined it. But, if it made him rest better, it was worth letting him think she was accepting all he said.
“So you do love me? You are going to marry me? Soon as you’re done with this assignment. I don’t want to wait too long since I’m getting out of here.”
“That’s fine. And if you find a house before I’m back, just go ahead and move my stuff with yours.”
“You sure? What if you hate it?”
“I won’t. You’re going to get me a studio. You’ll be there and I know you’ll choose a house with a fully functional kitchen. What more do I need?”
“Are you sure I’m not dying? You’re being entirely too easy to get along with.”
“I came all this way to make sure that you’re okay. I am not going to fight with you and upset you. If I did and something happened to you, I’d never be able to stand it.”
“So you don’t really mean any of this?”
“Sure I do. Don’t set up my studio though after you move everything. I’d like to make some changes from how I have it currently arranged so I want to do that myself. Now shut up and go to sleep before someone comes in here and tosses me out for not letting you rest.”
“You’ll wake me before you leave?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks for coming. Man, I can’t believe you’re here. Kiss me good night, Pix. I wish I could make love to you.”
“Not tonight, stud. Put that right out of your mind. There is no way we’re going to even try that, so forget it.”
“Just a kiss, Campini. You came all this way.” Alyssa gave in and shifted so she could reach his mouth. Shane let her come to him. When their lips joined, she felt as if she had been shocked. Even drugged, injured and surely exhausted, he still took her breath away with a simple kiss.
“Enough.” Alyssa was close to forgetting that he was too hurt to do more than kiss her.
“More, Campini. Kiss me until I’m better. I need you.” His eyes reflected all the desire she felt.
“Shane.”
“Wow, that sounded unbelievably good. Not at all scary that time. Say it again.”
“Shane.” Alyssa let her unsaid emotions show.
“I never expected you to use my first name, especially not like that. I love you, Pixie Queen. Always. Forever. With all my heart. More than you’ll ever know. I want to spend the rest of my life telling you that. And showing you. Oh yeah, I want to show you how much I love you. I want to lick you from head to toe and back again. I want to suck on your gorgeous breasts and feel your nipples get hard with my tongue. I want to lick your sweet pussy until you come. God, I love when you come on my tongue, Pix. Almost as much as I love when you come on my cock. Mm, yeah, that is so damn good. The feel of your tight pussy squeezing my hard cock is so incredible. The best. Do you know how hard it is for me to not come instantly once you start doing that? I want to spend my life loving you and making you scream with pleasure over and over again until you can’t move and then I want to hold you while you sleep. Now kiss me again. Please, Pix, kiss me.”
Alyssa lifted her mouth to his, partly out of desire, partly to make him stop saying those things. Her mind was reeling, with his last declaration. Even if he didn’t remember what he’d said, she was going to. How would she be able to face him again and not think of it? How was she going to stand it when he found the woman he really would marry? When they had a son and named him Charlie? When Kiley made her go along to visit the house he said he was going to find for her? They were merely having some fun together, no matter what he’d said. It was the drugs talking, nothing more. And she was just reacting to the stress. She couldn’t possibly wish he meant the things he’d told her. There was no way she really wanted him to love her. She certainly wasn’t ready to get married and start a family. And even if she were, it certainly wouldn’t be with him. They may have gotten beyond their mutual animosity but anything more than friendship was ridiculous. Talk about overreacting to a dangerous situation! Thank goodness he wouldn’t remember any of the things he’d said to her. Think how horrified he’d be with himself if he knew what he’d told her. Well, she was simply going to have to forget it entirely as if none of his statements had ever been made. She wasn’t ever going to admit to a word of it. Then, when she got back, she’d be free to enjoy his body again because, with the way his kisses were making her tingle, she obviously hadn’t worked him out of her system before she’d left. That was all it was. She still wanted his hot bod. Who wouldn’t want a man who could kiss her senseless when he was in the condition he was in?
“Pix,” Shane was fighting to stay awake.
“Sh, Shane. I’m not going anywhere until morning. I promise to wake you to say goodbye before I go. You need to sleep now.”
“Don’t let me go.”
“I won’t. Stop worrying. I’ll be right here while you sleep. You need to get your strength back. I want you fully recovered by the time I get home for good.”
“Deal. Can’t believe you came,” Shane whispered as he finally gave in and slept.
* * * * *
“Brett, Jesse, is he worse? Why are you guys here?” Jordan insisted on dropping Kiley off at Brett’s house, needing to see Shane alone first.
“He’s sleeping.” Brett jumped in front of the door.
“He’s fine.” Jesse moved next to him.
“Kiley didn’t tell me until my show was over and then she refused to let me drive.”
“She’s a good girl.” Brett was rapidly considering the possible outcomes of letting Jordan see that Alyssa was with Shane or trying to get him to walk away with Jesse so he could get her out of there.
“I know even though I wish she had told me as soon as Dad called her. I want to see him.” Jordan couldn’t understand why they were blocking Shane’s door.
“I don’t think this would be the best time for that, Jordan,” Jesse spoke up, taking the decision from Brett.
“What? Why?”
“He’s not exactly alone.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Jordan,” Brett was ready to tell him but Jesse stopped him.
“What the hell is going on in there? What happened now? Mom said he was going to be fine.”
“He is.” Jesse pointed to the chairs across the hall he and Brett had spent the night in. “I think you should sit while we explain.” Jesse waited for him to take a seat before he continued. “When I said he wasn’t alone, I wasn’t referring to his doctor. Alyssa is with him.”
Jordan was clearly shocked. “Alyssa? With him? Here? Now? How?”
“I called her,” Brett informed him. “At the time, I didn’t have any idea how bad he was. When she said she wanted to come, I got her a ticket. She made me promise to tell her if something happened to him while she was away.”
Jordan considered this. “I thought you both told me they were just playing around and having some fun for a little while.”
“That’s what they both keep telling us,” Jesse said. “Neither on
e of them is ready to admit that it goes deeper than that.”
“Wow,” Jordan said quietly. “Imagine that, Shane and Alyssa. What am I going to tell Kiley?”
“Not a damn thing,” Jesse declared. “She’s leaving in half an hour. I think you should disappear until then and let her think she got away with this visit. Shane was pumped full of painkillers. Who knows what he may have said last night.”
“He’s right, Jordan,” Brett agreed. “If he told her any of the things he told me and Jesse, she’ll be in quite a state without having the need to explain her presence to you.”
“What was he saying?” Jordan asked, even though he doubted either one of them was going to tell him.
“Please don’t ask that.” Brett couldn’t break Shane’s trust, not even for his best friend.
“I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” Jordan studied both his friends. “I don’t even want to know. I can’t lie to my wife if I don’t know anything, right? I’ll go to the cafeteria and get some coffee. Jesse, come get me when she leaves. Brett, do what you can for both of them. I have the feeling that they’re going to need as much guidance as you can give them without letting them be aware of it. Man, I hope this works out without destroying either of them. Kiley will never forgive any of us if we let them get hurt.”
“You’re not asking for much.” Brett sighed, knowing they were in trouble, no matter how Shane and Alyssa resolved this.
“No, not much at all,” Jesse commented. “On one hand, your wife could be pissed that we let them burn each other. On the other, they could end up together and she’ll be furious that we didn’t tell her what was going on all along. No, Jordan, this is going to be a piece of cake, no matter what happens between them.”
“I know, I know. But they both said they didn’t want to cause our first fight. What do you think my chances are of her not going ballistic if I remind her of that when she realizes we knew more than we mentioned to her?”
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