The Billionaire's Practice Kiss - Tamie Dearen Page 0,71

paramedic hadn’t been exaggerating the crowded conditions in the rear of the ambulance. Logan perched on a small bench, his back against a set of cabinets. He’d never thought about the amount of equipment and supplies it took to set up what was essentially a small mobile hospital. The paramedic was on the phone with the hospital emergency room when Ellery came to. One hand pulled at her oxygen mask, while she struggled to escape the straps securing her to the stretcher. Her pitiful whimpers tore holes in Logan’s chest.

His promise forgotten, he was up and bent over her, gathering her hands in his. “Shhhh,” he soothed, kissing her smoke-smudged forehead. “I’m here. You’re safe.”

She coughed, a horrible rattly sound. But her body stilled, the trust in her eyes swelling his throat.

The paramedic tapped his arm. “Mr. West, I need you to take a seat.”

“Okay.” Logan brushed his lips across Ellery’s forehead again, and then he started to back away.

“Noooooo!” Ellery moaned under her mask, her hand fisting the front of his shirt.

“I’m sorry,” the paramedic said, “but it’s not safe for—”

“Pleeeease!” Ellery cried, her whole body thrashing.

“Fine!” The paramedic threw her hands in the air, and Logan pushed back a satisfied smile. He couldn’t help being happy that Ellery needed him.

Huffing her displeasure, the paramedic held up a small electronic gadget. “I’ll let you stay next to her. But only if you squeeze up there by her head and she lets me put this pulse oximeter back on.”

Ellery’s hand fell away from his shirt as coughs racked her body, but her eyes never left his. Still breathing fast, she didn’t protest the placement of the pulse oximeter on her middle finger.

“Logan…”

He smoothed the hair back from her face as he strained to hear her muffled voice. “We can talk later. I’m not going anywhere.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I need to tell you… just in case something happens.”

“Nothing’s going to happen. You’re safe now,” he muttered, with a bit too much force. He’d no sooner made the claim than he realized it wasn’t true. The Krupins were still at large. Anything could happen. Another threat. A kidnapping. Perhaps they would lash out in revenge.

“Logan.” Ellery tried to lift her head, resulting in more coughs. “I’m sorry… for everything…”

“Shhhh… You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But I did.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving tracks in the smeared soot. “I should never have made you date Allegra.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He ignored the paramedic’s raised eyebrows. Would their conversation be in the tabloids tomorrow?

“It does matter,” Ellery croaked. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just too insecure to believe you really cared.”

“Do you believe me now?”

She nodded, her gaze solemn. “And I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I shouldn’t have done the fundraiser.”

“No, that wasn’t your fault. Dan manipulated you. He fooled all of us.”

Her lids drifted closed, and her body relaxed. But her eyes snapped open with another round of coughing.

“Logan…” Her free hand reached for him, and he leaned closer. “No matter what happens, I want you to know… I love you.”

She loves me! For so long he’d prayed to hear those words from her lips. Now joy battled in his mind with dread. Had he won her love, only for death to steal her away?

A sniff on his left caught his attention, and he turned to see the paramedic swiping her sleeve across her eyes. She flashed a sheepish smile and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for romance.”

He grinned. “Okay if I kiss her, then? Just a quick one?”

“Really quick. And don’t tell anyone!” She pointed to a strap on the side of the mask. “Just loosen it right here.”

Logan lowered his face, pushing the mask aside at the last second. “I love you,” he whispered against her skin, delighting in the way she trembled in response. Then he moved his lips tenderly across hers. As he caressed her mouth, he willed her to live, wishing he could somehow transfer his lifeforce to hers.

The ambulance lurched around a corner, throwing him off balance, and he fell across her chest. He grappled for the side of the stretcher and pushed himself up, laughing as he secured the oxygen mask back in place.

“If there’s one thing I’m good at,” Logan murmured, “it’s an awkward kiss.”

Ellery’s chuckle turned into yet another cough.

“But there’s a bright side to all this,” she croaked, her eyes crinkled with a grin.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I’m in a car and I’m smiling,” she