The Billionaire's Practice Kiss - Tamie Dearen Page 0,72

said. “My amaxophobia’s gone.”

Once they reached the emergency room, the orderlies wheeled her away. Logan could still see the haunted expression she wore as the doors closed between them. He sank to the nearest chair in the waiting room and buried his face in his hands, heavy with guilt. If not for him, she would be happily oblivious to everything that had occurred tonight. She would simply be a first-year law student, intent on her studies. Thanks to him, she had bruises, cuts, lung damage, and who knew what other injuries from the accident. And if she survived those injuries, she was still a kidnapping target for a couple of homicidal brothers.

A shadow passed over him and the chair beside him scraped the floor.

“Don’t do it,” said Cole.

“What?” Logan asked, not bothering to lift his face.

“Don’t blame yourself and use it as an excuse to pull out of Ellery’s life. I’ve been there… right there in your shoes. Brooke almost got killed for no other reason than her association with me.”

Logan turned to look at Cole. His grave expression left no doubt he was being honest.

“Even if Ellery survives this,” Logan said, “the Krupins could still come after her. It’s not fair to make her live like that.”

“That’s not your call.” Cole speared him with a sharp gaze. “She gets to decide if it’s worth the risk or not.”

“She’s too unselfish.” Logan gestured angrily toward the double doors she’d disappeared through, as if they could see her on the other side. “Did you hear what she did? She crawled up in the front of the wreckage, trying to put out the fire. Just to save the same woman who was planning to kill her. And now, Ellery could die because of it!”

Cole grimaced.

“You see what I mean?” Logan flailed his arms. “She’ll never do what’s best for herself.”

Cole’s shoulders scrunched upward. “You can’t fault her for being altruistic.”

“I can if she gets herself killed doing it.”

“Are you telling me you’re going to break up with her? After all she’s been through?”

Logan swallowed hard. “No. But I should.”

“Don’t give up just because of the Krupins. We’ll find a way to stop them.” Cole put his hands on his knees and pushed to his feet. “Permanently.”

Logan nodded, as if he believed Cole’s promise. But inside, he began to prepare himself for the inevitable.

Ellery would be better off without me in her life.

Chapter 31

Three short raps, a pause, followed by two more. Kara’s signature knock sounded on the door as she flounced into Ellery’s hospital room.

“Morning,” she said, her gaze sweeping the room.

So many flowers and potted plants littered the tables and window ledge it looked like a nursery. But the ever-present feature was Logan, who was beginning to resemble his former hermit-like appearance, complete with unkempt hair and scraggly beard. At Kara’s voice, he shot up from his awkward sleeping position on the too-short hospital fold-out bed.

“Ellery? Are you okay?” His red-rimmed eyes told the story of ten days of sleep deprivation.

“I’m fine.” Ellery pressed the control to elevate the top half of her bed until she was sitting up. “But Kara’s here to sit with me, so you can take a break.”

His jaw settled into a stubborn set. “I’m not leaving.”

“There’s no reason you can’t go home and get a shower and sleep in a real bed,” Ellery croaked, stopping to cough. “The docs say I’m out of the woods. Maybe I won’t be a hundred percent for a long time, but I’m not going to die.”

“I’m staying here until you’re cleared to go.” Logan crossed his arms over his chest, a gesture made less effective as he wobbled, probably dizzy from lack of sleep.

“You look like a homeless man.” Kara strode around him and set her tote bag down. She started folding up the bed. “Go home. Take a shower. Get some sleep. And don’t come back until you get a haircut and shave or trim that beard.”

To Ellery, he was as handsome as ever. And the past few days, she’d begun to question again what he’d ever seen in her. Was he asking himself the same question?

“I took a shower last night.” Logan nodded toward the bathroom.

“And you have the bed-head to show it,” Kara said. “I’m here. Jake and another E-Force guy are in the cafeteria. There’s an FBI guy outside this door round-the-clock. We’re in a hospital full of doctors and nurses. Ellery’s safe here. Anyway, you can’t protect her when you’re so tired you can’t even