pushing me away. But fuck that. She was mine. She needed me. I wasn’t going anywhere.
And yeah, I’d be giving her stress relief whenever she could sneak away.
She padded downstairs in her cute little bare feet. I heard her before I saw her. I could not stop the heat in my eyes as I looked her over. She looked damned good in her soft, faded, old-fashioned nightie. I noticed that she closed her robe and tied the waist.
“Hey,” she said shyly.
“Hey.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched her make a tray for Mom, including a big glass of water to take her meds. She started brewing a hot herbal tea to help settle Meg’s stomach.
“Dana said mint is better. Too much ginger can cause blood thinning and her medication already does that.”
She nodded and flashed me a grateful smile with a barely audible ‘thank you’ as she grabbed the mint and put the ginger up on a high shelf so she wouldn’t forget. She busied herself making scrambled eggs and toast. I waited. Finally, she spoke.
“I’m glad you’re still here,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t sure you would be, after the way I acted.”
The tension left my body in a whoosh. I hadn’t even realized I was holding it. I was across the room and standing behind her in an instant.
“Don’t,” I said roughly, my hands landing on her shoulders. She leaned back against me. “Don’t even think like that. You were fine. Better than fine.”
“Thank you, Nick,” she said in a ragged whisper. “I’m not sure how I would be getting through this without you and your friends.”
“My family, you mean? They wanted to be there for you. They love you already.”
Her eyes were closed as she nodded.
“You’re lucky to have them . . . your family.”
“I am. I’m even luckier to have you.”
She sighed and I knew everything was okay. Melissa was okay. Last night was forgotten. She was my woman and we would get through this together.
The ‘L’ word was on the tip of my tongue, but I held it back. I was pretty sure I would freak her out if I said it. But fuck me, I loved the woman more than I could have imagined. She was everything to me.
I was pretty sure Hendrix would be okay with playing second-fiddle to Melissa. After all, he was the reason I’d fallen for her. I’d been waiting for her to grow up for all these years. I just hadn’t known it.
“I’ll take the tray up and then get dressed. Is Dana coming again?”
I nodded, my chin scraping her silky hair as I turned her to nestle against me.
“In a few hours. There will be another nurse who comes at night if we need it, but Dana’s our point person.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice muffled against my chest. I tipped her chin up so I could look at her. I smiled.
“You don’t ever have to thank me,” I said gruffly before taking her lips in a soft, gentle kiss. I wanted to ravage her mouth and take her on the kitchen floor, but I was not going to make that mistake again.
Go. Slow. Now more than ever.
“I’ll carry this up for you. Make yourself a plate, too,” I instructed her, taking the tray. I didn’t wait for her answer. I knew she would listen to me when I told her to do something.
We were slowly coming to an understanding. Tonight, I would hold her in my arms all night. She needed me as much as I needed to hold her. Things would be different in a lot of ways. But the number-one way was that she was going to let me take charge and take care of her.
She was mine, and I would do whatever it took to protect her, dammit.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Melissa
I closed the book I’d been reading to Mom. It was the Thorn Birds. The book was one of her favorites growing up, so it had become one of my favorites, too. We’d even watched the television mini-series together. It was heart wrenching and totally satisfying to watch. I was loving reading the book to her while she rested, even though we’d both read it multiple times before. Maybe it was even more enjoyable because of the familiarity. And the book had one of my favorite love stories ever, even though it didn’t exactly end well.
Basically, if you wanted drama in your life, you should fall in love with a priest.
I had my