“It’s more functional this way. Those idiot friends of your brother's shouldn’t have just dumped shit and left.” He shakes his head, and the glower he’s wearing shows his frustration.
Now that I’m not hiding who I am from Reed anymore, and he understands my flaws, I find reading him is marginally easier. Like now, with his brows drawn inwards, I can tell that’s his annoyance or frustration. And I noticed in the hospital, when he smiled at me before I was discharged, that his eyes crinkle in the corners with his happiness or amusement.
Reed is open to me in a way that even Luca isn’t. My brother remains a mystery to me in some ways, and when I first met Reed, he was too. Now I comprehend just a little more.
“I didn’t want to be a bother,” I tell him as he helps me into a recliner that I know isn’t mine. “Where did this come from?” I stare up at him as he places a blanket across my lap.
He shrugs. “My place. You needed the best.”
Melting back into the cushions, my exhaustion and pain takeover, making my eyes heavy.
“Sleep,” Reed whispers, and I feel him place a kiss on my temple where I hit my head in the car. Reclining the chair, I listen as Reed moves around my house, putting away the things from the bag he brought me this morning and cleaning up what little mess I left in the kitchen yesterday.
Soon, I’m off to sleep then startled awake by a bad dream I can’t remember. Jumping in the chair ignites every bump and bruise, like they’re on fire. As I’m doubled over in pain, I can hear Reed talking, but I don’t understand the words he’s saying.
“Sshhh, Hope, I’ve got you.” Picking me up in his arms, he carries me over to the sofa, sitting down and stretching out on the chaise where I noticed earlier that he had set up like a bed. He settles me beside him. “Here.” He hands me a bottle of water and a pain pill. “You were due for one of these soon, anyways,” he says as I swallow the tablet.
“Everything hurts,” I groan.
“Nice and easy breaths.” His words are soothing as my body slackens.
“Tell me something about you, Reed.” I gaze up at him as he watches me. His square jaw is strong and stoic. His eyes are always so deep, soulful.
“What do you want to know?”
“Whatever you want to tell me.” I just want to learn more about him. “Did you always want to have a family? Have you tried? Been married?”
“Yes. No. No.” He smirks playfully. “I’ve been in two serious relationships that I thought could have turned into forever, but both women eventually showed their true colors.”
“Carla.” I hiss her name like a cuss word.
“Carla was one, yes.” I look away, wanting to know what happened with her but too afraid to ask. “Carla became too clingy. In that, she didn’t want me to go to work, and when I was at work, she would show up out of the blue. Sometimes, I would be at the precinct, and a lot of times, I was out on a case. She didn’t have any boundaries. It got to the point where we had a huge fight, and she asked me to choose between her and a job I worked my entire life for.”
“You chose the job.”
“I did. I always knew it would take a special woman to understand my commitment to making the world a safer place for our children; she didn’t. It was then I knew we were never meant to be.”
I mull over his words before expressing my own. “I won’t do that.” A yawn interrupts me. “Make you choose, that is. I appreciate your dedication and selflessness. I think it takes a strong person to put their life on the line for complete strangers.”
Brushing the hair back from my face, Reed traces the lines in my skin with a gentle finger. Circling my eyes, careful of my bruises. Along my jaw. Brushing his thumb across my bottom lip and pulling it down to collect the moisture from my mouth.
“I’m going to love you so deeply, Hope.” He breathes the words out before his mouth descends on me.
Our lips touch, and this time is nothing compared to our previous kisses. My heart rate spikes, my veins throb, and every cell in my body is on fire from his touch.
“When you are ready, when your body is healed, you and me, pretty girl? We’re going to ignite the sheets.” His words steal my breath.
Making me wish I could fast forward time.
9
Hope
One Week Later.
Staring at my naked body, I’m not sure how to feel about it. My bruises have turned an ugly shade of yellow and puke green, but they no longer hurt, so that’s a bonus.
My baby bump expands every day. My love for this precious darling grows stronger with each passing moment, and when I witness Reed touching her, talking to her, I fall deeper in love with him.