“Fuck.”
His voice, his curse sounds like it’s been dragged over sandpaper.
Slowly, he lifts his face to stare at his haggard reflection in the mirror.
He can’t. He absolutely cannot. But he knows it’s true. The night of that searing kiss cemented it.
He closes his eyes, finally breathing steadily.
He loves her.
He loves Lacey.
Lacey lies listless in the hospital bed, her fingers tracing the line of her IV. Already, she can feel the drugs working their magic, antibiotics chasing away the fever. She closes her eyes, replaying what the doctor said.
She could have died. Lucky, lucky, Lord she’s lucky.
The words sting. Have her revisiting the last few days of her life.
Earlier this week, all she wanted to do was get rid of Seth. Deny her feelings, bury them, ice herself over like she’s always done. But now, her scare, Prentiss’s true asshole turn, has her realizing how pointless everything’s been. Her job. Her ice queen act. No friends. Guarding her heart. Keeping life at arm’s length.
She put her health, her dignity, her time on the line and for what? A promotion she doesn’t even know if she’s going to get. A prick of a boss who doesn’t care if she lives or dies.
She’s been trying to chase Seth away because she doesn’t think he’ll stay. Because loss runs in her veins. But now, she knows she’s the one making herself all alone. Not her father. Or her stepmother. Or Sal. She’s doing it now. And she has to stop.
Life’s a risk, and all she’s been doing is denying the things she really needs.
Like kissing Seth.
She scowls at the ceiling.
Ugh, she’s been an idiot. If tonight ruined things, if she wasted her chance, scared Seth off, she’ll never forgive herself.
The soft sound of an opening door has her rolling her head across the pillow.
Seth stands in the doorway, tie undone, looking rumpled and uncertain.
Lacey’s lips part. “Some party, huh?”
“Been to better,” he says, trying for flippancy, but the joke falls flat. His eyes jump to the machines she’s hooked up to, the IV in her hand. “How are you feelin’?”
“I’m okay. Thanks to you.”
He swallows hard, frozen in the doorway. Like he’s afraid to come any closer. Then he shakes his head, guilt and agony etched across his handsome face. “Don’t thank me. I shoulda seen it. I shoulda—”
“Seth.”
She gives him a look that says he’s being stupid. She’s one hundred percent positive he sat in that waiting room torturing himself. “I’m pretty sure everything that happened is my fault. You can’t blame yourself. Now will you come here?”
Lacey stretches out an arm, fluttering fingertips to beckon him closer. She feels Seth-starved. Desperate for his hand. His steady touch.
He hesitates for a moment and then crosses the floor to her. He sits on the edge of the bed, his eyes misty. Seth’s hand closes around hers. He lifts it gently to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
His mouth works the words over and then he says, “Lace, if something had happened ...” But he can’t finish the sentence. His voice splinters, and he sucks in a deep breath.
“I’m okay,” she says, determined to make him hear her. His eyes look so haunted. “It’s all okay. And it’s not your fault.”
Seth sighs, some of the guilt leaving his tense expression. He brushes a lock of hair from her face. “I want you to get some rest, you hear me?”