“She’s going to forgive you, as long as you’re honest with her,” Lorenzo agreed. “You can’t hold anything back. It’s risky, yeah, but you have to put it all out there.”
“So I should admit that I’m falling for her. Hard? You’re sure?”
Both of his friends looked at him like he was stupid and said, “Yes!”
“Some groveling might not be bad either.” Owen smacked him in the gut. “You hurt her, asshole. I saw the pain in her eyes when you offered to pay her to stick around and entertain us in bed for a few more months.”
“I didn’t—”
“Whether or not that’s how you meant it, that’s how she took your suggestion.” Lorenzo shrugged. “You need to tell her your relationship isn’t about the cash or your business anymore. This is something more.”
Had it ever really been? Sure, marrying Holly “temporarily” had satisfied the clause of his trust and allowed him to inherit an obscene amount of cash. It had made it possible for her mom to get the transplant she needed and paved the way for all his dreams—starting his own companyandmeeting someone who could desire the same type of relationship he did—to come true.
Suddenly, that was all that mattered. He couldn’t wreck the chance to show her that no matter how desperately he’d craved success, she was what he needed. He wanted to give her everything he had, and for a hell of a lot longer than ninety days.
“Somuch more.” Trent banged his head against the rear wall of the car as they glided to a stop on the floor housing the ICU. “But mostly, I have to make sure she’s okay.”
He couldn’t stand the thought of her alone and afraid for her mother in addition to stressing about what had happened between them the night before.
Lorenzo smirked. “See?”
“What?” Trent tipped his head to the side like Moose sometimes did when he couldn’t comprehend what his owner was doing.
“You care.” Owen crossed his arms as they exited the elevator together.
“I do. Even if I should know better.” Trent groaned. That had never worked out for him before.
Then he put his own shit on the back burner as he approached Holly’s mom’s room. The door hung open. The early morning glow of the desert surrounding them illuminated her private space. He peeked in at Mrs. Hendricks, who appeared to be sleeping.
No sign of Holly. Damn it! Had she gone to the cafeteria to grab breakfast?
“You can go in. She’s been awake on and off.” One of the nurses passing by shooed them inside, out of the way.
“Mrs. Hendricks?” Trent called softly, feeling awkward as hell intruding on the recovering woman without her daughter present.
The woman took several tries to blink her eyes open. Then she smiled. “Hey. Where’s Holly?”
“She hasn’t been here yet this morning?” Trent couldn’t believe that. Mrs. Hendricks must mean Holly had stepped outside or gone to run a quick errand.
Without an ounce of doubt or confusion, Mrs. Hendricks shook her head slightly. “No. Haven’t seen her since they rolled me into the operating room.”
Trent’s stomach dropped. Surely Mrs. Hendricks had simply forgotten about her daughter’s presence since she had been so recently under sedation and was on some heavy-duty pain medication as well. That had to be the case. Didn’t it?
“She… Well, shit, I don’t exactly know where she is.” Trent squashed the unease bubbling within him before it could boil into full blown panic.
Lorenzo elbowed him when Mrs. Hendricks tried to sit up, and failed. The monitor beside her bed showed her blood pressure spiking.
“Sorry. Let me go find out.” Trent tried to smile reassuringly, though it felt hollow and fake, before he spun on his heel and bolted into the corridor once more, ignoring the narrowed eyes of the nurse, who was now sitting at the station in the middle of the ward clearly unimpressed by his commotion and the disturbance to the other patients on the ward. He rushed toward her. “Excuse me?”
“Yes?” the woman waved her hands down, shushing him.
Trent couldn’t seem to control his rising voice. “Has Holly Hendricks been in this morning to see her mother?”
The nurse shook her head. “You’re Mrs. Hendricks’s first guests.”
“Are you sure?” Trent asked.
“Of course.” the woman snapped, slightly less friendly now. “I would have had to buzz her in. And we keep a log of everyone who enters the ward.”