“No. The nurse said she didn’t blame either you or Randolph. She also joked that, by the bruises, you have excellent form when doing CPR.” He pulled his jacket off with a quiet grumble.
Only as he moved it did she notice the cosmetics smeared on the sleeve and lower front. “That’s not my make-up on there, is it?”
Gregory glanced over at her with an expression of pure, wry disgust as he stripped off his cufflinks to set safely aside. “No. That’s hers. Any time she could get free of the medical personnel, she clung to me. That look on your face is exactly how I felt.”
“I just– I don’t understand.”
“Me, either. This is entirely off the wall.” The jacket, he didn’t toss. He draped it over his arm as he turned to her. “I stayed there while they did all the tests. EKG. Blood tests. X-Rays. Nothing shows as wrong. They were discussing tomography and stress tests. The doctor very seriously pulled me aside to tell me that, as far as he can tell, she isphysicallyhealthy. The only oddity was that her temperature was low. Then he asked if mental illness runs on her side of the family.”
Hanna winced as she took his jacket from him. “Well, that’s succinct.”
“He was polite but pointed. She was actingvery strangetonight. The nurses heard about you being a ‘beastly girl’ at least six times. I’ve never heard her talk like that. And even though she’s had some of this monitoring done before, since we’ve done the ‘oh no I’m having a heart attack’ routine more than once, she seemed very confused by it.” Gregory removed his vest.
Her brow furrowed. “Do they suppose she had a psychotic break?”
“It’s hard to tell. On one hand, she’s acting strange. On the other, there’s nothing normal about a woman who acts like she’s had a heart attack for attention. One of the nurses said her mother-in-law mysteriously crops up with cancer every Christmas her son spends with his wife’s family, and faints at family functions on the regular. This could be part of the act. I don’t know what to think anymore.”
He looked hurt. Conflicted. Trapped between anger at his mother and concern for Darlene, and angry at the part of himself that still let her affect him. She set the jacket down so she could set her hands on his chest. “What do you want to do?”
“Throw her out on her ass. Tell her she’s burned her last bridge with me, that I can’t have a relationship with a liar. She gave me up when I was a child, and there are no take backs here.” Gently, he wrapped his hands around hers where they sat on his chest. “But what if she has a mental health issue? I can’t throw her out if she needs help.”
“Then let’s find out. How long is she in the hospital?”
“Overnight, at least. They’re going to run more tests and monitor her until they’re sure a cardiac event isn’t likely.”
“And her behavior there will tell us more. She isn’t getting the attention she wants from you with this fit she threw.”
“No. That was why I didn’t stay. If there’d been any sign at all she’d had a genuine health issue, physical or mental, I would have stuck with her. Since there isn’t… I don’t want to reward bad behavior.” He squeezed her hands then let them go.
Hanna started in on his buttons, only realizing after she did how intimate the gesture was. “Don’t feel guilty for that. You would have stayed if there was a problem. There wasn’t. You need some space to think in.”
“And room to calm down in. My God, I was so mad at her. I still am. We were having a beautiful night. I wanted to dance with you more. Bring you upstairs after everyone had gone. See if you might want to stay the night with me.” He looked down at her as she unbuttoned his shirt.
Her hands shook. She couldn’t help it. “It’s not too late for any of that. She doesn’t get to ruin our first night as a couple.”
She felt his breath catch. “Tell me you don’t think I’m horrible for leaving my mother in a hospital.”
“No. I don’t. Once she’s out and she’s home, we can tackle this. Talk to her very frankly, lay out options for counseling and support, and see what she does. Tonight? She made her uncomfortable hospital bed. She can lie in it.” His shirt fell open as the last button slipped out the buttonhole. Now she looked up at him, gaze meeting his soulful one. “Her choices do not have to affect your life. You are allowed to stop setting yourself on fire to keep her warm.”
“Then stay with me. Please.” His voice sounded husky, raw, lower by an octave than his usual speech.
“Always,” she answered. “I love you.”
The effect her words had broke over him like sunrise over the eastern horizon. Both hands cupped her face with a trembling wonder to pull her into a fiery kiss. Her hands slipped over his bare chest, and his skin felt almost too hot beneath her hands. She became aware of every curve of muscle, every dip and rise of his flesh over his collarbone and shoulder, until at last her hands met at the back of his neck to clasp.
“I love you,” he murmured, lips still against hers. “Let me show you. Let me touch you. Taste you. Let me wake you up with kisses, fill you with me until I am all you can think about. Because you never leave my thoughts. Not since you got here. Give me all of you, because you have had all of me since I first laid eyes on you.”
In answer, she slid her hands down, inside the material of his shirt, to push the cloth off his shoulders. He took his hands away from her face only to let the garment drop to the floor. Then he reached for her again, hands caressing her waist, her hips, up her back to the top of her zipper. Air cooled her skin as the velvet of her dress parted and fell away. All she had beneath were a pair of thigh-high stockings, her heels, and her nicest panties, the black lace pair she always packed against the off chance of romance.
He pulled her against him as the dress crumpled on the floor, pressing her bare breasts against his broad chest. The first touch of him tingled through her, the first near-taboo touch of a new lover’s nakedness against her own. Strong hands squeezed her hips, holding her against him as he claimed another kiss. As she melted into it, his hand trailed upwards over her side, then along the place where their torsos met. His fingertips stroked the outer curve of her breast, a touch so intimate she couldn’t help but whimper into the kiss.
The sound seemed to embolden him. He swept her up into his arms, out of the puddle of blue velvet and silk, to carry her towards his en suite bathroom. “Take a shower with me,” he said. “Wash tonight away so it’s just you and me.”
“Yes,” she said, and gave little kicks of her feet. Her shoes tumbled to the floor.
He set her down on a padded bench along one wall of his expansive bathroom. As he leaned into the gorgeous, stone-tiled shower to start the water, she began to peel her stockings off. One of his hands settled on the faucet but didn’t move as he caught the motion in the corner of his eye.
“Wait,” he said, voice low and raw. “Take your panties off. Then pull your stockings off.”