Hope smiled against his shoulder. “I do have brothers.”
“Fine. Just them.”
“He did pick us up, and he is taking us to the hospital at warp speed,” Hope said teasingly. “Maybe I could just give him a small peck on the cheek later?” She poked at the tiger, and she knew it, but she couldn’t help herself. The more possessive Jason became, the more secure she felt. Right now, she needed that reassurance. She was sick from the heat and hurting. It took her mind off her bodily pain.
“You want to kiss him?” Jason sounded appalled and disgruntled.
“Please. Just to say thank you,” she spurred him on.
“No. I don’t want your lips or body anywhere near Colter in the future,” he argued fiercely. His arms tightened around her waist greedily. “All he’d have to do is smell your intoxicating scent and he’d try to steal you away.”
Smirking against his shoulder because he seemed to be under the impression that she was irresistible to any man, she answered, “Right now, I stink.”
“You’re still not kissing him,” he answered adamantly.
“We’ll see,” she answered mysteriously. The helicopter descended for a landing.
He grunted, annoyed, but he answered, “At the moment, all I care about is you. It looks like we’re at the hospital. Are you still hurting?”
She nodded hesitantly. Her ankle throbbed agonizingly, but she didn’t want Jason to know how badly she hurt. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’m so sorry, Hope. You’ll never know how much,” he replied huskily, his voice emanating regret and remorse.
She opened her mouth to reply, to try to alleviate some of his self-castigation, but the door to the helicopter flew open. Helping hands assisted her to a gurney that had been brought out to the helicopter pad.
Once situated, several bodies pushed the gurney toward the entrance to the ER. One older man asked rapid-fire questions and forced her to turn her attention away from Jason to answer him.
They sent her to x-ray almost immediately. Jason waited in the room for her with a discontented, worried expression.
Hope smiled at him as they wheeled her away, to reassure him she’d be fine. Maybe she would make him grovel, but there was no doubt in her mind that Jason Sutherland loved her. His heart-stopping scramble down the sheer mountain cliff had been more than enough to convince her, and she’d thought about everything that had happened between the two of them since they’d arrived here in Rocky Springs. Yes, he’d been wrong. Yes, he’d sometimes been an asshole. But his concern had always been there, and his tenderness wrenched her heart.
She was in the ER for hours, but once she’d returned from x-ray, Jason had been waiting for her, and he never left her side again.
The next day, Hope got a phone call from each one of her brothers, all of them angry as hell at Jason. By the time she got to Grady’s call, the last brother to contact her, she was done hearing all of them beat up Jason verbally.
She was back in her bed at the guesthouse, her ankle elevated. It wasn’t broken, but it was badly sprained. The swelling was already down from ice and anti-inflammatory medication, and the pain was almost nonexistent unless she tried to bear weight on her right foot. She’d be up and around shortly. The ankle just needed some time to heal.
Jason had waited on her hand and foot, stayed with her constantly, and fetched anything she wanted or needed. He stood at the foot of the bed and frowned as she talked to Grady on the phone.
“I swear I’m going to put his balls into his throat when I see him. Emily’s packing right now. We’re on our way,” Grady told her gruffly.
Hope sighed. She’d already explained to every one of her brothers that Jason was taking very good care of her, and she didn’t want for anything. She’d be fine as soon as she was up and around.
Grady proved to be the most stubborn, probably because he was closest to Jason, and felt betrayed. “You’re not going to touch his balls,” Hope told Grady calmly. “I like them exactly where they are.”
“He lied to you,” Grady said furiously. “He manipulated you.”
“I lied to him, too, Grady.” Her eyes met Jason’s as she held her cell phone to her ear, her back against the headboard. They hadn’t had a chance to discuss anything yet, Jason making his priority just taking care of her. “I’m not happy about how everything happened.” Jason’s expression turned to one of regret. “But the problem is…I love him. I love him so much that I want this marriage to last forever, no matter how it happened.”
Jason’s head jerked up higher; his eyes narrowed on her face.