Kicking off her shoes, she moved to the side of the bed. “You’ve got a bandage on one arm and an IV in the other. How am I supposed to get in with you?”
He considered his options. “I guess the bandaged side is better.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.” He moved over a little, and she eased onto the bed beside him, being careful of the knife wound.
“Get under the covers so I can hold your hand,” he said in a husky voice.
Because she was already in pretty deep, she pulled the covers aside, seeing that the short gown he wore barely preserved his modesty.
Slipping in beside him, she pulled the covers back into place.
He found her hand and clasped it, and they lay together in the narrow bed.
For long moments, he didn’t speak. Finally he said, “Almost bleeding out makes you think about your life.”
She winced at the way he’d put it.
“Like I told you, I never considered myself good marriage material.”
“And now?” she asked, her breath stilling.
“Would you take a chance on me?”
The question took her completely by surprise. “What are you asking exactly?”
“Like, would you consider being in a relationship with me?”
Her thoughts had also traveled in that direction, but she’d had no idea how he felt. Well, she’d had some idea when they’d made love, and afterward, but she hadn’t expected him to come right out and say anything. Or maybe he was having the same reaction as she was. That life was short, and if you didn’t go after what you wanted, you wouldn’t get it.
She could feel the tension radiating through him and realized it had been several moments since he’d spoken.
“Yes,” she answered.
“We’d have to work it out. I mean, I’m not moving to New York.”
“I don’t have to stay there.”
“If you left New York, what would you do?”
“One thing I didn’t do was spend all my money, like a lot of people who suddenly start making big bucks. I’ve got a lot saved up—and I had a good investment counselor. And, of course, I’m sitting on a very valuable piece of Howard County property. I have time to think about work.”
“You’d sell your family farm?”
“Well, not to just anyone. It would have to be to the right person. Someone who wouldn’t throw up a cheap development where the houses were packed together. And I wouldn’t have to sell all of it. I could preserve some of it as farmland—if Yeager or someone else wants to work it.”
“Olivia.” He turned his head, brushing his lips against her cheek. “Look this way.”
She did and their mouths met. He kissed her tenderly, then with more passion. She loved the way his lips moved against hers, the way his tongue teased hers.
But finally, she forced herself to be sensible and pulled back. “You shouldn’t.”
“Kissing you is doing me a world of good. I’d like to do a lot more.”
“Yes. When you’re out of here.”
It was hard not to go back to what they’d been doing, but she had more to say. “There’s something I haven’t liked about my life—that my looks have been so important.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“And you like that.”
“Of course, but it’s certainly not the most important thing about you.”
Relieved, she answered, “And it’s only skin deep, as they say. Plus I’d like the option of being ordinary. I hate always having to be fixed up, even when I’m just going to the grocery store. This is an opportunity to change direction.”
“Like what?”
“The best would be finding a job where I could use my mind. Maybe, you know…” She laughed. “I could even go to college and get a degree in something useful.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“I can give myself time to figure it out.”
A throat-clearing sound from the doorway made her look up. A nurse was looking at them with a quizzical expression on her face.
Olivia was glad they hadn’t been doing anything besides talking at the moment. The woman cleared her throat again, and Olivia slipped out of the bed, turning away as she pulled on her shoes.
“I asked for special therapy,” Max said.
The woman laughed, then began to take his vital signs. “BP is elevated,” she informed him.
“Shows I’m not dead yet,” Max quipped.
“I’ll see you later,” Olivia said.
When she came back to the waiting area, Shane had left and Jack had come in—with sandwiches and tea for her.
“How’s Max?” he asked.