Turbulent Intentions(83)

“I can’t sit here!” She yanked at the device on her finger and began sitting up, the monitors instantly screaming. A nurse ran in.

“You have to stop,” the nurse ordered.

“No!” Stormy surged from the bed, her head a little light as she stood up. The nurse tried to keep her back, but Stormy needed to find Cooper. She couldn’t do that lying in a bed.

She leapt for the door, nearly knocking over Nick, who was just coming inside to tell Sherman that Cooper would be there any minute.

Rushing to the stairs, she made it to the overhang that looked out at the lobby, her gaze scanning the crowd of people reuniting. She couldn’t find Cooper anywhere. At the bottom of the stairs, she was swallowed up in the crowd before she finally saw him.

Her heart racing, she pushed past the people in her way and flew across the room, grabbing his arm.

“I’ve been so scared. I really thought I lost you,” she whispered. “I need to tell you that I . . . I love you.” Tears were streaming down her face and she didn’t care.

The man turned around and to Stormy’s horror, it wasn’t Cooper.

“Why, thank you. It’s not every day a beautiful woman throws herself at me. In fact, it’s usually every other. So . . . do you come here often?” The man smiled and she couldn’t tell if he was serious or not, but she was mortified.

“I’m . . . I’m sorry. I thought you were . . . I thought you were someone else.”

The man really did look like Cooper, though. His height, skin tone, and hair were nearly if not completely identical, but now that she was closer, it was obvious that they had different builds. And the guy was wearing a very expensive designer suit. Through all of this, though, Stormy was struck most by his eyes.

Unlike the piercing green of Cooper’s, this man had gray slanted eyes, which captured Stormy’s gaze in a seemingly endless moment. She felt as if she were crossing paths with a lone wolf in a frozen wasteland.

“Have we met before?” Stormy finally asked.

The man, appearing a bit worried, suddenly straightened his tie and cleared his throat.

“Yeah. I meant to call you back, but I lost your number. It’s so great to see you again.”

“Again? Have we met?”

He seemed to hear her this time, and the man let out a relieved breath while unsuccessfully trying to pass off his previous comment as misplaced humor. “I would certainly remember you, darling. Why haven’t we met before now?”

She gasped. “Oh my gosh, you’re Ace, Cooper’s brother.” How had she not figured that out instantly?

“Yep, the old man’s my brother,” Ace finally admitted.

“I’m your brother’s . . . friend.” Stormy stopped short of declaring herself his girlfriend, considering what had taken place the last time she’d seen him. But did any of that really matter now? She corrected herself. “Girlfriend, I’m his girlfriend.”

“Well, which is it? Do I have a shot or not?”

“No, not a chance,” she said. Her heart belonged to only one Armstrong. “I am Cooper’s girlfriend. Or at least I hope I still am.”

“Where is my brother dearest? I hear he narrowly escaped death.”

Damn, this man was hardened. But Stormy wasn’t one to judge someone at first glance. And there was something in his eyes that had her wondering if Sherman was right, if he did want to come back home. She didn’t know if she’d get the chance to ask him or not.

“I haven’t found him yet.” Stormy began looking around the lobby again for Cooper, who was perhaps sitting down somewhere. He had to be exhausted.

“Well, we can take different directions and see what we come up with,” Ace said, and he slipped away.

Stormy decided to retrace her steps and go back upstairs to her hospital room. Maybe he was searching for her, too.

And then he was there.

The room full of people fell away as her eyes locked with his. And right then, in that moment, she knew everything would be okay. He broke away from his uncle and Nick, and though he had to be exhausted, he ran to her.

No words were spoken as he lifted her, his lips connecting with hers as she sobbed against him, so grateful to be in his arms again.

It was too soon when he pulled back, but Stormy knew words had to be said. Tears slid down her cheeks as she touched his face. The past hours had been miserable thinking she might never get to do so again. It put things into perspective.

“I’m sorry, Cooper. I should have trusted you. It all seems so petty now,” she cried.

He held his hand up and cupped her cheek.

“No. I was the one who should have told you everything. I understand why you reacted like you did.”