if I stay here with you? I’ll stay awake and keep watch.” He’d be irresponsible if he didn’t put that out there as an option. The fear widening her eyes said she wouldn’t take the offer.
“So he can come back and kill us both?” She sank deeper into the bed like a deflated airbag. “I didn’t consider this before, but I’m putting you in danger. You can’t be here. I didn’t think this through all the way. I’m sorry. Forget I ever called you.”
Wait a minute.
Was she kicking him out?
“Fine. Where’s your stuff? I’ll grab a bag.” He stood as she stilled, staring blankly at him in disbelief. “We need to get moving. Several people are going to come through that door and none of them are going to be happy to see me in here.”
“I can’t let you do this. It was a mistake to get you involved.” She stared toward the window, blankly.
“You’ve already told me the risks. Consider me informed. I’m going to take you home with me, but we gotta go now.”
The door opened so hard it smacked against the wall.
A guy close to Ryan’s height wearing a blue security uniform with a squawking radio filled the frame.
“Sir, I need to ask you to leave,” he said. His polite words were delivered with a clipped tone. “You can come back to visit between the hours of eight a.m. and seven p.m.”
“My wife is ready to go now,” Ryan said, folding his arms across his chest as he assumed a defensive stance. The name on the security officer’s badge read Steven. If Steven wanted to go a few rounds, Ryan had every confidence in his own fighting abilities. That said, he preferred to save his energy for more important things. It would be up to the big guy which path they took. “I’m not walking through that door without her, Steven.”
* * *
“I’M LEAVING.” With great effort, Lisa pushed off the bed and stood. Ryan was by her side, urging her to lean on him for support before she lost her balance again. All kinds of heat fizzled through her where they made contact, but she pushed it out of her thoughts.
“You heard her. She’s ready to leave.”
Steven glanced at Alicia.
“That’s not a good idea,” Alicia said. “Let’s all settle down and think this through.”
“You’re assuming I haven’t already.” Lisa winced as she took a step forward. Ryan was there to catch her as her knee gave out, his steadying arm around her the only thing keeping her from falling flat on the floor. “You aren’t keeping me safe here.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to go. Doctor’s orders.” Alicia’s resolve was steady.
Panic overwhelmed Lisa. Ryan couldn’t help her and deal with the big security guard at the same time. The air in the room was thinning. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest in part from stress and the very real feeling of contact with Ryan. What was it about him that could calm her and send her body into such a pinball machine of awareness all at the same time?
Trying to take another step toward the door, she faltered.
Ryan hauled her against his chest and made a move to kiss her.
He was giving them a show. She understood that on some level, but his hand guiding her lips toward his sent heat rocketing through her.
Ryan’s moment of hesitation—a brief pause to catch and hold her gaze for a split second—sent her heart soaring and caused a hundred somersaults to flip through her stomach.
His lips, tentative, barely touched hers. Her breath caught and she could’ve sworn she’d heard him groan right before deepening the kiss.
She tilted her head back to give him better access as she parted her lips for him. For one dizzying moment when his tongue slid into her mouth her pain disintegrated and all she could feel was his lips moving against hers and how right it felt to be in Ryan Hunt’s arms.
The thought was startling. She didn’t belong there.
Breaking away first, she forced her mind to the present because for a moment she got lost—lost in the moment, in the feeling of awareness, in the feeling of life being right for just a second.
Turning toward the folks intent on keeping her in that room, Lisa put one hand on Ryan’s shoulder and the other on her hip. No way could they push past Alicia and the big guy. Ryan was not small, nor was he incapable of handling himself. She was the weak link. She was the liability. Anger surged through her for being the one to hold them back. “Do you have a court order keeping me here, Alicia?”
The nurse’s lips thinned as she shook her head.
“Then I suggest you step aside.” The look of approval on Ryan’s face, the way he smiled out of the side of his mouth shouldn’t make her this happy. It did. She told herself it was because he was putting himself on the line for her. She owed him this at least.
He squeezed her waist and more of that fiery electricity shot through her, warming her in places she didn’t want to think about with him standing this close. Or maybe it was just that she didn’t want to go there with other people in the room.
Her thoughts couldn’t be more inappropriate under the circumstances. Because that kiss made her wonder if Ryan was feeling more for her than he’d let on.
And what exactly was she supposed to do with that? Her life was a mess and he deserved so much more than she could give him.
In times like these, Lisa had to remind herself to take it one moment at a time.
“Well?” she asked point blank. Her confidence had returned.
“We can’t keep you here against your will. However, I would like to ask you to stay, anyway,” Alicia said flatly.
They couldn’t keep her safe. They didn’t believe her. They gave her no other choice.
“I’m fine.” She looked up at Ryan. “Let’s go. They can throw away the rest of my things for all I care. There’s nothing in here that can’t be replaced.”
He gently leaned her against the bed and she missed his warmth as soon as he took a step away from her.
“Hospital regulation requires her to leave in a wheelchair,” the nurse said. “Will you at least sign the paperwork and let me take you out?”
Lisa nodded. “As long as it’s quick.”
The nurse disappeared, taking the security guard with her.
“My clothes are over there.” She motioned toward the tall cabinet next to the wall-mounted TV. “That’s all I have with me other than my cell, which is nearly out of battery.”
Ryan retrieved her folded-up outfit of shorts and a halter top along with her underclothes.
She hoped he didn’t see her cheeks warm with embarrassment at the idea of him handing her underwear to her.
Once they got outside, she’d breathe much lighter. As it was, tension threatened to crack her already bruised and hurting shoulders.
“I can step into the hallway for a minute to give you privacy while you dress if you’d like.” Ryan placed the clothes on the bed next to where she stood.
“Here’s the thing. I’m going to need your help.” She smiled weakly.
His gray-blue eyes darkened to steel. An almost-pleading look crossed his features for a nanosecond. Then he half smirked. “I guess it would be weird for a husband to leave the room while his wife dressed.”
“Hadn’t even thought of that. It shouldn’t take too long and I probably only need help getting things over my big size eights.” Did she just complain about her shoe size? Was she rambling? The thought of Ryan in the room with her while