Perfectly Toxic (Sterling Shore 9)

At the risk of sounding overly analytical, I hope the horror of the thought losing the baby caused him didn’t force him to confess something he didn’t mean. Intense situations always bring about confessions not meant to be heard and emotions that aren’t truly there.

Within a couple of hours, it’s just Ethan and me, and he pulls a chair up next to my bed.

“You don’t have to stay,” I tell him as he flicks through the channels.

He doesn’t respond. Instead, he simply gets a little more comfortable by propping his feet up on the bed next to mine. I notice his shoes are missing, so apparently he plans to stay no matter what I say.

“Are you going to talk to me?” I ask him softly.

He shakes his head and clears his throat. “Can’t right now,” he says hoarsely.

Then I understand.

Instead of making it harder on him, I reach over and thread my fingers with his. He immediately clutches my hand, and we silently sit there, watching some random show, never even acknowledging the nurses as they come and go. When I close my eyes, the gentlest brush of soft lips finds my forehead, and that’s it.

Chapter 70

ETHAN

Mom and all the girls are working on the nursery today, so I guess I’ll be taking Bella to her house instead of mine.

Berta is waiting with her in the wheelchair when I get my car pulled around. Dale Sterling saw it about to be towed last night and moved it for me. I wouldn’t have cared about it until Bella had to be carried home and I had no ride to do it with.

It was hard as hell to leave her long enough to pull the car around.

When I reach her, she smiles a brittle smile, and I climb out just as she tries to stand up. I have her in my arms before she can fully straighten, and a surprised breath leaves her in a gasp.

“I can walk,” she says, but I don’t put her down until I have her in the front seat and even go so far as to buckle her up.

We ride in silence to her house, because I’m still struggling to speak. I was relieved and still terrified at the same time when she told me she hadn’t lost the baby. She didn’t lose our baby, but she could have. The call was too close, and now I’m fighting the urge to lock her away with bubble-wrap all over her.

Those stairs… She could have broken her neck or something. I don’t even want to think about what I would have done if she’d died.

A shudder wracks my body just as we pull up. I feel her eyes on me, but there are too many things going on in my head to try and talk to her right now.

Somehow I have to convince her to quit her damn job so I can have my eyes on her all the time. Fortunately, the hospital told her to take a couple of paid weeks off, so I have some time. I assume that has something to do with the phone call Corbin’s dad put in, raising hell that his son was treated like he had no authority when it mattered.

I guess Corbin was wrong about his father not still having his back too.

Bella doesn’t protest this time when I scoop her up, and I hold her against me, inhaling her scent.

Allie opens the door for us when we reach it, and her eyes burst into tears. She couldn’t get to the hospital before Bella fell asleep last night, and I wouldn’t let her wake her up. I really didn’t want her here today, but I knew Bella would, so I ceded this much.

Allie follows us into the living room, and I gently put Bella down so that the two can hug and gush and talk about how sickeningly close that came to being a hell of a lot worse than stitches.

What if the glass had stabbed her artery? What if the glass had stabbed her spine? What if she’d been paralyzed? What if? What if?

I’ve already gone through all those terrifying ‘what if’ scenarios and can’t handle hearing them all again.

No more stairs for Bella. Ever.

Fortunately, my house doesn’t have stairs. It’s a big home, but it’s not a beast like Tag’s or Maverick’s. I never saw the need in something that massive.

As Allie and Bella talk late into the day, I start growing increasingly agitated. That obsession has kicked up a notch higher since I damn near lost her and our child. All I want is to curl around her and hold her. Can’t do that when her best friend is talking to her about stupid things nonstop.

Plus, I’m not sure how Bella is going to feel about me just suddenly picking up right where we left off. Brin stops by and feeds us with some pizza she picked up, which only keeps Allie here longer.

Snatching my