The doctor wanted to keep me one more day for observation, and the next afternoon Derek and Noah appeared right before I was discharged. They gathered all the paperwork, prescriptions, medications, and other awful hospital swag, then pushed me in a wheelchair through the hospital and out into the parking lot.

“Your car was totaled,” Derek said carefully, breaking the news as gently as he could.

I nodded. “I guess that’s the universe’s way of telling me it’s time for a new car.”

They helped me into Noah’s truck and headed to Derek’s house to drop him off.

“Do you need anything? Can I bring you anything or order anything for you?” he asked.

“I’ll make sure she has everything she needs,” Noah promised.

He glanced over and smiled at me when Derek got out. “I’ll need your address. Derek wouldn’t give it to me.”

I laughed. That sounded like Derek. I was just expecting a ride home, but when we got to my place, Noah parked. He helped me out of the truck, gathered my things, and brought me inside.

“Thank you for your help,” I said. “I appreciate it.”

I hobbled around in a circle on the boot they fitted me with to stabilize my ankle, but Noah wasn’t preparing to leave. He’d taken off his shoes and set his keys and wallet on the side table.

“I’m going to stay here with you for a bit and help you settle in. Let me know what you need. I’ll help however I can,” he said.

27

Noah

Ally looked stunned by my announcement, but I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I’d turned away from her and walked away once. There was no way I was going to do that again. Especially now that she was dealing with pain and injuries on top of the symptoms of her pregnancy, I wasn’t going to leave her alone for any longer than I absolutely had to.

“You don’t have to stay,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

There was the stubbornness that equal parts infuriated me and turned me on.

“Really?” I asked. I looked at the boot on her foot and the cast on her arm. “So, what are you planning on doing right now?”

Ally lifted her chin with defiance. “I’m exhausted, so I’m going to change into my pajamas and get in bed.”

“Okay. How are you planning on changing your clothes?”

She looked at the same impediments and let out a sigh. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Just let me help you. You need your rest. Besides, trying to limp around like that might make you fall, and that could be really dangerous.”

I went over to her and wrapped her arm around my neck so I could help her toward her bedroom. It didn’t really matter what she said or how much she argued; I was going to stay there and take care of her whether she liked it or not. She might be headstrong and independent and think she could and should do everything on her own, but that wasn’t going to be the way it was anymore. Not with this, anyway.

“I’m not going to fall over in my own apartment,” she said.

“Nope,” I said. “You’re not.”

In one movement, I swept one arm under her knees and scooped her into my arms. Ally gasped, her arms going around my neck and clinging to me in surprise.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“It’ll be easier to get you tucked into bed this way. Where is your bedroom?”

She looked at me for a few seconds like she was going to start arguing again, then relented. Her expression said she knew it was pointless to try to argue with me when I was the one literally holding her in my arms. With her sprained ankle and broken wrist on opposite sides of her body, she was at a distinct disadvantage. Trying to scramble her way out of my grip would probably result in both of us tumbling to the ground in a heap, and I figured even she and her stubbornness didn’t want that to happen.

I followed Ally’s instructions to bring her into her bedroom and set her down gently on the bed. Locating her dresser, I pulled open the top drawer only to be confronted by rows of lingerie that brought to mind more than just helping her recover. I quickly closed that drawer and opened the next one. I pulled out a long nightshirt and brought it over to the bed.

“Does this work?” I asked. She nodded. “Alright. How do you want to do this?”

“Do what?” she asked.

“Get changed.”

Despite the obvious intimate knowledge I had of her body, it didn’t escape me that I had never actually seen Ally naked. Not fully, anyway. And the times when I got the chance to see any parts of her outside their usual clothes, we got to that point fueled by heat and apparent lack of self-control. Now I was offering to help her get changed. That was a completely different thing.

Tags: Natasha L. Black Romance
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