The Price of Mason (Forbidden Men 10)

“Humph.” She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away slightly, only to reach back behind her a moment later and take my hand. I squeezed her fingers and ran my thumb over her knuckles until a nurse arrived to lead us to Eva’s room.

Mercer was her usual, annoying self, which told me she was going to be just fine. But it was still hard to look at her and not think about the fact that she was lying in that bed, looking pale and wounded, because of me.

Then she went and damn-near gave Reese her support of her relationship with me, which only made me feel crappier. When her parents rushed into the room, I faded out through the doorway before her mom noticed me.

Reese seemed to think that was her cue to leave too, because she followed me out and hooked her arm through mine as she glanced back worriedly toward the door. “They better not take the baby news as bad as I fear they’re going to.”

I nodded, hoping they reacted decently too. Eva was by no means my favorite person, but right now, she could do with a little kindness.

And it was so weird to think something remotely decent about her. But she was hurt because of me, so I couldn’t help it.

As Reese and I exited the hospital, she looked up at me and purposely bumped her shoulder against mine.

I met her gaze, and she lifted a hand, silently asking me what was up.

“I’m sorry,” I said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She tipped her cheek toward my shoulder and laid her hand against my chest. “About what?”

“I had no idea Dr. Masterson was the one taking care of Eva.”

“Mason,” she cut in, looking up at me with worry. “I need to confess something.”

Not expecting that, I furrowed my brow. “Okay.”

Spotting a nearby bench, she took my hand and led me to it so we could both sit. Then she petted my fingers nervously.

This seemed serious. I started to worry. Was she going to break up with me?

Finally, she blew out a deep breath and gripped both my hands. “When you tackled Jeremy today,” she started, “and that gun went off, my heart stopped. I swear, it literally stopped in my chest. I thought… I thought he’d shot you, and I was ready to die right along with you.” She wiped at her face with a shaking hand. “Then it went off again, and I was certain you were dead.”

I tightened my hold on her.

“You cannot believe how relieved I was to see you roll off of him and take control of his weapon. I couldn’t believe you were actually alive, that I was so lucky. Even after I found out about Eva and I paced the halls of the hospital, wondering if she was going to make it or not, I still felt…lucky. I was just so glad it wasn’t you.”

Wow. I released a breath I’d been holding, overwhelmed with love and the power her words had on me. I was her person. That was huge. Humbling. Amazing.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” she asked. “It doesn’t matter how many women paid you for sex, I won’t leave you because of them. I don’t think I could ever leave you for any reason.”

God. I smashed my mouth to hers, wanting to taste her truth because it was so delicious.

But she pulled away to wrinkle her nose at me. “But running into your old—and I mean, like, five years younger than God, old—clients is beginning to get annoying. We might have to move away from Waterford, where no one knows how much you used to charge.”

Amused by such an absurd announcement, I played along. “Where exactly did you have in mind?”

“Well.” She bit her lip and started to look nervous. And serious. Wait, was she actually serious? About moving? “I’ve been missing Ellamore. A lot,” she answered, meeting my gaze with a probing blue stare. “They have a great medical program at their university, and I’m sure their engineering and psychology departments rock too. Besides, it didn’t matter how far away I ran; Jeremy still found me. So I’m done running. I want to go home.”

Holy wow. She really was asking me to leave Waterford forever. My first response was, hell yes. I would love to get as far away from this pit of hell as feasibly possible.

“But Illinois?” I said. “What about Sarah and my mom?” I didn’t think I could ever move that far from my sister.

Reese chewed on her lip before she snapped her fingers. “I got it. We could bring them with us. My mom manages a hotel. She’s always looking for good, dependable employees. She could get Dawn a job, no problem.”

Damn, if she could actually accomplish that, this might actually work. Trying not to start hoping too much, I shook my head. “You have a solution for everything, don’t you?”

She merely sent me an expectant stare. “So what do you say? If we can get your mom on board, do you want to look into enrolling at Ellamore in the spring?”

I kissed her hard. “Yes,” I said, moving my mouth down her neck and delighting in her familiar sweet pea scent. “Yes. If it makes you happy and keeps us together, my answer will always be yes.”