For His Brother's Wife

She stared at him a moment before she gave a short nod and walked over to sit in the armchair. “What do you want to know?”

“Just exactly how bizarre do I get when I’m on the pain medication?” he asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“I wouldn’t really call it bizarre,” she said, shaking her head. “The only thing I can think of that was a little scary was when you tried to get out of bed.”

He frowned. “Do you know why I was trying to get up?”

She nodded. “You were trying to find me.”

“Was there something I needed?” he prompted. Her abbreviated answers indicated there was something she didn’t want to tell him. He was determined to find out what that something was.

She shook her head but didn’t quite look him in the eyes. “You just wanted me to be in here with you.”

“What else?” He set his cup on the end table and carefully lowered his legs over the side of the bed to sit on the edge. “And don’t tell me there isn’t something. You’re too reluctant to talk to me about it for there not to be.”

She took a sudden interest in the contents of the cup in her hand. “Really, that was the only thing you did.”

“What did I say?” he asked, knowing when she jerked her head up to look at him that he’d hit pay dirt. “And why were you in bed with me?”

“You kept asking me to get into bed with you because you said you slept better when I was there.” She shrugged one slender shoulder. “You were so insistent that I told you I would sit beside you while we watched television. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remember was waking up with my head on your shoulder.”

“I’ve been on that medication for two days,” he said slowly. “There has to be more.”

She sighed audibly. “You really want to know?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” he said firmly.

“You might not like some of it,” she warned.

“Just tell me, Paige.”

“In the ER you asked if I had come to kiss you good-night,” she said, smiling as if she found the incident humorous. “That was the first indication Aaron and I had that this medication might be causing a personality change in you.”

“Aaron heard that?”

His friend was never going to let Cole hear the end of that one. Fortunately, he had gathered a few things on Aaron over the years that were just as embarrassing and when mentioned would shut him up in a hurry.

She nodded. “But he walked out of the room just before you tried to get me to climb into the hospital bed with you.”

Cole groaned. “Was that it?”

“That was all that happened at the hospital,” she said, nodding. “The majority of what you said was here after I brought you home from the hospital.”

So far it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. “You might as well tell me everything.”

“Every time you take the medication you want me to get into bed with you,” she said, her cheeks coloring a pretty pink.

“I’m nothing if not persistent,” he muttered, disgusted with himself. “Is that it?”

She hesitated before she continued. “A couple of times when you tried to talk me into getting into bed with you, you wanted us to make love again.”

Outstanding, he thought sarcastically. Apparently, under the influence of the drug he was quite chatty.

“I know you didn’t mean it,” she said hurriedly. She paused for a moment, and then took a deep breath. “And as long as we’re talking about making love, I’m really sorry about the other night.” She stared down at her hands. “I more or less threw myself at you and I take full responsibility.”

He shook his head. “Paige, there’s absolutely no reason for you to apologize. I took advantage of the situation.”

“No, you didn’t.” She got up from the chair and reached for his empty coffee cup. “I practically begged you to make love to me, and the next morning I was so embarrassed by my actions, I left the house early to go to my meeting just so I wouldn’t have to face you.”

Cole knew she was going to try to escape to the kitchen, but he was determined to get everything out in the open. Taking the cups from her hand, he set them on the end table, then pulled her down to sit beside him on the side of the bed. To keep from taking her in his arms, he gripped the edge of the mattress with both hands.

“Paige, don’t you get it? If I hadn’t wanted to make love to you the other night, there’s nothing you could have said or done to change my mind,” he stated flatly. “Give me credit for having more control.”