Protect Me (28 page)

She sat
up and carefully swung her feet over the edge of the bed (with a minimum of
pain, she was pleased to discover). He still wasn’t looking at her.

“Rick,”
Hope said softly. She almost reached out for his hand, but didn’t. Instead she
studied the defeated slump of his shoulders and tried to look past the hair
fallen over his eyes. “Do you want me to go away?”

His
head shot up and he stared at her, his expression more conflicted than she’d
ever seen on him before.

“Of
course not,” Rick said, and at least he didn’t sound torn about that. He
sounded sure, but sad. Hope tilted her head back to keep watching him as he
stepped forward, so that his legs almost touched the bed and the fabric of his
pants brushed against her calves.

He
reached out slowly and brushed the back of his knuckles in a line down the side
of her throat. She shivered, and his eyes darkened.

“I just
don’t want you to feel like I’m your only option. Don’t stay with me because
you’re trapped, okay? I mean, you don’t need to, but - I’m just telling you.
Because I know I’m kind of a pain in the ass. I get distracted, and I try to
run people’s lives, and Iseul used to tell me that I acted like her time
belonged to me which I don’t think is fair, but…”

Hope
stood up, wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned into him. She had to
suppress a contented sigh; Rick was warm and solid and his arms came up to fold
around her back automatically.

“That
is completely fair, Iseul is right, but it’s okay. Well. Not okay. But it’s not
- it’s not a deal breaker for me.” She’d almost died, but then she hadn’t, and
now Hope was pressed up against Rick in her thin hospital gown. She grinned
into his chest and fisted handfuls of his shirt. She was alive and free and she
could do anything she wanted. Almost was the best thing ever.

“Why do
I feel like you’re making bad choices and thinking dangerous thoughts right
now?” Rick said into her hair, but she could feel the edges of a smile in his
voice.

“Maybe
I am,” Hope said, and then craned her neck up to capture his mouth in a kiss.

EPILOGUE:
Five Months Later

Boran’s
former client - he had a name in her head now, but it didn’t matter, that was
how she’d always think of him - smiled nastily at her. “Things have worked out
quite well for you, Ms. Lasser, wouldn’t you say? One day you were…” he
gestured vaguely, “…running around in the mud, and the next you’re on the arm
of the most eligible bachelor in California.”

She
took a moment to try to sort through the jumble of words and meaning. Behind
her, Hope was vaguely aware of a hushed sort of conversation that indicated everyone
was paying attention to her words instead of their own. Fantastic.

“Uh…
yes?” she gave up and finally said, totally baffled. Obviously this was a trick
question, but she didn’t see how.

The
squat man’s face went blank so that he looked almost as confused as she felt.
Hope felt a vibration of suppressed laughter through Rick’s hand wrapped around
her arm; he swept them off by way of pretending to want a dance. Hell, maybe he
did want a dance. You never knew with Rick.

He
leaned down so that his breath caressed the shell of her ear as he spoke. “And
you said you’d have no idea what to say at fundraiser parties. I believe you’ve
just won the respect of at least half my colleagues.”

Hope
shivered and smiled at him. Rick grinned and pulled her close.

The truth
wasn’t as simple as her reply, or even what Boran’s obnoxious ex-client
thought. Hope was nothing if not clear-sighted. Even with Rick’s arms around
her, she had a clear visual of the entire situation.

And
yes, she was lucky. She was incredibly lucky. But not for any of the reasons
that man thought.

Rick
was only human, same as her. Yes, he was brilliant and gorgeous and kind - and
rich; Hope still had no idea what to do with that, since she wasn’t used to
having the luggage space for luxuries. Rick seemed to think she had the
inclinations of your average magpie, but the truth was that the sparkling new
jewelry that sat on her dresser didn’t really feel like hers. It felt like a
costume, something she wore when she was playing the part of Rick Stone’s fiancé.

She
wasn’t really sure what to think about possessing that title, either. Hope was
pretty sure she liked it, but it was strange to be so securely tied down after
being as aimless and free as the wind for so long.

A firm
hand slid down her spine and sparks shot up it; her eyes snapped up to meet
Rick’s. He met her gaze with a syrup-slow smile and dark eyes.

Hope
grinned back, already second nature after only so many months.

She
pressed her hips forwards against Rick’s, arched her back, and pushed up on
tiptoe to slant a kiss across his mouth. It was only supposed to last a second,
but when their lips met Hope’s eyes closed and her arms wound around Rick’s
neck, trying to push even closer. Rick’s hand splayed flat across the small of
her back, covering the place where Hope should have scarred. The perfect pale
skin was the only remainder of Rick’s brilliant, failed attempt to be something
other than what he was.

Rick’s
responsibilities seemed to weigh on him less heavily these days, though. Hope
felt his other hand come up to run through her hair and she sighed into the
kiss.

“Are
there tickets to this show?” a nearby voice intruded. Hope and Rick broke away
from each other just in time to see Trinity whack Javier on the back of the
head. Javier winced and looked semi-apologetic.

“You
were raised in a barn,” Trinity scolded.

Never
one to miss out on the fun, Iseul appeared out of nowhere to stand by Trinity’s
elbow and grin. “Come now, that’s uncharitable to farm animals,” she teased.

“You
guys are so, so mean to me,” Javier lamented. He turned to Rick. “They’re being
mean to me. Do you hear this? This is emotional torment. I’m going to end up
scrapbooking my pain or something and then nobody will ever talk to me again.”

“Iseul
scrapbooks. I helped her pick out supplies last weekend. Do you have any idea
how expensive stickers are? It’s daylight robbery, and they get away with it
because nobody expects the crafty inquisition,” Hope said. The moment was gone
but not forgotten; she leaned up against Rick and his hand settled at her hip.

“That
is actually the most boring thing I’ve ever heard. Congratulations, you’re a
boring person now,” Javier told her. Trinity whacked him upside the head again
and he couldn’t entirely hide a victorious grin. Hope and Iseul caught each
other’s eye and shook their heads.

“I
think he took his dating tips from a How-To book for middle schoolers,” Hope
muttered to Rick.

She saw
half of the smile on his handsome profile as he glanced down at her, amused.

“That
reminds me,” he said. “Did you ever finish
Jane Eyre
?”

Hope
looked around the crowded room at friends, acquaintances, and strangers. Her
eyes lingered on the people in front of her, people who had come into her life
and stuck around. People she loved.

“No,”
she said honestly. “Maybe I’ll finish it someday. Right now, I’m too busy with
this story.”

The
fingers around her waist tightened, and Rick turned his head to press a kiss
into her hair.

“That’s
a cliché, darling,” he said. “But that’s alright. I suppose my favorite cliché
is happily ever after.”

FIN