Truly Madly Deeply Boxed Set (47 page)

“I’m not running anymore,” he said, in a voice still rough from medication but also tight with emotion.

“I know. You’re flat on your back,” she quipped with more lightness than she felt.

“You can’t joke your way out of this. We need to talk.”

“And you need to rest.”

Mike closed his eyes. Apparently she was right. The exhaustion was evident on his face and every forced word he spoke.

“You’re right,” he said finally.

“I usually am.” She smiled.

“Am I interrupting?” His brother pushed open the door to the hospital room.

Mike leaned his head back against the stack of hospital pillows and groaned. “Come on in,” Carly called out, saving him the effort. She turned to Peter. “I was just leaving.” She squeezed Mike’s hand once and headed for the door without meeting his gaze.

* * *

Mike leaned back against the uncomfortable pillow and waited while Carly slipped out the door. A floor nurse walked in behind Peter. “Hey, Pete.”

His brother grinned. “Looking better. I have to admit you scared the living daylights out of me.”

“Doubling over in the airport wasn’t my idea of a good time either.” He waited while the nurse did her thing—temperature and blood pressure.

“All set, Mr. Novack.” She jotted notes in his chart and walked out.

“If I had known about those good-looking nurses, I would have checked myself in here,” Pete said, his eyes following the attractive nurse’s departure.

“You’re one of a kind, little brother.” Mike eased himself higher in the bed, ignoring the pain as well as the painkiller the nurse had tried to force on him. He preferred having a clear head.

“I am, aren’t I?” Pete chuckled. “When are they releasing you?”

“Not soon enough,” Mike muttered.

“What’s your hurry?” His brother glanced back toward the closed door, but no voluptuous blond nurse answered his silent plea.

Mike laughed, then clenched his teeth at the accompanying pain in his side. “I can’t get my life together from a hospital bed.”

Carly had visited him twice yesterday and once already today. Each time she had stayed longer but left as soon as the questions turned personal.

“She playing hard to get?” Pete asked.

“She just needs some coaxing,” Mike said, deliberately vague. He had no intention of discussing his relationship, or lack thereof, with Pete.

His brother paced the room. “I know she’s worth the effort,” he said at last.

“Having second thoughts?”

“Hell no.” Pete laughed. “She’s all yours. Carly and I wouldn’t make each other happy,” he said.

Mike raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Since when does happiness count?” he asked his work-devoted brother.

Pete sat himself on the chair next to Mike’s bed. “Since I nearly destroyed someone who was nothing but good to me. And since Regina expected to marry the newest litigation partner on her way up the corporate ladder.”

“Didn’t like being on the other end of things, huh? There might be hope for you yet, little brother.”

“Don’t get carried away,” Pete muttered.

Mike laughed. “Well, you did good letting Carly know after the hospital notified you.”

He shrugged uncomfortably. “It was the least I could do. You’re my brother, after all.”

Mike nodded. It was something Carly had reminded him of time and again. He needed his brother, something he wouldn’t have been able to admit prior to his return to the Middle East. He could face that truth now.

Along with many others. He only hoped it wasn’t too late.

* * *

Carly stepped out of the bathroom to the sound of an insistent ring. “I’m coming,” she called to her impatient visitor. She’d just gotten out of the shower and finished blow-drying her hair, probably missing the first couple of rings. Whoever was out there had his finger permanently attached to her doorbell. She opened the door a crack and glanced beyond the chain lock.

“Mike?” She closed the door to unlatch the lock. “What are you doing here?” He wasn’t due to be released from the hospital until the next day.

“I couldn’t take that place another minute.” He smiled and headed straight for
his
chair. Holding his right side, he lowered himself slowly and dropped a duffel bag onto the floor. “I’ll never take being mobile for granted again.”

Carly stopped in the kitchen for a glass of ice water and tried to calm the pounding of her heart. She wasn’t ready for this conversation, not without warning. Apparently, though, Mike had set the timetable. She’d just have to listen... and hope he hadn’t come to tell her he was leaving again as soon as he was able.

“You checked out against doctor’s orders, I’ll bet.” She handed him the glass and sat down on the couch.

He shrugged. “Another day or night wasn’t going to make a difference.”

“I’m sure your doctor had other ideas.” She chewed on her lower lip. Finally curiosity got the better of her. “Where are you staying?” Until he was healed, she didn’t have to worry about him hopping on the nearest airplane out of the country. At least not yet. She fingered her bangs. Her hand trembled and she shoved it beneath her leg.

“I’ll stay with Pete for a week or so.” Mike deliberately paused for a sip of water and watched her reaction.

She nodded slowly. “And then?” Her lips, which had been damp before, had lost their luster as she nibbled on her lower lip with her teeth.

“What do you expect me to do?”

Startled, she met his gaze. Her brown eyes reflected confusion and something else. What, he didn’t know. Since his return he hadn’t been able to read her as easily as before.

“Do you expect me to head overseas?”

“I... I don’t know what to expect.”

He placed his glass down, rose carefully and resettled himself next to her on the couch. “There was a time when I didn’t either.”

“And now you do?”

He nodded. “You accused me of not understanding the concept of commitment once, and as much as that hurt, it was the truth.”

She shook her head. “I was wrong. You’ve always been committed to your job, to your brother. To me, when you set your mind to proving certain points,” she said with a grin.

He placed his hand beneath her chin, turning her so their eyes locked. “Committed to running away. It’s not the same thing.”

“Maybe not,” she murmured.

“Definitely not. Until you damn near married my brother I didn’t realize what a mess I’d made of my life. That was a wake-up call if I’d ever gotten one.”

“I thought you provided me with the wake-up call.” She smiled, the gesture so warm and open, he nearly forgot the last month of deprivation.

“We’re good for each other.” If her appearance was any indication, she’d missed him as much as he’d ached for her. She’d lost weight in the time they’d been apart. Slender legs were encased in tight leggings and suede boots. Her damp hair trailed over an oversized white sweater that hugged her thighs. And shadows lurked in her dark eyes. Shadows he’d do his damndest to remove, if she’d let him.

He touched her soft cheek with one knuckle. “In your own quiet way, you showed me all I was missing.

She shook her head. “I abandoned you.” She didn’t meet his gaze.

“No.” Pulling her against him, he buried his face in her hair and inhaled the scent he’d only had the luxury of dreaming of. “You cared enough to let me go when I needed to.”

In a move that stunned him, she jerked backward, removing herself from his arms and distancing herself from his touch. She stood. Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks.

“Don’t give me so much credit.” She shook her head and laughed, a harsh sound that tore at his heart. “I let you go because it was easier than walking away myself. But if you hadn’t gotten that call, don’t think for a minute I wouldn’t have found an excuse to pull away.”

He stood and remained silent. Nothing she said came as a shock to him, nor did it bother him the way she obviously thought it should. “And?”

“Don’t you get it? I wanted you to go.” She obviously felt she owed him the truth.

He respected her for that, he thought, watching her sink back into the couch. “And you wanted me to come back, just as much as I wanted to come back to you.” He stayed silent until she looked at him. “I went because I had to and came back for the same reasons.”

“I don’t understand.”

Or she didn’t want to. The glimmer Mike saw in her eyes wasn’t happiness, it was uncertainty, and his heart clenched with the same emotion. Because for the first time he acknowledged that he might actually lose her.

“Commitment,” he explained. “I had to complete one before I could make another.” He leaned over. Lowering his head to hers, he tasted her lips, reveling in the sweetness that was uniquely Carly. His mouth moved over hers, coaxing and teasing, seeking acceptance. Her resistance fled in seconds, with a soft sigh and an intimate greeting. Her tongue met his and Mike’s self-control went into remaining gentle but insistent. He couldn’t, wouldn’t lose her now.

She raked her fingers through his hair as she allowed him to draw her closer. He brushed feather-light kisses on the tip of her nose and across her jaw. He sat beside her and drew her close. She didn’t pull away and that gave him hope.

Now he owed her honesty. “Orphaned isn’t abandoned. Do you remember telling me that?” He separated them so he could look into her brown eyes.

She nodded.

“I didn’t understand then. Until I spent time with those kids from the accident, I couldn’t. But I realize now that I was still feeling like a lost kid... and pushing away any chance of ever settling down. Running from one job to the next without any long-term commitment, not letting anyone close to me... because I didn’t want to give anyone the chance to leave me again.”

“Including me?”

“Especially you. Because you meant more to me than anyone else. So I left you first.”

She shook her head and laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Some pair we are.”

“But I came back. The appendicitis hit once I’d already landed, but I came back. Do you understand now?” he asked.

She pressed a kiss to his neck but remained silent causing his heart to thud painfully against his chest. Mike grasped her arms in front of her, holding her before him, begging her to listen and understand. “We both had things to deal with, things to face. There’s no shame in that.”

“I know. I wasn’t any better at dealing with the past than you were. But that’s changed. While you were gone, I made peace with my parents.”

Pride swelled inside him and her words gave him hope. “I know what that took for you.”

She nodded. “And I learned something.”

“What was that?”

“That my perception of safety was as false as my perception of life.
Nothing
about Peter was safe.”

Mike reached for the duffel bag he’d dropped earlier and pulled out a stack of photos. “Look.”

Carly accepted the pile and flipped through the pictures. “Rye Playland,” she said, feeling the smile on her lips.

“Take a look at yourself.”

She did and was surprised by what she saw. Wide smiles, huge laughing eyes... and they were hers. “I was happy,” she whispered.

“
We
were happy.”

“What are you saying?”

“Just what I said in the hospital. I’m not running anymore. I’m back.”

“For...?”

“For good.”

“And your career?”

He exhaled. “I’m not saying I won’t miss the travel, but I figure we can do that together. And I’m sure I can get a job with a national...”

“What about the danger? Won’t you miss the danger? The excitement? The making a difference?” Afraid to hope, yet unable to prevent herself, Carly waited for his answer.

“I think you provide enough excitement, sweetheart.”

Her heart pounded hard inside her chest. “You won’t get bored? Miss your old way of life?”

He rubbed his thumb over the pulse point in her wrist. “You are my life. Together we can do things we’ve never dreamed of alone.”

That much was true. It was Mike’s strength and belief in her that had gotten her through the last month, even though he wasn’t there. She rose and went into the bedroom. When she returned to face Mike, she held out a white box that contained her heart, all wrapped in one package.

He opened the box and pulled out her manuscript, handling it as if it was fragile glass. “You did it.”

She nodded, watching from a few feet away as he began turning the pages. On page two, she held her breath.

The dedication was burned in her heart and soul.
To the man who told me that passion and love are healthy human emotions. And then set out to prove it.

Slowly he raised his gaze to meet hers. The golden flecks danced in his eyes. “Thank you,” he said softly.

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t have done it without you. You were right about me... about a lot of things. This is my way of saying thanks.” She pointed to the stack of white pages in his hands.

He placed the manuscript back in the box.

“That copy is for you. I hoped... well, if you came back, I wanted you to have it. You can read it if you want,” she said, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “There’s a lot of me in there.”

After meeting with her parents, she’d spent the next two weeks in front of the computer. The heart of the manuscript, the elusive something that had been missing, had miraculously found its way onto the screen. The results had been therapeutic.

“I’ll read it because I want to. I already know you.”

Afraid to speak because of the lump forming in her throat, and because she was afraid she’d break down, she merely nodded. He had always known her, even when she hadn’t known herself.

Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage and left her past behind. She looked the man she loved in the eye. “I’m not running anymore either,” she whispered.

A harsh groan echoed from deep inside him as he reached for her, pulling her down to the couch with him. He winced but wrapped his arms around her anyway. Lowering his head, his lips met hers. His kiss was wet, hot, everything she remembered and more. Her heart kicked into high gear under the intensity of his kiss.

She lay back on the couch and he followed, bracing his arms on either side of her head. She could see the exertion it took for him to move. “Now tell me,” he said, his voice hoarse and disbelieving.