Baker opened his bag and pulled out several bottles of water. “Nothing stronger than water for you yet though. You need to get hydrated.”
Ryan picked up a piece of the chicken and bit into it. He chewed and swallowed. “Thanks, guys.”
Baker shrugged. “It’s nothing. Eat.”
They talked of inconsequential things as they ate. The fire was out, but a crew would watch for hotspots for a day or two. The kids they’d rescued were fine and home with their parents. Life was pretty much back to normal for everyone else.
Ryan managed to eat half of what was on his plate before he had to lay back and rest. After their ten minutes was up, Jenkins and Baker left and were replaced by two more buddies from the station. By the time a dozen men had come and gone, Ryan’s eyes were closing again. He was exhausted, plus the nurse had been by with another round of medication for him.
He’d been amused at the way two of his buddies had made calf-eyes at the pretty blonde nurse. She ignored their antics and watched to make sure Ryan took all his medication. Then she turned to his buddies. “Five more minutes, gentlemen.”
Both of them laid their hands over their hearts and pretended to swoon. The nurse snorted at them and left, but not before Ryan glimpsed the beginnings of a smile on her face. He knew the guys were joking around to try to cheer him up and it was working, for the most part.
There was still a piece of him that jumped to alert every time the door opened. His heart sank each time it wasn’t Esther. His buddies sensed the change in him and mistook it for exhaustion. They got up, said their goodbyes and left, promising to drop by and see him at home after he was released.
The doctor had already told him that he could leave tomorrow morning if there were no problems overnight. Ryan wasn’t anticipating any problems. He just wished that Esther would come back so they could talk. As if he’d summoned her, the door pushed slowly open and Esther stuck her head inside.
Esther had just said goodbye to the last of Ryan’s friends from work, but she’d waited an extra few minutes, half-hoping that he’d be asleep by the time she went in to say goodnight. It was nine o’clock and visiting hours were now over.
Sitting in the waiting room with the firefighters had reminded Esther of what a tight-knit group they were. Cops and firefighters, there were no others like them. When one was hurt or in need they all turned out. It brought back vivid memories of her past, memories she wanted to forget. Yet not all the memories were bad.
She’d grown up with more honorary “uncles” then she could count. All of the men her father had worked with had eaten at her parents’ table at one time or another. And she had eaten at theirs as well. Summer pool parties, barbecues, Christmas parties and special occasions, all were shared with one another. Esther had pushed that from her memory, concentrating only on her father’s death and the days that had followed.
Even after his death, his friends had rallied around them, making sure they were okay. Wives had brought food and stayed to chat and some of the men had talked to her and her brothers. To this day, if her mother needed any repairs done around the house all she had to do was pick up the phone and she’d have all the help she needed.
Those were the kinds of men and women who went into those professions, and Ryan was one of them. She’d been surprised when the Chief stopped by to speak with her. Taking their cue from him, all the men did the same as they left, reassuring her that Ryan was tough and he’d be back on his feet in no time. She knew by now the fact that she’d raced to the hospital the moment he’d been hurt was common knowledge. Everyone was already speculating on their relationship, but not in a mean way.
Their care and concern had touched her heart, melting the last of the barriers that she’d kept around it for so very long. Now if only she could find the right words to say to Ryan.
When she pushed the door open and poked her head into the room, he was still awake. “Hey.” She went inside and let the door close behind her. “Visiting hours are over.”
He watched her as she went to the chair and picked up her sweater. “It was good to see the guys.”
She nodded as she slipped her sweater on, taking the time to do up all the buttons. It would be chilly outside now. “Ryan,” she began at the same time he said her name.
“You first,” he said as he settled back on the bed.
He hardly looked like a man who’d been hurt fighting a blaze and rescuing several kids today. If it weren’t for the bandage on his wrist and hand, she’d never have known he’d been hurt. A fierce need to care for him and love him welled up inside her. “The doctor said you’d be going home in the morning.”
“Yeah.”
Esther clutched her purse in her hands. “I want you to come home with me. We need to talk.”
Ryan watched her for so long that she began to fidget. His face softened and he held out his hand. “Are you sure? One of the guys will take me home, and I’m sure they’ll check up on me. Not that I need it, mind you.”
Even now, he was giving her an out. Esther had never loved him more. “I’m sure.” She stepped over to the side of the bed. “I want to.”
Bending down, she brushed her lips over his. His good hand came up to cup the back of her neck, holding her close as he deepened the kiss. She angled her face and increased the pressure, loving the feel of his mouth against hers. His tongue tangled with hers and when his hand fell away, they were both breathless.
“You taste like chicken,” she blurted out.
Ryan chuckled. “Some of the guys brought food.”
“I should have thought of that.” She felt bad for not even considering it.
“You had other things on your mind.” His eyes began to close and he couldn’t stifle a yawn.
“Sleep,” she told him.
“You’ll be back in the morning?”
“I’ll be back,” she promised him as he finally gave up the fight and let his eyes close all the way.
“Good.”
She waited, but he didn’t say anything else. Within minutes, he was asleep. There was a light tap on the door and Esther hurried to open it. The same blonde nurse who’d been around since late afternoon was waiting outside. “I’m leaving now. He’s finally asleep.”
The nurse smiled at her. “He should get a good night’s sleep. He’ll feel much better in the morning.” Esther hated to leave him and it must have shown in her expression. “I promise I’ll call you if his condition changes,” the nurse added.
“Thank you.” Gratitude flowed through her.
The nurse patted her arm. “My man’s a cop, so I know what I’d feel like if it were him in that bed. I get off at midnight, but I’ll leave a note on his chart for you to be contacted if anything changes.”
Ryan was her man. There was no use in trying to deny it any longer. Esther glanced at the woman’s nametag. “I really appreciate that, Leslie.” Holding out her hand, she introduced herself. “I’m Esther.”
Chapter Ten
Ryan was restless by the time Esther showed up just past eleven the next morning. The doctor had come and gone, pronouncing him fit to go home. Rest was what he’d prescribed for the next few days, that and a heating pad applied to his back to help loosen and relax the muscles. The bruises and strained muscles weren’t serious, but they were making themselves known this morning. The bandages on the burns needed to be changed every day until his follow-up visit with the doctor and then, hopefully, he’d be able to lose them altogether.
She pushed into the room, a tentative smile on her face. “Looks like you’re all ready to go.”
“Yeah.” He was more than ready to be out of this place. He wanted to be alone with Esther so they could talk. “All the paperwork is done and Baker dropped off some clean clothes for me this morning.”
Esther chewed on her bottom lip. “He mentioned he would last night before he left.”
“I had some sweat pants and T-shirts at work.” He indicated the black pants and white shirt he wore. His buddy had also brought him a change of underwear and a pair of sneakers. “It’ll do until I get home.”
“I thought you were coming home with me,” she blurted out.
His heart began to pound. “I thought that was just so we could talk.”
She shook her head. “I want you to stay until you’re better. At least until you get the bandage on your hand removed.”
A nurse knocked and bustled into the room before he could comment, and in no time he found himself seated in a wheelchair being pushed down the hall to the waiting elevator. He hated the wheelchair, but knew it was hospital procedure. In no time they were at the main entrance.
While he waited in the foyer, Esther hurried to the parking lot to bring her car around. He’d protested that he could easily walk, but she’d just scowled at him and rushed away.
Ryan was bemused by her protective attitude, but it also gave him hope. When she pulled her car up beside the door, he stood, thanked the nurse and began to shuffle toward the passenger side. His back and legs were stiff, but the only way that was going to change was if he moved around and did some light stretching.
Esther scowled but said nothing as she stowed the paper bag with his few belongings in the backseat—his buddies had already taken his work gear back to the station. Ryan lowered himself gingerly into the passenger seat, trying to ignore the tremors in his body and the sweat on his brow. Man, he was whipped.
He felt her reaching across him, her soft breast brushing against his arm as she grabbed his seatbelt and tugged it over his chest, snapping it in place. She put on her own seatbelt and pulled away from the hospital. Her fresh scent lingered in his nostrils—the light smell of flowers mixed with the unique perfume of Esther herself.
His body responded immediately. He glanced down at his sweat pants. Sure enough, the fabric was tenting slightly as his erection grew. Taking a deep breath, he tried to bring his body back under control, but it wasn’t easy, especially since Esther kept glancing over at him every few seconds.
“Are you okay?” Her soft voice skittered over his skin and his cock jerked.
“Yeah.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest. Relaxing his hands, which were fisted tight, he took several breaths. By the time the car turned into her driveway, he had himself under control again.
Getting his battered body out of the vehicle was a challenge, but he managed it with a minimal amount of swearing. Esther was by his side the entire time, offering support when he needed it, but stepping aside when she sensed he needed to do something for himself. By the time he made it to her living room, he was sweating again.
“This way.” She tossed her coat and purse aside, tucked her arm around his waist, and guided him down the hallway. He raised his eyebrow in question, but she kept her gaze stubbornly fastened on the floor.
He almost groaned aloud when the bed came into view. This was the bed where he’d made love to Esther, the bed where he’d held her in his arms as they slept. It was also a bed he could stretch out on, and right now he needed that more than just about anything else.
He lowered himself to the side of the bed and she knelt at his feet and unlaced his sneakers. Ryan stared down at her bent head. Her brown hair was clipped back at her nape, allowing him to see the curve of her cheek. Her face was tinged a light pink, whether from exertion or embarrassment, he wasn’t sure. Either way it made her look sexy and sweet at the same time.
Many times he’d dreamed of having Esther on her knees in front of him. But in his fantasies she was naked and he wasn’t injured. She tugged off his sneakers and socks and sat back on her heels.
Ryan swallowed hard. Damn, he loved this woman. Whether it was because of the life they’d shared in the past or because of who she was now didn’t matter. Both lives melded together in his mind until he couldn’t separate one from the other.
“Why am I here?” His patience was at an end. He needed to know where he stood with her, where their relationship was headed.
Esther stared up at him, her blue eyes wide. She met his gaze straight on and Ryan was filled with a certainty that the next few minutes would decide the course of his entire life.
Esther glanced at the red votive candle sitting on her bedside table. A reminder of the night Rhiannon had cast a spell to bring them all, not a lover as they planned, but a love that was true. She already had that and had almost thrown it away.
Whether or not the spell actually worked, bringing her and Ryan together on Halloween night, or if it had been inevitable for them from the beginning was no longer important. He was here now and that was all that mattered.
She fought the urge to fidget under his intense gaze. His golden-brown eyes watched her without blinking. She felt as though he was seeing inside her, right into her very soul. She knew she owed him nothing less than the truth, especially after what she’d put him through. “I know I’ll always have unreasonable fears and worries about your job,” she began.
He started to speak, but she held up her hand to forestall him. “But I can live with them.” Her mouth tightened and she raised her chin. “What I can’t live without is you.”
His eyes widened. The relief she saw there quickly fled, replaced by sheer lust. Esther swallowed hard, her body responding to the sexual desire she sensed growing in Ryan. But she needed to get this said, wanted him to understand exactly how she felt about him. Placing her hands on his knees, she laid her heart bare before him.
“When I heard that call yesterday, I realized that it was already too late.” She shuddered at the memory. She’d almost lost him again before she’d really had him. His strong hand reached out and covered hers.
“It’s all right,” he soothed.
She shook her head. It wouldn’t be all right, not until he knew. “I love you, Ryan Jamieson,” she blurted out. “I don’t know exactly how or when it happened, but it did. So I might as well have all the joy and happiness that comes with it. I’ll deal with the fears as best I can, but I won’t give you up.”
His fingers wrapped around hers, clasping them tight. “I told you neither time nor distance would keep me from you. It just took me a while to keep my promise.” He paused and then broke off, flexing his injured hand, reminding her quite vividly that he wasn’t recovered from his ordeal yet.