Page 122 of Nothing to You
FLIGHT OVER, SHE got into the slowest cab in the city.Okay, yeah, maybe it just felt that way, but seriously?What was taking so long?
By the time he stopped, she didn’t need to hear the fare.She’d been watching every cent tick up.Tossing a bunch of bills at him, she heaved her hold-all onto her shoulder, along with her purse and laptop.Shit.She hadn’t been thinking straight.Did she need her laptop?Right then, all she needed was to get into the hospital.To see her mom.
Running into the closest door, she didn’t slow and lurched over the admin desk under her own momentum.
“I need…” Out of breath, her chest tightened.“My mom was brought here from a—”
“Radley.”
Somehow, the word cut through all the background noise.She turned toward it and there he was, standing just ten feet away.
Rourke.
Her hands opened; her shoulders dropped.As every muscle loosened, her bags fell to the floor on either side of her.Nothing else existed.There he was.Right there.
She took one step, then another, until she was less than a foot away.
“You’re pissed about the—”
“Shut up,” she exhaled and grabbed his collar, yanking his mouth down to hers.
He’d come.There.For her.Not for anyone else.Because she couldn’t be there soon enough.Her guilt at the distance had pained her, caused her actual pain.The shame, the guilt… Just like that, it was all gone.
His hands squeezed her waist before continuing around to her back until she was in his embrace, tipped back, absorbing the growing heat of his kiss.
Laying a hand on his chest, she eased him back an inch.“You came here.”
“You were in New York.”
“When?How long have you been here?”
“Since this morning.When I got the call.”
Her eyes closed as relief escaped her lips.“Thank God.”
“You’re not mad?”She could only smile and kiss him again.This time, he tore his lips from hers.“I didn’t think you’d want me here.”
“Why?”she asked, stroking his cheek.“I was so far and I—”
“I know.She’s getting the best care in the private wing and don’t give me shit about—”
“I’m sorry.”Her apology provoked his frown.“We don’t do ultimatums, we don’t.And you have the right to love whoever you love.Real and permanent, right?”
Except he didn’t seem so sure and drew out his response.“Right.”
“Can you take me to see her?We can work us out later, but—”
“You want to see her,” he said, holding her at his side until she got her balance again.“Yes, you can see her.”
“Let me get my—” except when she turned, there was already a young man holding her things.
Rourke’s hand slid around her jaw to bring her focus to his.“You’ve got nothing to worry about, you hear me?”Intense in a way that wasn’t arousal; his certainty touched her clarity.“I’ll always take care of you.”
And he meant it.She didn’t need him to say it, not really.Yes, she’d doubted it in the confusion of Diva, not him, but them.Like she’d come to her senses, it seemed he’d figured it out too.This wasn’t a typical friendship.They were soulmates, in the platonic sense of the word.Meant to be, to rely on each other, not for marriage and kids, but for forever.
Roxie and the other girls wouldn’t understand it.She wasn’t sure she did either.The sex was fun.Amazing.But they’d survive without it.The only thing they wouldn’t survive without was each other.
His hand stayed in hers on the ascent and trek to the private wing.A security guard had to buzz them in.
