Page 57 of Keeping Collette
She stilled and looked at him, her eyes wide in surprise. “Girlfriend?”
Fuck, had he jumped the gun?
It was too late to take the word back, and he didn’t want to. He wanted her to be more than that, but all in good time. He didn’t believe he was being presumptuous in thinking she had feelings for him. She’d told him in the hospital that she liked him. “Yep, girlfriend, if that’s okay with you,” he tacked on the end.
“I’d like that.” She smiled tremulously. “A lot.”
Relief swept through him like a broom through dirt. He hadn’t ballsed it up. “Me too.”
They grinned at each other like fools before Deal reached out and pressed the up button.
His life had changed so much in the last month, and he couldn’t be happier about it. Everything in him was more settled, as though a sense of peace he hadn’t known he’d been missing engulfed him.
They got to Collette’s door, and even though he wanted to be the one to unlock it, he didn’t ask for her keys. It wasn’t his place—yet, but soon, he hoped it would be.
They stepped across the threshold, and the fresh scent of jasmine and something else filled the air. He spied a large vase of flowers on the coffee table. They were the source of the pleasant smell.
“Oh my goodness, they’re so beautiful.” Collette limped over to the table, bending to sniff them. Her smile was big when she looked back at him. “I’ve never seen my place look so clean or smell so delicious.”
Beneath the scent of the flowers, he caught the tones of baked goods. “I’m guessing Astrid dropped off some goodies too.”
Collette laughed. “Of course she did.”She picked up a plastic wrapped plate off the kitchen counter. “I can’t believe they did this.”
He went over to her, grabbing the plate and putting it down before pulling her into his arms. “They did it because they care. You’re not alone. There are so many people who care for you.”
“And you’re at the top?” she queried.
“Most definitely.” He tightened his hold on her, and they stood there in her kitchen holding each other. Enjoying the closeness that was building between them.
Collette pulled away. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
She waved her hand around her clean apartment. “This. Everything. I know that you had to be behind it.”
Deal held his hands up in mock surrender. “Nope, wasn’t me. It was all the girls. It was their idea.” Although he may have mentioned that he thought about heading over to tidy things. He wouldn’t have done as good a job, but it would’ve been adequate.
“Regardless, I know in some way you were responsible.” She yawned, and a little of the light that had surrounded her after they’d walked in had dimmed.
“Why don’t you take a nap? You’re still recovering. I’m going to run down to the office and grab my laptop and then come back up and work.”
“I would argue that I don’t need to have a sleep, but that would be a lie. I’m exhausted. You’d think after resting in a bed for over a week, I wouldn’t be tired, but it just hit me all of a sudden.”
“You had surgery after a major accident. It’s going to take a few weeks before you start feeling normal again.”
“I guess.” She yawned again.
“Go before you fall asleep standing up.” He closed the gap between them and bussed her cheek. “I’ll be here when you wake.”
“You always say that before I go to sleep.”
It was true. He’d said it an awful lot when she’d been in hospital. Even when he left for the night, he was always there when she woke in the morning. He’d missed a lot of PT, but he didn’t care, Collette was so important to him that he was willing to forego something he enjoyed doing.
“Because I always will be.”
She gave him one last smile before she walked down the hallway to her bedroom. He wanted to follow her, to help her get settled, but he remained where he was. He had enough awareness to know that this was something she needed to do herself.
He waited five minutes before he went to her bedroom and stood in the doorway. She was curled up on her side, her plastered arm resting by her head. Her breathing was deep and regular, indicating sleep had consumed her.
