Page 19 of The Candle Palace (Jamison Valley 6)
My feet changed direction without permission, striding faster with each step closer to his room. When I reached the threshold, I was breathless, my heart racing.
I burst into the room. The moment he spotted me, his eyes flared, the coffee-colored rings flashing with surprise, then darkening to rich sable as he assessed me from head to toe. The bright lights shone down on his hair, making the short, velvety strands look more caramel than brown. A golden contrast to those mesmerizing eyes.
How had he managed to get more handsome in only a day?
I halted in t
he center of his room. “Are you okay?”
“Didn’t think I’d see you again today.”
“I, um . . .” I looked at the floor. “I traded sides with Kym.”
“Why?”
“Because I-I . . .” I couldn’t answer the question. He’d see right through my pitiful excuse that it was because of Kym’s headache. But did he really have to ask? Couldn’t he see what he was doing to me?
Milo looked away, aiming his eyes at the ceiling before he let them drift shut.
“Would you like me to shut off the light?”
He nodded once.
I clutched my coat tightly as I walked to the bathroom and shut off the light. Then did the same with the one above his bed. Shrouded in the safety of the darkness, I glanced at the chair in the corner of the room.
Go home.
“I should go.”
I didn’t move.
Milo didn’t either.
Did he even want me to stay? Had I read too much into his statement earlier? Maybe his I have Sara had simply been something to ease his parents’ worries. Maybe the intimacy I’d heard in those three words was all my imagination.
Oh my God. I was dreaming this all up, wasn’t I? I had feelings for Milo and I’d convinced myself he had them in return.
Embarrassment nearly chased me from the room, but before I could raise a foot, Milo’s deep voice spoke in no more than a whisper.
“Stay. Please.”
The relief was so overpowering, tears flooded my eyes. Maybe his feelings for me weren’t as strong as mine were for him, but he wanted me to stay.
That was something.
That was everything.
Powerless to resist his plea, I went to the chair, stowing my purse and coat underneath as I sat. There wasn’t much noise outside in the hallway. Connie, one of the evening-shift nurses, walked by and spotted me. She gave me a finger wave and a small smile, then pulled the door closed, leaving me and Milo alone in our dark, warm cocoon.
Here, it was easy to pretend there wasn’t an entire hospital beyond the walls, one with rules and reprimands. Here, it was just two strangers keeping one another company. Here, we were two new friends quickly becoming . . . more.
At least, it was more for me.
“I freaked you out earlier,” Milo said.
“Maybe a little.”
“Sorry.”
