Page 42 of The Candle Palace (Jamison Valley 6)
My brain couldn’t compute the notion. How was this my life? The man who’d been making me uncomfortable for months with his creepy stares and blatant disrespect for personal space was hitting on my mother.
He was probably fifteen years younger than she was. What if they started dating? Oh, hell. My stomach rolled.
“So Dr. Vernon is a cougar hunter. Huh. Didn’t see that coming.”
I spun around, my eyes wide at Milo’s voice. “What are you doing?”
He shrugged. “Eavesdropping.”
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough.”
Which meant Milo knew our newest guest was my mother and he’d listened to the whole exchange from behind the wall.
“Shouldn’t you be in your room resting? You already had your walk today.”
“Yeah, but I thought another one was a good idea.” He winked. “Gotta work up my stamina.”
Milo’s skin grafts were healing nicely from his surgery and he was now cleared to move around a bit more. He was no longer trapped inside his room, going only between the bathroom and bed.
He’d taken his newfound freedom as an excuse to search me out each day. He walked the short distance between his room and the corner of the nurses station as often as he could manage, hoping to find me.
We still didn’t talk much. We were being cautious, especially when Dr. Vernon was on the floor. But simply seeing his face, sharing a smile and a hello, was the best part of each day.
“You need to be careful.” I frowned. “Don’t overdo it.”
“I’m fine. I’ve got my trusty walker.” He rattled the silver walker he was required to use when outside his room. Though considering the first-degree burns on his legs had healed long ago, we both knew the walker was ridiculous.
My eyes drifted toward the floor. The hospital’s drawstring pants he was wearing were about five inches too short on his long legs. His bony ankles stuck out of the slippers Teresa had bought him when they’d first gotten here. The blue-green gown was loose on Milo’s neck and arms, more like a flimsy sack than a garment.
Only he could make the outfit sexy.
I’d probably swoon and faint the first time I saw him in real, fitted clothes.
“What?” he asked, glancing at his attire.
“Nothing.” I giggled. “I was just thinking about what you’d look like in real clothes.”
He grinned. “Lanky.”
“I like lanky.”
“Good.” His gaze went back to the corner where Mom and Dr. Vernon were laughing about something. “So, that’s your mom?”
I nodded. “That’s her.”
I studied Milo’s face as he studied Mom’s. This was typically when men would let their gaze linger on her face—or her chest. But Milo only gave her a cursory glance before he turned his attention back to me. His eyes didn’t linger on Mom.
They lingered on me.
The rest of the world dimmed as we stared at one another. My eyes traced the soft edges of his lips, wishing we were alone and I could touch them.
It had been a week since he’d kissed me but I could still feel his touch and the heat from his mouth over mine. I was holding on to the memory of our first kiss even though I knew there’d be more.
Milo was leaving eventually. He lived and worked in Montana. I lived and worked in Washington. But we had more kisses coming. When he checked out of the hospital in a few weeks, it wouldn’t be the end.
Down to my bones, I knew it was only the beginning.
