Page 3 of Silver Lining Love

I could feel the cold cement beneath my thighs. The dress that I was wearing barely covered my butt when I was standing, and there was a good chance it had ridden up when I fell.

Was I mooning the neighborhood? Oooh, was I mooning Wyatt? Maybethatwould get his attention.

The thought drifted in the back of my head when I felt something wet on my face at the same time I felt strong hands picking me up.

“Moose, no.”

Wyatt’s authoritative voice ricocheted through me like a pinball of tingles as he pulled me to my feet. It was then that I realized my cheek was wet from the kisses of one very large St. Bernard. My head was heavy, but when I managed to lift it, my heart slammed into my chest.

Wyatt Briggs was disarming from a distance, but up close and personal, he was downright lethal.

His brown eyes were so deep that every time I looked into them, I felt like I was falling into a chocolate abyss. His thick brown hair looked so soft, I wanted to run my fingers through it. The thick stubble on his jaw made me wonder what the tiny hairs would feel like rubbing against my inner thighs.

I reached up to touch his face, but my ankle, which was teetering on heels, bent beneath me. My arm flailed to balance myself, and my palm landed on his face. I heard and felt a loud, hard slap.

He flinched, dropped his hands from my elbows, and took a step back.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you!” I shouted as I stumbled over my own feet, causing me to fall forward.

I felt the momentum of my body and was vaguely aware of the trajectory I was on. I lifted my hands in hopes of stopping my fall and closed my eyes, bracing for impact. I was fully expecting to fall flat on my face right in front of Wyatt Briggs.

Instead, I felt my hands hit a brick wall, and I remained upright. When I opened my eyes, I saw that my palms were flat on Wyatt’s broad chest and his arms were once again around me.

My eyes lifted to his, and I smiled. “Oh, hi. I’m so sorry that I slapped you. I just wanted to touch your face. Your sexy stubble.”

I could hear myself talking and I could hear my voice of reason faintly instructing me to shut the hell up, but the tequila shots that I’d taken were definitely drowning it out. Or maybe it was the ringing in my head that was drowning it out.

“Your phone is ringing,” Wyatt informed me.

“Oh.” I had no problem ignoring it. I’d never been this close to Wyatt, and I wasn’t going to let whatever cockblocker was calling ruin the moment.

“It’s two-thirty in the morning. Do you think you should get it?”

“Fine.” I sighed as I dropped my arms and lifted it out of my purse. I was sure that it was Talia or Jasper calling to apologize, and I planned on sending them to voicemail. But it wasn’t either of them. It was my sister’s area code. She and her hubby had gone out for the first time tonight since she’d had my nephew Benji a few months ago.

I wondered if maybe she was calling from the restaurant because she’d lost her phone or something.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Is this Whitney Foster?” A voice that wasnotmy sister asked.

“Who’s this?”

“Dr. Maron at Mercy General. I’m calling because you are listed as ICE for Addison Grimes.”

“Yep. That’s me. The Iceman.” I chomped at the air in my bestTop GunVal Kilmer impression. The firstTop Gun, that is.

“And you know Addison Grimes?”

“Yup,” I stated proudly. I wasn’t sure if the pride I felt had to do with Addi being my sister or if it was because I knew the answer to the question I’d just been asked. Probably both.

“Ms. Foster was brought into the emergency room after sustaining life-threatening injuries in a vehicle collision. She’s been rushed into emergency surgery and is in critical condition.”

The entire world began spinning uncontrollably around me. “A what? What are you…what happened…?”

“A car accident,” the voice on the phone repeated.

“Wait…what?” I couldn’t comprehend the words that I was hearing.

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