Page 14 of Ever After All

“We all know Rosie is the best nurse, but she can’t do everything and be everywhere,” my mother said.

McKenna pressed her lips together. “Fine. Don’t do anything stupid like that again.” She actually wagged her finger at me.

“It wasn’t specifically my fault,” I pointed out.

“It was Lia’s,” Blake said. “She’s getting better, but when she cast her fishing line, it was a little too enthusiastic, and she caught Wyatt’s shoulder.”

There were a few chuckles around the group. “These things happen when you’re learning to fish,” I said.

I wanted to close the distance between Rosie and me, maybe ten feet, and kiss her. It appeared she’d come here from work. Her ponytail was a little lopsided on top, and she looked frazzled. For some women, the tendrils of hair dangling around their cheeks would’ve been a stylistic choice. Not so for Rosie. I loved that about her. She had a haphazard beauty.

Married or not, I knew it absolutely would not fly with her for me to kiss her here. Instead, I waited through what felt like endless casual conversation. In reality, it was maybe twenty minutes or so. Rosie broke away from the group finally, saying she had to go to the restroom. With everyone busy talking around us, there was enough distraction for me to think I might be able to catch her in the break room.

I discreetly talked my way out of a conversation with Blake and Griffin and wove my way around the perimeter of the room to slip into the back hallway. My timing couldn’t have been better. Rosie was coming out of the bathroom at the back of the break room when I walked in. Only staff, family, and friends used this bathroom, so we had some privacy.

Pink flared on Rosie’s cheeks when she saw me. She stepped back quickly. “Wyatt! What are you doing?” she hissed.

“We can either have this conversation out here or?—”

She reached for my arm and yanked me in, tugging the door shut behind me. “Or here,” I murmured. This was a wonderfully small bathroom, tiny even.

Rosie narrowed her eyes. “What?”

Her tone was demanding, and I wanted to tell her that it totally turned my crank, but I never wanted her to stop being bossy and demanding with me, so I wasn’t about to tell her how much I loved it.

“Well, you’re here,” I pointed out.

As much as I wanted to touch her, and holy hell, I wanted to touch her, I didn’t. It felt as if electricity shimmered around us with our own private electrical storm snapping and crackling. The sensation made me think of what I saw once after Mount Augustine had erupted near Anchorage when I was a little boy.

The plumes of volcanic ash had made these little clouds in some areas and the friction of the tiny particles rubbing together created sparks. It was like watching mini storms drift through the sky contained in their own burst of ash.

Rosie’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink, and her teeth snagged on her bottom lip. She reached up to tighten her ponytail. Her hands dropped, and she shifted on her feet. I sensed she was nervous, and protectiveness rose in a swift surge inside me.

All I wanted was to take care of her. Oh, I wanted far more than that, but the fierce need to protect and cherish her was different. I’d experienced plenty of chemistry in my life. Nothing came close to the chemistry I felt with Rosie, but the emotion twined within it amplified its power and depth.

Our gazes held while the air burgeoned with intensity as every second ticked by. As I studied her, I saw the vulnerability flickering in her gaze, a vulnerability I knew she tried to mask. My heart clenched tightly in my chest. I wanted Rosie on a bone-deep level. Yet I knew I had to be cautious to make sure I didn’t push too far and too fast.

Maybe we were married. Okay, we were married. But that was nothing more than a detail. Binding though it may be, to hold Rosie’s heart, I had to be patient. Much as I wanted to let the fire take hold and spin us in its flames, I didn’t. Not yet. I drew in a slow breath and kept a firm hold on my control.

“Can I kiss you?” I finally asked.

Chapter Eight

Rosie

Can I kiss you?

Wyatt’s question reverberated in the space between us.

It took me a minute, but the answer was a foregone conclusion as far as my body was concerned. I felt as if I were burning up inside. My knees were weak, and heat pooled in my belly as a tingling sensation radiated outward. I could barely breathe, and I was nearly desperate for air. Even more than air, I wanted the feel of his lips on mine.

I managed to draw in a shaky breath, unable to look away. All the while, I was anxious Wyatt could see all the fears that crowded my thoughts and heart and the vulnerability that I hated so much. I was so afraid he could see right through me. Even though I didn’t want to admit it to myself, all of this was why I tried to ignore him after our fling a few years back.

And then, Vegas happened. Too long of trying to hold my feelings at bay and a chemistry so powerful it made me reckless.

Oh, how I wanted to play it cool with him!

Instead, one word betrayed me. “Please.”

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