Page 55 of Passion Restored

And with that, he gave her a nod before heading out, leaving her confused as ever. People surprised her every day, and yet with her world falling out from under her feet, she didn’t know what to think.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

****

Owen stepped into the house as Tessa answered the door. “How is she?” he asked, his palms sweaty.

“Freaking out and alternating between cleaning things and getting sick in the bathroom. Right now, I think she’s sitting on the bed trying not to get nauseous.” Tessa gave him a look he couldn’t decipher. “Thanks for coming over as quickly as you did.”

Tessa had called him at the jobsite, and he’d dropped everything to come to Liz. His brothers had once again understood, and he couldn’t help but feel grateful. He still felt like he was messing things up at work with everything going on, but he needed to put Liz first.

“I’m always going to be here for her,” Owen said quickly. “No matter what.”

Tessa smiled then, her eyes brightening. “I actually believe you, and that makes my cold Grinch heart warm. Now, go make her feel like a queen that can take on the world. But at the same time, don’t do so much that she has a panic attack and runs away again.”

Owen couldn’t help the snort that escaped. “You sound like you’ve done this often.”

“She does the same for me. It’s why we’re best friends.”

“Sisters more like.”

A weird look passed over Tessa’s face as she nodded. “Yeah. Sisters.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, go get her. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

Owen gave her arm a squeeze before heading back to the bedroom to check on Liz. She hadn’t exactly invited him over, but he knew she had to be hurting, and he couldn’t leave her alone.

When he’d made it to the end of the hallway, he found her sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, rolling her head over her shoulders. From the lemon smell that hit his senses, he knew she’d been scrubbing down the whole place for some time, and he was just happy that she was functional enough to do that. She’d drawn in on herself before, and he’d been afraid for her, so he had to count this as progress.

“Liz.” He didn’t want to frighten her since her eyes were closed.

She turned to him, opening her eyes and letting out a breath. “Tessa called you.”

“Yeah, she did.” He slowly walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to her. He gave her space so they weren’t touching, but he could still feel the heat of her. Damn, he loved this woman, every prickly inch of her, and he understood why she felt the need to be so independent. He just hoped she’d give him a chance.

“I lost my job today.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke, but reached over and took his hand.

He swallowed hard and threaded his fingers with hers. “I know. I’m sorry, hon. They made a mistake. A big one.”

Liz surprised the hell out of him by scooting over and leaning her head on his shoulder. “Yeah, they did.” A pause. “I’m sorry for being a bitch and kicking you out yesterday. I couldn’t think straight, and having you near always messes with my brain.” She squeezed his hand. “In a good way, usually. Sorry. That didn’t come out right.” She sighed. “I’m so not good at this.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I’m pretty new at this, too, you know, so I’m not good at it either. It’s okay, we’ll work on it together.” Together. He liked the sound of that.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Owen. This just sucks.”

He used his other hand to rub small circles on her knee. “I know it sucks. But you’re a strong person with a great record and damn good at what you do. You’ll find a job soon that’s perfect for you, one where you don’t have to jump through hoops because other people are so insecure they can’t see what’s right in front of their faces.”

She leaned back to smile up at him. “You’re good with the pep talks.”

Daringly, he lowered his head and brushed a kiss over her lips. When she didn’t pull back, he counted that as a win. “I wanted to say something like how I wanted to kick their asses, but I didn’t.”

She snorted and went back to leaning on his shoulder. “When you came in that first night, I was so afraid we’d lose you. I know you weren’t injured that severely, but I had this sudden feeling that the world would lose an amazing guy. A guy who I totally couldn’t have and should stay away from.”

“I was damn lucky you were my nurse.” He was damn lucky for a lot of reasons. Least of which that the truck that had hit him hadn’t been going that fast. The police still had no leads, but no one seemed to think Owen was in any danger of being attacked again. It was just one of those freak accidents that happened late at night in a bar parking lot.

“I don’t know what to do,” she repeated.

“You’ve only been at this for a few hours, Liz. You don’t need a plan right now.”

“Says the man with four plans going on at once and probably already has a list concerning the baby.”

---