Page 63 of Stone Vows

She shakes her head. “I won’t tell Anders or Redman, if that’s what you mean. But I can’t guarantee they won’t find out. Nurses talk.”

I watch Gina walk through the door, leaving me alone in the room with my thoughts. There is nothing my supervisors can do to me if they found out about all of it, is there? Technically, I’m not doing anything wrong. Maybe, ethically, it’s wrong to pay her hospital bill. But how can it be the wrong thing to do, when it’s saving her from a lifetime of debt?

I took a vow, an oath to help people. How can I be faulted for sticking to it?

As I leave the procedure room, I glance down the hallway to see a couple of the girls sitting on the foot of Elizabeth’s bed as they all admire baby clothes.

I study her. I watch her talk with my friends. Friends who are nowherfriends. She fits in well with them. She fits in well withme.

Love?I don’t know. Is it possible to love someone you know so little about? Someone you’ve only seen for a few hours a day over the period of a few weeks? Someone who is pregnant with another man’s child?

She looks my way to catch me staring. Our eyes meet. She holds my stare like a tractor beam. An earthquake in New York couldn’t tear my eyes from hers.Damn. I wish I had some Jell-O. Because never have I ever fallen in love.

Not until right fucking now.

Chapter Twenty-eight

A few days later, I’m checking on Elizabeth when she catches me by surprise. “Did you know Skylar and Baylor were going to offer me jobs?”

I put down her chart and look up in wonder. “ThatI didn’t know about,” I tell her. “Really?”

She nods. “They both came by last night to bring me dinner. Skylar offered me a job as a hostess at Mitchell’s.”

“It would be a nice place to work,” I say. “It’s a great restaurant.”

“I’ll bet it is, based on the incredible food she’s brought me. But I can’t be a hostess. Not with a baby.”

“What about Baylor’s offer?”

“She says she needs an assistant. Said I could even bring the baby to work.” She shrugs. “I think she was just making the offer to be nice.”

I shake my head. “No, she wasn’t. Gavin is always saying how busy she is. She could use someone to keep everything in order.”

“I don’t know.” She twists her bracelet around her wrist.

“Hey, you don’t have to give her an answer today, right? It’s not like she’s needing to replace someone. I’m sure she’ll let you think about it.”

“That’s what she told me. They both did. They said I didn’t need to make a decision now since I couldn’t work for a while anyway.”

I sigh and run my hand through my hair. Four weeks minimum. That’s how much time she’ll need to recover from her surgery. Six would be even better. “Elizabeth, what are you going to do about paying your bills until you can work again? You’ll need to take time off.”

She laughs half-heartedly. “Time off from what? I don’t even have a job anymore.”

“I can help—”

“Stop.” She looks at me with distant eyes. “You aren’t giving me money, Kyle. I don’t take handouts.”

I look to the corner of her room where baby clothes are piled into the stroller. “You don’t take handouts fromme?”I ask. “Or from men in general?”

She looks out the window. “I’ll be fine. Everyone has been more than generous. And I still have something I can sell.”

I’m not sure if she realizes, but as she says that, her thumb and forefinger come up to rub the ring finger on her left hand.Shit. Was she engaged? Married?

I want so much to ask her these things, but she’s already getting worked up. And like Charlie said, maybe she’ll see things differently after the baby comes.

“Okay,” I say. “But Elizabeth, if you find you need anything, not just now, but ever, all you have to do is ask.”

She shifts uncomfortably on the bed and her hand comes up to her belly. I look at her stomach, and through the thin fabric of her pajama top, I can see the baby moving.

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