Page 41 of Cured

Chapter 14

Colt

Iknew she was going to be alright, but I didn’t want her out of sight yet—especially staying alone in that shoebox she called a home. When I’d suggested she come stay with me, I had figured she would argue with me. To my surprise, she didn’t.

Maybe I really was making an impact on her. I could only hope. I got her back to my condo without any issues, but once there, the woman had to blow my mind.

Holding her in my arms had been a tease, but nothing compared to feeling her fingers slip over my torso. It took every ounce of my willpower to keep from reaching out to her. I knew the heat in her eyes was reflected in mine. She looked at me like she wanted to spend hours touching and tasting every single line on my body, and I was ready to let her.

Jesus, I stalked out of the guest room and almost climbed into an ice-cold shower. My blood was boiling, and it was all her fault. In my room, I yanked on a clean t-shirt and tried not to think about her wearing mine. How fucking awesome was that for her to want to wear my shirt?

Damn.

Before going back to her room, I grabbed a bag I’d brought home with medical supplies she might need. I inhaled a few times before I pulled the imaginary doctor’s mask down over my face. I had to treat her like a patient; I couldn’t afford to see her as anything different right now.

I steeled myself for the sight of her belly ring. It had been taken out before surgery, but before she came home, she had slipped it back in. I swear I’d had no clue belly rings were so damned sexy.

I was prepared for her when she lifted her shirt, and I briefly glanced at the belly ring as it taunted me. That little piece of metal had figured center stage in several of my recent fantasies. Just before I pulled my attention back to her bandage, I noticed something quite surprising.

“Why do you have a C-section scar on your abdomen?”

There was little doubt that it was anything other than that. It was too big to be from any other surgery, and as I stared down at it, I saw that it was slightly jagged, like it had been rushed.

Ember tugged her shirt back down over her stomach and looked away, her jaw clenched, her hands trembling.

“Ember?”

She cleared her throat once, then again, “Colt, I can’t talk about that right now.”

“Why not?” I asked. Did she have a child somewhere out there? Maybe one that had been taken away from her or one she had given up for adoption? Shit, was that why she acted the way she did?

She hit me with a direct stare, “Because I can’t talk about it right now.”

I didn’t like that answer, but what was I going to do, force her? Yeah, right. No one forced Ember to do anything she didn’t want to do.

“Fine, I’m going to let it go, for now, but you are going to tell me the truth. Remember dating rule number four?”

“Dating rule number four was when you asked me what I was thinking about, not telling you about my past.”

“Fine, then we will make it dating rule number five.”

She glared at me, “I don’t think so.”

Now was not the time to argue with her. I could see the tension around her face, and I knew that her pain medication must also be wearing off. I lifted her shirt back up, but she tried to keep it down on the other side.

“Ember, I’ve already seen it. Stop, so I can check your incision.”

She let go of the material and turned her head away from me to stare at the opposite wall. That’s got to be one hell of a story, I thought.

Her incision looked pretty good, and I covered it back up before I stood and collected the items I’d brought with me. “I’m going to get you some water and your pain pills.”

I left the room without her saying anything and came back to find her in the same position.

“Here,” I held the water and a pill out to her, and she took them from me without looking up. After she had swallowed it and handed me back the glass, I set it on the table beside the bed and hesitated. I leaned down and put a kiss on her forehead, “Get some rest, Ember.”

I closed the door softly behind me and leaned against the wall. I had no doubt that the scar was the piece to her past that needed to be unlocked. If I could get that, then I might be able to really get her to move forward in life. I just needed to be patient and wait for her to be ready to talk.

Two hours later, I popped my head into the room and found her shifting around in the bed, “Did you get any rest?”

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