Page 116 of Tempt Her

I lift him. The fucker is nothing but muscle and weighs a ton. Thankfully, I’m stronger. “Sex with you is just that good, baby; what can I say?”

She jumps up, “Mateo,” and stomps her foot as she snatches on her gown. “That’s not funny. Is he gonna be okay?”

I just need to lighten the mood and take the stress off her, but yes, it’s serious.

“I’m taking him to the hospital. He needs a good shock and a cocktail of meds.”

“But what’s wrong with him?”

“He has a heart defect. It’s getting too big.”

She follows on my heels, wanting to know more, but our voices drop as we enter the hallway. Yeah, her dickhead husband may be asleep, but we’re not risking it.

I approach the front door with Ford slung over my shoulder as she opens it for me. “I don’t want to leave you,” I tell her in hushed tones. “You’re in danger.”

“Gentry’s getting ten melatonins crushed up in his V8 juice tomorrow morning. He’ll think he has the flu and sleep all day.”

Fuck, she’s smart. Fuck, she takes risks.

“I’m sending Luke back.”

“Don’t. I got this.” But she twists, her eyes darting, her lips parting like there’s something else.

“What?” I ask her.

Her shoulders drop. “Ford said he’s married. That he has a daughter, and he’s sorry he lied.” I didn’t hear that right. “That’s what he said right before he passed out.”

“He must’ve been hallucinating. He’d never lie to me.”

Her face turns stoic. Stacey can be so damn cute and sexy, but she’s wise too. “He did,” she said. “He lied to us all.”

His weight triples over my body, threatening to buckle my knees. “I... I gotta get him to a hospital.”

Rising on her toes, she kisses my lips pulled tight. “I love you.”

It feels so right to say it to her, but what she just told me is so damn wrong. It’s not her fault. If it’s true, it’s Ford’s. “I love you too.” At least that’s not a lie.

It’s the truth. I don’t need philosophy to explain it or religion to sanctify it. I love her. The boy in me always has, and the man in me always will.

I don’t want to rip my eyes away from her beauty, not for one second, but I love this man too.

Walking with his body in the rain, there are no witnesses. No one is out in a hurricane at night except for me, fighting for the ones I love.

I buckle him into the passenger seat. I keep him elevated and near so I can rub his chest or punch it if I have to because I feel it building inside.

The rage.

But I focus on the drive, weaving through downed trees and limbs; the hospital is only minutes away. It’ll take Luke a while to get there. He was waiting at Ford’s house for his shift to watch Stacey, but I know the drill. I rush through the emergency room doors with Ford over my shoulder, flopping him on a gurney.

I tell the responding nurse, “He has idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.” I’ve memorized his diagnosis. I tell them all his meds, and they got it from here.

They whisk him away. After I park my truck and rush back inside, I fall into a chair, soaking wet, while I inhale relief and exhale fury.

It’s gotta be true.

I hate him, and I love him because now it all makes sense.

Why topics like kids and marriage made him freeze, he didn’t say a word.

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