Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
TESSA
There were no two ways about it. I wasn’t long for this world. I was knocking at death’s door, the Grim Reaper was on his way to get me, yadda, yadda, yadda.
You could use a million different metaphors to describe it, but it all boiled down to one thing. I was dying.
In the past few hours, the head cold I’d barely begun to battle hadn’t just won, it had made me its bitch.
Breathing through my nose had become impossible.
My head felt like it was about a million sizes too big.
My throat was now permanently on fire, and my body had begun to shake with chills that wouldn’t go away no matter how many layers I added.
“Tessa, you have a visitor—good Lord, honey. You look like death warmed over.”
I glanced up and spotted Diana standing just inside my office door. “Really? Because I feel like I could do a triathlon right about now,” I deadpanned.
“Seriously, darlin’, I think you should probably go home for the rest of the day.”
“I’m fine. It’s just a cold. You can send whoever’s here back,” I said right before I began coughing uncontrollably.
“Jesus Christ, honey. You sound terrible.”
“Bryce?” My head whipped up and around at the sound of his voice. The motion was a huge mistake. Even though I was sitting, the world began to spin and I felt like I was about to topple over.
Throwing my arms wide, I tried to balance before I humiliated myself and fell out of my chair.
“Fuck.” He moved fast. Rounding the desk, he dropped a paper bag on the surface before crouching down right in front of me.
“Language,” I chastised weakly. “There are kids here.”
“It’s barely after noon. They’re all at school. Their ears are safe, I promise.”
“Still, you should try to be more careful.” My gaze shifted to the paper bag he’d placed on my desk. “What’s that?”
“Brought you some soup for lunch since you weren’t feelin’ good, but now I see it’s a little too late for that.”
He brought me soup? Damn it! Those walls around my heart took another precision hit. There was no way in hell they’d be standing much longer if he kept up this kind of behavior.
“That was really sweet,” I croaked, my throat in flames with each word I spoke. “Like, really sweet. And thoughtful. Who knew you could be so thoughtful?”
His smile was devastating. “What can I say? I’m full of surprises.” His hand felt like a block of ice as he pressed it against my forehead, and I immediately batted it away.
“Gah, that’s cold!”
“Tessa, beauty, you’re burnin’ up.”
“Am not,” I argued pathetically. “Your hands are just freakishly cold.” Another chill wracked my body, and I pulled my cardigan even tighter around me. “Is someone blasting the A/C in here?”
“The heater’s on,” Diana answered, looking to Bryce with worry written all over her face.
Bryce reached up and brushed my hair back, and in spite of how damn cold his hands were, it felt so good that I actually leaned into his touch. “You’re runnin’ a fever, Tessa. We need to get you home and in bed.”
“Too much to do,” I objected, even as my body listed closer to Bryce’s.
He got to his feet, grabbing me under my arms and pulling me up with him. “Nope. That’s it. I’m takin’ you home, beauty. Let’s go.”
I felt too terrible to keep up the fight as Bryce gathered my stuff. I leaned against him, giving him most of my weight as he guided me out of the office and down the hall.
“Make sure she stays in bed,” Diana ordered to our backs.
“Will do.”
But my co-worker wasn’t done. “Give her plenty of fluids, and if you can, convince her to stay home tomorrow as well.”
“Don’t worry,” Bryce told her. “She’s not gonna be in tomorrow.”
I didn’t bother snapping at them for discussing me like I wasn’t right there.
The temperature had been in the high-fifties earlier, but when we stepped outside, it felt like I was being smacked in the face by a wall of ice. My teeth began to chatter as I burrowed closer to the huge, warm man at my side. “S-so c-cold.”
His arm around me tightened. “It’s okay, baby. You’ll be okay. I’m gonna take care of you.”
He led me to his truck and beeped the locks, pulling the passenger door open. Instead of giving me a chance to climb in on my own, he lifted me up, his hold strong but gentle at the same time, and tucked me into the seat, buckling my seatbelt for me.
I must have dozed off right after that, because the next thing I knew, I was lightly jostled awake as he lifted me from the truck, cradling me in his arms as he started toward the inn.
“I can walk, you know. It’s just a nasty head cold.” I muttered, laying my head against him.
His chest rattled against my ear as he spoke, “I’m sure you can, but I’m carryin’ you anyway.” If he wanted to do all the heavy lifting—literally—who was I to argue? “Keys in your bag, baby?”
“Yeah.” I reached blindly for my bag that was hooked over his shoulder, and fished around until my fingers wrapped around the key ring.
Once I had it in hand, he set me gently on me feet, took the key ring, and unlocked the door to my room. With a hand at the small of my back, he pushed me through the door, following after me before closing the door behind us.
If I hadn’t felt so awful I might have noticed how much smaller the large room seemed with him standing in it, but I could barely stay up on my own two feet.
Dropping my purse and satchel on the small bar as he moved past it, he stopped in the kitchenette and crossed his arms over his chest, ordering, “Bed. Now,” in an unyielding tone.
I stopped at the side of the bed, kicking off my shoes and stripping out of my jeans, too delirious to realize the show I was unintentionally putting on for Bryce.
As soon as my feet were free and I kicked my pants away, I crawled into the center of the bed and collapsed with a weary sigh, my arms and legs spread out like a starfish.
His rich, velvety chuckle hit my ears, but I was too exhausted for it to affect me the way it usually did. “I meant under the covers, beauty,” he said, his humor-filled voice much closer now.
“This works,” I muttered, my face smooshed into the bedding. “Too tired.”
A second later, his hands hit my bare legs, and the shiver that sent through me had nothing to do with my feverish state.
Shifting me around, he worked the comforter and sheet from beneath me and flipped them over my body, tucking me in and brushing the hair from my face.
“Try to get some sleep,” he murmured gently, his knuckles skimming across my cheekbone in the softest caress.
“I’ll be right back. Just gotta make a phone call. ”
My shoulders sagged as he moved away from the bed.
I wasn’t sure if it was being sick or something a whole lot more, but my vision grew cloudy as tears formed in my eyes.
I had to squeeze them closed to keep them from falling.
It was all too much. I hadn’t had anyone take care of me like this since I was ten years old, and for Bryce to be so tender and caring was beating against my already weakened defenses.
His voice carried from farther across the room. It was obvious he was trying to keep quiet, but I strained to listen to the one-sided conversation he was having with whoever was on the phone.
“Hey. Yeah, it’s me. I need your help with somethin’.
What kind of medicines should I get for a really nasty head cold and fever?
” There was a short pause, followed up by.
“No. It’s not me. I’m fine, but I have Tessa here, and she’s really sick.
” Another pause. “Christ, Ma. It’s just a cold.
I can take care of her. Just tell me what to get. ”
My whole body locked up. Not only was he calling his mom for advice, but he spoke as if she knew about me.
“No,” he clipped. “Don’t come up here. I swear, I have it under control.”
Oh God, please don’t let his mom come here and see me in this state.
“Yeah. I will. I’ll call you again if she doesn’t get better. Uh-huh. Okay. I said okay. I promise to text you with regular updates. Yeah, all right. Love you too. Bye.”
His family knew about me. They knew about me. I couldn’t believe that. The battering ram against those walls was relentless.
I sniffled, batting away the moisture that had slipped from my eyes just as the mattress depressed and Bryce’s comforting hand landed on my hip. “You good, Tessa?”
I really wasn’t, because I’d discovered something that rocked me to my core. More than ten years had passed, and I was still so in love with this man it physically hurt.
“Yeah,” I croaked, keeping my face turned away. “Just need sleep.”
His palm brushed in a soothing circle. “All right, baby. You sleep. I’m gonna run to the store to pick up a few things. I’ll be back as fast as I can.”
It was a wonder I didn’t choke on the golf-ball sized lump in my throat, but I somehow managed to eke out, “O-okay.”
A moment later, his lips pressed against my temple. Then his weight on the bed disappeared. I listened as he moved around before finally, the door opened and clicked shut. It wasn’t until I knew I was alone that I let the tears come freely. And a short while later I managed to cry myself to sleep.
The next time I woke, my whole body was shaking. I was curled up in a tight ball, my muscles and jaw locked up tight against the cold that had seeped into my bones.
“B-Bryce?” I called his name, praying he was there, because I didn’t want to go through this on my own. Now that I’d gotten a taste of the sweetness that came with him taking care of me, I didn’t want him to leave.
“Shh. I’m here. I’m right here.”
He tried to get me to roll to my back, but I fought as hard as I could. If I came out of my little ball, I was going to freeze to death. “N-no,” I moaned. “T-too cold.”
“Come on, Tessa. I need you to work with me, baby. I got you some meds, but I need to take your temperature first. It’ll only be a second.”
God, I hurt. My whole body ached. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this bad.
I allowed him to do his thing, barely registering the soft curse when the thermometer beeped and he checked the display.
“Shit, Tessa. We have to get your temp down. Can you sit up for me? Just a little so I can get some meds in you.”
It sounded like his voice was coming from a tunnel. I was teetering on that point between asleep and awake as he cupped the back of my neck and helped me up. He pressed something to my lips, and I opened my mouth, swallowing the medicine and wincing at the burn in my throat.
“Just one more, baby. That was for the fever, now I need you to take something for your cold.”
He repeated the action one more time before letting me settle back into the pillows. When he moved to stand, something came over me, and my hand shot out, my fingers wrapping around his wrist. “Stay,” I rasped. “Please?”
His hip pressed against mine as he shifted on the bed. He took my chin between his forefinger and thumb, tipping my face up as he leaned in close. “Not goin’ anywhere, beauty. I’ll be right back. I swear.”
I let my arm fall back to the bed as a wave of relief washed over me.
Sleep began to tug at my consciousness once again, making everything feel foggy, like I was in a dream state.
I didn’t have a clue what was real, and what was only in my mind.
All I knew for sure was the bone deep chill was finally gone, and all I could smell was citrus and the outdoors.
I melted deeper into the warmth next to me, nuzzling into the smell.
“Never had anyone take care of me,” I mumbled as darkness took hold. “Not since my mom. Feels nice, not being alone.”
I thought I heard him murmur, “Jesus, baby,” but I was too far gone.
“Never forgot. Not for a second.”
Something tightened around me, holding me like a steel band. “Forgot what, beauty?”
“How sweet you could be. Just one of the reasons why I fell in love with you.”
Then, just like that, the black seeping into the edges of my vision closed everything else out.