Sage #2
“Are you serious? You’re laid up in a hospital bed and you’re worried that I’m mad at you?” To think that was the first thing out of his mouth.
“You sound mad to me, Sage.”
“Ugh! You scared the hell out of me out there. I’m not mad.”
His dimples deepened and he tilted his head to beam up at me. “Awe! You care about me?”
“Of course, I care. You scared me, you jackass. You were almost killed out there and here you are trying to be all cute and funny, calling me your wife—”
“Well, you are, aren’t you?” He frowned.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my insides. “Christian …”
He looked up at me expectantly, his eyes big like a puppy dog’s. “And you think I’m cute?” He batted his lashes at me.
I took another steadying breath for good measure. “You’re right. We are married. Everyone knows now, whether I was ready for it or not, whether it’s real or not—”
“Oh, it’s real. I have the paper—”
I dropped his hand, my palm flying to his mouth to cover it. “Just listen, okay?”
Warm breath feathered across my fingers.
I gave him a pointed look until he nodded.
I didn’t trust him not to speak, leaving my hand there while I continued.
“Watching your wreck was probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen.
This is serious. I know you’re trying to diffuse the situation with humor and you're probably feeling pretty good right now with the medicine they gave you. But you have to agree, you’re pretty fucked up right now.
You’re going to need help. A lot of help.
And it sounds like you’ll need it for a while. ”
His eyes dimmed for a moment with the reminder.
“This whole arrangement,” I continued, “began with you helping me, but now it’s my turn.
You’re going to need surgery and physical therapy, and someone with you while you recover.
There is no way I’m staying in your apartment with my brother, and now that he knows we’re married, I don’t think he’s going to want to live with a married couple.
I’m afraid he’s not going to be too happy with us tying the knot behind his back.
Your parents have been beyond generous, but I’m not sure I want to continue sneaking around there, not to mention there are stairs to deal with. So we’re going to need to think …”
Christian slid his tongue across my palm sending a shiver down my arm. Flashes of our night together in his childhood bed played in my mind for a brief moment, breaking my concentration. I don’t think he realized it, but it was helping me come down from my panic.
With the way he was looking at me, I knew he must be thinking about it too.
I didn’t release his mouth at first. All thought drifted away as he traced the lines of my palm, savoring it.
A pulse shot through my pussy, but it was just enough to send my mind right back to my body to push the thoughts away.
I dropped my hand, wiping the wetness off on my jeans, but he didn’t seem to care because his lips were tilting in a mischievous smirk. “Did you like that?”
“You’re high.”
“I am. But guess what?”
“What?”
“I have a place we can stay.”
“What do you mean you have a place we can stay?”
He tried to shrug again, forgetting about his shoulder, causing him to wince. “I mean, it’s a little rough, and still needs some work. Other than a loft, all the other bedrooms and bathrooms are on the first floor, and we wouldn’t have to share it with anyone.”
“When did you get this?”
“About a year ago. I’ve been planning to fix it up.”
“You bought it a year ago? How come I didn’t know about this?”
“We were too busy with Arlo and I wanted to fix it up before I showed you. Jude said he’d take a look and help me—”
“I know that wreck has rattled your brain, but you can’t plan a home remodel right now.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m pretty lit. Okay, so no tearing floors up or anything, but it’s still livable.”
I sighed, nodding. “Okay. We’ll stay in the cabin while you get better, but that doesn’t mean we’re moving in together.”
“Yet.” He beamed.
Rolling my eyes, I said, “I’m not going to argue with you while you’re on drugs. We’ll discuss that once you’re lucid.”
“I’m fucking lucid, Mrs. Riggs.”
“Keep telling yourself that, hubby.”
He moaned loudly. “Oh, baby, say that again.”
I pinched my lips to keep the threatening laugh inside. It was impossible now to stay annoyed with him when he was really fucking cute — even laid up in a hospital bed. “And that’s my cue to go update the others before we get kicked out for indecent behavior.”
“Oooooh! That sounds like a fun challenge. Come here, my other hand still works, just sit on it.”
I took steps back to the curtain. “You’re terrible.”
“You know you want to.” He winked.
I shook my head, laughing in earnest now. “I’m going to go.”
“Don’t lie to yourself, Sage baby. You know you want it.”
“Why do you have to be so annoying?” But I was smiling at him.
His smile grew at that. “Don’t be gone too long. Someone needs to keep my good hand warm.”
“Leave the nurses alone, Christian,” I teased as I stepped through the curtain, a silent laugh rumbling my chest with the sense of relief he was going to be okay.
Before I stepped back out into the waiting room, I gave Agatha and Bill a call to give them an update.
Agatha released an audible sigh of relief over the phone knowing that he was going to be okay.
They felt better about staying in Willows now knowing his condition and asked that I drive him home.
I mentioned the cabin Christian had, both of them seemed not at all surprised and thought that was a good idea during his recovery.
I didn’t tell them Christian and I were legally married now, thinking that was best to share in person, but I promised to come by the house to pick up my things.
When I stepped out into the waiting room, every head swung to me expectantly. Everyone felt relief when I told them Christian was going to be okay and was in good spirits, despite the disappointment he’d have to undergo surgery and more than likely miss rodeo season.
Lina collapsed in the chair next to me and Kale, a crooked grin on her face. “Okay, spill.”
I looked between her and my brother. Lina gave me an amused, excited look, but Kale had his arms crossed. His face was neutral making it difficult to read how he was feeling about all of this.
I heaved a sigh. I wasn’t prepared for any of this, but I had no choice now.
I twisted the ring around my finger, nervously.
“When we went out that last night in Vegas, we ended up drinking too much. One thing led to another and we ended up getting married at one of those chapels. Neither one of us realized what we’d done until the next morning. ”
“You can’t be serious?” Kale said incredulously.
I narrowed my eyes on him, feeling like I needed to defend us. “It’s not like you’ve never been black-out drunk and made poor decisions,” I snapped.
Lina hit him in the arm as if to remind him of his manners. “So what does this mean now?”
“I think we’re still trying to figure it out, because neither one of us planned it this way.”
“Are you still planning on having a wedding?” Lina asked.
“I haven’t even thought about that yet.” I bit the inside of my cheek.
“Well, you have time,” Kale said, obviously not in a rush to see his big sister marry his best friend.
“Yeah, we can plan a wedding once Christian’s healed.” I bit my cheek harder now to keep my composure.
I almost forgot this wasn’t even supposed to be real.
I was supposed to be trying to figure out how to annul this, so when Clayton was finally gone, we could go back to the way it was.
But I didn’t even know if he was going to leave.
I hadn’t seen him since Christian hit him, but that didn’t mean he was just going to give up that easily.
Especially when it seemed like he had an interest in Thornbrush Ranch.
I didn’t even know if ending this marriage was what I wanted anymore. The fear I felt in thinking I might lose him on the arena floor today was like a spike in the gut. I couldn’t imagine my life without Christian Riggs in it. And I didn’t think I wanted to.