Chapter 19 #2
“I’ll be careful. I promise. Watch my baby.”
“All right then.”
Cresley kept one eye on the mirror as she made her way down the hill from Laurel Canyon.
Thankfully, she was the only one on the road and passed only three cars coming the other way before she reached North Crescent Heights Boulevard, where the traffic got a bit heavier.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she crossed over Melrose, confident that she hadn’t been followed.
Knowing Marlene was armed made her feel much better about leaving her and Ty alone, even with Anthony watching the house.
Her friend was better prepared to confront an intruder than Cresley would’ve been on her own.
She loathed guns and had never wanted to own one, but recent events had her rethinking her position on the matter.
She jogged toward the main entrance at Cedars and gave her name and Carson’s name at the reception desk.
“Visiting hours are long over.”
“I was asked to come in. My friend said the nurses would allow it.”
She handed Cresley a visitor sticker. “Go on up and fight it out with them.”
“Thank you so much.”
“I was sorry to hear what’d happened to your friend, Ms. Dane. I hope he makes a speedy recovery.”
“That’s so kind of you. He’s doing quite well, thankfully.”
“Glad to hear it. Good luck to you both.”
“Thanks.” Cresley took off for the elevator, bursting with excitement to see him now that she was so close. Outside the ICU, she rang the bell and asked to see Carson Remington. “He’s expecting me.”
“Is this Ms. Dane?”
“It is.”
“Come in.”
When the buzzer sounded, she pushed through, amused that Carson had charmed them into breaking the rules to allow her in. At the nurses station, one of the young women said, “We’re big fans, Ms. Dane.”
“Thank you so much. Call me Cresley, please.”
“Faints,” the woman said with a goofy grin.
“Oh stop,” Cresley said. “Thank you for letting me in.”
“That man of yours is a smooth operator.”
“Believe me, I know.”
His face lit up with a big smile as she entered his room, her heart fluttering with excitement and anticipation.
“You came.”
“I was summoned.”
“I was lonely.”
“I’m here.”
He held out a hand to her. “I’m all better now. Get up here and snuggle me.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“I’m very sure. Hurry up about it.”
“You’re bossy tonight.” She kicked off her flip-flops and moved carefully to join him on the bed, mindful of the IV and monitors still attached to his right arm.
He wrapped his left arm around her. “Ah, that’s what I needed. You weren’t followed, were you?”
“No, I made sure, and I found out that Marlene has a concealed carry license and never leaves home without protection.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I know you’re not comfortable leaving Ty right now.”
“Auntie Marlene is providing security along with Anthony.”
“Good, now kiss me.”
“You’re supposed to be recovering, not kissing.”
“Kissing is how I recover.”
She rolled her eyes and gave him a soft, sweet kiss that made him moan.
“More.”
“Slow your roll, Remington. I don’t want you to pop your staples—and PS, Ty is still talking about how they stapled you. He can’t wrap his mind around that.”
“He’s thinking about the stapler in his classroom,” Carson said with a chuckle.
“He cannot wait for you to come home so he can take care of you. It was very sweet of you to include him that way.”
“I love him, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Oh, I’ve noticed, and it means a lot to both of us.”
“You guys mean a lot to me, and you did before I was stabbed, so don’t think I’m saying this only because I almost died.”
“Don’t talk about dying. It kills the buzz.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“Why are you still in ICU? I thought they were going to move you today.”
“My blood pressure has been low, so they wanted to monitor it.”
“Are they worried about that?”
“They didn’t seem to be. They said it can happen after significant blood loss.”
“Ugh, significant blood loss. I can’t even think about how much blood there was.”
“Don’t think about that when you could be kissing me instead.”
She placed her hand on his handsome face, which had begun to recover somewhat from the pasty, pale complexion that’d followed the stabbing. “Thank you so much for not dying. I would’ve missed you for the rest of my life.”
“I know. I got your texts.”
“I was losing it over possibly losing you when I sent them.”
“Don’t worry about losing me. I’m not going anywhere as long as you want me around.”
“That’s apt to be a while.”
“Fine by me.”
“Is it?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m rather crazy about you and Ty, and all I want is to get out of here so I can be with you guys all the time.”
“We want that, too.”
“Perfect, now about those kisses…”
“You need to be taking it easy, not getting riled up.”
“Please rile me up. It’ll be good for my blood pressure.”
Smiling, she leaned in to kiss him and wasn’t at all surprised when his hand sank into her hair, holding her there while he took her sweet, easy kiss straight to hot and sexy in a matter of seconds. They were interrupted by beeping monitors and the arrival of a concerned-looking nurse.
Cresley was mortified as Carson looked on with amusement.
“I see we’ve found the secret to regulating your blood pressure,” the nurse said.
“Told you,” Carson said to Cresley.
She buried her face in his shoulder.
“Keep it up, and we might get rid of you around here,” the nurse added as she left the room.
“You heard her. We need to keep it up—and trust me, it’s up.”
“Carson, stop it. We’re not getting busy in a room full of windows.”
His lip came out in a cute pout. “You’re no fun at all.”
“I believe I’ve proven otherwise.”
He hugged her as tightly as he could with one arm. “I can’t wait for you to prove it to me again.”
“I can’t either.”