Gunnar stopped staring at his phone. “Yes. Why?”
“No reason. You’ve just been frowning at your phone for the last five minutes.”
Realizing she was right, he set it on the small table next to her hospital bed. “I’m sorry. It was Jeremy.” He shook his head. “It’s the craziest thing—sometimes I feel like I have to pry the words out of that kid. But when it comes to texting, he turns into a chatterbox.”
“Maybe he feels safer communicating that way.” Shoot, she knew some adults who felt that way.
“Maybe so.”
He still looked worried. After reaching for the button that adjusted her sitting position, she adjusted herself so she could see him better. “Is everything okay? Do you need to leave and go be with him?”
He reached for her hand. “No, no. It’s nothing like that. Don’t worry.”
“You know I’m going to worry. I’m grateful that you’re here, but I still feel terrible about you giving up so much to sit here in this hospital room with me.”
He shook his head, as if he was amused by her logic. “Baby, work is fine. Ace completely understood why I had to hop on the first flight out. Shoot, he probably would’ve kicked my rear if I told him I was staying in Bridgeport while my girlfriend had been attacked in New York City.”
She winced. “You make it sound—”
“I made your attack sound as bad as it was,” he said, once again correcting her attempt to downplay what happened. “Now, stop worrying about me. I’m good. ’Kay?”
“Okay.”
“Good.” He picked up her plastic glass that was filled with water and ice. “Now, how about some more water?”
“Thanks.” She carefully placed her lips around the straw and sipped slowly.
Watching Kimber put in so much effort to get a sip of water, Gunnar felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. No matter what she said, he thought she looked pretty bad. She seemed so small in the middle of the bed. All he wanted to do was protect her.
“Gunnar, now what’s wrong?” She took another sip, but this time studying him through half-closed lids.
And just like that, his whole mindset shifted. Instead of looking at her bruises, he started trying not to notice just how perfect those lips were—or how it had felt to finally kiss her the other night.
All he’d done since he’d arrived was kiss her chastely. It wasn’t like he wanted to do more, she was in a hospital bed—but he would be lying to himself he didn’t admit that he was looking forward to the day when she was feeling better and they could move things forward.
When she held the cup for him to take, Gunnar knew he had to get a handle on himself. “So when are your parents coming back?”
“In an hour or so. They wanted to take Traci out to lunch.” She frowned. “I hope they aren’t driving her crazy. They’ve probably asked her a hundred questions.”
“They’ve been sweet, Kimber. They’re good people.” He wasn’t lying either. Though, they were certainly a handful. Kimber, so wary and reserved, was the exact opposite of them. They seemed to speak only with exclamation points.
“They are good people, I’m not denying that. But they can be overwhelming.”
“Ah, have you met Traci? I only just met her but I can already tell that she’s not the type of woman to let people run ragged over her.”
“I guess you’re right.” She pressed a palm flat against the mattress. He’d learned over the last twenty-four hours that she did that when she was worried about something.
“When did you start doing that?” he asked, gesturing to her palm.
“Pressing the mattress like that?” She tucked her hand under one of her many blankets. “I don’t know. Back when I realized that I couldn’t afford to bite my lip or crack my knuckles, I guess.”
“How come you couldn’t do that? Would your parents get that upset?”
“Oh, no. It was my career. When I was first starting out, I was so insecure, I felt that any little flaw would put me at a disadvantage. Even something as small as swollen knuckles.”
Kimber didn’t usually talk about her modeling life. But when she did share details, he always felt a little humbled. “You’ve sure made me rethink a model’s life. I thought you just had to sit there and look pretty.”
She smiled at him. “There’s plenty of that. But there are a lot of pretty girls out there. For someone like me, who looks a little different, it was a reason to worry.”
“You don’t have to worry now.” He stopped himself from reminding her that she was supposed to be retired. If she’d stuck to her decision, she would have never been in New York in the first place, and therefore wouldn’t be sitting in a hospital bed right now.
Looking up at him, her eyes filled with tears. “It’s not over, Gunnar. I know it’s not.”
“All right then, how about this? No matter if it’s over or not, you’re not alone in this. You’ve got your sisters and me and your parents.”
She looked shell-shocked. “I appreciate that, but we need to keep my parents out of this.”
As far as he was concerned, they were already involved. “What are you talking about? I saw how they were looking at you. They love you, Kimber.”
“Oh, I know that.” She hesitated for a moment, then added, “But they aren’t going to want to see that part of me.”
“What part?” When she shifted uncomfortably, he knew he should probably let his concerns slide. She was still injured and no doubt feeling badly. Plus, he was no counselor and it wasn’t like he didn’t have his own issues with his parents from time to time.
Gentling his voice, he added, “We don’t have to talk about this anymore, but I’ve only seen beauty when I look at you. And I’m not talking about the outside either. I’m talking about what’s inside—your heart and your mind. You’re a pretty special woman, at least to me.”
She reached for his hand. “I don’t know how I got so lucky finding you. You really are just the nicest guy.”
“I’m nice to you.”
“That’s enough for me.”
He brought her hand to his lips. “Good, because I want you to keep me around for a while.” He realized then that while he’d tried to show her with his actions how much she meant to him, he hadn’t actually said the words. No, all he’d done was skirt around it, but he didn’t actually come out and say any of the words that a woman would be looking for.