Flopping to his side, Nash moved to stand up, but his knees buckled beneath him sending him straight back to the mud. “Yes, sir. I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”
Ember scrambled to her feet, moving out of the way as they surrounded Nash. Any energy he had left to argue seemed to get washed down river with her riding apparel. Two men worked to get Nash into the helicopter. Everything happened so fast, she didn’t have time to say goodbye.
I didn’t get to tell him I love him.
Voice full of humiliation and shame, she acknowledged, “Mr. Montgomery, it’s my fault. Daisy was stuck out on an island in the middle of the river and I…I went in to get her. I had no business attempting to—”
“By yourself?” he asked, staring in shock from beneath his hat.
“Yes.” Her eyes dropped to the ground. “Don’t blame Travis. He told me to stay put, but I heard the calf crying and—”
“I’d say, now it’s official. Anyone who’s willing to risk life and limb for their stock…now that’s a rancher.” He cast an index finger. “But do me a favor. Don’t ever try a fucking stunt like that again.”
“You have my word.”
“And do we need to have another conversation about assigning names to the stock?”
“No, sir.” A small grin perked the corner of her lips. “I call all of the calfs Daisy.”
Chapter 25
Nash
The sounds of monitors and machines suffocated the hospital room. In the past five hours, he’d survived a near drowning, two blood draws, a chest x-ray, a CT Scan, and an echocardiogram, but if Ember didn’t show up soon, he felt like he might die.
There was so much he needed to say, to explain. He hoped the forgiveness he saw in her eyes at the river was still there when she walked through the door.
If she walked through the door.
Voices carried in from the hallway as the door hinged open letting in the light. He’d gotten so disappointed every time a doctor or nurse came in, he didn’t bother opening his eyes.
“Hey.”
The soft caress in her voice slipped over him in a veil of reverence. His eyes zipped open, heart thundering so fiercely, he half expected alarms to start peeping and a nurse to come running into the room.
“I’m glad you came.”
Nash stalked her every move hoping for a sign, any indication, to let him know they were okay. They’d kissed during the chaos. However, he was unsure if she returned the affection because she still had feelings for him, or she thought they might not make it out alive.
One thing he knew for certain, he’d never been this fucking nervous in his life.
“Sorry it took so long. We had to ride back to the ranch and the roads were flooded getting into town.” She paused, freeing a big, shaky breath she’d been holding. “I saw your dad and Sam in the waiting area, and I just spoke with your doctor. She said all your test results look good so far. Just waiting for scan results to come back before you can get released.”
The sweetness in her eyes melted him, turning his insides to lava, but the dark shadows beneath them added a swift kick to his boys. It nearly killed him knowing he caused her pain.
“I gave them your name as next of kin, along with my father’s.”
Ember nodded, blush tainting the bridge of her nose. “That would explain why they addressed me as your fiancée.”
“It does have a nice ring to it,” he simmered, nervously tracing his tongue along the inside of his teeth. The pink seeping into her cheeks spurred his optimism. Nash patted the hospital bed. “Sit with me.”
A tentative smile hooked the corner of her lips, moving toward the chair beside his bed. “We need to talk.”
The hope he’d been hanging on to dimmed as she declined the offer. Every inch of vacancy between them carved a hole deeper into his chest. He missed the touch of her hand, her energy, her deep breathing, her smile…fuck he missed everything about her.
“Why didn’t you tell me you withdrew the offer?”
Deliberating his reply, Nash’s brows crept toward the ceiling. “That’s difficult to do when someone won’t answer my calls.”
“You could’ve told me weeks ago. And I’m here now,” she assured, waving a hand across her body.
Nash winced at her curtness. Dread and heartbreak started its ugly descent into the corners of his shackled heart.
“I withdrew my offer because…I wasn’t…I wasn’t expecting you.” Turning sideways, he sat on the side of the bed, feet dangling on the floor. “I wasn’t the one who had your DNA tested.”
“I saw the results in the file, Nash.” Her tone didn’t budge an inch.
“I sent my private investigator, Randy, after the glass you left in the boardroom, but it was gone by the time he got there.”
Curiosity bounced through her expression. “How did you end up with the results?”
“Because I’m good at what I do, Ember. When I want something, there’s not much I won’t do to get it. Or at least that’s how I am…when it comes to you.” Reaching forward, he lifted a tiny hand from her lap, tangling their fingers. “I told my private investigator to get the results, no matter what the cost to my wallet or my pride.”
Anger and frustration splintered. “I don’t understand. Why? Why would you do that?”
“I bribed someone to get the results and lose the test. I didn’t want anyone else to have them…just in case.”
“In case?”
“I didn’t go through the trouble of hijacking your results to hurt you, Ember. I did it so no one else would have the results. I mean, you’d have to be blind not to see the resemblance between you and Ben, but—”
Lines on her face etched with confusion. “You were…protecting me?”
Unable to hold back any longer, Nash inched closer, bringing their lips in kissing proximity. “I’d do anything for you.”
Her teeth tugged at her lower lip. “But the photo of me with Monty and Travis…that was taken three weeks ago.”
Tucking away his nerves, he traced the shell of her ear. “Randy works for me on occasion, but he’s been a family friend for years. Apparently, it’s out of my norm to fall in love. He thought I’d lost my mind when I told him to back off, so he did some investigating on his own. Honestly, he thought he was protecting me from…you. He thought you and Travis—”
“You might need him to protect you.” Her lips pulled wide, turning into a suggestive smile. “Because I don’t know how much longer I can keep my hands off you.”
Lurching forward to the edge of the bed, she crushed her body to his. Tucked between his solid thighs, she threw her arms over the slant of his shoulder, pushing her fingers into the layers of his dark, wavy hair.
Rubbing a spot on the back of his head, Nash groaned, “Might have to go a little easy on me, sweetheart. I’ve got a mellon-sized lump on my noggin. Doc thinks I got knocked out hitting my head on a tree or something.”
“Sorry,” she cringed, fingers trembling as she cautiously inspected the bump.