“I’m still f**king killing him,” Max answered irritably.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you drop the f-bomb before,” Mia said teasingly.
“Yeah…well…things have changed. I’ve changed,” Max admitted, knowing it was true. He wasn’t the same man she had known before.
“I’m different, too. I remember our life together before I disappeared, but I don’t feel like that same person anymore,” she whispered just loud enough for Max to hear her. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey.” Max stood and tipped her chin up so he could see her gorgeous eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I never stopped loving you. And I never will. We’ll start over, get to know each other again.” He’d take his time, let her recover, but Max was determined that Mia would know him.
He wanted to tell her that he knew how empty his life was without her, how his heart had bled each and every day that she’d been gone, that he wished he had died with her when he thought she was dead. But she wasn’t ready for that right now, and he ruthlessly shoved the thoughts away. Right now, he just wanted her whole, healthy, and happy.
“Okay,” she agreed breathlessly. “You should go home and get some rest. You look exhausted. Have you slept?”
He grinned at her. “Not much. And I’m not leaving until I can take you home tomorrow.”
“You need sleep. You look tired,” she murmured, worrying her lip again with distress, her expression troubled.
“I’ll sleep,” he assured her, hating to see her upset about him when she was the one in a hospital bed. “Here.” He patted the chair next to the bed.
She hesitated before asking haltingly, “Will you sleep with me?” Scooting over in the small bed, she gave him a hopeful look.
At that moment, all Max wanted to do was slide into the bed beside her and hold her, feel her breath against his skin to remind him that she was his again. But he couldn’t. “I stink. I haven’t showered and I’ve been in the same clothes for two days.”
Mia smiled and lifted her hand, pointing her thumb toward a door near the entrance of the room. “Bathroom is over there and Maddie brought you clean clothes. They’re in the drawer.”
Max’s lips turned up as he moved to the dresser and opened the drawer, pulling out a clean pair of jeans and t-shirt, and promising himself not to forget that he owed his sister a very big favor. “Five minutes,” he told Mia, practically running to the bathroom and closing the door, probably setting a world record for taking the fastest shower and still getting himself clean.
Mia was yawning when he exited the bathroom, his hair still damp, but feeling almost human again. She moved to the edge of the bed so he could slip in beside her. The bed was small and would have been tight for a man his size even without another body, but at the moment, it was heaven. Pulling Mia away from the edge of the bed to cradle her back against his front, he groaned with ecstasy as her scent surrounded him, happily drowning him in her essence. His heart thundered, his body reveling in a sensation he thought he’d never experience again.
“Jesus. I missed this so much,” he whispered huskily against her ear, his hand reaching up to swipe the string that turned off the light above them, plunging them into darkness.
Mia relaxed into his body, fitting perfectly against him. “I don’t remember us not being together, but I know that I missed it too. I love you,” she said in a quiet, solemn voice.
His whole body shuddered as his hold on her tightened involuntarily. His hand splayed over her stomach, urging her closer. Those were the words he’d wanted to hear, needed to hear. As long as Mia loved him, not another damn thing in the world mattered. “I love you, too. I didn’t think I’d ever get to hold you again.” His voice was choked, emotion lodging in his throat.
“I’m not sure my nurse will approve,” she said with a light laugh.
“Don’t give a f**k,” he murmured against her ear, breathing in the scent of her hair. “Are you comfortable?”
“Yes. You smell so good,” she said in a sultry voice. “Are you okay?”
“Hell, no. Hospital beds are like torture devices. But you couldn’t blast me out of this position with dy***ite right now,” he told her honestly. “And I owe Maddie a hell of a nice present for the clean clothes.”
“She’s wonderful, Max. I’m so happy you found each other. How did it happen?” she asked curiously.
He shrugged slightly as he replied, “Fate. Or maybe just dumb luck. I saw her at Simon’s wedding to Kara and she looked just like an old picture of our birth mother. It made me want to dig into my past and I finally found the proof that we were brother and sister. Unfortunately, she didn’t get adopted and she’s had it pretty tough. I wish I had known earlier. I was just a baby when we were separated and neither one of us remembered the other.”
“She seems happy now,” Mia mused.
“She is. How could she not be? She has me for a brother,” Max answered with a chuckle.
“I know she’s happy to have you as a brother, but I sort of think Sam has a little bit to do with it too,” Mia answered with a sigh. “They look so happy. Maddie told me some of their story. I never thought Sam would become so domesticated. I guess underneath the playboy exterior, he was always yearning for Maddie. I guess both Simon and Sam are finally happy. It seems so strange that everything has changed so much. It’s almost like I went to sleep one night and woke up to an alternate universe. But I’m glad both of them found the right woman. I’m glad. I always worried about them. I wish that would happen for Kade and Travis.”
Max was pissed as hell at Kade, and Travis needed a woman who’d grab him by the balls and wouldn’t let go, because he could be an ass**le, but Max answered magnanimously, “I hope so, too.” And he did, because that’s what Mia wanted. Kade could find the right woman to please Mia…right after Max beat the hell out of him for being an ass**le.
“Will you stay for a while? Until I remember or at least get used to the fact that I don’t remember the last few years?” Her voice sounded nervous, frightened. “Everything just seems so dissimilar to what I can remember.”
“Sweetheart, I’m staying all night,” he reminded her.
She shook her head slightly. “That’s not what I meant. I was wondering if you could put off your business trips. Just for a little while. The media will have a field day with this, and I was hoping you might be able to stick around for a while.”