When she smiles, her shining lavender eyes make my pulse skyrocket like no one ever has, and I want her to be happy. Always.
“But it’s not right to you. You’re already in this mess because of me.” I’m about to tell her that I don’t mind when her nervously flicking gaze stops on me and she wets her lips. “Married?”
My heart thrashes in my rib cage, and as she pauses, hope replaces the gloom inside me. It’s like a rising sun after a long dark night. But that light extinguishes when she says, “Like a fake married couple?”
Of course that’s what she would think and want from me. Who in their sane mind would want to be married to a freak like me? Someone who can’t fucking speak his own name clearly.
“Um…yeah. Someth-thing like th-that.” I grab the water bottle from the car door and take a big gulp. “We can stay mar-rried until you recover. You can sh-share my health insurance.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her that she also won’t be alone. But I hold on. She isn’t marrying me for my company.
“But we…don’t know each other, and what will we say to everyone? Ivy, Joe, and…your friends. Your family? What’ll they think of me? Shit! I don’t even know if you have family nearby.”
Before she hyperventilates and passes out once again, I grab her hands in mine. Her touch sends shivers from my fingertips straight to my heart.
“Hey, it’s-s okay. I have t-two older br-rothers. Th-they live nearby.” I don’t tell her that nearby means I can almost see Zander’s grand estate from my porch. “I have cl-close friends wh-who are like family.”
“What about your parents?” she asks.
“Th-they’re gone,” I reply, pressing down the feeling of guilt that surfaces whenever someone talks about our parents.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Zane.”
“It’s-s okay. It w-was a long time ago. But you d-don’t have to w-worry about all of this now.”
My mouth dries, and I’m almost tempted to grab the water bottle when she says, “Can I think about it?”
I nod.
It’s already dark when I pull out of the hospital parking lot. We stop at the signal next to the town square when I notice that the restaurants are slowly being filled with the dinner crowd.
“Sh-shall I pick up s-something for dinner?” I break the silence that has stretched in the car.
Vienna shakes her head, and a casual smile pulls on her lips. A smile that’s so different from her heartwarming grin which has the power to fix every wrong in this world.
My stomach twists and I realize what a moron I’ve been. I acted like a beast who takes advantage of a princess in peril. I clear my throat, hoping she’ll look at me instead of the side window. But she’s lost in her own thoughts.
I stop outside her apartment building. She doesn’t live on the ground floor. I saw her running down the stairs, the day I was here to pick her up for our date.
Is there an elevator?
I don’t even know if she wants me to stay and help her, or if she’s weirded out by my proposition and just wants me to leave.
“Zane, thank you so much for all your help. I don’t know what I’d have done without you,” she speaks finally, and I thank all the heavenly stars upon hearing her voice.
A teardrop shines in her eyes, and I ask, “W-will you manage?” I motion toward the main door of the building.
“Don’t worry, there’s an elevator.” She smiles and pats my hand, but at the last minute, she places a kiss on my cheek.
My skin prickles when her lips make the unexpected contact. I’m lost in my own emotions when she walks around the front of the car, hobbling toward the white door of her building. Just before closing the door, she gives me a tiny wave.
Restlessness courses through me as my thoughts swing like a pendulum.
Vienna didn’t exactly say no. Why?
Is it because it was an extremely lame proposition? Or is it because she’s really thinking about it?
I wait at the signal, and a billboard for a bar few blocks ahead catches my eye. I give it one last glance before driving on.
* * *