When he got grumpy, she laughed at him.
“I’m like a donkey harnessed to turn one of those wooden wheels to grind corn or something,” he complained. “Around and around and around.”
“Hopeless,” she teased, making her voice slow and dreary. “Knowing you’ll spend the rest of your life walking the hospital halls.”
“With bare, hairy legs.”
“Pooh.” She smiled at him. “You have sexy legs, and you know it.”
His mood elevated, and he grinned at her. “Now, if your legs were bare, it would be another story.”
Cait made a face at him. “They keep it too cold in here. Why do they, when patients are in shock or don’t feel good or, um, aren’t wearing much but a hospital gown?” She crossed her arms and rubbed them, as if chilled.
“Maybe because the average person’s thermostat is set higher than yours?” Noah suggested.
She scowled at that but finally conceded, “Maybe.”
His mouth tilted up. “I’ll concede there’s a cold draft coming up from below.”
Cait laughed at him. “If you’re finding it refreshing, we could buy you a kilt.”
“The hell we could.” They’d reached the elevators, where they had turned back during his last walk. “I think I can make it all the way down to the windows.” He stole a sidelong look at her. This struck him as a good time to move them past the declaration of true love to something more tangible. Hopeful. “I suppose I’ll always be turning the heat down and you’ll be turning it up,” he said casually.
The whites of her eyes showed. “Well…Colin and I argue every day about the air-conditioning in his SUV.”
Noah chuckled, pleased that a laugh no longer sent a stab of pain through him. “Then there’s those cold feet in bed every night.”
Her shyness made him think she’d noticed the way he leaned a little on those two words: always and every.
Why wasn’t he panicking?
Maybe because he’d already been there, done that and gotten over it? Even so, he couldn’t help marveling at how ready he was, how sure he wanted this woman and this woman alone for the rest of his natural life.
He was more worried about her side of things. He wanted to believe she meant those three little words, I love you. But he couldn’t help having moments when he wondered if her emotions hadn’t been swayed by the euphoria of the rescue, mixed with a heavy dose of guilt and gratitude. Noah especially hated the idea of gratitude.
They reached the tall windows at the end of the corridor. The view looked over the unattractive roof of a wing of the hospital, but included a slice of the butte. He couldn’t swear he could see the angel from here, but he liked to think so.
“Do you mind if we sit down for a minute?” he asked.
“Of course not!” Cait rushed to maneuver the damn IV pole and clutch his elbow to help support his weight as he cautiously lowered himself onto the bench upholstered with brown plastic. He couldn’t decide if the damage to his gut was what hurt most or the cracked rib.
He hadn’t really needed the rest, though, which meant he was making some real progress. God, to get out of there.
Problem was, he didn’t want to go home alone. He didn’t know how city council members and her brother would see it, but he desperately wanted Cait going home with him.
They sat in silence for a minute. He gave it some time.
“Did you mean it?” she asked finally in a small voice.
He turned his head and saw how big and smoky her eyes were. How anxious.
Noah reached for her hand and relaxed when she met him halfway and held on tight. “Mean what?” he asked.
“The getting married part.”
“Yeah.” That came out gruff. “I meant it.”
“We haven’t actually known each other that long.”
“Is that how you feel?” he asked carefully. “That you don’t know me well enough to make that kind of commitment?”
“Well…no.” She blinked a few times, as if surprised at herself. “I guess I’m thinking more about you. You were so…anticommitment. You have to admit, this is a big turnaround for you.”