Young Revelations (Young Series) (21 page)

My back is resting against something warm and firm. There are arms around my middle and light breathing against my neck. It takes me several moments to remember where I am and everything that happened yesterday. Even once I remember, I have to glance over my shoulder to confirm Matthew is here, with me, holding me, and that our relationship is on the road to recovery. When I woke up last night, around dinnertime, Matthew was beside me, just watching me as though he couldn’t believe I was really there. I didn’t ask him what he was thinking about, but it certainly seemed emotional for him. He’d quickly offered to get dinner for us and while he was gone, I placed a phone call to Claire, who spent most of our conversation apologizing for putting off our discussion and telling me if she’d known Matthew was going to be home early, she would have left the kids with Danny and taken the chance of passing on the stomach flu to the sick patients of the hospital.

I didn’t tell her about Mark being here or the discussion he and I had the night before Matthew’s return. There are just some things people don’t need to know, and since Matthew and I are working on things, it’s probably best to not add any fuel to the fire.

After dinner, Matthew and I talked some more. Without any prompting from me, since I thought it went without saying, he assured me he would have no further interactions with Natalie. He told me he was having a restraining order put in place for me against her and that he would be going through his business associates in order to cut ties with her professionally. When I ventured to ask about who would go to such lengths to do this to us and why, he seemed genuinely stumped. That’s a little disconcerting. The fact that all of this is going on around us and he has no clue as to who or why only seems to make the situation worse. But I have to trust that he’ll take care of it. And I do. I just wish people would leave us the hell alone for a change.

A moment before I feel lips on the back of my neck, I hear Matthew’s breathing changing and I know he’s awake.

“Morning,” he whispers huskily, his lips trailing across my skin to my ear. “Did you sleep well?”

I murmur something in response, but when his tongue traces the shell of my ear, I have no chance of anything I say being coherent. He shuffles a little closer and I gasp as his erection presses into my lower back. “Shame we’re in a hospital,” he whispers, trailing his kisses across my jawline. “I’d love to put that to good use.”

Giggling, I roll onto my back to find him grinning at me with his mussed hair sticking up in every conceivable direction and his eyes sparkling. “Well, assuming I’m released today…” I say leadingly.

“Oh I’m counting on it,” he breathes before our lips come into contact. I sigh contentedly. After the past week, this is what I need—what we
both
need—and I realize how differently everything could have gone for us. I’m not delusional enough to believe we’ve sorted everything out, but I know we’ve gotten a hell of a good start. Groaning into my mouth as he deepens the kiss, I wonder how much more of this he can handle without going any further. Just as the thought passes through my mind, he reins in some of the desperation and eventually pulls away, moving to lie beside me again. I want to protest, but with him looking at me the way he is—like there is no other place in the world he would rather be than here—I can’t summon anything more than a slight pout. “I should probably go get us some breakfast before your doctor’s rounds start or they’re going to get an eyeful.”

I’m willing to take our chances, but my stomach growls before I can say so. Matt grins at me. “Your daughter is hungry,” I tell him. “You might want to do something about that.”

His eyes widen slightly. “My daughter,” he says softly, almost reverently. “I like that.”

My eyes suddenly turn watery. “So do I.”

He leans forward and gives me a brief kiss on the lips, then moves down slightly, lifting my shirt and pressing another kiss on my belly. “I’ll be back soon.”

With that promise, he leaves the room and I am so very much looking forward to going home with him today. Aside from just being sick of the hospital, I’m missing my son and just want to get back to a regular routine. I’m hoping desperately the next few weeks go smoothly, especially with Thanksgiving just being around the corner. I have no clue what Matthew might have planned, though I’m suspecting we’ll be spending the day with his family, and that is not something I’m looking forward to. I haven’t seen his parents in weeks, and not since Matthew told his father about the pregnancy. While I’m certain Paul doesn’t object to another grandchildren, since he seems to dote on all of them, Tyler included, it’s probably more of an issue of me being the grandchild’s mother. As far as I’m concerned, he can get over it. I’m done letting him walk all over me and get to me like he did in the past, and I’m certainly not the young naïve farm girl I was when we first met.

My thoughts are brought to a sudden halt when my door opens. I smile, expecting to see Matthew has returned, even though I know he went to find breakfast that doesn’t come from the hospital cafeteria and prepare a witty comment. The comment I lost, though, when I find Mark rather than Matt at the door.

“Is it safe?” he asks, glancing around the room.

I roll my eyes, smiling. “Yes, it’s safe. Matt just stepped out for breakfast,” I tell him.

His own smile falters very briefly. “I hope I didn’t cause you too much trouble yesterday,” he says, walking further into the room until he’s feet from my bedside. “And I wholeheartedly apologize once again for falling asleep the way I did.”

“It’s fine,” I assure him. “Matt was understandably upset, but he’ll get over it.”

“Still,” Mark says. “I admire his restraint. If the situation had been reversed, I don’t know that I would have been able to refrain from breaking a couple bones.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, he says it crossed his mind, but he decided to take a walk instead.”

He snorts a laugh. “I certainly appreciate that.” He takes a couple more steps closer, but I notice he doesn’t come within arm’s reach of me. A very small part of me is disappointed by that. “I just wanted to come by and see how you’re feeling. I expect Dr. Marsh will be by within the next couple hours with your discharge papers—from what I saw, all your labs came back clean. Your blood pressure is back to a more comfortable level.”

I raise an eyebrow, smirking slightly. “If you’re not my doctor anymore, are you supposed to be snooping around my medical records like that?” I ask teasingly.

His smile turns sheepish. “Technically no, but I happened to overhear a few key conversations.” He cocks his head to the side. “Are you going to report me?”

“I probably should,” I say evenly, unable to keep from grinning at him. “But considering I can’t wait to get out of here and I haven’t heard anything today one way or the other, I’ll say thank you instead.”

“You’re welcome,” he says quietly, his gaze turning serious again.

I know what he’s thinking, because I’m thinking the same: is this it? The last time we see each other? The logical side of me says if I was smart it would be; Matthew’s jealous side is being put to the test right now as it is and Mark’s continued presence in my life could only make that worse. The other side of me, though, the one who feels isolated with the small amount of people with whom I regularly socialize says everyone needs more friends and I already know Mark and I have a connection. Probably the biggest concern I have with a maintained friendship with Mark is whether it could
remain
a friendship. I like to believe I’m strong enough to refrain from anything else, even if the feelings might be there buried deep down. But I would hate for Mark to make a move on me somewhere down the line, which would force me to end that friendship for good.

I have to go with my gut on this, not what Matthew or Mark might want me to decide. “I was thinking we might have lunch together some time,” I say tentatively. Mark’s eyebrows rise. “You, me, and Matthew. Maybe we can all get to know each other a little better…”

I can’t read the expression on his eyes—relief, disappointment, shock. “I’d like that,” he says rather uncertainly as though he’s wondering whether I’m joking or not. “I have to say, I wasn’t looking forward to telling you goodbye.”

I feel the same and begin to say so, but my door opens again. This time it is Matthew. And he stops dead in his tracks as he takes in the sight before him. I imagine he’s got a very horrible sense of déjà vu as Mark and I both look at him. Matthew’s complexion pales, his jaw tenses slightly, and I see him swallow hard once. After a couple moments, he seems to snap out of it, reverting to the polite façade he adopts when he’s dealing with particularly annoying business associates. He crosses the room, giving Mark a wide berth, walks around the side of the bed, sets down the bag containing our breakfast, and proceeds to bend down over me, kissing me thoroughly.

When he pulls away and my vision clears, I glance over to find Mark has politely looked away and arranged his features to hide his thoughts. “Hungry, baby?” he murmurs, grinning at me in a way that makes me believe he’s referring to more than food. And I know he’s, at least in part, putting on a show for Mark.

“Matthew, this is Dr. Mark Reilly,” I say in response. Matthew’s grin widens as he realizes I’ve worked out what he’s up to. “Mark, this is—”

Matthew puts out his hand across the bed, interrupting my introduction. “Matthew Young. Samantha’s fiancé,” he says, smiling pleasantly.

Mark doesn’t hesitate to shake Matthew’s hand and I don’t miss how tightly they squeeze each other’s hands. Men… “It’s a pleasure to you, Matthew,” Mark says when their grips loosen. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”

“Likewise,” Matthew says.

Looking between them, it wouldn’t be surprised to find out both have forgotten I’m here at all. They seem to be locked in some testosterone-fueled showdown and I’m starting to feel the tension building between them. “So Mark says all my labs are clear and I should be released today,” I tell Matthew brightly, taking his hand and trying to get his attention diverted.

Matthew looks down at me, beaming. “That’s great,” he says, looking back at Mark briefly. “Thank you for that.”

“My pleasure,” Mark mutters, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. I watch him retrieve a business card, then a pen from his jacket. “This is my personal cell number, Samantha. Call anytime.” He hands the card to me and I feel Matthew’s grip increase on my hand as Mark’s fingers graze against mine as I take it. “I should get on with my rounds. Matthew, it was good to finally meet you.”

Matthew gives a forced smile and terse nod.

“Take care, Samantha,” Mark says softly, briefly reaching out to squeeze my shoulder. “I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know you this week.”

Ignoring my fiancé for a moment, I smile at Mark. “Thank you,” I tell him. “For everything.”

He gives me a wide, dimpled smile, a wink, then goes on about his day.

The moment the door is closed, Matthew lets out a long breath and I’m sure the phrase “Dr. Dipshit” is at the tail end of that breath. I turn and give him a withering glare that makes him grin. “Is that really necessary?” I ask him as he turns away and begins to arrange our breakfast on the table.

“Probably not,” he concedes. “But at least I waited until he was out of the room. That’s got to be worth something, right?”

I decide not to answer, slipping out of bed and sitting in the chair Matthew pulls out for me. “This looks wonderful,” I tell him, eyeing the spread of pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice he’s brought. “Thank you.”

“Anything for my girls,” he says, leaning down to kiss me briefly before sitting beside me. “I spoke to Claire while I was out. She’s getting Tyler to school this morning and we’ll pick him up later. And I’m not going into the office today or tomorrow, so you’re stuck with me.”

“I’ll suffer through,” I tease him, grinning. “But you don’t need to stay with me; I’ll be just fine if you need to work.”

He shrugs that off. “I’ve been without you for a week, and before that, you weren’t speaking to me, so it feels like another week has been added to that. If I could get away with taking the next three weeks off work, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

I nod, averting my gaze. It feels like forever since we spent time together like this, just the two of us. And being reminded just how close we were only a week and a half ago to ending leaves me feeling slightly guilty.

“Hey.” Matthew’s voice is soft as he reaches over to gently turn my head so I’m looking at him again. “Don’t do that. We’ve both been idiots this week—me more than you as always—but we’re fixing all that. Please don’t put all this on you.”

I want to argue, to tell him I should have known he’d never cheat on me, because now I’m thinking about it, it really is a foolish thought that he’d do something like that to me. My belief that he’d done what someone had tried so hard to convince me he’d done nearly caused me to lose our daughter, something I would always feel devastated about.

Instead, I summon a grin to match the lighthearted setting he’s trying to bring us this morning. “I’m not,” I tell him flippantly, taking a bite of bacon. “I’m putting it all on you.”

He lets out a surprised laugh, looking at me incredulously. “Gee, thanks,” he shoots sarcastically, grinning at me. “Eat your breakfast, woman; my daughter is hungry.”