Holding You (35 page)

TINGLES. MY HAND
was tingling.
Colt.
I could feel his warm breath on the back of my hand.

My sweet Lauren, open your eyes. Open your eyes and go back to him.

Slowly opening my eyes, I saw him. Leaning his head down, Colt had his lips to the back of my hand as he whispered against my skin.

“Baby, please. I want to hear your voice. I love you, Lauren. I love you so much and I’m not leaving until you wake up.”

Tears stung my eyes as I watched the man I love pouring his heart out to me.

Opening my mouth, I tried to speak but nothing would come out. Colt continued to speak against my skin that was now on fire from his touch.

“I’m so scared, sweetheart.
Please,
I beg you to wake up.”

My body felt so weak, but I needed to let him know I was here and I was never going to leave him. Lifting my hand, Colt jumped back as he stared down at my hand.

“I’m up,” I whispered as Colt snapped his head to look at me. Jumping up, Colt wiped his tears away. He stared at me for a few moments before he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine.

“I love you. Oh God, Lauren. I love you so much.”

Smiling against his warm soft lips, I whispered, “I love you more.”

Shaking his head he chuckled. “Never. Not possible, sweetheart.”

Colt’s blue eyes were red and the puffy dark circles told me he hadn’t been getting much sleep. How long had I been in the hospital?

Licking my lips, I tried to talk.

“Are you thirsty?” Colt asked.

Nodding my head, I looked around the room. No one else was in here but Colt. Holding up a glass and a straw, Colt spoke. “Just a small drink, baby. I’m not sure you can have anything yet. I need to get the nurse.”

Taking a small sip I let out a sigh. The cold water felt amazing as it slid down my throat to my stomach.

Speaking in a raspy voice, I asked, “How long have you been here, Colt?”

Smiling, he placed his hand on the side of my face and rubbed his thumb gently across my skin.

“You’ve been here at Brackenridge for four days.” Glancing up at the clock he looked back at me. “Five days actually.”

Swallowing, I closed my eyes, then opened them again. “You look so tired, Colt. Have you slept?”

Leaning over, he brushed his lips against mine. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Everything is fine now that you’ve come back to me.”

Smiling at him, it felt as if my heart was going to burst in my chest. This man, who I loved so very much, had stayed by my side the entire time. He was indeed the tick to my clock. My everything. “I’ll never leave you, Colt. Never.”

Colt started to walk away when I called out. “Wait. Don’t call anyone yet. I just want you to hold me. There was a moment when I felt like I was slipping away from you, but I closed my eyes and pictured you holding me. I could feel your warmth spreading through my body, pulling me to you.”

Colt quickly walked over as I attempted to move myself over some. Crawling into the bed with me, Colt moved tubes out of the way as he pulled me closer to him.

Gently kissing me on the forehead, Colt began to talk. “For a few minutes there I thought I was going to lose you, Lauren. I’d never felt so empty in my entire life.”

“I’m so sorry I scared you, Colt.”

Pressing his lips to my head, he said, “Sweetheart, I love you. Marry me, Lauren.”

Wait. What did he just say? Oh. My. Glitter.
Pressing my lips together to contain my excitement, I slowly smiled. “What?” I asked in a whispered voice.

“Marry me. As soon as you get better and get out of here, let’s go off somewhere and get married. Let me make you mine. I don’t want to waste another minute, another second, in this life without you.”

I tried to absorb what Colt was saying. “You want to get married? What about school?” Then it hit me. Colt had been by my side this last week; that meant he must have missed a football game and practices. “The game?”

Colt’s head flinched back slightly. “The game? Lauren, this isn’t a game. I’m serious, I want to get married the moment you get out of this hospital and get your strength back.”

I began to blink rapidly in an attempt to hold back my tears.

Colt wants to marry me. Oh my. Mrs. Colt Mathews. Mrs. Lauren Mathews. That sounds so good. I feel like I should start practicing writing it down or something. I need paper right away.

“Lauren? Um, your silence is kind of scaring me.”

My body felt on fire as my stomach dipped and my heartbeat increased.
Colt wants to marry me.
Grinning, I looked into his eyes. God those blue eyes were able to drown out everything else in the world when I looked into them. “I know it’s not a game, I meant your football game, you missed it.”

Colt’s expression changed for one brief second before a grin spread across this face. “Nothing else matters to me except for you, Lauren. Football, school, ranches, none of it matters. As long as you’re by my side, I’ll forever be happy.”

Feeling the tear slide down my face, I sucked in a shaky breath. “There is nothing more I want than to become your wife, Colt.”

Leaning over, Colt pressed his lips against mine. His tongue ran along my bottom lip, asking for entry and I gladly gave it to him. Letting out a soft moan, I was quickly lost in Colt’s kiss. His love for me felt as if it was pouring into my body and I was already feeling better.

The door to my hospital room opened and someone cleared their throat. Pulling back some, Colt whispered against my lips. “Our secret for right now?”

Nodding my head, I wiped my tears away. “Yes.”

“Ms. Reynolds, I see you’re awake.”

Peeking over to the nurse, I smiled. “Yes ma’am.”

Walking over to me, she gave Colt a polite smile as he crawled out of the bed. “Let’s see how that fever is, shall we?”

Nodding my head, I let go of Colt’s hand and kept my eyes on him as he took a few steps back. When he winked at me, I felt my insides melt and my face flush. That crooked smile of his was driving me mad with desire, even though it felt as if I had been in a train wreck. My body was aching and my head hurt with a dull headache.

Smiling, the nurse nodded her head. “Your fever is down to one hundred. That’s amazing, considering it was one hundred and five the other day.”

My mouth dropped open. “What? Wow. That’s really high.”

Colt and the nurse both chuckled. “You really gave your family a scare.” Looking over her shoulder to Colt, she smiled. “And I must say, Miss Reynolds, you’re very lucky to have someone love you as much as this gentleman standing here does.” Glancing back at me, she looked into my eyes. “Not everyone gets a chance at a love like that. Don’t waste a second of it.”

Chewing on my lip, I thought of Colt’s proposal to me.
Could I really run off and get married? Did I want a big wedding with the white dress and all the headaches that went along with it?
I’d been through two of them already with Alex and Libby.

Smiling bigger, I said, “No ma’am, I don’t intend on wasting any time at all. Isn’t that right, Mr. Mathews?”

Colt’s smile grew bigger as he nodded his head. Yes. There was no wasting any more time. My goal was to get healthy and out of the hospital so I could marry the man whom I loved more than the air I breathed.

THE MOMENT I
was wheeled out of the hospital, I insisted on standing up and walking. I felt alive. I’d spent another week in the hospital after I had woken up, and Colt never left my side. Most of the time was spent getting my strength back and that meant countless walks with Colt right there. Not once did he leave, only to get food. I wasn’t sure how Gunner felt about Colt missing so much school, and Colt didn’t mention anything about his conversation this morning with the head football coach at A&M.

Dropping my head back, I let the warm sun shine on my face. “Mmm . . . that feels so good,” I said as I smiled.

Placing his hand on my lower back, Colt kissed my neck and chuckled. “Damn you look sexy as hell right now.”

Grinning, I looked down at his lips. His soft plump lips that were begging for me to kiss them and suck on them. Oh, to have them kiss my body.

“Keep biting on your lip and looking at me like that, Lauren, and we won’t make it to my truck.”

Dropping my mouth open, I let out a moan. My body ached, but not because I had been lying in a hospital bed for over two weeks. I wanted to feel Colt’s skin up against me. His lips trailing soft kisses along my skin. Oh Lord. I was going to go into a full-blown orgasm just thinking about it.

“Lauren, darling are you okay? Your cheeks are so flushed.”

Colt winked as he turned and guided me down the sidewalk to his truck as my mother walked alongside of us. “I am. I feel wonderful, Mom. I guess it’s maybe from just moving about.” I had insisted on walking to Colt’s truck, even though the nurse had stood there and argued with me about it. I finally just stood up and walked a few steps away from the wheelchair. Figuring out I was not going to back down, she gave me a sweet smile and told me to take it easy and slowly build back to what I was doing before getting sick.

Feeling slightly light headed, I was regretting my stubbornness. “Colt?”

It was as if he knew what I was going to say. “Stay here with your mom and dad, I’ll go get my truck.”

Kissing me quickly on the lips, I watched Colt take off jogging toward the parking lot.

Feeling my father walk up next to me, I glanced up at him. Letting out a sigh, he said, “He loves you very much, Lauren.”

Smiling, I nodded my head. “I know he does. I don’t think he ever left the hospital once.”

Letting out a soft chuckle my mother said, “No. He didn’t. Gunner had to force him at one point to go eat.”

Worrying my bottom lip, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to say this without sounding crazy, so I just inhaled a deep breath and blew it out. “He saved my life.”

“What?” my father asked.

Turning to me, my mother asked, “Who did, Lauren?”

Still staring straight out to where Colt ran, I decided I was going to tell my parents what happened to me. “Colt did. I felt him pulling me back.”

My mother’s voice cracked. “Pulling you back? What do you mean?”

Turning to look at her, I felt such a sense of peace. Smiling I said, “I saw Grandpa.”

My mother’s face fell and the color all but drained from it. “What do you mean, Lauren?”

Looking straight ahead, I inhaled a deep breath once again. This time I could smell rain in the air. Glancing up, I smiled when I saw the rain clouds. Oh, how I hoped it would rain. I wanted to sit in the barn and listen to it hit the tin roof. “I think for a few minutes, I might have been . . . gone. I was standing in a really bright room and Grandpa was there. Except, it didn’t feel like I should go with him. I kept hearing Colt; he was calling out for me and his voice sounded so pained. Like he was in agony. Then . . . I felt his warmth and it was like he was calling me back to him and I couldn’t leave.” Letting out a soft chuckle, I turned to my mother. “Grandpa told me to open my eyes. That I needed to go back to Colt.”

With her chin trembling, my mother pulled me to her and cried as my father wrapped both of us up in his arms. “Lauren, I don’t know what we would have done if we had lost you.”

With my father holding us tightly, we cried softly together. I’d never felt so loved before in my life. It was as if I could feel my parents’ love pouring into me. I had to smile because I knew the moment they found out Colt and I were leaving to get married, they were not going to be so loving.

Hearing Colt clear his throat, my father dropped his hold on my mother and me. Kissing me gently on the cheek. “You ready to head home, sweetheart?”

Nodding my head, I turned to kiss my father, then my mother. “See you at home?”

Giving me that smile that has made me feel safe since I could remember, my mother said, “Be careful driving, Colt.”

Reaching out, Colt shook my father’s hand, then kissed my mother on the cheek. “Yes, ma’am.”

Opening the door to his truck, Colt helped me up and buckled me in. Giving me that melt-my-panties smile, he placed his hand on the side of my face and whispered, “You’re forever mine, Lauren Ashley Reynolds.”

Becoming acutely aware of my own heartbeat, my fingers ached with the need to touch Colt. “Care to make that Lauren Ashley Mathews?” Colt’s eyes turned dark as his mouth opened slightly. A shiver ran across my entire body.

“When?” Colt asked in a whispered kiss against my lips.

Slightly parting my legs, I internally begged for him to touch me. “As soon as we can,” I stuttered.

Holding in his breath, Colt smiled as he pulled back and shut the door. Watching him jog around the front of his truck, I wiped my sweaty hands on my shorts. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to make it without being with him. It felt as if our connection had grown stronger since I had gotten sick.

Jumping in, Colt reached over and hit play on this stereo. When his iPod started playing, I couldn’t help but smile when I heard “Say You Do” by Dierks Bentley begin playing. Colt had played it the night we shared our first real kiss. Ever since then, I must have listened to it at least twice a day.