Sex and the Widow Miles (The Women of Willow Bay) (23 page)

“
Just take it easy, little lady.” He released Will and stood slowly, his hands raised, eyeing me with trepidation. “That thing could go off again if you’re not careful.”

“
Will?” Stomach churning, I moved along the length of the counter, and kept the gun focused on Brian. Adrenalin raced through my veins, giving me an unfamiliar yet heady sense of power. “Are you okay?”

“
The bastard shot me.” Will’s voice was filled with incredulity. “He shot me.”

“
I didn’t shoot you.” Brian scowled. “You hit my arm and made the gun go off.”

By this time, Sarah had managed to get to her feet and was steadying herself on the jewelry display.
“Grab a couple of those fancy designer scarves, Julie, and let’s tie this son of a bitch up.”

I gave her the gun, grateful to hand the damn thing over, and pulled two strips of colorful fabric from the scarf rack.

“Now, look, ladies. There’s no reason to get all bent out of shape here. We’ve just had a little misunderstanding, that’s all.” Brian blinked and his lower lip trembled. “Let’s talk. We can straighten this out.”

“
Oh,
now
he wants to talk.” Sarah scoffed and shook the gun in his direction. “Don’t mess with me, you little jerk, or I’ll go all Dirty Harry on your ass.” She pointed to a wicker armchair in the center of the store. “Get your butt over there and sit down. Take off your clothes first, I don’t want blood all over my white chair.”

“
I only wanna find Jeannie.” Tears spilled over his cheeks as he backed his way to the chair, stripping off his jacket and shirt and dropping them on the floor. “I didn’t want any trouble. I love her.” He plopped down in the chair. “I miss her.”

“
Are you really
this
stupid, Jenner?” Sarah gave his own words back to him. “I’m not buying the tears again, sparky. Shut up or I’ll let Julie here stuff a scarf in your mouth.”

Now m
y hands shook with fear and impatience. I only wanted to get him secured so I could tend to Will.

“
His hands behind him first, Julie,” Sarah ordered. “Then tie his ankles to the chair.”

Just as I
tied the last knot around Brian’s ankles and the chair leg, sirens screamed in the street outside. Resisting the urge to kick the bastard in the balls, I ran to Will as police officers swarmed the shop.

TWENTY-FOUR

“
I’m going in there.”

“
Ms. Miles, wait—” A frustrated nurse called out as I cruised the cubicles in the emergency room, looking for Will.

“
Sorry, but there’s no way you’re gonna keep me out of there another second.” I peered around a curtain. No sign of Will.

The nurse gave a frustrated sigh.
“Okay. He’s in Number 8.” She ran ahead of me, her white Crocs squeaking on the polished linoleum. “Come with me.”

When she drew back the curtain
, I slipped around her. Will lay in the bed, eyes closed, five o’clock shadow showing clearly against the pallor of his skin. An almost-empty IV bag dripped clear liquid into the crook of his arm, and his shoulder was wrapped in a white bandage.

The nurse
rolled her eyes at me. “This one’s been a very large pain in the behind tonight.” She jerked a thumb in his direction as she moved to the other side of his bed to check the machines surrounding him. “We practically had to sedate him to get him to lie still while the doc patched him up. Pain meds finally kicked in.”

“
Did they get the bullet out?” I whispered, not wanting to disturb his rest. He looked so peaceful.

“
Wasn’t there. It was a clean entry and exit, so no surgery required. He’ll be sore for a little while, but he’ll heal.” She pulled the blanket up under his arms before heading out the door. “This is getting low. I’ll be right back.”

I
edged closer to the bed. He was so pale and still, if it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of his chest, I’d have thought he was dead. When I reached out to touch his unbandaged shoulder, he opened his eyes.

“
Hey, Slugger.” He started to lift his head, but then dropped it back on the pillows. “My head hurts.”

“
I know. Lie still.” I stroked his hair back from his forehead. “You hit your head when you and Brian fell.”

He tried but failed to smile.
“I think I’ve got a fat lip, too.” The words slurred and he licked his dry lips.

“
Yup, you do.” I poured some water from the bedside pitcher and helped him manage the straw. “I still can’t believe you rushed that idiot.”

“
Pretty stupid, huh?” He shrugged with a chuckle that immediately turned into a grimace. Apparently, even that small movement sent pain searing through him.

The nurse, who
’d just returned with a new IV bag, ruffled his blond hair and shook her head. “Just found out we’re keeping you overnight, buddy.” Then she smiled at me. “They’ll be moving him up to a room shortly.”

Will turned
more ashen and closed his eyes for a second. I could tell he hurt too much to argue, which was just as well since I had already planned on begging them to keep him anyway, and hadn’t intended to take any crap from him about it. I wanted to be completely sure he was going to be okay before I took him home.

I met the nurse
’s gaze over his head, but she only shook her head. “He’s going to be fine. They just want to watch the bump on his head. He’s not concussed, but we keep head wounds for twenty-four hours.” She switched out the IV and then scurried out, yanking the curtain halfway closed.

Tears pricked my eyes and I scooted a chair closer to the bed. I needed to touch him. I slid my left hand under the blanket and placed it on his belly. It was contact, and he didn
’t object.

In fact, he rubbed his
fingers over mine, pressing my hand to his stomach, almost as if he needed me as much as I did him. “Thank God, they took that loon away.” His voice was rough.

“
Oh yeah, he’s in custody. I’m sure he’ll be locked up for a long time. Will, what were you doing at the shop? Carrie told me you were in Budapest.” He looked so exhausted, I backpedaled and started to pull my hand away. “Never mind. You rest. We’ll talk later.”

He heaved a big sigh and stroked his fingers from my elbow to my wrist.
“No, I want you here. Stay, please.”

His words warmed me to my toes so I settled back into the chair.
“Do you feel like telling me how you got from Eastern Europe to the shelter?”

Curling his fingers around mine under the blanket, he
met my gaze, emotion filling his azure eyes. “It was kinda weird. I got into O’Hare this afternoon and caught a cab to head home, but for some reason, I suddenly had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to see
you
. It was like I was—was being pushed. I just
had
to get to you immediately. I knew it was your day at the shop, so I told the cabbie to take me to there.”

“
I’ve never been so happy to see someone in my entire life.” I didn’t mention the prayer I’d breathed to the heavens—to Charlie—just before Will had appeared at the door. I’m not a particularly spiritual person, but I was convinced Charlie had sent Will to me. “Will, I—”

“
And here’s the dynamic duo.” A voice from the doorway interrupted me, and there was Sarah in a wheelchair, her red head bandaged. Dismissing the orderly with a smile and a thank you, she wheeled herself closer to the bed. “You two are quite a pair. How ya doin’, hero?” With a crooked grin, she started to rise, then plopped back into the chair, her face contorted in pain.

“
Sarah, what the hell are you doing up?” I hopped up to straighten the pillow behind her back and rearrange the blanket over her knees. When I’d left her earlier, she’d been resting comfortably in a cubicle a few yards away from Will.

“
I was bored all by myself, so I thought I’d come over and check on our boy. You only look a little worse for the wear, Lancelot.” She gave Will a thumbs up. Concern showed in her green eyes in spite of her casual manner.

“
I’m okay. Sore shoulder and a raging headache.” His mouth twisted. “You must have one too. God, Sarah, that guy totally coldcocked you.”

“
Aw hell, I’ve had worse than this from old butthead. But they’re saying I have to stay overnight for observation anyway.” She turned to me. “How’re you doing, Jules?”

“
I’m fine.” I went over to the bed again and reached for Will’s hand. “
I’m
not the one who got pistol whipped or shot.”

Sarah squirmed to get comfortable in the wheelchair.
“I could
not
believe that little jerk came back. And hey, for the record, I have no idea where Jeannie flew to, but it sure as hell wasn’t back to
our
shelter. She knows they’d have turned her away for giving any information to her horse’s ass of a husband.” She rolled her eyes in a show of obvious disgust. “I couldn’t believe our hero here”—a head nod to Will—”charging that guy like a roaring lion.”

“
A roaring lion? Seriously?” Will sputtered, dull red color filling his cheeks. “I have no memory of
roaring
, only of being focused on stopping him from taking Julie away.”

“
You roared, Will. Loud enough to wake the dead,” Sarah drawled. “

“
Oh, Will, for God’s sake—” I gaped at him, suddenly horrified all over again at what could’ve have been. “You could’ve been killed. What on earth possessed you?”

H
e dropped his eyes. “You two are giving me way more credit than I deserve. All I could think of was making sure the bastard didn’t take you away. He was scared and stupid. Either of you probably could’ve taken him.”

“
But he had a gun!”

He shrugged, then winced.

“Will—” Tears finally overflowed onto my cheeks as I gazed at him, overwhelmed at the fact that he’d risked his life for me.

Trembling like an adolescent on a first date,
he tugged me closer. “Can I confess something?”

I nodded, heedless of the tears streaming down my face.

He took a deep breath. “Once, a long time ago, in Willow Bay, I passed you and Charlie down on the beach. You were staring at him like—like he was some kind of superhero, and I remember thinking,
Wow, how would it feel to have someone look at me that way?
”

I opened my mouth to speak, but he stopped me with a finger against my lips and a brief shake of his head.

“From the first day I saw you in Carrie and Liam’s apartment, I’ve wanted to see
that
same expression in your eyes when you looked at me. The way you’re looking at me right now.” He let his finger slip ever so slowly over to brush my cheek, wiping away the tears. “If I’d known it was going to take both of us damn near getting killed for me to see it, I’d have arranged for us to run into a mugger a couple of months ago.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sarah wheel herself backward toward the door. She gave me a wink and a wave as the curtain dropped behind her.

I placed one hand on his cheek. “You saved my life,” I murmured. “But you don’t have to be a superhero. I don’t want a superhero. Just be you, okay?”

“
Well, I’m not really the hero type, but I couldn’t let him hurt you.” He smiled at me modestly. “I’ve got plans for us, darlin’.”

Our eyes met and locked. Leaning down,
I pressed my lips to his in a soft kiss. “I love you, Will.”

* * *
*

Will and I
holed up in his apartment together for a week after he was released from the hospital. I was an excellent nurse, providing chicken soup, hot tea, and sympathy, while he groused about being an invalid. Charlie would’ve basked in the extra attention and had me running hither and yon. Will worried I was doing too much for him.

“
Jules, I’m good here. Come sit down.” He patted the sofa next to him one late afternoon after I’d helped him shower and dress before trying to decide what to cook for supper. He’d opened a bottle of wine and it sat on the coffee table with two glasses. “Chill, babe. Here, have a glass of wine.”

I smiled gratefully and plopped down, resting my head on his good shoulder
before pouring for both of us.

“
To us.” Will touched his glass to mine. “
I’m
cooking tonight. What do you want?”

“
Whatever you want is fine.”

He tossed me a frown.
“Sorry, you cooked that last night. Give me a choice, please.”

T
his had become our song and dance whenever a decision needed to be made. Will insisted I give him a preference. He didn’t always agree, and we didn’t constantly go with my choices, but he asked.