Wildest Dreams (Dreamers Series Book 1) (14 page)

“We are going to talk. Jenna is here to take me home when the nurse finishes my paperwork.”

“You’re getting out? That’s good news. Of course, this could have all been avoided—”

Exasperated, Ember cut him off. “Reece, it’s done. It has already happened, and I can’t do anything to change it. Can we please move on from that?” She could see that he was still upset, but he sighed and walked over to the chair across the room.

Leaning on his elbows with his head in his hands, he spoke to Ember like she was a child. “You cannot seriously expect me to get over the fact you were out with another man so easily, Ember. I have been trying to relocate so we can start over while you were out screwing around.” Looking up at Jenna but continuing to talk to Ember, he asked, “Can we discuss this in private? I don’t care for an audience.” His condescending tone was obvious.

Ember sat staring at Reece in disbelief. Was he seriously accusing her of cheating? “We are not together right now, Reece! I left you when I caught you cheating, remember?” She could barely contain the anger anymore. His cold stare would have frozen her solid if she hadn’t been so mad. “If you're going to blame me for all of this again, then we can stop the discussion right now.” No matter how angry she had gotten at Reece, she had never raised her voice at him, and from the look on his face, it was probably a good thing, because he looked like he could really hurt her.

Ember’s nurse walked in with his hands full of paperwork, and Reece stood to leave, glaring over his shoulder at Ember he said, “We’ll finish this later.”

CHAPTER 20

Jenna and Ember were quiet as they drove toward Ridge’s apartment. Ember was determined not to cry, but to do that she had to keep from thinking. She was aggravated with herself for even considering the possibility of reconciling with Reece. She had to force herself to think of something else. She appreciated the fact that Jenna respected her need for quiet and didn’t push the issue. It was either that or Jenna was so shocked she didn’t know what to say; she had been right: Reece was not nice.

Ember decided to focus on getting to see Kaylen again. The thought of her baby girl made Ember feel better. She missed her so much.

“You haven’t met Kaylen yet, have you?”

Jenna smiled at Ember. “No I haven’t, but Ridge was talking about her at breakfast. He adores her. I could hear it in his voice. He sounded like he does when he talks about you.”

Ember smiled and stared out the window again. She didn’t say it aloud, but she felt the same way about him.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the apartment, and as they pulled into the parking garage, Ember saw Blake’s car. Her heart fluttered, and she felt her cheeks flush. She hoped that she wouldn’t run into him before she made it to the apartment. If his car gave her this kind of reaction, she would probably faint if she saw him.

The elevator ride was long and miserable for Ember, as usual. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she glanced at Jenna and noticed that even for her light creamy complexion she was extremely pale.

“Jenna, are you okay? You’re so pale. Do you need to sit?” Ember was afraid she was going to pass out.

She answered Ember quietly, “I’m okay. I guess I’m a little nervous. I just realized I’m about to meet your family.”

Ember couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. She could only imagine what it might feel like to have to walk into that situation. “You don’t have to go in if you’re not ready. I’m not sure I'd be up to the task if it were me. They mean well, but I’m sure it would be overwhelming.”

Jenna stood quietly thinking for a moment then smiled. “I’m not going to back out. Ridge asked me to see you home, and I will. Besides, I want to meet Kaylen.”

Ember had hoped she would stay, but she was not about to make her feel like she had to. She smiled at Jenna, and the doors to the penthouse floor opened. Ember couldn’t take her eyes off of the door at the end of the hall, so when they reached Ridge’s door, Jenna didn’t expect her to stop and ran into her.

“I’m so sorry! Are you hurt?” She panicked.

Ember didn’t want to tell her how bad it hurt. The pain from the slight impact was excruciating to her right hip and side. The bruising was still there, and the collision with Jenna had caused pain to radiate down the whole side of her body. “I’m good. It’s okay.” She was having to strain to keep standing and grasped the wall. “I shouldn’t have stopped so suddenly.” From the look on Jenna’s face, she could tell her façade was not fooling her. “Okay, it hurts, bad, but it's still my fault.”

“I'm so sorry. I thought we were going to the other door since that’s where you were looking.” Then she looked at Ember quizzically. “Why were you looking at that door? Who lives there?”

“Me,” a deep, smoky voice spoke up from behind them in the hall.

Both girls spun around quickly, which caused Ember to lose her balance, but before she hit the ground a pair of strong arms had her around the waist. Blake caught her and lifted her just enough for her to untangle her legs from each other since they were apparently not working right on their own yet. When she was ready, he placed her back on her feet, causing her to wince from the pain screaming down her side.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you. Just thought you should know I was here before you embarrassed yourself.” He smirked at Ember then looked at Jenna and winked, making her laugh. Ember, however, just stood there staring at him while turning bright red. He was standing way too close and still had one arm around her waist like he was waiting to catch her again. He had evidently just come from the gym— he was wearing a pair of black gym shorts, no shirt and had a towel around his neck. She hadn’t realized what his suits had been hiding, and as she slowly came to her senses, she wished she hadn’t seen his ripped abs. She knew from the tight shirt he wore last night that he was very fit, but now there was no denying it. She remembered the picture she had on her nightstand of him standing on the diving board. He was in good shape then, but he had obviously continued to perfect it over the last nine years. Before taking her eyes off of him, she saw the barbed wire tattoo that went around his upper right arm.

Still blushing she looked at Jenna and said, “We need to go in before everyone wonders where we are.” She started to turn so she could open the door, and her legs began to buckle again. She cried out from the pain, and Blake held her up, pulling her into him. Reaching down, he swept her up cradling her.

“I’ve got ya. Are you okay?” He was staring intently at her with his dark eyes focused on her like he was trying to see through her, to find the answer.

“My side and hip.” Her voice was somewhat strangled, and she was in so much pain now she thought she might pass out.

Blake looked down at her side pushed up next to his body, but he wasn’t about to move her yet. “Jenna, can you open the door, please? I can’t put her down. We need to get her into bed now.”

Jenna didn’t say a word; she just opened the door while Blake carried her inside. He moved quickly but carefully. Ember heard him ask Ridge which room was hers, and he continued past everyone without saying another word while Jenna explained what had happened.

CHAPTER 21

Her room was dark with the curtains pulled, and Blake stood in the door for a moment before he walked over to the bed. She assumed he was letting his eyes adjust without turning on the light since he didn’t have a free hand. The light from the hallway was enough to see where he was going.

He gently sat her on the bed, but as she began to lay back, he stopped her. “Wait. It will be harder to pull the covers down if you are lying on top of them.”

She sat still while he pulled the covers down for her. Then he gently scooped her up again and laid her down at the head of the bed. She winced at the pain but lay on her left side and curled up, holding her stomach. She was beginning to feel nauseated now.

She felt the side of the bed give way as Blake sat down. “Shit! I’m so sorry, Ember,” he whispered. “I hate myself for this. I should have listened to Ridge.” Ember tried to sit up, and he jumped, taking her shoulders in his hands, gently pushing her back down. “Don’t. I can’t believe they sent you home like this, in this much pain.” The frustration was evident in his voice.

“I’m not broken, Blake, just bruised. I can heal here. I just have to take it easy. Please don’t blame yourself.” Her voice broke off as she started to cry. “This really isn’t your fault.” She turned her face into the pillow since she didn’t have the energy to fight the tears.

“Ember, look at me, please. Damn it! Don’t cry.”

She felt the bed move again as he stood up, and she quickly turned her face to look at him, “Please don’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving.” He kneeled beside the bed where he could look her straight in the eyes. He wiped her tears away as he stared into her eyes. “I wish I could make you understand how hard this is for me to see you like this. Not just because I didn’t prevent it from happening, but seeing you hurt…” Even though the room was dark, Ember could see the glossiness of his eyes as his voice trailed off. “I want to fix this, and I can't.”

Ember noticed Ridge standing in the doorway. She couldn’t see his expression, but she knew he probably felt like Blake was.

Blake saw where her gaze had gone, glanced over his shoulder, and sighed as he looked back at her.

Ridge walked in slowly, “Ember?”

“I’ll be okay, Bubba. I promise. I’m just sore.” She wasn’t sure that her explanation would be enough, but it was the best she could do. She just hoped he wouldn’t realize she was crying.

“I’ll be in the other room if you need me.” Then he left. Ember realized he wasn’t just telling her; he was warning Blake.

“Well, that went better than I expected.” Blake ran his hand across his face and into his hair.

Ember smiled slightly, knowing what he meant.

He looked in her eyes again and wiped another tear from her cheek just as she heard Ridge calling Kaylen from the hall, but it didn’t stop her from running into the room. She stopped beside Blake, who was watching her curiously. Ember could tell Kaylen had been crying, and all she wanted was to wrap her up in her arms and hold her. Kaylen began trying to climb the bed, so Blake stood up.

“Just a second, little one.” Kaylen, with one arm still on the mattress, looked up at Blake with her big green eyes, and he glanced at Ember like he had forgotten what he was going to say. He looked back at Kaylen just in time to see she had given up on waiting and was trying to climb again. Finally, speaking to Kaylen, he said, “I’ll put you up there with your mom, but you have to be careful, okay? See her wrist?” He pointed at the splint on her arm. Kaylen’s eyes grew wide. “Her side hurts here too.” He pointed to Ember’s right side, but Kaylen’s expression didn’t change.

Ember didn’t want to frighten her, but she also knew that Kaylen could play a little rough. She wanted to make sure Kaylen knew to be careful around her for now. So she reached across with her splinted hand and grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt with her fingertips. She winced, and Blake grabbed her hand to stop her when he realized what she was doing, but she looked up at him with determination. Still clasping Ember’s hand in his, he slowly slid her shirt up her side. Even with just the light from the hallway, the bruise may as well have been a neon sign. Kaylen’s eyes got bigger still, and this time, Blake’s did too.

“Ember…” His voice was choked, and he dropped to his knees again.

Her voice barely above a whisper, she said, “Can you help Kaylen up here, please?”

He continuing to stare at the bruise while he stood, and finally, he looked over at Kaylen, “Be careful, okay?”

Kaylen nodded at him as he lifted her onto the bed. He sat her beside Ember where she could lie down beside her without having to move much. Once she lay down facing Ember, he covered her and even tucked her in. Ember smiled as a tear escaped on the side of her face into the pillow.

As Blake turned to leave Kaylen called out, “Hey!” Blake looked back at Kaylen, who was sitting up next to Ember and staring at him. “What’s your name?”

“Blake. What’s your name?”

“Kaylen.” She sat looking at him for a minute, and Ember thought he looked confused. She guessed he was trying to decide if he could leave now or not. Finally, Kaylen said, “Thank you for helping my momma, Blake.”

“You’re welcome, Kaylen. Now it’s your turn.” He smiled at her and turned to leave.

Ember hadn’t noticed until then that Ridge was still standing in the hallway.

As Kaylen snuggled in beside her, she wrapped her arm around her, and they both drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER 22

A lot had happened in the two weeks since Ember came home from the hospital. The biggest change was that after a week the splint on her wrist was removed, and a cast was put on in its place. She was able to get around much better, and she didn't have to take as many pain meds, but she still didn’t remember anything about the accident or the events leading up to it. Jenna would tell her over and over about the karaoke bar, and she would look at the photo of her and Blake from that night, but so far it hadn’t jogged any memories. She was beginning to think that she would never remember.