Escaping Reality

fell.”
    “Back the fuck off,” Liam growls. “I would never touch her, but I will
    you.”
    “Amy?” Jared asks, and he seems sincerely worried. “Did he touch
    you?”
    “No. I told you no. He wasn’t even here when it happened. He just
    flew into town and found me passed out.”
    “Let’s go,” Liam orders me. “Blood is seeping through the towel. You
    need those stitches.”
    “I’m fine, Jared, but thank you.” I slide into the car and Liam follows,
    shutting us inside.
    He taps the seat and gives the driver directions. I have never wanted
    to block out the rest of the world as I do right now. He turns to me and his
    eyes are dark shadows and turbulence. I expect him to ask about Jared but
    he doesn’t.
    “You aren’t going to ask about him?”
    “You’re hurt. It’s not time for fifty questions.”
    “I thought the game was twenty questions.”
    “I have fifty but I won’t ask tonight.”
    But he wants to, and now that the miles are no longer between us,
    I’m not letting Jared get there instead. “I ran into him at the coffee shop
    today, but other than that this is the first I’ve seen of him since that night at
    Earl’s.”
    “I didn’t ask.”
    “You wanted to.”
    “Yes. I wanted to.”
    “I’m glad you’re here. You didn’t tell me you were coming back.”
    “I didn’t want to promise something I couldn’t make happen. I
    wrapped everything up as I’d hoped early today. The woman my father put
    in the intensive care unit was moved to a regular room and I took care of all
    of her medical expenses and set up a trust fund for her daughter.” He
    grimaces. “My father also moved, from jail to rehab.”
    “You’re a good man, Liam. I don’t know why you doubt that.”
    He leans in and kisses me, his voice softening, rough like gravel. “I
    couldn’t sleep last night thinking I’d get back here and you’d be gone.”
    “I promised I’d be here.”
    “And I promised I’d hurry back.” He reaches up and holds the towel
    for me. “We have a lot to talk about.”
    “Yes,” I agree. “Yes, we do.” And not for the first time, I wonder if
    Liam knows more than I think he does.
    “Right now, I just want to get you healthy.” He pulls me close and my
    hand settles on his heart. It thrums beneath my palm, a soothing melody
    that feels like home. He feels like home.
    I’m going to tell him everything. I just have to find the right time.

    ***
    I wake on my side, a bright blast of sunlight illuminating the room,
    and my eyes lock on the sight of Liam standing in the bathroom knotting a
    red silk tie at his neck. He’s been back for two days, one I regretfully slept
    through, the other we spent in bed together, but today he goes back to war
    with his “a-hole” investor. We haven’t talked. Not really. I was too sick from
    the concussion and he was too protective to do anything but worry about
    me. Despite the ER giving me a thumbs-up on a clear CT Scan, Liam is
    determined to get me to a neurologist, but I know he’ll understand why I
    won’t go when I finally tell him about my past. Or what I know of it.
    Liam’s gaze suddenly lifts and catches on mine in the mirror, and my
    stomach flutters wildly. He gives me a devastatingly sexy smile, and turns to
    close the distance between us. And I am like a starving animal soaking in his
    male grace and the way the gray pinstriped suit accents his long, leanly
    muscled frame.
    “How do you feel?” he asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.
    I sit as well and touch the small bandage at my hairline, one that
    thankfully has been downsized from gigantic the day before. “Ready to be
    out of bed.” I stroke my hand down his arm. “Or to stay in it with you here.”
    I glance at the clock and note the nearly one o’clock hour.
    “But alas, you must go, and I have the acupuncturist showing up in an
    hour.”
    “Call me after the appointment and let me know how it went. I hate
    leaving you.”
    “I’m fine and you need to take care of business.”
    “I’ll make it fast, if I can.”
    A few minutes later he is gone, and I shower and dress before
    heading to the mini-kitchen off the dining room area to make coffee. The
    instant I bring the table into view I go still at the sight of my notepad and
    computer. I didn’t expect Liam to be back and I never put my things away.
    I walk to the table and sink down into the chair in front of my
    computer. My screensaver is on and my notepad is closed, but I open it