Page 62 of Art of Love

“Now, they’re wheeling you back now. I’ll—” She was interrupted by a person in scrubs.

“Sorry, you can’t go any further.”

“I love you,” she said quickly, then leaned down and placed her lips over his. “I’ll see you when you get out.”

“Okay.” He tried to reach for her but his hands were locked down. “Dylan,” he called as he started moving again.

“Yeah?” she said from somewhere behind him.

“I love you, too.”

He heard her sob as the doors behind him shut, then he slipped back into darkness.

The next time he woke it was dark, quiet, and a warm hand was holding his.

“Dylan?” he said, his voice nothing more than a croak.

“I’m here,” she said, and he heard her shift closer as a low light turned on.

Just seeing her face had him smiling. “How’d I do?” he asked.

She nodded with a smile. “Pins are in. They say it will be a few months before you’re back on a horse.”

He smiled. “You?”

“Good. Like I said, cuts, bruises.” She shrugged. “Banged up knee, but not as bad as yours, and a slight concussion. My car is sitting on the beach about thirty feet below the road.” She glanced to her side, then back at him. “The police think that someone pushed us over the edge on purpose. I told them about my office being broken into.”

“Who?” he frowned. “Tony?”

“They’re checking into where he was.” She rested her forehead on their joined hands.

“You told me that you love me,” he reminded her.

Her head popped up and she smiled. “And you said it back.”

“Are we going to talk about it?” He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles, avoiding the bandages and bruises.

“Do we have to?” She smiled down at him.

He thought about it and nodded slowly. “I have never told anyone that before,” he admitted. “Not even Kara. You?”

She shook her head. “My dad.” She shrugged.

“Okay, I stand corrected, I told my mom all the time. This is different.” She nodded. “I love you. I don’t want this to be awkward.”

“It’s not.” She leaned up to brush her lips across his. “First things first. If Tony just tried to kill us, I’d like to not be worried that he’ll try again when he finds out he failed.”

“Ditto. Plus, there’s this whole…” He motioned to his leg. “I guess I should ask what else on me is busted, since most of me is numb.”

“Cuts, bruises.” She stretched her shoulders. “They said they found you outside the car. Did you crawl around?”

“I took my seatbelt off after the first crash. I guess I fell out when the car was pushed over the edge. I landed in the soft part of the sand.”

Her eyes went wide. “You could have…” Her face paled slightly as she thought about the possibilities. Yeah, he was doing the same. He could have landed in the water or, worse, on the rocks.

“Hey,” he said, distracting her, “let’s put that away for now too.” She nodded. “Did you get some sleep?”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t, until I knew you were okay.”