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I OPENED MY EYES TO see a tangle of tubes, wires, and beeping machinery. It took me a second to realize they were all coming from me.
With a soft moan, I lifted myself up higher on the pillows. My eyes fluttered open and shut several times, before at last, a familiar face floated into focus.
“Tom?”
He took what looked like his first breath in hours. “Jenna!” Soft hands stroked back my hair as he knelt anxiously by the side of the bed. “My gosh, Jenna...” There were actual tears in his eyes as he gently squeezed my hand. “You scared the hell out of me.”
I looked around in astonishment. “Am I...am I in the hospital? What happened?”
His face was as pale as the walls. “You got into a car accident. A truck ran a red light and ended up through your window. You had a major concussion, and they had to stitch up your arm a bit...but the doctors say you’re going to be just fine.”
I blinked as I absorbed this the best I could. Everything was still a little bit fuzzy, and his explanation hadn’t answered a fundamental question.
“What are you doing here?”
His hand stroked back my hair as he stared into my eyes in astonishment. “Are you kidding? Where else would I be?”
My brow furrowed, and I winced as I tried to sit up higher. He took me gently by the waist and propped me up against the pillows, watching every micro-expression with a look of the utmost concern.
“But...” I tried to gather my thoughts. “The announcement is today. It’s the big—”
“Jenna,” he spoke with not an ounce of hesitation, “I could care less.”
I stared in wide-eyed astonishment as he smiled tenderly and turned around to a little portable tray by the bed.
“Would you like some water?” he offered, holding up a cup with a straw.
I shook my head, trying to clear it. “No...I’d like you to tell me what’s going on. What do you mean, you could care less?”
He sighed softly, clearly impatient to be talking about something as trivial as being named Larchwood’s CEO when there were ice chips to worry about.
“I’d just gotten to the ceremony when Rose called and told me about the accident. I guess it happened right down the street, and she and Eric saw the whole thing. Eric carried you here himself and neither one has left the waiting room ever since. They’ve been here all night.”
I glanced automatically to the door, suddenly wondering how long I’d been here.
“Anyway, the second I heard the news, I hopped in a cab. My father went after me, told me to get back on the stage so he could hand over the reins.”
“Yeah?” I prompted breathlessly.
Tom flashed me a quirky smile. “But I told him there was a girl in my life that was far more important.”
My heart froze in my chest.
“You...you mean you walked away from being named CEO?”
He shrugged carelessly, still stroking back my hair with a look of absolute adoration on his face. “Jenna...all I could think about was you. Getting to you. Being with you.” He kissed the back of my hand, watching me intently. “It’s all I want.”
“But...”
None of this made sense. It was like a dream—one where everything was falling into place, only I couldn’t trust it, I didn’t understand.
He ran his hands through his hair with a sigh. “Jenna, when we talked on the island...I was an idiot. I’d been working toward this one thing, wanting it for so long...I didn’t know how to want anything else. But then when I got that phone call, standing up on the stage about to get everything I’d ever dreamed of...I realized it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered to me was you.”
Silent tears started running down my face, and he wiped them away gently.
“I know I’m probably too late,” he murmured. “You took this job in California already, and after everything I put your through, I can’t blame you. It’s just...” His blue eyes looked up into mine, begging for absolution. “If you could just give me another chance,” he spoke so softly I could barely hear him, “just one more chance, I swear to you. You won’t regret it. And I’ll go public with our love. We won’t need to hide ever again.”
Still watching me closely, he leaned up onto the bed, gently kissing my lips before pulling back in breathless anticipation.
“You make me a better person. I love you, Jenna,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.”
“I choose you. If...if you’ll still have me.”
I softly kissed his lips. “I want you more than anything in this entire world.”
“Then I couldn’t be happier.”
I stroked his face. “Meeting you has been the best moment of my life.”
“Thanks for being the girlfriend I never deserved.”
I kissed his lips in a soft kiss.
For a random moment, my mind traveled back to that first day at Larchwood when I’d met Katie McGill in the bathroom. How stupid I thought she was, daring to fall in love and risk it all for a man. My eyes rested on Tom’s anxious face, and my lips turned up in a little smile. And here I did the exact same thing.
“You know, if I decide to stay in New York...I’ll officially be homeless.”
He closed his eyes for a second before a radiant smile lit his beaming face.
“Well, if you’re interested, I think I have an idea of where you can stay...”