Faith sat up in her bed, coughing yet again as she tried to pull the pillows up to support her better.
Asher hurried into her bedroom, a look of concern on his face. “What are you doing? You’re not supposed to overexert yourself. Those were the conditions of the hospital releasing you to go home so early.”
“Neither are you,” she complained as she endured another round of his pillow-fluffing. Finally, she pushed at his hands to get him to stop. “Enough. I’m never going to get out of this bed if you and Daphne don’t let me do things on my own. I need to build up my strength.”
“Which is only going to happen if you rest. You died. You realize that, right? You died and they brought you back. If the water hadn’t been so cold, you’d have had brain damage and you wouldn’t even be here. You got a nasty bacterial infection from that water, on top of everything else, so you need to take it easy, give your lungs a chance to heal.”
“You can turn that same speech on yourself. You were stabbed, again. Had a collapsed lung, again. You were worse off than me when they got you down from the mountain. The only reason you aren’t still in bed is that you didn’t catch the nasty bug I did, and you’re too stubborn to lie down and rest.”
He arched a brow. “Okay. If you insist.” He lifted the comforter and slid in beside her.
“What are you doing?”
“Resting. That’s what you said you wanted, isn’t it?” He gave her an innocent look that had her laughing even though it hurt.
“How do you do it, Asher? You make me laugh even when I’m mad at you.”
His expression turned serious. “You’ve been mad at me ever since you woke up in the hospital three weeks ago. I think it’s time you told me why.”
She pulled back and looked at him. “You don’t get it at all, do you? You don’t have a clue.”
He held his hands out in a helpless gesture. “I really don’t. What’s wrong?”
“Other than that we were both almost killed by that...that...”
“Homicidal maniac? That’s what Lance called him.”
She nodded. “That fits. Malachi Strom. Even his name sounds evil.” She shivered.
Asher responded by scooting up against her and putting his arm around her shoulders. “You shivered. You must be cold. Let me warm you.”
She rolled her eyes, but the expression was lost on him since he couldn’t see her face. “I still can’t believe that Strom blamed his mother for his father drowning and went on a rampage after she died, trying to avenge his father. How can one traumatic event as a child make someone into a sociopath who sees all women as his enemy?”
“I don’t think it did. I’m not a psychologist or an expert on this in any way, but I personally believe someone as evil as he was is born that way. Sure, environment and experiences play a role. But most people going through that same trauma wouldn’t become a serial killer. His brain wasn’t wired right. Period.”
She shuddered again. “I’m just glad it’s over. He’s dead and buried now and I can stop thinking about him.”
“And you can stop being mad at me? For whatever it is that I did wrong?”
She took his arm from around her shoulders and turned to face him. “What’s wrong is that you were still recovering from being stabbed and you jumped off a freaking waterfall. Two waterfalls! How stupid is that?”
He stared at her a full minute before finally clearing his throat. “You’re mad that I risked my life to try to save you?”
“Yes!”
His mouth curved up into the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen. “I love you too.”
She blinked. “I didn’t say that!”
“Sure you did. You care so much about me that you would have rather died than have me die. I feel exactly the same way. I love you too.”
She sputtered into silence then shook her head. “I can’t love you. I don’t want to love you.”
His smile turned into a look of commiseration. “I understand. You want to keep me in the friend zone. But it’s too late. We passed that threshold when you stuck your tongue down my throat at the hospital in Knoxville.”
She gasped. “You stuck yours down my throat first!”
“I remember it differently. But that’s okay. We’re past that now. Just look.” He motioned at the comforter over both of them. “We’re in bed. And it’s not the first time we’ve spent the night together.” He winked.
She sputtered again.
His look turned serious and he slowly pushed her back against the pillows, his body covering hers.
“Faith. We’ve been best friends for a long time. I know you’re scared to lose that closeness. I understand it. And I know you didn’t think you wanted to cross that line, to let things change. It was obvious. But the truth is I’ve been in love with you almost from the day I first met you. I zipped past that whole friendship thing and straight into wanting forever with you a long, long time ago.”
She stared at him in astonishment. “Did you say...forever? With me?”
He nodded, his gaze searching hers. “My heart belongs to you, Faith. It always has, always will. I’m here to tell you I’ll always be your friend, no matter what. But I can be so much more. I want you, Faith. I want you any way I can have you. But mostly, I want you happy. If making you happy means I have to pretend we’re just friends, give you that illusion, I’ll do it. But I really hope you can see the truth and embrace it.”
She stared up at him. “The truth?”
He pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. “The truth that’s in your heart. What do you really want, Faith? Tell me right now you don’t want me in your heart, in your bed. Don’t try to convince me. Convince yourself.”
She started to tell him that, of course, she was fine keeping him as a friend, that she didn’t want more.
But that was a lie.
She did want him, in every way—her heart, her soul and, most definitely, her bed. But there was one little problem remaining. “I’m scared, Ash.”
His hand shook as he gently stroked her hair back from her face. “Whatever you’re scared of, we can face it together.” He smiled. “Because you called me Ash. I know you’re in trouble now. You can’t resist me, or your feelings for me. Remember that warning you gave me? If you ever call me Ash, you’re in trouble?”
“At the time, I was thinking I could use Ash as a code word if I was kidnapped or something.”
He grimaced. “Let’s not mention kidnapping again.”
“Agreed. But that doesn’t take away my real fear.”
“Which is?”
This time it was her turn to frame his face with her hands. “That something could happen to you, that I’ll lose you. If I let myself love you, give myself to you completely, in every way, how will I ever survive if the worst happens?”
“Ah. So that’s it. You love me so much, you don’t ever want me to leave. I can live with that.”
She laughed. “How do you always change something serious into something funny?”
He grinned. “It’s a gift.” His smile faded. “I can’t promise you that I won’t die before you. What I can promise is that as long as there’s breath in my body, I will love and cherish you. Take a leap, with me. A leap of—”
“Don’t you dare say a leap of Faith. That is beyond corny.”
“Then how about a leap of love? Marry me, Faith Elizabeth Lancaster. Marry me and I’ll never leave you, so long as we both shall live.”
Tears suddenly threatened as she stared up at him in wonder. “Ash, you wonderful, gorgeous, stubborn man. What in the world am I going to do with you?”
“Love me, Faith. Just love me.”
And so she did.
Look for the next book in Lena Diaz’s
A Tennessee Cold Case Story miniseries
coming soon!
And if you missed the previous titles in the series:
Murder on Prescott Mountain
Serial Slayer Cold Case
Shrouded in the Smokies
The Secret She Keeps
Available now from Harlequin Intrigue!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Innocent Witness by Julie Anne Lindsey.