Page 77 of Enticement
Kit shimmied out of window and tentatively lowered himself from the sill. He didn’t remember hitting the ground, only being roused from his prone position amongst the trees in the orchard by a man in a large helmet.
“How is he?”
Ross turned his head from the partition window separating the treatment room from the waiting area to find an unfamiliar figure stood a few feet away. She stared expectantly at him, her hands raised to the disinfectant dispenser. Another two more familiar figures bustled up behind her. “Molly. Lillianna.” He nodded. Only then did he make the connection. “Sammie!”
She inclined her chin a fraction. “Hello, Ross.”
She’d changed. How the hell had they recognised her from a television image? Here she was in the flesh before him and he could only see the vaguest similarities to the girl he once knew. She was still blonde, but where once her hair had fallen in a silken cascade across her shoulder blades, it was now cropped almost to the scalp. And by God, there’d never been much to her, but she had to be three stone lighter. “Sammie?” he hissed again, still not quite believing it. All those years of wondering and here she was in front of him as if there’d never been any trouble.
“We heard what happened,” said Molly, coming forward to stand between him and her sister, making herself into a human shield. “Lillianna said that Kit was trapped inside. Is he going to be okay?”
Anger surged inside him. They had no right. Molly had made Kit’s life hell for years with her accusations, and as for Sammie, she had a huge apology to give and a hell of a lot of explaining to do before she learned anything from him. Her selfishness had saddled Kit with a lifetimes worth of guilt. More than that, Sammie was the reason Kit was lying in a hospital bed.
As for Lillianna—her interference had damn near split them up, but he acknowledged that hadn’t been her intention. She was simply trying to protect Evie by presenting her with the facts.
“His hands are grim,” he began, avoiding eye contact with any of them. Ross turned back to the glass divide and the activity around Kit’s bed. “I don’t know if they’ll ever be right again. The burns are pretty bad. They’re going to get plastics to look at them.” They had Kit wired up to a drip.
“I’m sorry,” Molly said.
“Do they know how the fire started?”
“No,” he said firmly, hoping she understood the conversation was over. Kit had babbled something to the fire officers about petrol and a smashed window. They were looking into arson, but the two primary suspects were already accounted for. Molly had been off meeting Sammie, and Tony had never left the pub. Kit kept saying he didn’t want any fuss, that he wanted the whole episode forgotten, but he was high on a cocktail of pain meds.
“Drink?” Molly asked.
Ross shrugged.
“I’ll help,” said Lillianna. The pair of them walked off towards the main entrance, leaving him alone with Sammie.
The scent of her perfume wafted over him, light and fruity with a sharp after bite, as she moved to stand beside him. “I had to go, Ross. I can’t explain why, but I had no choice.”
“Would it have hurt to tell one person that you were okay?” He didn’t want to hear her story. At this moment, he didn’t want to understand. Her past choices had nearly stolen Kit from him forever. Six years while Kit hid in Japan had hardly passed in the blink of an eye.
“I never meant to hurt him.” She pressed a hand to the glass, another liberty at which he ground his teeth.
“But you did.” His words must have pierced the glass, for Evie waved to him, and gave him a rallying smile.
“He’s doing okay,” she mouthed. “You can come in.”
Ross left Sammie in the corridor and headed into the private room. They’d been told only one visitor at a time by the original nurse, but no one protested his entry. Kit’s hands were swaddled in dressings, and he was connected to an intravenous drip, but he was sitting upright and now his skin was clear of soot, he didn’t appear nearly so ill. Ross threw his arms around his neck. “You fucking idiot. The cat’s not worth your life. What were you thinking?”
Unable to pat his back in response, Kit gave him a gormless grin. “I didn’t want another disappearance on my conscience. One is enough for any man. I’m okay, Ross. The doctors aren’t too concerned. Leastways they’re not talking about the prospect of taking skin grafts off my arse.”
Kit’s attempt at humour brought tears to Ross’s eyes. “I love you, you stupid bastard.” He nuzzled against Kit’s shoulder, not conscious that he was crushing him until Evie tentatively eased them apart.
“They are however, pushing enough meds into me to make up for all the times I’ve refused them.” Kit rolled his eyes at the drip. “I don’t suppose you could have a word with them about my preferences for natural methods.”
“No, he can’t.” Evie patted Kit’s leg through the sheet. “They’re probably the only reason you’re sitting upright and aren’t screaming like you were the whole way here in the ambulance.”
Kit raised his brows, feigning scepticism. “Did I scream?”
“Like a girl,” said Ross. “But don’t worry, we won’t put it about.”
“I bloody hope not. I’m not planning on being away from home that long.” Ross starred at him a moment, then let a smile crack his lips. If Kit was thinking of sex, then he really wasn’t that badly hurt. He crushed his lips to Kit’s, thrusting his tongue deep. He didn’t care who saw: Sammie or the various members of staff. He wasn’t going to hide their relationship anymore. No one would get away with thinking they were simply sharing Evie. They’d make it plain it was a proper three-way relationship. As if to prove that, Evie rubbed up against his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her back and drew her into the huddle, kissing her too. “Shall I wait to mention the lease?” he asked.
Evie thumped him.
“Is that Sammie?” Kit sank back against the pillows, his gaze focused on the woman standing in the corridor. “I want to talk to her.”
