Reluctant Desire [Desire, Oklahoma 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic)

by Leah Brooke

  Charity laughed softly, wincing again. “I can just imagine. I’m so sorry to put everyone to so much trouble.” Her voice slurred, probably a result of the pain medication they’d given her, and exhaustion.

  Ace leaned over her again. “As soon as you’re feeling better, you’ve got a nice lecture coming to you.”

  Garrett, standing protectively at her side, reached out to touch her hair. “Get in line. It took me an hour to calm her mother down.”

  Consumed by guilt, Beau bent, resting his elbows on his knees and stared at his hands.

  He should have been with her.

  He should have known what she would be doing. He should have known when his own woman was leaving town, especially in the middle of a blizzard.

  He blamed himself.

  He’d thought he’d made some headway into loosening her up, and had managed to carve time out of the busy schedule she forced herself to keep and get to relax.

  He’d hoped she felt closer to him, and would confide in him.

  He’d tried to show her that he loved her, but he’d failed.

  Miserably.

  He could have lost her tonight.

  The thought of how close he’d come to losing her made him cold inside, an icy fear that went all the way to his bones.

  He couldn’t bear the thought of something like this happening again.

  Something had to change.

  It had to be him.

  * * * *

  Charity couldn’t stop looking at Beau, shaken at the change in him.

  She’d met his eyes several times and smiled, hoping to ease some of the tension that kept him stiff, and wipe some of the misery from his eyes, , but Beau seemed lost in his own thoughts.

  Hope fussed with the blankets that she’d already straightened several times. “Are you in any pain? Are you comfortable? Do you want some more water?”

  Charity turned away from Beau to meet Hope’s worried gaze, carefully lowering her head back to the pillow. “I’m fine. Just tired. The weather’s awful. How the hell are you going to get back home?”

  Hope blinked. “What are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere until they release you. The doctor said you should be able to leave tomorrow. They just want to watch you overnight. Ace and Beau will get us home all right.”

  Charity sighed. “At least Mom settled down a little. I didn’t mean to scare anyone.” It got harder and harder to keep her eyes open, the combination of fatigue and pain medicine making her drowsy.

  Her father, Garrett, pulled the covers higher. “Your mother won’t settle until she sees you and has a chance to fuss.”

  Blinking back tears, Charity smiled. “That’s true. She’s such a worrier.”

  Hope straightened the blanket over Charity again, and unfolded another. “Look who’s talking. If you hadn’t been so obsessed with getting the club ready, this wouldn’t have happened. The damned carpet could have waited a few days, Charity.”

  Charity glanced at Beau again, narrowing her eyes to silently question him about what she could see bothered him, but he merely shook his head. “If I’d known the storm was going to hit, I never would have left town. I can’t believe so many people came to look for me.” Charity blinked back tears, grateful once again to be part of such an amazing town.

  Ace shared a look with Beau before turning back to her, bending to kiss her hair again. “I’m going out to the waiting room to make some phone calls. I already set up the cot for Hope. Get some sleep, honey.”

  Her fathers left soon afterward with the intention of getting a few hours of sleep in the chairs in the waiting room, leaving Charity alone with Hope and Beau.

  Charity followed her sister’s movements, glancing at Beau again as Hope turned off the overhead light.

  Leaving just the small light over her bed on, Hope adjusted the blankets again before moving to the foldaway bed the hospital had provided and crawled under the blanket.

  Lying against the pillows, Charity looked to where Beau shifted to a more comfortable position, his expression hard as he propped his feet on the foot of her bed.

  The look in his eyes was terrible to see, but she didn’t know what to do to ease the terror she still saw in them. Settling back in his seat, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Go to sleep, cher. We’ll watch over you.”

  She glanced toward where Hope lay several feet away, careful to keep her voice low. “Beau, we need to talk.” Other than a few whispered words on the way to the hospital, she hadn’t had a chance to speak to him alone since the accident, and wanted very much to talk to him.

  She wanted very much for him to hold her again.

  Beau sighed, his jaw clenching. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Go to sleep.”

  It surprised her that her fathers and sister hadn’t said anything about Beau being present, or the fact that he’d stayed behind in her hospital room. She wanted to ask him about it, but her eyelids became too heavy to keep her eyes open, and her words slurred so much, she didn’t think a conversation would even be possible.

  Frustrated, she focused on speaking clearly, wanting to erase the look of horror from Beau’s features. “I’m okay, Beau. Just groggy.”

  Beau’s features tightened. “You’re far from okay. Just go to sleep, Charity.”

  The nurse came into the room, glancing at Hope before giving Beau a hard look.

  He met it steadily and leaned back in the chair again, folding his arms over his chest and resting his head against the wall, clearly not about to go anywhere.

  With a shake of her head and disapproving look, the nurse went about her business, checking Charity’s vital signs under Beau’s watchful stare.

  When the nurse left the room, Charity glanced at Hope to see that her sister had fallen asleep.

  The pain medicine they’d given her made it hard to focus, but she had things to say to Beau that couldn’t wait.

  “You know how much I love you, don’t you?”

  Beau grimaced. “Yes, enough to sleep with me, but not enough to marry me. Go to sleep, Charity. This isn’t the time to get into this conversation.”

  “But, Beau—”

  “Tomorrow, Charity. Go to sleep.” Leaning his head back again, he closed his eyes, clearly ending the discussion.

  With a sigh, Charity let her eyes close, unable to keep them open any longer. She loved Beau, and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

  She had to tell him that their differences didn’t matter.

  Love hadn’t seemed like enough before, but lying in the car, aching for Beau, she realized that love was everything.

  Nothing else mattered.

  * * * *

  Beau opened his eyes again as Charity’s breathing evened out. He knew the combination of the pain medicine and the release from the adrenaline rush would leave her exhausted.

  Confident that she would sleep for hours, he watched her, knowing it would be quite a while before he slept—if he slept at all. Each time he closed his eyes, he found himself haunted by the image of her lying pale and injured in her wrecked car.

  “You are going to marry her, aren’t you?”

  Smiling faintly at the indignation in Hope’s whispered question, Beau glanced in her direction. “Yes. I’m going to get it settled with her before we get back to town.”

  Rolling to her side, Hope braced herself on her elbow to stare at him, her eyes narrowed. “It seems that everyone in Desire knew that the two of you were seeing each other except me.”

  Beau shrugged. “Ace and I talked about it many times, and I told your dads months ago that I intended to marry her. You believed your sister. That’s to be expected.”

  Hope frowned. “I’m usually not so gullible, and Charity never lies. This one was a doozy. How the hell did she manage to fool me all this time?”

  For the first time since Charity’s accident, Beau felt a flicker of amusement. “She can be pretty convincing.” Swallowing heavily, he rubbed the knot in his stomach and slid his gaze to wh
ere Charity slept. “She thinks I play too much.”

  Hope snorted. “She thinks everyone plays too much. When we were in school together, she didn’t even want to go to parties. Beau, if you can’t teach her to have fun, I don’t know who can.”

  Beau didn’t reply to that. He sure as hell didn’t feel like having fun or playing games, especially since it had caused such a rift between him and the woman he loved.

  After a few minutes of companionable silence, in which both he and Hope stared at a sleeping Charity, Beau glanced at Hope again. “Do you think you can make sure she and I are alone together on the ride home?”

  Hope met his gaze, and smiled impishly. “Of course, especially if I can tell them that you’re proposing.”

  “That’s what I’ll be doing.” Beau settled back again to watch Charity sleep, his gaze lingering on the brace Charity wore to keep her from moving her shoulder.

  “Hopefully, this time she’ll accept. If not, I may just have to kidnap her.”

  She’d accept.

  He wouldn’t take her home until she did.

  Chapter Seven

  Although Charity appeared momentarily surprised that the others piled into Ace’s SUV for the ride home, she didn’t ask about it, much to Beau’s relief.

  He lifted her from the wheelchair, careful not to jostle her any more than necessary, and set her gently on the passenger seat before tucking the blanket he had waiting around her.

  Light snow still fell, but the wind had died down, and it appeared that the worst of the storm was over.

  Following Ace, they rode in silence for several minutes as he navigated his way to the main road, and around piles of snow and cars that had gotten stuck. Pleased to see that the road had been cleared, Beau looked over to see that Charity seemed to be going to sleep. He hated to wake her, but they had a few things to work out before they got back home. “Can we talk, chéri?”

  She jerked upright, wincing. “Sure.” Glancing around as though getting her bearings, she blinked several times, shading her eyes against the bright sunlight reflected off of the snow. “I’m glad the roads are clear. I saw on the news that we had over three feet.” Turning, she frowned. “It was a hell of a storm, wasn’t it? I was only inside the carpet store for a few minutes, and by the time I got back out to my car, it was already covered in snow.”

  Beau glanced at her, noticing she seemed even paler. Clenching his jaw, he tightened his hands on the wheel, the need to hold her almost overwhelming. “Yes, it was a hell of a storm, and the thought of you out in it still makes me shake.”

  He wanted to pull her tightly against him, burying his face in her hair, and just breathe her in until he could get the cold knot of fear in his stomach to unravel.

  Glancing at her again, he gritted his teeth, alarmed at her paleness, a paleness that emphasized the discoloration that marred the left side of her beautiful face.

  “How bad’s the pain?”

  With her head against the headrest, she turned her face toward him, the circles under her eyes even more pronounced in the bright light. “I’m fine, Beau.”

  Beau wanted to hit something. He could never remember feeling so helpless. Once she agreed to marry him, he hoped he’d feel more in control of the situation, but even having the right to care for her wouldn’t make seeing her in pain any easier. Forcing himself to keep the rage from his voice, he took several deep breaths before speaking. “You’re white as a sheet, and you had a dose of pain medicine before you left the hospital. How bad is it?”

  “Not bad.” Shrugging, she winced. “Except when I move my shoulder.” She smiled, wincing again. “I’m fine, Beau. Just tired. I promise. I was very lucky, but it’s over now. I hate that look in your eyes.”

  “Then marry me.”

  With slow deliberation, Charity lifted her head and turned toward him. “What did you say?”

  Tired and irritable himself, Beau divided his attention between driving and Charity, wanting this settled before they got back to Desire. “You heard me, cher. Marry me. I want the right to take care of you. When we get back to Desire, I want to tell your parents that we’re engaged. I want this settled here and now.”

  “Take care of me? I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” If possible, she sounded even weaker.

  “I beg to differ.” Clenching his jaw again, he forced himself to stay calm, knowing that he’d have to use logic in order to get through to her.

  Charity thrived on logic.

  Attempting a nonchalance he was far from feeling, he kept his voice calm. “You and I both know that we’re going to get married, and I don’t see the point in waiting. Whatever has to be worked out can be worked out.”

  He paused, looking over to find her frowning. He continued, not giving her the chance to speak until he’d pled his case. “You need someone to stay with you for the next couple of days, at least until you heal. Hope would run herself ragged between taking care of you and trying to get the club ready for the Grand Reopening. Your mother and fathers will run up and down the stairs all day to check on you, and your mother will come up to your apartment and stay up half the night watching you after working all day in the diner. All of them are going to be wondering what I’m doing there since I have no intention of going anywhere.”

  Charity sighed. “Once I explain to them that I can be alone—”

  Beau blinked, whipping his head around to her. “You’re kidding, right? You can’t take care of yourself, and the doctor gave explicit instructions about your care. Do you really think your parents and sister are just going to leave you there by yourself? Do you think I will?”

  Blowing out a breath, Charity rubbed her forehead. “Yeah, you’re right.” Her grimace of pain and the fact that she slumped to the side as if too weak to hold herself upright made Beau even more determined to keep a sharp eye on her.

  Pressing his advantage, and wanting to make everything crystal clear before they got back to Desire, Beau lowered his voice. “We’ll announce our engagement, and then there’ll be no questions about me staying with you.”

  “But, there’ll be questions about us that I don’t feel like dealing with right now. Maybe we should wait until—”

  “No.” Inwardly cursing himself for snapping at her and making her jump, he sighed. “I don’t want to wait. We both know this is going to happen eventually, don’t we, chéri?”

  Smiling, she grimaced again and put a hand to her swollen and discolored cheek. “It’s not the most romantic proposal.”

  “Romance doesn’t seem to work with you.” Cursing himself for putting that flash of hurt in her eyes, he blew out a breath and slid a hand over her hair.

  “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I’m tired, frustrated, and you scared years off my life. Look, let’s just get home and get you well. The most important thing is that we get married. I want the right to take care of you, and my patience has run out.”

  “Beau, you don’t need to stay with me. Don’t you have a store to run?”

  Pushing his frustration aside, Beau forced a smile. “You forget. I hired several new employees so I didn’t have to work so many hours. I believe you called it frivolous.”

  He tightened his hands on the wheel as he looked over to where her car had been run off the road, bile rising up in his throat. Clenching his jaw, he shook off the image of her lying pale and broken in a wrecked car, an image that just wouldn’t go away.

  “Just say yes.”

  “Yes, Beau. I love you. I realized while I was lying there in the car that I don’t want to live without you. I think I told you that on the way to the hospital. I just don’t want to be a burden to you, and taking care of me now is going to be a hell of a burden.” Charity gave him an odd look, frowning. “Are you okay?”

  Forcing a smile, he patted her thigh, scared to touch her for fear of hurting her. “I’m fine. You’re not a burden. You couldn’t be if you tried. Now that we have things settled between us, won’t don’t you try to sleep a lit
tle?”

  “Beau?”

  “What is it, cher?” Some of the tension eased, but he knew he wouldn’t settle completely until she’d recovered and carried his name.

  “I probably should have called you when I was going to leave town, but I didn’t know about the blizzard. I thought it was coming in today. I thought I could get there and back before—”

  Beau sighed at her admission, more of his tension easing. “Don’t worry about it. It won’t happen again.” Turning to her, he smiled. “I’m glad you agreed to marry me. I told Hope I’d kidnap you if you didn’t.”

  Charity smiled, flashing her dimples, a smile that ended abruptly with a wince. “I’d rather just go home now, but will you promise to kidnap me at a later date?”

  For the first time since he’d left her office the day before, Beau breathed a little easier. “That’s a promise.”

  Chapter Eight

  Charity tried to roll to her side, frowning when something that had been wedged against her prevented it. Half-asleep, she tried to shove the obstruction out of the way, her hand closing on what she recognized as a pillow. Without opening her eyes, she tugged at it, wincing at the pain that radiated through her shoulder.

  A large, warm hand closed over hers, a hand she recognized at once. Sliding his fingers against her palm, Beau eased her grip on the pillow and took her hand in his, his lips warm as they brushed over her fingers. “No, cher. Leave the pillows where they are. They’re keeping you from rolling onto your sore side. Just tell me what you need. I’ll help you get comfortable.”

  Smiling at the low voice, husky with sleep coming from directly above her, Charity forced her eyes open. Surprised to find the room dark except for a small stream of light coming in from the partially open bathroom door, Charity lifted her eyes to his.

  She reached up with her right arm to touch his cheek, and for the first time since she’d met him, found him unshaven. If possible, he looked even more exhausted. She looked toward the chair positioned close to the side of her bed, and the blanket he’d tossed aside. “You need a shave. Why are you sleeping in that chair instead of sleeping next to me?”