Below the Belt (16 page)

Cooper had told her that he cared for her. That was all. And on that single, tentative declaration, she’d taken over his life as though she had a right to be the one to look after him.

She took a step toward the vase. Then she stopped and shook her head.

She couldn’t undo the things that she’d done. Any of them, good or bad.

Her hand curled into a fist. When Cooper discovered all that she’d done for him, he’d know that she cared for him.

It scared her almost as much as it filled her with hope.

She grabbed the car keys and collected the overnight bag. When she stepped onto the front porch, she saw the newspaper rolled up on the doorstep. She walked past it, not interested. They’d have the story of Cooper’s assault by now. She hoped like hell the newspapers hadn’t tracked him to the hospital yet. Running the gauntlet of the press was the last thing Cooper needed.

She stopped by her own apartment only long enough to reassure her grandfather, shower and change clothes before she drove to the hospital. To her relief, there were no crowds of photographers and reporters hovering. The smallest of blessings.

She could hear Cooper from the corridor as she approached his room. She closed her eyes in relief at the firm, uncompromising note in his voice. Surely he wouldn’t be throwing his weight around if he was truly ill?

“I don’t need twenty-four-hour care. I certainly don’t need to be in hospital for another three days. Stick me in a taxi and send me home. Or let me call one of my staff from the gym to come get me,” he said.

She took a deep breath. Then she entered the room. Dr. Samuels stood by the bed. Jamie only had eyes for Cooper.

He was propped in a seated position, his eyes still bandaged, his hair mussed. Her heart constricted painfully in her chest. She wanted to touch him, hold him so badly.

She hovered at the end of the bed, her hands gripping each other.

“Hi,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

Cooper turned toward her.

“Jamie,” he said.

Emotion swelled at the back of her throat at the relief in his voice.

She spoke in a rush, wanting to get the moment of confession over and done with.

“I brought you some things. And I’ve organized a nurse for you. Dr. Samuels said you’d probably be able to go home today if you had care on hand.”

Cooper didn’t appear to register the presumption in what she’d done. He simply turned to Dr. Samuels, satisfaction evident in every line of his body.

“See? I’ll be fine,” he said. “Write me up some painkillers and I’m out of here.”

Dr. Samuels took a moment to review the chart in his hands before answering.

“Someone will have to apply your eyedrops in a darkened room four times a day. And I want to see you back here the day after tomorrow when the bandages can come off permanently,” he instructed.

“The nurse is coming this afternoon,” Jamie said. “There will be someone to look after him all the time.”

Dr. Samuels nodded. “It looks like I’m releasing you into Jamie’s care, Cooper.”

Jamie flushed at the assumption inherent in his words.

Cooper turned his head toward her again. With his eyes bandaged, it was impossible to read his expression.

“I appreciate this,” he said.

The words were too formal, too stiff for all that had passed between them.

Did he blame her? If his sight was permanently affected, would he put it down to her stupidity in being drunk and proud and pissy and not walking away from Liana’s juvenile baiting?

“I’ll go write up your prescriptions,” the doctor said. His white coat billowed behind him as he exited.

There was a long beat of silence once they were alone.

“Just so you know, Vandenburg’s been charged with assault,” she said. “The Dubbo police said they’d be in contact to get a statement from you, but based on what the bartender said and other eyewitness reports, it looks like they’ve got a pretty good case against him.”

“The doc said he hit me with a bit of pipe?”

“An old metal sign post.” She shivered as she again remembered the sound of it connecting with his skull.

“Always was a gutless pussy.” Cooper pushed the bedcovers back. His hospital gown was bunched up around his crotch. She swallowed at the sight of his strong thighs and calves.

“You want to pass me some clothes?” he asked as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

She shut her mouth with a click and jumped to action.

“Right. Um, I brought you some workout pants, some underwear, a T-shirt…”

She passed each item over and watched as he located the backs of the garments by identifying clothing labels by touch.

As though he could sense her scrutiny, he gave her a half smile, his head turning toward her again. “Been here, done this before.”

“Right. Of course,” she said.

She wondered how long he’d lost his sight for the last time. And if having been blind before made it more or less terrifying this time around.

She felt compelled to look away when he stood and tugged his boxer briefs up over his legs. It seemed wrong to feel the pull of sexual attraction when he was so vulnerable.

“What about shoes?” he asked as he tugged the workout pants on.

“I brought your flip-flops. Thought they would be easier,” she said.

“They probably won’t let me walk out, anyway,” he said.

She pulled his shoes from the bag and knelt at his feet. Wrapping her hand around first one ankle and then the other, she guided his feet into the sandals.

When she stood to move away, his hand shot out and grabbed her elbow, his fingers sliding down her forearm until he held her hand in his.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

His hand was warm and firm around hers. She fought the urge to twine her fingers through his and cling to him.

“Ugly enough to scare children, but the doc says it’ll heal okay.”

His thumb caressed the back of her hand. He opened his mouth to speak as Dr. Samuels pushed a wheelchair into the room. “Okay, I need a few signatures and then you’re free to go.”

Jamie slid her hand free. The doctor handed over Cooper’s prescriptions and gave instructions for the application of his eyedrops, how often Cooper could have pain relief, and warning signs to look out for that would require an immediate return to hospital. Cooper signed the requisite forms, and the doctor helped settle him into the wheelchair.

She slung Cooper’s overnight bag over her shoulder, then stepped into place behind the chair.

“Home, James,” Cooper said in a stupid English accent.

Despite the heavy emotions weighing her down, Jamie laughed.

On the ground floor, she left him waiting in the foyer while she ran to get the car.

“I’ve been using your car, I hope you don’t mind,” she said as she guided him out the hospital doors and toward the open passenger door.

“Good. I wasn’t sure how you and Arthur got back to town, and I was wondering if I’d have to send someone to Dubbo to pick it up.”

“Well, you don’t,” she said. She leaned across him to slot his seat belt in place. He smelled of antiseptic and fresh laundry. Once again she had the overwhelming urge to press her face into him and cling like a limpet.

The car was thick with silence as she pulled away from the hospital. It was a Monday, and traffic was dense in the heart of the city. Jamie concentrated on driving his still-unfamiliar car until they’d turned off the main roads.

“Are you in any pain? Would you like to stop for anything before we go home?” she asked.

“A shower is at the top of my list, and my toothbrush,” he said with a grimace. “Bed baths are just not the same as the real thing.”

A stab of jealousy ripped through her as she imagined a nurse washing his big body.

Mine,
her instincts screamed.
How dare you know him the way I do?

She frowned. Her possessiveness was totally inappropriate, to say the least. She and Cooper had only had sex a handful of times. He’d indicated he wanted to see if there was something more between them, but that could mean anything. Meanwhile, she’d exploded from absolute denial of her feelings for him to…what? What was it exactly that she was feeling?

Following Cooper’s instructions, she pulled into the laneway at the back of his property and discovered a hidden garage. Parking the car beside his Ferrari, she shut off the engine.

“Let’s get you into the shower,” she said. She winced at the forced brightness of her tone. It only highlighted how awkward she was feeling.

He got out of the car under his own steam, sliding his hand along the hood of the car until he’d walked as far as he could unguided. She stood back and let him do it on his own, understanding that he needed to do as much as he could for himself.

“If you come and stand in front of me, I can put my hand on your shoulder,” he said. “That seemed to work okay for me last time.”

“Of course,” she said. She moved quickly to comply.

His hand was heavy and warm on her shoulder as she wove her way up the path of his artfully landscaped backyard.

“There’s a step ahead,” she instructed as they neared the terrace outside the back door.

“Thanks.”

“We’re at the back door now,” she said. Her hands were shaking as she unlocked the door.

She hated seeing him like this.

Silently they moved through the house. Cooper dropped his hand from her shoulder once they’d reached the staircase. She waited at the top as he slowly ascended to join her.

“If you can adjust the showerhead so this bandage doesn’t get wet and leave me a towel, I can probably handle the shower myself,” he said.

She nodded, then realized he couldn’t see her.

“No problem.” Her voice cracked on the last word. She swallowed a lump of emotion.

She did as he asked, angling the shower arm down so that the water would spray onto his body and not onto his face, and leaving a bath sheet on the vanity.

He thanked her before turning his back and beginning to shuck his clothes.

She closed her eyes when she saw the bruises on his back and chest, the grazes on his arms from falling on the asphalt. They were no different from her own injuries, but seeing them on him was deeply disturbing and unsettling.

Was this how he’d felt when he’d seen her fight? Had he experienced the same sick feeling she had in her gut right now as she cataloged his hurts?

The rush of the shower turning on reminded her that she was once again invading Cooper’s privacy. She backed out of the bathroom and waited in the hallway until she heard the water shut off.

After a few minutes of silence, he opened the door.

“I can’t find my toothbrush,” he said.

He was unashamedly naked and damp. She averted her eyes as she brushed past him and found what he was looking for in the vanity cabinet. Five minutes later, the bathroom door opened again and he stepped out into the hall.

He was naked still, his body dry now.

“Um, I changed your sheets and picked up a few groceries if you’re hungry. I hope you don’t mind….” she explained as he used the wall to guide himself to his bedroom.

He hesitated for a beat as he registered her words. Then he shuffled forward, swearing lightly when his shins connected with the frame of his bed.

She crossed to draw the curtains shut as he pulled back the covers and slid between the sheets.

“That’s better,” he said as he lay back against his pillows. “Now, come here.”

He patted the bed. She stared at him.

“You’re probably tired.”

“Get your heinie over here or I’ll come looking for you.”

Rounding the bed, she sank reluctantly onto the mattress beside him. He reached blindly for her. One hand found her belly, the other her shoulder. She resisted as he tried to pull her closer.

“I want to make sure you’re not lying to me,” he said.

She stopped resisting and he slid both hands up to cup her face. He used the pads of his thumbs to survey her features with infinite tenderness, assessing her swollen lip, tracing the cut on her nose, mapping the puffiness around her eye.

“Sweetheart,” he said, his voice deep with regret. “Sweet Jamie.”

His touch was so gentle, his concern for her so evident. Wet heat burned at the back of her eyes. The first tear slid hotly onto her cheek and splashed onto his chest.

“Jamie,” he said softly again, then he tugged her closer so that he could kiss her.

It was her undoing. Before she knew it, tears were shuddering out of her and he’d pulled her down beside him on the bed to hold her tight.

“I was so w-worried about you,” she sobbed brokenly, her arms sliding around his torso to hold him tight. “When he h-hit you, I thought you were d-dead. I’m so sorry. So sorry…”

She cried her eyes out. His hands soothed her back again and again until the tide of emotion at last subsided. Slowly she became aware that her wet cheek was pressed into his bare chest, and that far from her looking after him, he was the one comforting her.

She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“You know, I’ve done a lot of crazy shit in my time,” he said, holding her firmly. “But I have never in my life been so scared as when I saw you fighting that blond bitch.”

He smoothed a hand over her hair. She closed her eyes and listened to his heart thumping strongly beneath her ear.

“I wasn’t looking for it. I wasn’t even sure I believed in it, to be honest. But I love you, Jamie,” he said quietly. “I love you with everything I’ve got and everything that’s in me.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Tears pressed at the back of her eyes again. Cooper Fitzgerald loved her. Even though she’d convinced herself for a long, long time that love was the last thing she wanted in her life, she was filled with a fierce gladness that they’d found each other.

“I feel the same way,” she said, pressing her face closer to his chest. She inhaled the clean male scent of him, hope rising like a bubble inside her as she allowed his words to sink in.

Cooper’s chest began to vibrate. He was laughing. She lifted her head to look at him, forgetting he couldn’t meet her eyes.