Within These Walls (The Walls Duet #1)(57)

“I told them you worked here, which surprised them.”

“I bet,” I said.

“They asked how you were after…”

“Go on,” I urged.

“Well, I’ve been giving them updates ever since,” she said quietly, knowing she’d probably broken a dozen laws in giving out an employee’s personal information. “They don’t call often, just once or twice a year to check in. They love you, Jude.”

Even after everything I put them through?

I looked at her for a minute or two, putting it all together—the special care, the job offer, barely a second glance when I’d asked to leave my last name off my badge.

“You’ve known who I was this entire time,” I said, not bothering to phrase it as a question.

“Yes. I recognized you the second I saw your last name on that employment application.”

“Yet, you’ve never said anything?”

“We should all be able to grieve privately, Jude. I wanted that for you. I just didn’t realize it would take so long,” she confessed.

“I think I’m almost done.”

She gave a faint smile, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I’m glad,” was all she said.

“And the bench?” I asked, wondering how it played into all of this.

“Megan’s father requested it. When I told him where you would go after your shifts, he wanted you to have a place to sit. He knew he couldn’t change what you were doing, but he wanted to at least make it better for you.”

“I’d like a plaque if you could swing it,” I finally said, my voice heavy with emotions.

“I’ll make some phone calls.”

“And, Margaret?” I rose from the chair. “When they call next time, could you tell them that I’m finally happy again? And that I love them, too?”

She smiled warmly. “I’d be happy to.”

Leaving Margaret to make her calls, I headed up to cardiology, passing the eyes of every nurse and staff member who had taken a particularly high interest in my social life over the last few weeks. Becoming involved with a patient was front-page gossip—or at least, that was what Grace had told me.

I really couldn’t give a f*ck.

The hallway seemed endless, and my arms became restless as they waited to finally swing that door open, so I could see Lailah again.

God, I’ve been a fool.

Hasn’t my past shown me anything?

Life is precious. It’s there one minute and gone the next. It shouldn’t be wasted.

I’d lost two precious days being angry with Lailah for something I’d already known but been too frightened to admit.

Finally making it to her door, I grabbed the knob and knocked. I heard the soft, sweet sound of her voice ushering me in, and I entered before the quiet click of the door sounded behind me.

She was standing, and her back was turned. She was going through a pile of books her mother had probably brought over. Her hand smoothed over the cover of one of the paperbacks, tracing the raised letters of the title.

When she looked over her shoulder and made eye contact with me, she froze. “Jude,” she said, her eyes round and wide with surprise.

I took a step forward but stopped.

What do I say first? I’m sorry? I’m an ass? You were right?

I wanted to say them all at the same time, but I didn’t know where to begin.

Finally, I stalked forward, removing the air and space separating us. Weaving my fingers through her hair, I kissed her. She gasped, her hands gripping my shoulders before sliding around my neck.

“I’m sorry, Lailah. I’m so sorry,” I said between our frenzied kisses.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

“You didn’t say anything I didn’t already know.”

Grabbing her around her waist, I lifted her, and she instantly responded, wrapping her legs around me. I leaned her against the wall. Sliding my hands down around her ass, I supported her weight to keep the strain off of her.

It also wasn’t a bad position for me. I might be choosing the good-guy route to wait until I could have her in a proper bed without wheels, but by no means was I a saint.

With her legs spread and her body pressed firmly against me, I wanted nothing more than to strip her down and forget every reason I had for waiting. Even with my raging hard-on and the heat of her core doing funny things to my brain, my conscience still remembered how much I wanted to love her for the first time in my own bed.

But that didn’t mean we couldn’t have a little fun until then.

“Lift up your shirt,” I whispered against her ear.

A small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips as she pulled the bottom of her shirt up halfway, exposing her smooth stomach.

“Higher.”

She did, lifting it up above her chest.

“No bra today,” I said as my eyes skimmed over her beautiful body.

“I wasn’t expecting company.”

“You should not expect company every day,” I replied with a wicked grin.

With my hands still firmly holding her up, I bent forward, moving my tongue over that perfectly shaped pink bud until it pebbled and hardened.

“Gorgeous,” I remarked before closing my mouth over her tight nipple.