Tell Me You Need Me (Search and Seduce #1)(42)

“No, no, no, that son of a bitch, no.” Chloe hustled through Beaufort Medical Center, her dress constricting and her hair falling from the fancy updo. People would arrive at the restaurant in an hour for the twentieth anniversary event.

She should have been there. Her restaurant, the town, her mother’s memory—they were all depending on her. Instead, she was running down a hospital hallway, her heart beating in her throat with worry.

East had called to tell her Gage had been hurt on a mission and was in the hospital. Then the call dropped before he could finish, but that information alone was enough to steal the air from her lungs.

He had to be okay. Had to be. She’d kick his ass if he wasn’t.

He was all she cared about. And she prayed with every step she took that he was okay.

“Please…please…” She rounded the corner and found his room. Chloe burst through the door and found him sitting on the side of the bed as a doctor wrapped up his knee.

Gage’s eyes widened. “Chloe? What are you doing here, sweetheart?”

How dare he act so casual? She glanced at his knee, then at his whole leg. He was okay. He was alive. He was hurt, but alive.

She sighed a breath of relief. “East called me and said I had to get here right away. He said you got hurt, and the call was over before he could tell me how bad, and…I was afraid you were…”

She glanced at his knee again as the doctor finished wrapping it.

Gage frowned. “Doc, can you give us a second alone?”

The doctor looked at them both and must have seen something he didn’t want to get in the middle of. “Two minutes. I need to get you a shot of cortisone.”

Once the doctor was gone, Chloe couldn’t help herself. She grabbed Gage and held him close. “You’re okay?”

He held her tightly. “Yes.”

But she pushed against his chest and backed away, shaking her head. “I was so worried you were hurt. Or worse. Maybe even…” She couldn’t finish the thought.

“I’m fine,” he insisted. Part of her wanted him to tell her she was silly. Stupid. He was fine and he was here and he was never going to leave her again. But his eyes were distant, like he didn’t see her at all. His mind was elsewhere. “I have to go.”

“What?” she asked. “You’re hurt. Where are you going?”

“Back out.” He stood and snatched his clothes off of a nearby chair.

Chloe couldn’t believe her eyes. Was he serious? “You can’t go back out.”

“Yes I can,” he snapped. “There are still two people missing.”

She’d never heard his voice so gruff before. “Still? Meaning you found someone already?”

“The little girl. But her parents are still out there.” He shoved his bad knee into one of the dirty, ripped pant legs.

The stupid heels digging into her pinky toe and the flowy dress she’d gotten for the occasion felt silly now. She was standing in lace and silk and had never felt more scared in her life.

“Gage. I know you care about me. But you have to take care of yourself, too.”

He wasn’t listening to her. He tore off the gown and yanked his T-shirt on.

“Gage,” she tried again, moving toward him. “You’re scaring me. I thought everything was back to normal. Completely. And then I get a call and hear you’re…” The truth hit her so hard that she felt it like a smack to the face. “I love you,” she whispered.

“What?” He cupped her shoulders and pulled her back enough to look into her eyes.

“I love you,” she murmured, fighting back tears. “You have to be okay.”

He shook his head and broke eye contact. “I love you, too.” He kissed her cheeks, and then he stepped away from her. “But I have to get back out there.”

It wasn’t enough. Even admitting her feelings for him wasn’t enough to convince him to stay—and it was breaking her heart. “You’re hurt. Aren’t other people looking for the parents?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean anything. I need to be out there.”

Her heart sank. Nothing she said, nothing she did mattered—Gage had made up his mind. He would leave. He didn’t care about his health, he didn’t care about her feelings, he didn’t care about anything other than finding that little girl’s missing parents and making her family whole. And maybe that made him a hero, but it also made the truth undeniable.

“I can’t do this,” she said.

He froze in the middle of tugging on his jacket and finally met her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“It means I. Can’t. Do. This.” He had to go. No, he didn’t have to—he was choosing to. She cared about him. He’d already hurt himself and was still going back out… She didn’t know what else could happen.

“You don’t have to worry about losing me—”

“—if I let you go now,” she finished.

Gage stiffened. “Chloe, you’re not making sense. I know you’re worried, but this isn’t that bad. I get banged up all the time.”

“You can barely walk, and you want to go back out and scale cliffs?” She cupped her forehead, reality hitting hard. This was the one thing she’d never wanted to face—Gage getting hurt. He could die. She wouldn’t know until well after. What if she couldn’t get to him? She’d be stuck there, waiting.