I could feel Eric’s gaze on me, but I couldn’t look away from her. I wanted to hug her, kiss her some more, make love to her and throttle her, all at the same time.

How could she scare me like that? Thank God, she was awake. She was bruised and paler than usual but alive, and the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I let out a relieved breath and finally tore my gaze away from her. I chanced a look at Eric as Charlie argued with the poor nurse who was trying to get rid of us and embraced Lucy.

Eric folded his arms and studied me with narrowed eyes. I wondered if he was plotting my murder. I wouldn’t blame him. I had defiled his sister, after all. More than he knew. I took her virginity. And the kiss I’d just given her was beyond friendly. I didn’t want Eric to find out so sudden, but Lucy had almost died, and I was still reeling from my panic, my worry, and then my overwhelming relief to hear she was awake. I had to kiss her, to make sure she was real and still with me.

“I’m sorry, but you all have to clear the room right now. The doctor will be in to examine Lucy,” said the impatient nurse.

Eric and Charlie reluctantly obeyed, but I lingered. “Lucy, I’m so glad you’re awake.”

She sent me a glare. “You can’t be that glad!”

I blinked, surprised by her vehemence. The nurse’s brows also shot up. She looked at me then at Lucy curiously.

“Luce, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. “Only my friends get to call me that.”

Obviously, I was missing something. “Okay, I’m getting the feeling that you’re upset with me. For what?”

“Sir, you’ll have to wait outside. The doctor—”

“Just a minute. Please.”

“Just go, Ryan. I don’t want to see you.”

My heart shattered, and I stumbled back.

"You heard my patient, out." The nurse shooed me towards the door, and my feet pedaled backward, obeying both their wishes. I was partially out the door when I heard Lucy stifle a cry and I turned back. I wasn't going to give up that easily.

“No, I’m not leaving. Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

I marched into the room and planted my feet at the bottom of her bed. The nurse glared at me.

“Don’t make me call security.”

"Just one minute," I bargained looking from Lucy to the nurse, desperation in my voice. "Lucy?"

“Fine. One minute, sixty seconds and no more.”

The nurse rolled her eyes but took pity on us. She sighed, checked Lucy’s monitors and scribbled on her clipboard. “As soon as the doctor arrives, you leave.”

“Thank you.”

She gave me a small smile. “I’m a sucker for love and drama,” she murmured on her way out.

I froze. Love. The word echoed in my mind. When I had gotten the phone call about Lucy from Eric the day before, my heart had momentarily stopped beating. I pictured my life without her, how miserable I would be, how devastated Maxi and Becky would be to lose yet another person they loved. I realized that we needed her. I needed her. I’d never needed a woman in that way before. Was this love and I just hadn’t realized it? It definitely wasn’t the brotherly type of love that I'd grown up with while being around her. This was so much more, and it made my insides hurt. I was in love with Lucy Wells, and she was looking at me with disdain.

“Your time is running out, Ryan,” Lucy said softly, averting her gaze.

"Well, you haven't told me what I’ve done to make you so angry with me.” I racked my brain for any ways that I might have screwed up. Had our casual affair been too casual? Had I not shown her how much I cared for her… loved her? God dammit, I'd been a fool. I'd squandered our time together pretending it had been all fun and games, friends with benefits, but us together was far beyond that. I just hadn't been brave enough to say it or realize it at the time.

“I just don’t want you here.”

“That’s not reason enough to get me to leave. I stayed in this damn hospital all day yesterday and all night, waiting for you to wake up. You’re not kicking me out until you tell me what’s wrong.”

Her eyes widened. “All night? How long was I out?”

“Since yesterday afternoon. It’s almost nine p.m. now. I went through more than twenty-four hours of torture waiting for you to open those pretty blue eyes. Don’t think I’m going to just leave. That nurse will have to make do on her threat to call security."

“You stayed all that time?”

“I spent the night in that wretched chair.” I pointed to the chair at the foot of her bed.

Her mouth twitched. “You crammed all six feet four inches of you into that tiny chair all night? No wonder you look like hell. I’m touched but wasn’t your girlfriend upset?”

“My what?”

“Your girlfriend. Tall, perfect brown hair, great body, has gorgeous glowing skin. Could be mistaken for an Amazonian."

How did she know about Mackenzie? She had just arrived in Manchester the day before. She was passing through Vermont and stopped by only because I wanted to see her.

“How do you know about Mackenzie?”

Lucy huffed. “Great, now I know her name. I saw you with her yesterday. After lunch with Eric, I decided to stop by with Christmas cookies to surprise the girls. Plus, I wanted to see you.”

"Oh, no," I mumbled, as I started to piece it together. She'd been in the car to see me… the crash was all my fault. If she hadn't been driving none of this would've happened.

“I should have called first,” Lucy continued. “It didn’t cross my mind that you would have company. I saw you kiss her. You were all over each other. I know you don’t have feelings for me, and we were just fooling around, but you could have at least told me you had someone other than Julie. I feel like such an idiot."

My mouth fell open. Mackenzie, my girlfriend? It was laughable so, I laughed.

“Oh, you find the fact that I’m upset amusing?”

“I’m sorry, Luce. That little peck on the lips that Mackenzie gave me meant nothing. Trust me. She’d be more interested in you than me if you know what I mean.” Another laughed rumbled in my chest at the thought of Mac and I being together. She would find it hilarious as well. “She prefers women, Lucy.”

Lucy’s mouth formed a surprised O.

“But… who is she?”

“An old friend from college. Her name is Mackenzie Garcia. We keep in touch via e-mail. She mentioned that she was passing through and I asked her to stop by. She’s an investor. I thought I could get her to help you out since you refused to accept help from me. She agreed to take a look at your business, your plans, but here you are with a broken arm. I imagine you won’t be working for some time so you will get my help and my money whether you like it or not.”

Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but I placed a finger on her lips. “We’ll argue about it later.”

Her lower lip quivered. “I’m sorry, Ryan. I have no right to be so upset. You’re free to be with whomever you want. I overreacted and look where it got me.”

Guilt manifested again when I remembered that Lucy must have gotten into the accident because of me because she had left my place upset.

“You don’t have to apologize to me, babe. I just wish you knew that I’m not the kind of man to sleep with multiple women at a time. And how could you think I don’t have feelings for you?” I grasped her chin, made sure she looked into my eyes. “Lucy, I lo—”

The door opened, and an older woman in a white lab coat stepped in. She smiled. “Hello, I’m Doctor Marsh. How are we doing in here?"

I dropped my hand and stepped back. I gave Lucy a look of longing before smiling at the doctor. “I’ll get out of your way.”

Closing the door, I blew out a breath. My heart pounded in my chest. I had come close to confessing my love. Why did I find it so terrifying? I had been engaged to be married before. I shouldn’t have a problem verbalizing my feelings. But those feelings were nowhere near as powerful as they felt when I was with Lucy. It all paled in comparison. And even if I did think saying the L word was moving to fast, it didn’t matter because I knew right then, deep down, that I had already loved Lucy throughout all my other relationships. She'd been the one my mind would drift to, off-limits and never within my reach. In reality, I was long overdue in telling her.

“You were in there a long time.”

I was pulled from my spiraling thoughts by Eric’s voice. And here we go. Turning to face him, I wasn’t sure if we would still be friends after that night and waited to see if he was about to raise his hands to defend his sister’s honor.

“Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably and began, “Look, Eric, I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “For what exactly?”

I studied him, tried to gauge his mood. Was he angry, disgusted? I got nothing. His expression was calm but steely. “You just found out that Lucy and I... that I’ve...”

Eric frowned. “Been screwing my sister?”

Damn. He was upset. “Correction, we’ve been intimate. I would never screw Lucy. She’s special.”

“How special, Ryan?”

I took a deep breath. “Very. She means the world to me." I paused to look at him, but he wasn't giving anything away. “I know you might not approve. Hell, at this point I don’t care if you do but as you’ve been like a brother to me since we were kids and I respect you and your family, I would like to know that you’re all right with Lucy and me being together. If you can’t accept it, that’s unfortunate because I can’t take back the fact that I’ve slept with her and I can’t help that I’m in love her.” It all came out in a rush, but there it was. I waited, expected him to throw a punch, so his reaction surprised me.

Eric exhaled. “Right God damn answer, my friend! Because if you were just screwing around with my baby sister, I would have killed you.”

I blinked, then grinned. “If she heard you calling her your baby sister, she would kill you.”

Eric smirked. “I know.” He sighed. “It will take some getting used to, but Lucy is an adult, she makes her own decisions. I suppose if she has a man in her life, I’m glad it’s someone I know and trust. Plus, I think mom and dad will be excited. I know they’ve been secretly shipping you and Lucy for years.”

“Really? How do you figure?”

“I’m a perceptive man, Ryan. Just like I knew something was going on between you and Lucy when you nearly tore down the hospital because she wouldn’t wake up, and when you insisted on spending the night sitting in a chair at her bedside. You behaved like a man in love, Ryan. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out.” He snorted. “Besides, Lucy has had the hots for you since she hit puberty. I just chose to ignore it because I was reluctant to wrap my mind around my sister and my best friend.”

“What?” That was a surprise to me. In the past, I had also chosen to ignore Lucy and my attraction to her simply because of what Eric might have thought. “Huh… I hadn’t realized.”

Eric grasped my shoulder. “Well, now that everything is out, I might as well get this out too. If you hurt her, I will be forced to break your legs, because that’s what big brothers do.”

He smiled, but I knew he meant it. Lucy had always brought out that same fierce protective instinct in me too. “I would never do anything to hurt her.”

A silent understanding passed between us, and he nodded.