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“Just something for the pain. The doctor will be in after he looks at the X-rays.”

“Thank

you.” Blake’s deep voice sounded different under the crashing waves in her ears.

When she heard the door close, she turned toward where she thought Blake was and spoke in a loud stage whisper. “I think that nurse is trying to get me high.”

“Baby, I think she already did.”

Blake’s chuckle wrapped around her like a soft blanket. “I like it when you laugh. You don’t do it nearly often enough.”

He paused, and while she wanted to open her eyes and see the look on his face, she couldn’t pry her lids apart.

“I’ve laughed more with you than I have the last two years,” he said softly.

He sounds so sad.

She didn’t want sad Blake. She wanted happy, laughing Blake.

“Your laugh makes me all warm inside, like cinnamon rolls baking in the oven.”

“How do you know how cinnamon rolls feel?” At least the smile was back in his voice.

“I can imagine it.”

A knock on the door interrupted the absurd conversation, and another male voice called, “Hello? Hi, Hannah, I’m Dr. Gould.”

Hannah turned her head lazily toward him but still couldn’t open her eyes. “Give it to me straight, Doc . . . Is my ankle busted?”

“No, but it is sprained. I’m going to suggest you stay off it as much as possible for a week and make sure you ice and elevate it. Eight hundred milligrams of ibuprofen and you should be good as new.”

Hannah tried to sit up and fell back almost immediately, her stomach turning. “Well that sucks.”

“I’ll even get you a handy-dandy note to give your employers that says exactly that, if you need it. Do you have someone who can help you out for a few days?”

Before she opened her mouth to say her parents, she heard Blake’s firm yes, and this time, her eyes did pop open. Her vision was blurry, but she squinted at Blake, trying to bring him into focus.

“You don’t have to. I can call my mom or Nicki—”

“I can help you out if I want to, and there’s nothing you can say to stop me.”

Hannah had no desire to stop him. In fact, the only thing she wanted was to go to sleep.

Starting right . . . now.

BLAKE PICKED UP Hannah’s prescription and a pair of crutches from the pharmacy, all while she snored lightly in his front seat. She definitely hadn’t been lying when she’d said she couldn’t handle strong pain meds. She’d been completely out of it since the nurse had dosed her up.

It was better than her being in immense pain, but damn, she was funny when her inhibitions were lowered. While he was wheeling her out, she’d started singing some song about living under the sea and broken out into giggles between verses. Even some of the nurses and patients they passed sang along with her, so the song must have been popular, but he had never heard it before.

He climbed back into the driver’s side, and she opened one eye at him, completely dazed.

“Are you my sunshine?” she asked groggily.

Blake chuckled as he started the car. “First time I’ve ever been called that.”

“Hmm.” She went back to sleep, and as he drove back to his place, he kept glancing over at her, studying her when she was so vulnerable. The softness of her face and the full pout of her mouth, pink and open. Her black lashes fanned out over the delicate skin under her eyes.

Hannah had been the bright spot in his day for the longest time, and now that he’d finally given in and let her get close, she’d quickly become so much more. The way he felt when she was with him was indescribable. She had wiggled her way into a part of him he hadn’t even known existed, and the happiness he felt at that made panic and acceptance fight for control.