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“I don’t think I could survive you walking away from me. So, I need to take a beat. It’s one thing to love someone, another to give up everything you’ve worked for, all your friends and your home. Color me chicken, but I just need to make sure.”
“You mean you need to be sure about me. That I’m on the level.”
“No, I believe you. I’m just not positive you will feel this way once you’re healed.”
She thought Riggs would be angry, explode and yell, or give her an icy tone, but instead, he hugged her. “I get it. I’m scared, too. But I’m going to Texas. I have to, and I hope your team will agree to my offer and do the surgery and rehab there.
“But I won’t push. Think about it and let me know.”
She pushed back, cupped his face with her hands, and whispered just before she kissed him. “You are the dream I want to come true, Riggs Walker.”
When their lips met, she nearly weakened and said to hell with it. I’m on board. But she wouldn’t. Not until she’d talked with Naomie and dealt with Josh.
Chapter Seventeen
Georgie got out of the shower to the ring of her phone. She snatched it up from the bathroom vanity, saw Naomie's face on the screen, and answered.
"What's up?"
"Just wanted to see if you're available for dinner and a house guest for a few days. Russ is headed back home in an hour, and I have a couple of days of work here I need to attend to and don't feel like staying in a hotel."
"Of course, you know you don't need to ask."
"Thanks, honey. And I want to talk to you about what happened with Josh."
"It's not worth discuss—"
Naomie cut her off. "That wasn't a request, little sister. I'll see you around six."
"Okay, see you then." Georgie saw no point in arguing with Naomie. She wasn't likely to win, and besides, right now, she needed Naomie's opinion on what to do about Josh.
And Riggs.
Her emotions were snarled in an out-of-control spiral, and she needed something or someone to ground her. Naomie knew how to do that without leaving scars. Hopefully, that's what would happen. She got busy with what she needed to do, trying not to think about Riggs or the monster she once thought she loved.
Needing space and a measure of isolation, Georgie headed for the lab. She still had data to evaluate, test results to read, and determine if Riggs had met the current goals and was ready to advance to the new prosthesis. Once he had the surgery, he'd be fitted and wearing his new foot within a week.
And where will you be when that happens?
That question made her angry. Why should she be the one to have to sacrifice her life and what she wanted? Why did anyone get to dictate what happened to her, or anyone else for that matter?
No. Enough was enough. She was going to stop this one way or the other.
She managed to make it through her day despite a good deal of awkwardness between her and Riggs. That awkwardness left her feeling guilty, so before she left to go home, she stopped by his room.
He was sitting in a chair by the window, holding Robby and talking softly to him. The sight touched her in an unexpected manner, unlocking that door she'd kept secured her entire adult life because on the other side of that door were the wishes she'd always believed she'd be denied.
To be married.
To be a mother.
Now, she was standing here, watching a man who wanted her to be just that, and she'd been too scared to say yes. Not anymore.
"What a beautiful picture," she said, pulling out her phone. When Riggs looked at her, she snapped a photo, walked over, and dropped beside him. "You look so natural with Robby. Like you've been doing it your whole life."
"I don't know about that, but I love this little guy and will be his dad come hell or high water."
"I don't think you'll have to fight much, considering it was his mother's final request, and he has no other relatives."