Page 52 of Acquiring Ainsley
“Have I?” I twisted, and for the first time, a sharp pain rippled through my neck. Panic flooded my body. “Oh, my god.”
“They said you’d be in a lot of pain, but it’s not serious.” She ran her hand through my hair. “No major damage. They don’t think you’ll be in here very long, especially now that you’ve woken up.” She took my hand, and relief swept over me.
“Doctors? Oh, shit, I’m in the hospital, aren’t I?”
“Yes, they took you to Good Samaritan last night, but you’ve mostly been out since then. Lots of drugs in your system to keep you pretty knocked out.” She moved closer to me. “But I’m so happy you’re awake now.”
I turned, and the dull ache spread through my body. I winced. “What’s wrong with me? I don’t really remember what happened.” It was starting to feel like a sea of hazy memories floating around in my brain. “We were at the party and…”
Ainsley shushed me again. “There’s no good way to tell you this, but… Olivia is dead. She died at the scene when she hit you with her car.” She tightened her grip on my hand. “But let’s not focus on that right now. I just want you to get better. The police officer said it’s a miracle that you survived. All you have is a concussion, some broken ribs, and a broken leg.” She tossed me a soothing smile. “And they’ve got you hopped up on some pain medicine.” Her smiled into a slight frown. “Do you want me to get the nurse to give you some more?”
“No, don’t do that. I don’t want to be out of it again.”
I stared at her for a long time, as the rest of the room came into focus. I lay in what looked like a standard hospital bed with four white walls, a few machines that whirred and zinged, a large picture window, and a flat-screen TV attached to the wall.
“What did you say about Olivia?” I asked.
Ainsley’s face fell. “I know it’s hard to process, but she’s—she’s dead.”
“She is?”
“Yes.” Ainsley rubbed her face with one hand. “And I’m sorry, Trevor. I didn’t want that for you. Even though she acted the way she did, and she caused us a lot of pain, I still feel so awful about the fact that she died that way.”
“Me, too. She was one of the worst things that ever happened to me, but she was also one of the best.” I stared into Ainsley’s eyes. “Because what I went through with her brought me to you.” A sharp pulse of pain pushed through me, and I winced. “I’m sorry, but, how long do I have to be here?”
“A few days, they say.” She moved closer to me again. “Of course, this might delay the wedding a bit.”
“It might?”
She nodded. “You know, if there was ever a way to make an engagement party memorable in Palm Beach, this was it. Forget fireworks and exotic food. Just toss in one psycho ex-girlfriend, a car wreck, a fake engagement, and us, and you’ve got a winner.”
I knew she was joking, so I smiled, but then my face fell. “You don’t have to marry me if you don’t want to, Ainsley. After all that I’ve put you through…”
“Stop it, Trevor McNamara.” She held up her left hand, showing off the diamond ring I’d bought her. “I haven’t backed down from my promise, and if you think I’m going to walk away now…” She put her forehead on mine. “You’ve got another thing coming.”
“So, you still want to marry me?”
“Yes,” she said as she pulled a little bit away from me. “I do.”
“When?” I smiled.
“Whenever you’re ready. Whenever you want. We’ll have a huge wedding and invite everyone we know.” She waved her hand. “Or we can have a small wedding and invite almost no one. I don’t care. The point is, we will be together, and that’s all that matters.”
A lump grew in the back of my throat. “What about the company? The merger? The agreement?”
“Even if that wasn’t happening, I’d want to be with you.” She stroked my forehead with a cool hand. “I’ve realized a lot in the last few weeks. The way I use to live—that doesn’t mean anything to me anymore. I’m not the same person that I was at the beginning of this year, and that’s a good thing. A very good thing.”
“I’m going to rebuild Ross Publishing,” I whispered. “I promised you and Ashton that I’d bail out the company and I don’t want to back down from that.”
“Good,” she replied. “But the best part is, the three of us are going to do this together.” She paused. “And I can’t wait to see what kind of wedding we’re going to end up having, Trevor.”
“Me either.”
She kissed me then, in the hospital room. A deep, round, forceful kiss that cemented our relationship and told me she’d never said truer words. She did want to marry me. She did want to be with me. And for the first time in a long time, this was about more than a merger, more than an acquisition.
This was about love.
“I love you, Ainsley,” I said when we broke the kiss. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Good.” She grinned. “Because I love you, too.”
THE END