Page 35 of Falling for the Bosshole

Please don’t go ahead with the kiss as we agreed the other night. It is no longer necessary. It is not something I am proud of, and I hope that you can forgive me when I explain.

I know you were hurt by the comments Calloway made before the performance. I was a fool not to correct him and an even bigger fool for making him believe that you are anything besides who you really are. I intend to make amends by telling Calloway the truth after the show. To hell with the endorsement. It is not as important to me as you are.

Ana, I know that I have hurt you somehow. Hurting you hurts me more than you realize because the truth is, I’m in love with you.

I love you, Ana.

Lash

Her hands shook as she reread it. She thought her mind was playing tricks on her, but the stationery certainly was real, and so were the words written.

Ana wondered why the note was inside his pocket. If he meant her to have it, why didn’t he give it to her before the final dance?

Something stirred in her memory. The commotion outside her dressing room. The usher who was prevented by the guards from entering the area. He said that he needed to deliver a note. Lash must have sent the letter through the attendant, but it never got to her. Lash was trying to prevent her from going ahead with the real kiss.

Ana stared at the note. It was all there in black and white. I-love-you. Three little words. But it was everything. Ana felt her spirit soar. It was similar to how she felt when they danced together that night in the studio. It made her feel alive and so brand new.

Footsteps echoed in the empty hallway. Ana looked up and saw a man coming towards her. He was wearing green surgical scrubs.

Ana’s heart stopped beating. She couldn’t tell from his demeanor whether he was bringing her good news or bad.

“Miss Garcia, my name is Doctor Santos. I have just performed surgery on Mr. Mancini.”

“Yes?” Ana croaked.

“He is doing fine right now. But we had to induce a coma to give his brain time to recover. We will be watching him closely for the next 24-hours until he comes out of it,” the doctor announced.

Ana swayed slightly. A feeling of intense relief surged through her entire body.

“Can I see him?” she implored.

“Of course, you can. Just don’t expect him to wake up anytime soon.”

Ana could hardly wait as the nurse escorted her to the ICU. She needed to see him so badly; it was like physical pain in her heart. Her tears fell when she finally set eyes on him.

A swathe of bandages was wrapped around his head, and all kinds of intimidating monitors were attached to his body. She had never seen him this vulnerable, and it nearly broke her heart. She approached the bed and took one of his hands in hers. She kissed the back of his hand and pressed it against her tear-stained face.

“Oh, Lash, I’m so sorry for doing this to you. I understand now, and I love you too. I always have since the day I first met you,” she whispered.

She didn’t even care that the nurse was still there, checking the numbers on the monitors and probably heard what she said.

“Can I stay with him?” Ana asked.

The nurse smiled kindly as she replied, “I think that is a good idea. We all know that he is in a coma, but the heart is a strange thing. It can hear what the ears cannot. Talk to him. It may do him good,” she said before leaving the room.

Ana took a chair and positioned it as close to the bed as she could. She took hold of his hand once again. She had no intention of letting go even if she had to stay the whole night. She feasted her eyes on the chiseled face, the perfect brows, the strong chin, the lips that could bring her to a state of nirvana, and was struck once more at how perfectly symmetrical his bone structure was.

But she knew there was more to him than just a handsome face. She remembered his kindness, his relentless passion for the foundation, his love for his mother, his conflicted feelings for his dad, his search for someone who knew her mother. She now had a grandfather, a family, in Zafarraya, and it was all thanks to him.

Ana’s heart filled to overflowing. Even if the nurse was right and he wouldn’t hear a word she said, she talked to him the entire night. She repeatedly told him she loved him until exhaustion crept in, and she fell asleep on the chair, still clutching his hand.

Ana dreamedthat she was dancing with Lash. His face was so close she knew she could kiss him if she wanted to. Then he let go of her, and she plummeted into an abyss. She heard voices too but didn’t know where they were coming from.

Ana jolted upright. She blinked from the sudden light that was shining through the window. Then she remembered she was at the ICU with Lash. The voices she thought she heard were coming from a white-coated figure, a doctor, who was hunched over Lash. He was blocking her sight and didn’t know what was happening.

“Is everything all right?” she asked nervously.

“See for yourself,” the doctor replied as he straightened, smiling.

Lash had opened his eyes. He saw her and smiled weakly.

“The numbers seem good,” the doctor announced. “He might float in and out of consciousness, but it’s nothing to be concerned about. It’s just the after-effects of being induced into a coma,” he said before leaving the room.

Ana clutched his hand in both her hands. She brought it to her lips and kissed it. Her eyes brimmed with tears of relief and happiness. She didn’t know what to say after she talked herself to sleep last night. She felt his hand move as he entwined his fingers with hers.

“Ana,” he called in a whispery voice.

Ana shook her head and placed a finger to his lips. She caressed his face lovingly, their eyes locked, both expressing the words he couldn’t utter. His eyelids began to droop as he whispered a single word.

“Stay.”