Page 93 of Revealing Mark

I wanted to be close to him again, skin to skin, but my injury made it impossible to do more than kiss.Just a few more days, I consoled myself.

“You want to drive?”

I trembled and stepped away. “Uh, no. I don’t.”

He caught my hand. “It’s okay.”

I was nervous just getting back into a car, so driving was just plain out of the question.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I mumbled.

He nodded, releasing my hand.

I got my purse and busied myself with putting my lipstick on to ease the spike of fear.

Inside his car, I fidgeted, unable to feel comfortable even though I was a passenger. Mark was a safe driver and I knew he had taken advanced driving lessons for his job, but that didn’t make me feel any safer.

My accident hadn’t been caused by me. It had been caused by another driver.

I kept a watchful eye on all the cars around us, feeling more and more anxious. Mark reached over and touched my hand with his fingers. “We’ll be there soon.”

I nodded, feeling my throat too tight to talk.

When he arrived outside Matthew’s place, I was relieved even though my legs were shaky when I got out of the car.

“You sure you’re okay?” Mark asked, not missing the telltale signs that I wasn’t.

“I’m fine.” I put my arm through his. “Let’s go.”

I made a point of concentrating on the evening with my brother rather than the car ride home. Maybe it was time to buy a bicycle.

My brother was stiff when he answered the door. Perhaps someone who didn’t know him would have been fooled, but I wasn’t. Mark and Matthew shook hands but I could feel the tension between them.

Sarah broke the tension when she came to hug me. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“Same,” I admitted, relieved she was there.

“You look amazing for someone who just had a serious accident.”

I shrugged, not wanting to really talk about it.

“Come on in.” She tugged my hand to the kitchen, leaving the guys behind.

She was busy making a salad and I offered to help. While I sliced the tomatoes, she chatted away.

“So, you and Mark?” she questioned.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It was something I never thought would happen.”

“Not for some,” she replied cryptically. “I saw something between you two when I first met you at the hospital.”

I remembered it but I had been more worried about my brother than anything else. “Really?”

It felt like everyone had seen it, before I had realized it wasn’t just one-sided.

She nodded. “He’s a good guy, but you already know that.”

I nodded, unable to feel as confident.