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“Are you okay?” I murmur. I don’t let go, but I lean back a little in his arms to look up at him. He’s clutching me tightly, like he’s holding on for dear life, and his gaze is down on his daughter.

For just a beat, I wonder if this is the same hospital my mother took my father to earlier today when he broke his wrist and bruised his ribs—how many cases have been seen in this very room today, how severe they’ve been, whether I’ve known anyone who was in here.

I push it out of my mind. She said he was fine, but the fact that I’m here for someone else pulses an odd sense inside me of not feeling quite as alone as I did before. It makes me feel as if someone needs me.

“Not really,” he admits. “I think my heart is still racing, and when I think about what could have happened…”

“Don’t,” I say, interrupting that train of thought. “It didn’t, so let’s just hang out here in reality instead.”

He presses his lips together and nods, his eyes never leaving Harper. “That’s smart.”

“Well, I did briefly consider psychology as a career move.”

“What made you settle on reading as your career move?”

I lift a shoulder. “I always loved to read, and I guess I wanted to share that joy with ones who had a hard time with it. I wanted to help kids escape to magical worlds and use their imaginations. Who doesn’t love getting lost in a good book?”

He raises his hand, and I bat it down.

“All that’s going to change, my friend,” I say.

“Oh, we’re friends now?” he teases.

He’s still holding me in his arms, and I can’t help a peek up at his face. He turns and meets my eyes, and a soft smile plays at his lips.

My eyes flick there for a beat before moving back up to his eyes. “I have no idea what we are,” I admit.

He chuckles softly. “Neither do I.”

Eventually we break apart to sit and wait, and after an hour or so, Harper starts to stir. Travis stands and slides his phone in his pocket, and I stay where I am so he can be the first person she sees when she opens her eyes.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” he says.

“Am I okay?” She sounds terrified.

I watch as he caresses the top of her forehead into her hairline. He’s so good with her, and it pinches something in my chest. “You’re fine. We got you the help you need, and now you’re supposed to rest and let the medicine do its job. How are you feeling?”

“Like I shouldn’t have eaten that granola bar.”

I can’t help a soft chuckle from where I sit. The kid is funny, and hearing her crack a joke like that even now tells me she’s going to be just fine.

She cranes her neck to see beyond her dad, and her face lights up when she sees me sitting there.

I push to my feet and walk over to the bed. “How’s it going, Harps?”

“Been better, Harts,” she says. She wrinkles her nose. “Can I have some water?”

Travis nods and darts out of the room to find someone to help, and I stay with Harper.

“That was scary, huh?” I ask.

“So scary. I’m glad you’re here.” She reaches over for my hand, and I squeeze hers.

“I’m glad I’m here, too.”

“Will you stay at my house tonight?” she asks.

“Oh, honey, I don’t know about that.”

Her face falls a little and she twists her lips like she’s trying to keep from crying.

“I’ll talk to your dad about it. I’ll definitely hang around until they spring you, and maybe I’ll come help tuck you in. How does that sound?”

She nods a little sadly and blinks back tears as she forces a smile, and it’s making me feel like I need to find a way to spend the night.

But I can’t.

She can’t possibly realize what she’s asking of me, particularly because she has no idea what went down between her dad and me last night.

Every time I think about it, I get warm.

I need to stop thinking about it.

But the way he thrust into me when he was on top of me and I dug my nails into his back as he pushed me where no man has been able to push me before…

It’s unforgettable. It was pure magic, and I’m not sure how to move past that.

Maybe that’s why I was so mean to him before. It’s that fear of putting myself out there only to be rejected. It’s the fear of getting hurt by someone who has spent his life prior to getting custody of his daughter bragging about his conquests to the media.

But I’m starting to think he’s not the person I assumed he was.

They keep Harper a little longer and run some tests on her, and the doctor comes back to let us know all her vitals and labs are looking great.

Eventually a man rolls in a cart with a computer on it, and he addresses Travis. “Mr. Woods?”

He glances up at him and my heart squeezes for a beat as I worry whether everything’s okay.

“I have your daughter’s release paperwork as well as the billing information for tonight’s visit.”

A bolt of relief ushers through me, and I distract Harper by making faces at her while Travis takes care of the rest.

We head out to the parking lot, and I stay with Harper up on the curb while Travis pulls his red Mercedes around. He gets out and opens the back door for her, dramatically offering a hand to the backseat. She giggles, and he helps her buckle in.

“You’re coming over, right?” Harper says to me.

Travis turns to look at me as I scramble to come up with an answer.

“Yeah, you’re coming over, right?” he asks.

Jeez. He sounds nearly as hopeful as she does.

I nod. “Sure. I’ll swing by for a bit.”

We say our goodbyes and I move over toward my car. It’s almost midnight already, and I should go home and get some rest. Last night I was up way too late, and this morning I was up way too early, and tonight’s already a late night…but somehow I’m not quite ready to leave the two of them just yet.

They both gave me a scare, and it feels like the type of scare that’s going to smooth over some of the negative feelings I’ve had where Travis is concerned, replacing them instead with…

I have no idea what yet.