Page 61 of Trapped (Sheppard & Sons Investigations #6)

Nathan

M y eyelids felt like sheets of lead. The rhythmic beeping hurt my head. A heavy weight pressed into my chest.

Ignore the pain and open your eyes.

With great effort, I did. The bright white room confirmed my guess; I was in the hospital.

The weight on my chest was Ashley. Thank God.

I wrapped my non-IV arm around her. “Hey.” My voice made sandpaper sound smooth.

“Nathan!”

I moaned when she pushed off my chest.

“Sorry,” she said, pulling away.

“Don’t apologize.” I coughed.

Ashley extracted herself from my grip and grabbed a glass of water. “Here.”

After finishing the cup, I asked Ashley if she was okay. And about the baby.

“I’m fine, I swear.” She confirmed her test was negative, then asked if I remembered the car ride.

“It’s a bit fuzzy, so I wanted to verify I wasn’t dreaming.”

“You weren’t.”

Is that sadness I hear in her voice? That didn’t make any sense.

“Ashley.” I pulled her chin until she faced me. “Are you sad you’re not pregnant with Finn’s baby?”

“No!” She shook her head. “It’s just… it’s nothing. I’m stupid.”

“Hey, no one calls my girl stupid, not even you.” I squeezed the back of her neck and pulled her down for a light kiss. “Now, tell me.”

“I’m happy I’m not having his baby, but I kind of got used to the idea of Emily, Meg, and me raising our first babies together.” She laughed at herself. “See, stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. You found a positive to focus on.” I caressed her cheek. “If things were different, would you want to be pregnant?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” She shrugged.

I grinned. “If you want to, we can make a baby as soon as they release me.”

Her eyes flew open, and her jaw dropped.

Thinking about baby-making caused me to look Ashley up and down to appreciate her gorgeous body. She’s wearing different clothes . Before I could ask about them, she laughed.

It was loud and raw and real. And the most beautiful sound in the world.

“Slow down, Cowboy.”

“Cowboy?” She’d called me that in the cabin, too, but I’d forgotten until she said it again.

“After what happened, I’ll never call you Casper again.”

Thank God. “Appreciate that.”

“We can’t make a baby.” I raised my eyebrows, certain we could. She ignored my unspoken question. “We haven’t even gone on a date.”

“I’ll take you on a date as soon as I get out of here.” I thought about it. “Well, maybe I’ll take a shower first.” I joked.

“We’re not married.”

“Easy problem to remedy. Marry me.” The only thing I could think about while feeling my life slipping away with every beat of my heart was Ashley. I’d probably been in love with her from the instant she hit on me with a devilish grin and cheesy pickup line.

“You can’t be serious?”

“I am. Fuck dating, you’re it for me. Marry me.” I repeated the question, which sounded more like an order.

Of course, she argued. “Nathan, I’m jobless and homeless, and babyless, so it’s not like you need to do the honorable thing.” Her use of air quotes pissed me off.

“What? Were you not listening? I love you, Ashley. I don’t need a first date to know you’re it for me. I’m all in.”

“You love me?”

“Yes.”

“You left that part out.”

This woman.

“Then let me say it again.” I stared into her eyes and said, “I love you, Ashley.”

“Well, I love you too.” She smiled. “You really want to marry me and take on this hot mess?”

“For the love of God, woman, yes, I want to marry you. Now say yes, or say no, but please fucking answer me.”

I hadn’t intended to throw a proposal at her five minutes after regaining consciousness, but nothing with Ashley ever went as expected.

“You haven’t actually asked me anything. All you’ve done is bark orders.” Her laugh made me wish I wasn’t in a hospital bed with stitches holding my artery together. And I definitely wasn’t happy that the tear in my femoral artery meant I had to be extra careful for eight to ten weeks.

“Ashley Nicole York, will you please marry me?”

“Yes. But only because you said please.” Her smile lit up her face as she leaned down and kissed me. My EKG monitor sped up, which meant a nurse would probably interrupt us any second.

“You should know what you’re getting into.”

I did, and I couldn’t wait. Before she could say anything else, I grabbed her behind the neck, pulled her down, and kissed the fight out of her.