Chapter Seven

“You’re a dumbass.”

Morgan rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the faith. I appreciate it.”

“It’s true. You told him you wanted space? That you needed time because you couldn’t figure it out? I hope you don’t lose him.” Jenna shook her head.

Morgan wanted to smack her friend. She also wanted to smack herself for telling her what she’d said to Evan. Three nights ago it had happened and it still hurt. Bad.

Really bad.

Maybe it was the truth hurting her and not what she’d done. Jenna had a point. Maybe she was a complete dumbass.

“It’s probably too late. He hasn’t called me. I left him a voicemail last night.” A complete moment of utter weakness. “But he hasn’t called me back.”

They were in the lunchroom, splitting a sandwich from the Subway close by. Morgan wasn’t hungry. She could hardly eat a thing and had probably lost five pounds these last couple of days after what happened. She’d always wanted to lose those last five pounds and had no idea the breakup diet was the way to go.

Not that she’d broken up with Evan but what with the way things were unfolding…

“Maybe you should go see him.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I’m so confused.” All she knew was that once he wasn’t around she wanted him close by at all times. She missed him. Missed hearing his laugh, his easy smile, the commanding way he’d pull her into his strong arms and kiss her. She flat out missed him.

And being without him was growing more painful as each day passed.

“Well, you certainly don’t look happy without him. Weren’t you happy when you were with him?” Jenna asked, knocking her from her thoughts.

“I was almost too happy when we were together. And something like that—it can’t last. Can it?”

“Listen.” Jenna leaned in close, her expression as serious as Morgan had ever seen it. “I did this with Brett. I freaked out on him and acted like a twit.”

Morgan nodded. “I remember. You lost it right here in the lunchroom.”

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that pleasant memory. But we’re talking about you. And the mistake you’re making, thinking this is so good you have to get rid of it because it can’t be real.” Jenna rested a hand on Morgan’s arm and gave it a firm shake. “What you have with Evan, it’s real. And you can have it this good. I know you’ve gone out with some losers. I know you’ve had some bad relationships in the past, we all have. But when it’s this great, this right, you can’t let it pass you by.”

As Jenna’s words sank in, Morgan blinked back the tears that threatened. Could it be real? Could Evan really be the man for her? “This happened to me before, you know. Years ago, right before I graduated college. I met a guy, we fell madly in love and moved in together within a couple of months.”

“And it ended badly?”

Morgan nodded. “Terrible. One day he came home from work and said he didn’t want to be with me anymore. Asked me to move out since he got the apartment in his name only. I was such an idiot. I thought he was the one.”

“How old were you?”

“I was twenty-two, he was twenty-five.” Morgan paused, the memories hitting her, one after another. “He married someone else within nine months of dumping me. I think they’re still together.”

“It wasn’t meant to be between you two.” Jenna made it sound so easy.

“Yeah, but I thought it was. What if I’m fooling myself? What if he comes home one day and tells me he doesn’t want to be with me anymore?”

“Kind of like what you did to him? Were you trying to beat him to the punch?”

Morgan was stunned silent. Maybe she did try and beat him to the punch. What was wrong with her? Was she some sort of relationship saboteur?

“I don’t know.” She sounded like she wanted to cry. She felt like she was going to cry too.

“You were younger. We’re all stupid when we’re young and think we’re in love. Be glad you didn’t end up with that guy. He wasn’t for you.” Jenna squeezed her arm. “I think Evan is the one for you. But you have to be open to it. You have to let it happen and see where it takes you. Sometimes, with love, you need to take a risk.”

A risk. Love and relationships were most definitely risky and she had always erred on the side of caution. And maybe that’s where she’d made the mistake. She’d thrown out all her inhibitions the night she first went out with Evan. And she’d definitely thrown them out the night they’d had sex the first time. A shiver went down her spine every time she thought of how he’d taken her from behind. So deliciously primal, so wickedly amazing it had been. She’d forgotten about feeling fat or embarrassed or afraid of what he might think of her. She’d just…felt.

And never been freer.

“You should call him again. Tell him you want to talk to him. Spill your heart out to him and beg him to call you back.”

“I refuse to beg.” Morgan crossed her arms in front of her chest. Well, she might beg if she got desperate enough.

“You know what I mean.” Jenna rolled her eyes and laughed, then immediately grew sober again. “Call him, Morgan. Don’t be afraid to reveal your feelings. I have a feeling he’ll be pretty receptive.”

“Okay.” Morgan pushed away from the table and stood. “I’ll go call him. See you back in the office?”

Jenna nodded and smiled. “Good luck, sweetie. You can do it.”

“Thanks, Jenna. I mean it. I needed the pep talk.” More like the talk of getting some guts.

“Anytime.”

Morgan went outside to the parking lot and sat in her too warm car, staring at her cell phone for endless minutes, gathering courage. It was now or never. She needed to reach deep and find the guts to go after what she wanted.

And right now more than anything in the world, she wanted Evan.

Screw it. She dialed his number and yep, it went straight to voicemail. Not that she was surprised. He was on duty most likely and rarely answered his phone. He had a job to do. One that he was very, very good at.

“Hi, Evan, it’s me, Morgan. Um…this is really hard for me to say over the phone but I made a mistake. I miss you. A lot. And I don’t want to lose you again. Could you call me, please? I want to talk to you. See you. Touch you.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “Please call me. I don’t want to go another minute not knowing how you feel. Wondering if you’ll ever forgive me for the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. And that’s turning you away. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I swear if I was a little less practical then maybe I would even think that I’m falling in lo—”

The voicemail cut her off and she glared at her phone, not sure if she should be angry or pleased that it ended her speech at such a pivotal moment. She’d been about to confess she was halfway in love with him.

Talk about finding courage. Or she’d straight lost her mind.

Most likely the latter.

Evan hopped out of the truck, his mouth tight, his entire body taut. He mentally prepared for the absolute worst, he always did when faced with a situation like the one looming ahead. It was bad. But this was his job and he’d grit his teeth and get through it. Just like he always did.

His thoughts wandered to Morgan, as they were prone to do. What was she doing, how was she? He hadn’t called her though she’d left him a single, almost breezy sounding voicemail. Hearing her voice had both crushed him and pissed him off. How could she act like it was no big deal, what she’d done to him, to them? But he couldn’t remain angry.

He cared for her too damn much.

The sun was bright and hot on his back as he jogged toward the scene. Three cars were involved in an accident on the freeway, one fatality. The cars were twisted hunks of metal, smoke rising from one of them and he saw the fire engine headed toward them in the distance. Three lanes were blocked off of the six-lane freeway, but the cars still passed by at an amazing speed. They should start demanding hazard pay.

He and Wes weren’t first on scene, but they were there to assist and take one of the injured victims to the hospital. They found her lying on the side of the road, pulled to safety by witnesses who’d stopped to help. She had a broken leg and possible broken pelvis and was in a lot of pain and they knelt beside her, immediately beginning to prep her.

“Sir, sir!” Someone grabbed Evan by the shoulder and gave him a firm shake.

He turned to find a woman standing before him, a shaken look on her face. “Can I help you?”

“There’s someone else who’s injured. My daughter! Please come help her. No one has helped her.” The woman pointed toward the snarled wreckage, her hand shaking visibly.

Evan glanced in his partner’s direction. “Go help her, man.” Wes nodded his head toward the now crying woman. “I’ve got this handled. And I’ll put a call in for another unit.”

“Thanks, Wes. Gimme a few and I’ll be back.” Evan stood and followed the woman, unease slithering down his spine as she took him to the other side of the wreckage. She was frantic, waving her hands all over the place, her voice reaching a higher pitch with every sentence she spoke. He could hardly understand her.

And he hoped like hell her daughter wasn’t as bad off as she made her sound.

“There she is. She’s unconscious, she wouldn’t respond to anything I said. I didn’t want to leave her but I didn’t know how to get her help.”

He didn’t know why anyone hadn’t noticed her. Kneeling, he looked her over. She was young, no more than twenty and her face was covered in blood from the various gashes she’d received. He put a call into the emergency service center, requesting more backup then glanced up at the mother. “How long has she been unconscious?”

“Since the accident happened. She hit her head on the windshield. I dragged her out of my car.” She waved a hand in the crumpled car’s direction. “I couldn’t just leave her in there though it was probably a mistake. And I’ve been with her ever since. I didn’t want to leave her alone. But I’m afraid that was the wrong choice.” The poor woman broke into tears again.

He checked the victim’s pulse, which was strong. Her arm looked broken, and she’d suffered a head injury. He had a feeling she’d be fine but didn’t want to make promises he couldn’t damn well keep. “I believe she’s going to be all right, ma’am. Another ambulance is on its way and should be here shortly.”

“Oh, thank God.” The woman blubbered all over him, and he offered her a quick one-armed hug. The stench of smoke grew stronger and he realized the fire engine was already there. A handful of firefighters surrounded the smoking car and were foaming it down.

The traffic had slowed but the scene was still chaos. “You should probably go stand over there.” He waved the woman over to the embankment where those who stopped to help stood. “It’s safer, not so close to the road.”

“But what about my—“

“I’ll take care of her until the other ambulance gets here.” He smiled and gently urged her toward the curbed embankment. She went without protest, and he headed for the wrecked car. The victim lay just on the other side of it, and he wanted to make sure she was safe in her location.

It was pure chaos. Emergency personnel were all over the place, victims’ family members were making an appearance and those who’d stopped to help originally still lingered about. He’d lost sight of the mother of the victim he’d vowed to take care of and with a grim shake of his head he headed back toward the car.

“Watch out!”

Evan turned, but it was too late. “Shit.” The car barreled toward him and he leapt as far as he could but to no avail. The car clipped him, sending him to the ground and his head hit the pavement before his body did.

Rendering him unconscious.

She picked up the ringing phone, not even paying attention since she was so focused on reading her email. “This is Morgan.”

“Morgan, it’s Brett.”

She frowned at the receiver she clutched. “Hey. Want me to connect you to Jenna?”

“No, I need to talk to you.” He took a deep, shaky breath. “There’s been—an accident.”

Dread filled her and her skin went cold. “What do you mean? What happened?”

“It’s Evan. He was hurt.”

“What? Is he okay?” She clutched the edge of her desk with her free hand, dizziness swamping her. If she let go surely she would slide to the floor in a faint.

“He’s going to be. He was actually pretty lucky, and the car knocked him to the ground but didn’t full out hit him. He was rendered unconscious, but he came to just before they put him in the ambulance.” Brett paused, and she swore she heard shouting in the background. Where was he calling from? How did he know Evan got hurt? “He asked for you. That’s why I called.”

“He asked for me?” Her heart expanded at least four times its size and her chest went tight. “Where are you, Brett? Are you with him?”

“We were both on scene at a car accident. I saw him get hit.” Brett paused. “He is one lucky mother fucker. Oops, sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. What hospital is he going to?”

Brett rattled off the name of the hospital, the same one she’d gone to when she’d been smacked by the door. She hung up the phone and in a haze, went to her boss, saying she had an emergency and had to leave work early. Grabbing her purse and her sweater, she started toward the elevator.

“Morgan, where are you going? What’s wrong?”

She turned to see Jenna chasing after her, a worried expression on her face. “I gotta go. Evan’s been hurt.”

“What happened?”

Morgan pressed her lips together. She didn’t know if she could stand the look of worry on Jenna’s face much longer. She was ready to completely lose it. “Your fiancé called me. He said Evan was hit by a car.”

“Oh, my God.” Jenna gripped her arm. “I’ll drive you to the hospital. You shouldn’t go alone.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine.”

“No way.” Jenna shook her head. “Let me get my purse.”

Morgan watched her friend run to her desk, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. But it didn’t help. Panic rose within her, threatening to take over and she closed her eyes, ran a shaky hand across her forehead.

He was hurt. But Brett said he’d be all right. She could only hope and pray that was the case.

She couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. Had he heard her voicemail? It was doubtful. But he’d asked for her. And that gave her hope.

So much hope.