I’ll Be There (18 page)

Her eyes went a little wide. “But…?” she whispered.

“I… I'm not…” He cleared his throat again. “I'm not sure…I can. Not yet.” He waited for a look or a word or a sound of pity to come out of her. But it didn't.

Gently, Gabriella squeezed his hand and turned to lead him from the room. At the door to his bedroom she stopped. “I hope you like to sleep in a little on the weekends.” It was all she said before releasing his hand and walking into the darkness of his bedroom.

Zach heard the rustling of the comforter and sheets being pulled back. Heard the soft sounds the mattress made when someone climbed on. Hell, he even heard the whisper of fabric slipping from skin to floor.

And then he heard her sigh. “Zach?”

Slowly, he stepped into the room and shut the door. When he was standing beside the bed, he pulled his T-shirt over his head. And hesitated.

“Will you hold me like you were doing out on the couch?”

“Yes.”

She let out a sleepy purr, and Zach climbed in and pulled the blankets over him. Reaching over, he guided her into his arms. It felt…right. Gabriella's lips gently grazed his chest before she relaxed against him with a whispered “good night.”

Indeed.

* * *

Gabriella was afraid to open her eyes.

She knew exactly where she was and exactly whom she was with.

And how she had pretty much invited herself into his bed.

There was no way she was going to be able to look Zach in the eye, not now, and possibly not ever again. For most of her life she had mastered the art of self-control, and in the last month she had pretty much thrown it right out the window. At first it had felt pretty good, liberating even, but now? Now she was mortified by her behavior. What must Zach think of her?

She almost laughed out loud at her own question. He was a man. She had crawled into his bed and wrapped herself around him. Of course he wasn't going to complain. She cursed her own stupidity.

Peeking out under her lashes, Gabriella saw the sun was up and filtering in through the blinds. Getting any glimpse of the time would require her to move and lift her head, and she wasn't ready to do that just quite yet. Unfortunately, she had no idea if Zach was a light sleeper or a heavy one. For all she knew, she could jump off the bed and slam doors without it bothering him one bit. Could she possibly be that lucky?

Carefully, she started to untangle herself from him. Good Lord, she thought to herself, they were completely wrapped around one another. She had never been one for sleeping so closely with anyone—she enjoyed her personal space—and yet she had slept deeply and peacefully all night long with Zach's arms secured around her and her legs tangled together with his. It was almost hard to tell where one ended and the other began.

It actually felt really nice. Maybe, just maybe, she could stay put for a little while longer. With a quiet sigh, she relaxed against him and simply enjoyed the feel of her cheek against his bare chest and his arms holding her close.

“Did you work it all out?”

A small squeak escaped Gabriella's lips at Zach's sleepy question. “What…? How…? Work what out?”

“I figure you've been awake for a few minutes worrying about how you were going to sneak out of here.”

“Now I know how Summer feels,” she mumbled.

“What does my sister have to do with this?” He chuckled.

“She's always telling me to get out of her head and now I totally get it. It's freaky.”

“What? That I can read your mind?” He didn't wait for her to respond. “Because you do it to me too, all the time. Turnabout's fair play and all.”

“I wasn't thinking of sneaking out,” she said with a pout.

Zach laughed. “Sweetheart, you are many things but a liar isn't one of them. I think you woke up and felt awkward about…this.” He gestured to their position. “It's all right. I mean, I was hoping you'd be okay and comfortable with it, but I completely understand if you're not. This is new territory for us. It seems like every day is something new for us.”

Sitting up, Gabriella looked over at him. “And doesn't it bother you or make you uncomfortable? Ever?”

He studied her for a long moment as if choosing his words carefully. “No,” he said simply. “That's the strangest part of all of this—every time we…cross a line…no, that's not the right phrase.” He cursed. “Every time we…evolve or try something new and move forward, I keep waiting for it to feel awkward or weird or uncomfortable, and it doesn't.”

Gabriella's eyes went wide at his admission. She knew he was telling her the truth, knew he wasn't just saying what he thought she wanted him to say. Ducking her head, she combed her hair behind her ear. “I…I don't normally…do this kind of thing.” Her words were spoken so softly she wasn't even sure Zach heard her until she felt him sit up and put his lips on her shoulder.

“Good,” he whispered. “I like the fact you were comfortable enough with me to do this.” Then he chuckled. “Not that we've done anything.”

“Don't say it like that. It was very nice. I think snuggling is an underrated activity that gets a bum rap. Personally, I enjoyed it.”

Zach eased them back against the pillows. “Sweetheart, I am all for snuggling with you.” He wrapped an arm around her while his other hand began to roam casually up and down her body. “Particularly when you're half naked.”

She blushed furiously. “I can't sleep with anything on my legs. I kicked my yoga pants off when I climbed into bed.”

“And I, for one, appreciate it,” he said and kissed the tip of her nose.

It was still a bit amazing she was able to relax so easily with him. One minute she was shy and apprehensive, and the next Zach managed to put her completely at ease. Gabriella wasn't sure if it meant he was sincere or she was gullible.

No. That didn't sit right with her. She'd learned her lesson a long time ago where being gullible was concerned. She knew Zach well enough, and long enough, to know that part of what made her feel the way she did was because she knew him. But even though she knew it and it made perfect sense, there was still a niggling sense of doubt about what they were doing, sharing.

“You're doing it again,” he said quietly.

She chuckled. “Sorry. I can't seem to help it.”

Zach gently released her and rose from the bed. “Come on. Let's scrounge up some breakfast and make our plan of attack for shopping.”

Gabriella warred with feelings of relief and disappointment. Zach had been completely honest with her about why they weren't…advancing their relationship. There was no doubt in her mind it had been painful for him to admit his struggles to her—especially ones that were personal. It made her feel special—that he trusted her enough to say it. But there was another part of her that was curious to test the waters, so to speak. Had the doctors told him he shouldn't try to have sex yet? Had Alex? Or was this something Zach was feeling and thinking on his own?

Looking up, she found him standing in the doorway. “You coming?” he asked.

“I'll be there in a minute,” she said, still feeling a little shy about climbing from the bed in nothing but a T-shirt and a pair of panties.

“I'll meet you in the kitchen. I'll get the coffee started.”

“Okay.” As Zach walked from the room, Gabriella noticed he was using only one crutch. His movements were still slow and stiff, but he was definitely making progress. She knew he had an appointment with his team of doctors on Monday and couldn't help but wonder what kind of news they were going to receive.

Or how it was going to affect where they went from here.

* * *

“So how was your weekend?”

Zach looked over at Alex as they drove to his appointment and grinned.

“That good, huh?” Alex asked with a chuckle. “Do tell.”

“If I told you, I might have my man card revoked,” Zach replied, unable to help the laughter that came with it.

“Now I have to know. Come on. Out with it.”

With a roll of his eyes, Zach shifted uncomfortably in the seat. “Do you think the rehab facility will get some use out of the wheelchair?”

“Ah,” Alex said, nodding his head. “Avoidance. Changing the subject. You must have really done something lame to go there.” He looked over at Zach and laughed. “And now I'm even more curious.”

“Okay, fine,” Zach said, trying to sound angry but failing miserably. “I spent the weekend…redecorating.”

At first Alex didn't respond. Then he held a hand to his ear. “I'm sorry. What was that? You…redecorated? Do I have that right?”

“I told you. I'll have my man card out and ready to shred by the time we reach the hospital.”

“I don't think we'll have to go that far. Yet.” Now they both laughed. “So you started redecorating the house.” He looked over his shoulder toward the wheelchair. “And getting rid of the chair was part of it?”

“Getting rid of the chair is what started it.”

“Go on.”

Zach explained his realization that he felt his surroundings were playing a large role in hindering his recovery. “Maybe I'm crazy,” he finally said. “I don't know.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I love my house. I fell in love with it the first time I walked through it. But after being confined to it? I feel like the walls are closing in on me. I don't want to move, but I need to change things up a bit.”

“Plus it gave you a good excuse to hang with Gabriella all weekend.”

While it was true, it still bothered Zach to hear the implication. He didn't want anyone thinking anything crude or disrespectful about his and Gabriella's relationship. As of now, the only ones who were even aware of their relationship included him, Gabriella, and…Alex. Somehow Zach had managed to keep his usually nosy family out of the loop on this one. As far as they were all concerned, he had simply seen the error of his ways and decided to get back to work with the help of his longtime assistant.

He crossed his fingers and hoped they could keep it to themselves for a little bit longer. There was no way he was going to be able to hide the way he really felt about Gabriella in front of his family. They'd call him out as soon as they got one look at him.

That's how out of control he felt.

And it was important to him that his family never see him out of control ever again. It had been hard enough dealing with their concern and pity while he had been in the hospital and recuperating from the fall. There was no doubt he'd be subject to a completely different kind of pity and concern and mocking if they were to watch him acting like an idiot over Gabriella.

Then he stopped and considered that. No one would really have to see him acting any different from how he always had. He'd hidden his feelings for Gabriella from everyone for years. Surely he could keep it up for just a little longer.

Crisis averted.

Zach looked up in time to see Alex had pulled into a parking spot at the hospital and was looking at him expectantly. “This is it,” Zach said with a weary sigh.

“Don't go in there with that kind of attitude,” Alex said, his own voice sounding encouraging. “You're making great progress, Zach. The doctors are going to be impressed.”

“What if…what if they do the scans and see things aren't healing?”

“Why are you looking for trouble?”

“Habit,” Zach said with a mirthless laugh. “Every time I seem to get my hopes up with this recovery, I end up being completely mistaken.”

“That's because you weren't fully focusing before. We haven't been working together very long, but I can tell you're way more committed to the rehab than you were a week ago. These things take time.” He paused and collected his thoughts. “I wish I could tell you you're going to wake up tomorrow and never have to use the crutches or a cane ever again. But I can't. Someday it's going to happen but it doesn't happen overnight. You need to be patient.”

“Not my strong suit.”

“No kidding.” Alex chuckled. “Look, you're doing great. I'm really pleased and impressed with the progress we've made. I watched you come out of the house this morning and you had a much more confident walk. You're getting your strength back. But we have to take it slow and do this right or you'll end up hurting yourself. Trust me.”

“I do. I really do. I'm just… I don't know if I'm ready to hear what the doctors are going to tell me.”

Pulling the keys from the ignition, Alex turned and put a reassuring hand on Zach's shoulder. “Whatever it is, we'll deal with it. If we have to adjust your routine and your therapy, then we'll do it. Nothing they're going to tell you is going to stop the momentum. Okay?”

Zach eyed him warily. “Man, I wish I had your optimism.”

Alex opened the car door and climbed out before turning back to Zach. “It's all right. I've got enough for the both of us right now.”

* * *

“I cannot believe you and Zach!” Summer huffed as she walked over to Gabriella's desk and sat herself down on the corner.

Gabriella's eyes went wide with surprise. “
What?
Me and Zach? What are you talking about?”

Summer rolled her eyes. “What are you even doing here in the office? I thought the two of you were working from Zach's until he was ready to come back here. Did he throw you out again? Did you quit? Because honestly, I cannot take much more of this drama.”

Gabriella almost slid to the floor with relief. Work. Summer was talking about work.
Whew!
“He had a doctor's appointment this morning, so I came into the office.”

“Really? Why didn't he call me or Ethan to go with him?”

“His therapist took him.”

“Oh,” Summer said, her brows furrowed. “But…why?”

Crap.
Gabriella didn't want to get in the middle of this, and she had just assumed Zach was keeping his family up to date. “I think Alex wanted to go with him so he could ask the doctors questions and do whatever he could to make sure the therapy is conducive to how Zach is healing.”