He kissed the tears off her cheeks. “Forever,” he said, holding her hair in tight fists so he could tilt her head back and kiss her lips. His kiss was hard and deep, almost punishing. “It has to be forever, Rebekah.”
“But if the cancer comes back, if I die…” She took a deep, ragged breath. She didn’t want to talk about these things, but they couldn’t hide from these real possibilities. That’s why she wanted to wait to marry him until after her MRI. “I don’t want you to be alone, Eric.”
“Forever, Rebekah.” His resolute stare told her he wasn’t backing down on this.
“Forever,” she agreed breathlessly.
He cradled her against his chest and held her for all he was worth. “Forever.”
She clung to him, sobbing. Tears drenched his shirt, but he didn’t let her go. She knew with certainty he never would. Not even if it was best for him. She let the fear find her. She’d been pretending it didn’t exist for so long that it felt good to recognize it. Confront it. And even share it with Eric. “I’m scared. So scared that I’ll get sick again.”
“It’s okay. I’m scared too. But no matter how scared I am, I won’t run.”
Isaac had given her the strength to fight when she’d been sick.
To face death with her head high. Eric gave her the strength to be alive. Fully alive. And now that she had so much to live for, she wasn’t sure she could face death again.
She leaned away and wiped her tears on the hem of her T-shirt.
“I’m sorry I fell apart. I really am happy you want to marry me. Even if it is selfish of me to accept.”
“I thought you’d be mad that I went out and bought your ring on my own. I woke up beside you this morning, watched you sleep for a while, and decided I couldn’t wait. Do you really like it?”
“I love it. You. I love you.”
“You’d better. I had to take out a second mortgage to afford that sucker.”
She smiled, knowing that he needed a reprieve from the emotional barrage she’d just subjected him to. “Suck?” She licked her lips and reached for his fly. “Well, if you insist.”
Chapter 32
Rebekah kissed Eric’s cheek and opened the car door. She honestly wasn’t looking forward to spending the evening pretending to be Isaac’s doting girlfriend. Especially at a party guaranteed to be boring.
Eric caught her hand before she could get out. “I’m considering becoming a jealous prick and making a scene, just so you know.”
“I might buy that if you had anything to be jealous about.”
“What time will you be home?”
“Early,” she promised.
He kissed her knuckles and released her hand. “Call me if you need anything.”
“I’ll be fine. Isaac promised he would bring me home as soon as we can get away. You and I will have plenty of fun tomorrow.” On Eric’s birthday.
“Why tomorrow?”
“No reason.” She grinned. He’d been trying to get her to reveal something for days. She’d put together over two dozen surprises for Eric’s birthday to celebrate his life and hers. Well, mostly she’d be celebrating his cock, but she didn’t think he’d mind.
She kissed him good-bye and stepped from the car, smoothing her hands over her black cocktail dress to make sure everything was in place. She closed the car door and offered Eric a wave as he drove off. When Isaac opened his apartment door to answer her knock, he didn’t look any too pleased to see her.
“Let’s get this over with,” he said.
“I’m fine, thanks, how are you?”
“I’ve been better.”
He locked the apartment door behind him and headed for the stairwell. She followed him, seconds from telling him to forget this favor if he was going to act like an ass all night.
“What’s wrong?” Rebekah asked him.
“Trey left me.” He stopped dead in his tracks and Rebekah bumped into his back.
She took his arm and turned him to face her. His brow crumpled, and he took a deep shaky breath. If he starting crying, she was totally going to join him. “What? Like permanently?”
He raked a hand through his perfectly arranged loose curls, mussing them in a most charming way. “I don’t know. He said until I get my head on straight. Whatever that means.”
“I’m sorry. I hope you can work things out.”
“It’s just an excuse. I know he sees other people. When I hinted that I wanted things to be serious between us, he… lost interest.”
Rebekah sighed. “Isaac, I probably should have warned you.
Trey is wonderful, but he’s kind of hung up on someone else.”
“Brian?”
Stunned, Rebekah stared at him with her mouth hanging open.
“How did you know?”
“He talks about the guy nonstop. At first I thought they were just best friends, but he even murmurs his name in his sleep.” Isaac flushed. “I probably shouldn’t talk about this with you.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”
“You really are terrific.” His soft gray eyes swept up her figure from carefully styled hair to the pink toenails peeking out of her strappy heels. “You look sensational, by the way. If I was into girls, I’d definitely be thinking inappropriate thoughts right now.”
She laughed, glad the tension between them had eased. “You’re quite the charmer, Dr. Crandall.”
He helped her into his car, and they headed to his parents’ house.
He told her about some fancy diagnostic machine they’d installed at his father’s clinic and how it would make the office cutting-edge. “I can’t wait to be a part of it. They already have more patients than they can handle. This is an amazing opportunity for me.”
“You’ll be awesome,” she said.
“Assuming I don’t mess this up. Thanks for helping me out, angel.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
When they arrived, a valet took Isaac’s car and parked it somewhere in the next county. Isaac settled a hand on her lower back to guide her into the sprawling Mediterranean-style house.
There were a lot more people at the dinner party than Rebekah expected. Isaac introduced her to so many people that her head was spinning. Everything was going well until someone noticed her engagement ring.
“My Lord, Isaac, how did you ever afford that rock on your salary?” a gentleman, who looked like he’d fallen off a bucket of fried chicken, asked.
Isaac grabbed Rebekah’s left wrist and stared at the hefty ring.
“An enormous loan,” he said with a nervous laugh. “I hope Father’s hiring.”
The Colonel Sanders look-a-like pounded him on the back enthusiastically. “I think he might be.”
Isaac steered Rebekah toward a corner. “You’re engaged?”
Rebekah’s heart fluttered, and she smiled. “Well, yeah. How did you not notice?” She lifted her left hand. “It’s pretty obvious.”
Isaac sighed. “I was a little distracted.” He reached for her hand and tried to slip the ring from her finger. She jerked her hand away and hid it behind her back.
“What are you doing?”
“You have to take it off. It’s obvious that I didn’t give you that ring. I could never afford it.”
“I’m not taking it off, Isaac.”
“She’s not taking it off, Isaac,” a low voice said behind her. Before she could turn around, she was wrapped in a strong embrace, and a hard kiss hit her in the temple. “Congratulations!” She struggled against the hard body behind her. He released her, and she spun around to glare at… Trey?
Her mouth dropped open in shock.
“What are you doing here?” Isaac asked in a harsh whisper.
“My father conned me into coming along. Usually, I try to get out of these kinds of things, but…” He shrugged. “I thought it would be fun to see how good of an actor you are, young Dr. Crandall.”