His lips quirked in a lopsided grin. “I guess I did.”
“You were right.” Libby closed her eyes, tried to fight the tears. “I felt sick after you left this morning. I was afraid I’d ruined everything. When I heard you’d been in a helicopter crash, that you’d crashed into the fire…”
Her voice failed, her throat too tight to speak.
He slid a hand behind her head, drew her against his bare chest. “It’s okay.”
She’d sworn that she wouldn’t cry but she couldn’t stop herself, sobbing out the anguish of the past few hours in his arms.
He held her, kissed her hair, let her cry herself out.
Get it together, chick! He’s the one in the hospital bed, not you.
She raised her head, saw that he was smiling. “What?”
“I’m just so happy that you’re here. A couple of hours ago, I was pretty sure it was game over. Now, I’m sitting here with you, buzzed on pain meds.”
She reached for a tissue, dried her eyes, sniffed. “It must have been terrible.”
The smile left his face. “It was like something straight out of hell.”
Libby listened while he told her about the drone hitting the helicopter and how he’d realized they were headed directly toward the fire.
“I prayed I would die in the crash so that I wouldn’t burn to death, but somehow the pilot managed to land us far enough from the flaming front to give us a fighting chance.”
He told her how they’d run, looking for a good deployment spot, and how he’d prepared the site while Hawke had gotten the other two ready. “When he shouted for us to deploy, some part of me couldn’t believe it was really happening. My hands were so clumsy. Somehow, I got my shelter out. When I got inside, I had the feeling that I was crawling into my own grave.”
“Oh, Brandon.”
“The fire was rushing straight at us. The roar was unreal, and the heat... Hawke was still helping the others. I shouted at him to deploy, and then it was too hot. I pulled my shelter down around me.”
Brandon closed his eyes as if the memories were too much. “God, Libby, it was the worst five minutes of my life.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It got so hot that I was sure I was going to die. The fabric of the shelter kept blowing against me, burning me wherever it touched my clothing—my ass, my shoulders, the backs of my legs. I kept pushing it off me with my elbows, but they burned, too. Do you know what kept me together?”
She shook her head. “Courage?”
“No.” He gave a little laugh. “Youdid.”
“I did?” She gaped at him.
“I wrapped my mind around you and didn’t let go.”
If Libby hadn’t already been in love with him, thatright therewould have done it. “Did you really?”
He nodded. “Just before the fire passed, I started to lose consciousness. I thought I was dead. My last thought was, ‘At least you told Libby you loved her.’”
Libby was stunned by this, a strange ache in her chest. “No one has ever loved me like that. Guys say they love you, but when they get what they want, they always disappear. Not even my dad bothered to stick around. He used to beat me and my mom. I never told you that, did I?”
“I guessed it was something like that.” He ran a thumb over the curve of her cheek. “Forget him, Libby. Forget all of them, and give me a chance. I won’t let you down.”
Then he kissed her, his blistered lips rough.
She left it to him to shape the kiss, afraid she would cause him pain.
When he drew away, the tenderness in his blue eyes made her heart skip. “I love you, Libby. I would walk through fire for you.”