Page 77 of Broken Silence
I laughed loudly. “Well, I do want to keep my work performance to a high standard.”
“There is nothing wrong with your performance,” she said, her lips grazing mine.
Running my hand down her neck, I let my tongue explore, sliding against hers until I couldn’t breathe. The kiss started slow and deep, but somewhere between her moans and her hand slipping up my T-shirt, I lost what little control I had left.
Holding her cheeks, I deepened the kiss.
And that was when I heard a fake gag.
Great.
“All right, that’s enough,” Jasper said.
Oakley fell back, grinning sheepishly, her forehead pressed against my shoulder.
“Looks like you’re doing better,” Sarah said.
Chuckling, I kissed the top of her head, not at all embarrassed to have been caught.
Sarah and Jasper took a seat on the end of the bed.
“Get your caffeine fix?” Oakley asked, lifting a brow.
“I’m much calmer now,” Sarah said, taking her hand. “I spoke to the nurse, and they’re going to bring you some toast and a hot chocolate. Get that blood sugar up again.”
“This is bullshit,” Jasper said. “She’s in hospital because of this. We should just book our flights back to Australia and get her the hell out of here.”
“Not now,” I told him.
“Then, when? Next time she rides in an ambulance and has a fucking needle in her hand?”
“You might as well have this conversation when I’m not around. Doesn’t look like you need my input,” Oakley said.
Sarah patted her hand but addressed Jasper. “You can’t spend your life running, Jasper. That’s the reason she decided to be here. Oakley wants to do this,” Sarah said.
“I’ve just made everything ten times worse, haven’t I?” Oakley said, ducking her head.
“Made what worse?” I asked.
“The trial.”
“What? No, darling, everything’s going to be fine,” Sarah told her. “You have done no such thing.”
“I have. They’ll say I did it for attention, to manipulate the jury, and anything else they can think of. Me freaking out and ending up in the hospital is just going to back that up. Everyone is going to think I’m this dramatic little girl who makes stuff up, and Dad—”
“Enough, Oakley!” Jasper shouted, making us all jump. “They can say what they like, but the jurywillbelieve you.”
His voice was sharp, and his body so tense, he could snap in half. He looked like he should be in the hospital bed, not her.
“Yeah,” she said, pretending she bought what he was saying. She’d agreed too quickly to convince me. “I’m not going to lose this. They’re not walking away.”
“Damn straight,” I said. “They’re going down, and you’re going to watch.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’ll never have to find that out.”
Again.
