Page 75 of Penny & Royce

She seemed to hesitate but only for a moment before she rushed into the room and leaned carefully over him. Her arms went around his shoulders, gentle enough that he knew she was trying not to hurt him, but tight enough to tell him how scared she’d been.

The tenderness was totally worth the ache in his ribs when she clung to him, murmuring sweet words he could barely make out.

He definitely heard a few.

Love.

Idiot.

Never again.

Smiling, Royce brought his hand to the back of her head.

Motion in the doorway caught his attention, and he locked eyes with a male nurse. He had wavy brown hair and light brown eyes. Or maybe they were green?

The nurse’s eyes locked on Penny, and he frowned for a moment before glancing at Royce again.

Then he walked away.

That was weird, right?

Penny didn’t pull back. Not even when a doctor came into the room to inform him that his x-rays looked good and nothing was broken. She cried quietly, though.

And it broke his heart.

By the time she’d calmed herself enough to pull back and look at him, her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Her cheeks were streaked with tears. But her eyes flashed with that fury he’d recognized when she’d arrived.

“You scared me,” she said, her voice shaking. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared.”

His smile faded. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be.”

“I am.”

Her hand hovered near his jaw, then touched him feather-light. “When they called, I didn’t know what I’d come here to find.”

The words hit harder than any pain from the accident.

“It’s fine. I’m fine, sweetheart.” His voice softened. “It won’t happen again.”

Her eyes sharpened. “Not if you stop riding that motorcycle.”

He pressed his lips together thinly.

“I mean it, Royce. I can’t do that again. I can’t get a call like that and wonder if you’re lying on the side of the road somewhere.”

Now was not the time to tell her she couldn’t boss him around. They might be married, but he still had autonomy. If he wanted to burn off some steam on the back of a motorcycle, that was his choice.

But looking at her face, at the fear still sitting there plain as day, he knew this was not a conversation to win in this moment.

Royce reached up and curled her hair behind her ear. The strands had fallen loose from the updo she’d put them in for the wedding.

“I hear you,” he said quietly.

Her eyes searched his. “Do you?”

“I do.” He brushed his thumb along her cheek. “We’ll talk about that later. But not tonight. I’m not planning on getting back on that bike anytime soon.”