Devastate Me novel Chapter 12

Ophelia peered out of the window of Colt's truck as he pulled into her driveway. After a week in the hospital she was finally home, and God, it felt good not to have to spend another night in a stiff hospital bed. Noah sat between her and Colt, his tongue lolling out as he watched his owner open the driver's-side door. The shepherd had a bandage around his upper leg and a few minor stitches, but like Colt had hoped, the dog's injury had been more of a glancing scrape than a serious injury. Ophelia rested one hand on the dog's shoulders.

"Noah, out." Colt stepped out of the truck, and the shepherd leapt past him onto the ground. Ophelia opened her door, but before she could get down, Colt was there with his hands on her hips as he gently set her on her feet.

Despite his gruff demeanor, he was always such a gentleman around her. It was so sweet and sexy at the same time. She hated to admit it-it always felt like she had to hand in her feminist card when she thought along these lines-but she liked it when Colt opened a door for her. It felt respectful, and she liked that in a man. Even her last boyfriend had always been a gentleman. But Colt had taken it to a whole new level while he'd cared for her in the hospital.

"You know I can walk, right?" she teased.

"I know." The sudden tenderness in Colt's gaze stilled her heart. "I just like to get my hands on you whenever I can."

"Oh? In that case, maybe I can't walk so well."

"Ophelia!" Miranda rushed across the street to greet them. "Oh, honey, you look so much better." She gave Ophelia a gentle hug. "The gals will be thrilled to know that you're home." Miranda then looked to Colt. "Thank you for taking care of our girl." She hugged the big, gruff Navy SEAL and shot Ophelia a wink.

"I don't mind. She's not too high maintenance," Colt said with a straight face.

"High maintenance, huh?" Ophelia replied. "And to think, I had dreamed up some great ways to pay you back for such dedicated attention."

His way of keeping her distracted from the pain of recovering had been by telling her all the dirty fantasies he'd had about her between that first kiss and when they'd finally made love. She'd never been so excited to get home in her life, because she didn't plan on waiting a second longer to be alone with him.

Now she had his full attention, and his eyes glowed with desire. "Oh? Care to share any, sweetheart?"

"I better let you two settle in. I'll see you tomorrow night for drinks." Miranda smirked. "Assuming you can walk."

Ophelia blushed. "Thanks, Miranda." In the past week, Colt had made it very clear that they were officially dating, and she'd heard from nearly every one of the women who lived on their quiet little street once word spread. One group text with Miranda, Jennifer, and Eliza had been filled with dozens of completely inappropriate questions, which she had read aloud to Colt. It had made her laugh, even though that had hurt her ribs, and he'd sat there frowning and grumbling about women, margaritas, and bikinis in the most adorable way.

Colt put a gentle arm around her waist. "Let's go inside and continue this discussion." The second she entered her house, she stiffened as she searched for signs of blood and broken glass, or any evidence of what had happened. There was no hint of the epic struggle that had occurred.

"You okay?" Colt asked as he held her close.

"Yeah. I just expected to see the mess, you know?"

"I had a few friends come in and fix everything while you were in the hospital."

"Even the TV?" She saw a TV sitting on the stand, ready to be turned on. She thought the robbers had broken it.

"No, I bought you a new one. Hope you don't mind." He was watching her with increased concern.

"No, I don't, but I insist on paying you back for that." She realized it was actually bigger than her old TV. "How many inches is that? Mine was forty-two inches..."

He looked at his boots like a guilty schoolboy. "Er... sixty-five? I just figured that if I was going to be spending time over here, we should have a bigger screen."

She couldn't deny that she liked the sound of us when he said it like that.

"I really do have to pay you back for that." She was going to insist on it.

"Okay, I'll let you," he said carefully. "But you're welcome to see it as a get-well gift."

Ophelia stared around the room for a long moment, letting the awful memories wash over her. The trauma therapist at the hospital had told her to relive the attack and, more importantly, relive the surviving of it. She gently pulled free of Colt and walked through the living room to her bedroom. She had only dim memories of Colt speaking to her, touching her, and the paramedics shining a bright light into her pupils. Colt had held her hand the entire time.

Noah walked ahead of Ophelia with a slight limp in his front right leg. Ophelia felt forever bound to the big dog for rushing in so fearlessly to defend her. He had saved her life.