Page 55 of Full Throttle 2
Cyrus agreed. He didn’t want to be anywhere near a couple’s spat. “I need to go let everyone in the waiting room know you’re awake anyway.” He leaned over and tenderly placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.
Colby tried to sit up, but Liam wouldn’t allow it. “Don’t.” Instead, he fumbled around the bed looking for the remote until he found it, then adjusted the bed until it was at a level Colby was comfortable. Colby knew Liam well enough to know that he needed to be busy or just moving when worried.
She stilled his hands. “Liam. Stop.”
“Stop what?” He was genuinely confused when he looked into her eyes.
“You know I’m fine, right?”
It was the silence and the way Colby looked at him that forced Liam to take a deep breath. He hadn’t really done that since receiving that dreadful call from Brian. “Nothing about this entire situation is fine.”
“True, but physically, I am fine.”
Are you?is what he wanted to say but somehow managed to refrain. Instead, he took off his shoes. “Are you in pain?”
“I’m a little sore, and I have a headache.”
“Can you scoot over?” Liam needed to feel Colby in his arms.
She smiled and gingerly moved over, giving him the room he needed.
Liam wasn’t a small man. He stood over six feet tall, and he had to maneuver his broad shoulders and powerful frame onto the bed in an impossible position that would make a circus performer proud.
He lay on his side and cradled Colby in the crook of his arm. It wasn’t until they were settled that his racing heart began to calm down.
Liam tucked her head underneath his chin. It was then he became aware that his usual after-five beard had grown a lot over the past twenty-four hours, and he was in desperate need of a shave. He didn’t want his facial hair to make Colby uncomfortable.
Colby didn’t care. His typically impeccably styled hair was a mess, and yet his piercing blue eyes held an intensity unlike any Colby had ever seen.
She reached up to caress Liam’s well-defined jawline, and he smiled, completing his striking features and drawing her in. The man had an alluring magnetism and an effect on her that no other man ever had. While she missed him and had sensual thoughts on her mind, Liam’s own thoughts couldn’t be further away from hers.
This situation was untenable. Somehow, He was going to have to make Colby understand that she needed to get out of the sport of racing because he wasn’t sure how much more he could take.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The fluorescent lights buzzed softly, casting a cold, sterile glow over the hospital waiting room. Lila sat at the edge of a stiff chair, her hands clasped before her, bouncing slightly as she stared at the linoleum floor. Just then, the door swung open, and Mark rushed in.
“You!” she screamed, her eyes narrowing the second she spotted him. Mark barely had time to get his bearings before Lila was in front of him, her face flushed with anger.
“Lila, I?—”
“Don’t even try it, Mark.” Her voice trembled with rage. “Where have you been?”
“I just got the message!”
“I’ve been fielding phone calls from the press all afternoon about Colby’s condition. I’ve been doingyourjob.”
“Colby is not my only client.”
Lila was incredulous. “I don’t give a shit about your other clients!” Her chest was heaving. “You know she passed out, right? Behind the fuckin’ wheel! What the hell were you thinking, telling Colby to lose weight?”
Mark opened his mouth but found himself unable to form a response. His throat felt dry, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her intense stare. “I was...only trying to help her.”
Lila crossed her arms. “Help her? By pushing Colby to fit some impossible image? She’s one of the best drivers in the circuit, and all you can think about is her weight?”
“She’s in the public eye, Lila. She needs to look the part.” Mark straightened, trying to regain some composure. “Sponsors notice these things. Image matters.”
Gonzo was equally pissed. “So, you’re the reason Colby’s dropped so much weight?” he asked as he came to stand next to Lila.