He turned off the engine and pressed her knuckles to his lips. His very full, very kissable lips.
“Listen, maybe let me tell Spencer about us,” he said.
She frowned. “Okay.”
“He was really protective of you,” Will said. “And I owe him a lot. You said I picked myself up after everything that happened, but I couldn’t’ have done it without Spencer’s help.”
She had no trouble believing that was true. Her brother had always been fiercely loyal to his friends.
Will went on. “One time he told me that in a lot of ways, you were the only family he really had.”
Lauren stilled. It was true, wasn’t it? With two completely unreliable and self-absorbed parents, she and Spencer had made their own way. She was important to him—he made sure she knew that, and how had she repaid him? With distance and unanswered text messages.
“You know, after seeing your family together I realize how important people are,” she said. “I think because of the way I processed everything with my parents, I have a tendency to push people away.”
“You?” Will feigned surprise. “No.”
She shoved his shoulder, and he grabbed her wrist, coming in for another kiss, which she was more than happy to give. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was quite possible she’d be perfectly content to kiss him for hours and hours.
“Wow, I really love kissing you,” he said when he pulled away. “I’m going to fall asleep dreaming about it, you know that, right?”
She grinned and opened her car door. “Good. My goal is to bewitch you, body and soul.”
“Ooh, a Pride and Prejudice deep cut. I like it.”
They walked through the sliding doors of the hospital, figured out where they were going, and made their way to the elevator. Lauren was still woozy from his kisses, but not so light-headed that she wasn’t ready for more.
When the doors of the elevator closed, she felt his arms around her again. She couldn’t remember a time she’d been quite this happy.
In the quiet of the elevator, Will’s kisses felt stolen, exciting, risky. With her back to the wall and her eyes closed, Lauren wished she could freeze time. It took every bit of will power to resist punching the STOP button. His hands wrapped around her waist, and he drew her closer, sending shivers to every nerve-ending in her body. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She couldn’t believe she was absolutely, one-hundred-percent happy that this was happening.
They were so engrossed in each other they didn’t hear the elevator ding. They didn’t hear the door open. They didn’t notice they were putting on a show for the entire staff on the labor and delivery floor. That is, until they heard someone clear their throat.
“Will?”
Will took a step back, eyes wide at Lauren.
It was Spencer.
They both knew it was, and Lauren had no idea how he was going to feel about any of this. Lauren pressed her lips together to try and hide her smile because the truth was, she loved her brother, and she was going to be a better sister to him than she had been. But she was a grown-up, and he had no say in who she dated.
And she wasn’t going to give Will up for anything.
Slowly, Will turned around to face the several pairs of eyes turned in their direction. He lifted a hand in a lame wave. “Hey, Spence.”
They stepped out of the elevator, and the doors closed behind them.
Spencer had been standing at the desk talking to one of the nurses, and Lauren only just now realized how tired he looked.
“Spencer,” she said. “Is everything okay?”
He looked at her with tears in his eyes and smiled. “Lo, I have a daughter.”
Tears sprang to her eyes as her brother pulled her into a tight hug.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” Then, he reached for Will. “Thanks for getting her home.”
“My pleasure,” Will said, joining their hug.
“Yeah, you made that obvious.” Spencer pulled away, one hand on each of their arms. “I’m happy to see my plan worked.” He grinned.
Lauren and Will exchanged confused glances.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Spencer started down the hall, motioning for them to follow. “You don’t think this was a coincidence, do you?”
Will took her hand as they followed Spencer.
“Lauren had a crush on you forever,” Spencer looked at Will.
“You knew about that?” Lauren thought she hid it so well.
“Lauren, please. You wrote ‘Mrs. Will Sinclair’ all over your diary, and you know I was reading that on the regular.” He stopped in front of a hospital room.