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absolutely make it worth your while.”

Chapter Seven
    Cole sat in the back of the SUV, his arm around Amber as the driver headed for the hotel. An hour of IV fluids and a good meal, and the paleness she’d carried was gone. He wanted to beat her ass for not taking better care of herself, but now wasn’t the time for reprimands. Instead, he tucked her a little closer to him and thanked God she wasn’t truly sick.
    Watching her crumple into a pile inside the ring. Seeing her limp in Logan’s arms. Sitting next to her while Dr. Martin assessed her condition and administered an IV. Those images would haunt him for days.
    Somehow, in just a few short weeks, he’d come to care for her in a way he hadn’t cared for anyone in quite some time. Her sensitive and quiet nature attracted the side of him that needed grounding, while her drive to succeed matched his own.
    The driver pulled up to the front of the hotel and parked. Cole exited first and helped Amber out of the vehicle. Taking it slow, he guided her through the lobby to the elevators. He wanted to take her to his room, but he shared space with Jason. It made more sense for them to use her room since she had it all to herself.
    He took her key card, unlocked her door, and guided her inside. Fifteen minutes later she lay tucked beneath the covers with her eyes closed. Cole stretched out on the spare bed and watched as she slept. She had the facial structure of a model, with a pert little nose and seriously kissable bow-tie lips. He noted how her eyelids moved, telling him she was indeed deep asleep. Behind those closed eyelids were the most beautiful blue eyes he’d ever seen. The color of the sky on a clear, sunny day, they held so much emotion and so much pain. Oh, how he wanted to be the one to take her pain away and restore happiness in those eyes. Feeling just a bit tired himself, he slid down the bed, rolled onto his side, and continued watching her sleep until his eyelids grew heavy.
    * * * *
    The chirping of his cell phone pulled Cole from his slumber. He grabbed at the phone and scrambled to silence the ring before it woke Amber. “Hello?” he whispered.
    “Hey, how’s Amber?” Logan asked.
    Not wanting to wake her, Cole pushed off the bed, walked to the sliding door, and stepped out onto the balcony. “She’s sleeping.”
    “Good.”
    He turned to look through the door at her. “I know I need to be heading back to the area for the show, but I really don’t want to leave her.”
    “You don’t have to,” Logan replied.
    “What do you mean I don’t have to? We have a match tonight.”
    “That’s why I’m calling,” Logan said. “Creative spent all afternoon brainstorming, and they rewrote the show for tonight. You’ve been written out so you can stay with Amber.”
    “Go on,” Cole prompted, even as relief washed through him.
    “Well, you know how sometimes real life is stranger than fiction?”
    “Yeah.” Cole nodded despite knowing Logan couldn’t see him.
    “They decided to use what really happened as an excuse for your absence. Josh and Matt will lay out the situation to the fans and explain that Amber isn’t here because she was injured by Sean, and you’re not here because you hurt yourself protecting her.”
    He couldn’t believe his ears. Not only had management and the writers given him the opportunity to stay with Amber, but they’d also managed to endear him to the fans. Though he didn’t wonder what repercussions would come from their decision. “Doesn’t that put us in a sympathetic light to the fans, though?”
    “Creative weighed that fact and decided it was worth the risk. In their words giving us a redeeming quality will deepen our characters and strengthen our message.”
    Cole grinned. “Interesting concept. So I’m injured, huh?”
    “Yeah. You injured your hand. So you’ll have to tape it for the next few weeks to help sell the story.”
    “I can do that.”
    “I figured you could. As for tonight’s