Santa Fe Fortune & How to Marry a Matador

still looked all right. It had been one hell of an afternoon, and she still had to ensure that she and Fernando would have one hell of a night.
    “How bad are his injuries?” she tactfully asked the doctor.
    “Probably best if you talk to him yourself,” the doctor said.

    Jess crept up the steps, unsure of what she might find. Would Fernando be furious at her for causing him pain or merely delusional from his bump on the head? At the very least, he had to have a mild concussion. Jess dug into her inner resources, pressing herself forward. She was a stronger person than she’d ever been. A person who now totally realized she loved and deserved Fernando. Just because she’d nearly gotten him killed that didn’t mean they couldn’t work past any differences. She hadn’t done it on purpose, after all.
    Jess paused a moment before the shut bedroom door. So many wonderful things had occurred in there and would many times again, if Fernando would only let Jess put her mind to it. She rapped lightly and waited a beat until Gustavo answered.
    “Come in!” Gustavo called as she creaked the door open.
    Gustavo stood from the chair where he’d sat at Fernando’s bedside.
    Fernando lay motionless in the big king-size bed. Given his typically olive complexion, he appeared much lighter to Jess --pallid even-- and she saw this as a dire sign. What if he was worse than the doc had let on? What if he wouldn't fully recover? “The doctor said—” she began.
    “It’s true,” Gustavo agreed. “He wants to see you.”
    How that could be, considering he had his eyes tightly shut, Jess wasn’t sure. Yet she clearly wasn’t armed to argue. Maybe she could bring him back around. Yes, that’s what Fernando needed. A little Florence Nightingaling.
    “He’s just resting,” Gustavo assured her. “Why don’t you sit with him awhile?”
    Jess nodded and made her way to the bedside as Gustavo slipped from the room.
    Silently, she took her seat, mentally kicking herself for every ounce of anguish she’d ever caused her loving husband. He was glorious and strong and brave…and… argh ! Something reached out and grabbed for her hand. Reason dawned quickly telling her it was Fernando, appearing suddenly in the pink of health.
    “ Querida ,” he said, green eyes on hers. “You nearly killed me.”
    “Fernando!” she gasped, catching her breath. “You’re okay.”
    He hadn’t been on his deathbed at all. It was just Jess’s guilty imagination that had caused her to think so.
    “Some parts hurt more than others,” he assured her.
    Yes, and she felt terrible about that. More than terrible. “Is it your head?”
    “Actually,” he said, centering his gaze on hers, “it was my heart. Ironically, it seems to be feeling better.”
    “I’m glad,” she offered sincerely.
    Fernando stared at her, appearing more handsome than she’d ever known him, bare-chested beneath the covers.
    “Why did you come back?” he asked.
    Jess twisted her lips into a smile. “Because, you silly, there was a birthday party I couldn’t miss.”
    “I’m afraid all the presents have been opened.”
    “Not all,” she said with a wicked smile.
    Fernando’s mouth hung open. “Did my new wife lock the door?”
    “She’d be glad to,” Jess said, meaning it absolutely.
    She couldn’t wait to tell him about the package and the post office and her decision to live here forever. But for the next thirty minutes or so, maybe she would.
    Fernando pulled her down on the bed, bringing her mouth to his.
    “Are you’re sure you’re okay to do this?” she asked.
    His body pressed forward in response. “What do you think?” he asked with a sexy grin.
    “But what about your mother? Gustavo? The doctor?”
    “I don’t think any of them would blame me for recuperating,” he said with a husky rasp.
    Jess felt the heat sweep from her breasts to her deepest feminine regions. “You’re not going to make me get naked now, are you?”
    “I don’t think we have time for that,” he said, flipping her onto her back.
    In a flurry of kisses, Fernando had pushed up her short skirt and pulled down her panties.
    “Tell me that you want me to take you,” he said, his tone urgent with desire.
    “I want you to more than take me,” Jess said, melting away.
    Fernando raised his brow as he swept back blonde strands from her cheek.
    “I want you to take me and keep me. Take me and keep me. Forever, please.”
    A broad, willing grin swept across