Read Online Love Proof (Laws of Attraction) by Elizabeth Ruston - Free Book Online Page B

Joe’s chest.
    “Sarah?”  He sounded so far away.  “Sarah.”  Joe shifted her in his
arms so that he held her more securely.
    “Got it,” Marcela said, showing Joe the key she found in Sarah’s purse. 
“Room four-eighty.”
    “Would you come with us, please?” he asked Marcela as he started
carrying Sarah toward the elevator.  “I need you to bring those things to her
room.  But I’d keep your distance,” he added.  “We don’t know what she has.”
    “What about you?” Marcela asked him, no doubt noticing that Sarah’s
sweaty face was just inches from his.
    “Indestructible,” Joe told her.
    Sarah heard it, but felt too weak to respond.  It was a line he had
used on her more than a few times.  And it still made her mad because it always
seemed to be true.
    As they rode the elevator, Marcela asked, “What should I tell the
others?”
    “Tell my client we have to reschedule.  And tell Paul to cancel the
afternoon.  I don’t think Sarah’s coming back.  At least not today.”
    “Yes, I am,” Sarah forced herself to say.  “I just need to rest.  Don’t
cancel . . . ”
    But she couldn’t say anymore.
    Her stomach was starting to move.
    “Oh, God . . . ”  Sarah pressed her sweaty face into Joe’s shoulder and
held on to one thought only:  Not here, not here, not here . . .
    Her room was just a few doors down from the elevator.
    “Hurry, Burke,” Sarah urged.
    Her stomach lurched.
    “Oh, God . . . ”
    As soon as Marcela got the door open, Joe raced with Sarah into the
bathroom.  Her knees barely hit the floor before her mouth exploded over the
toilet.
    Everything she had eaten since high school, it seemed, tried to come
out of her.  One wave after another, gushing, exploding.
    In between heaves, Sarah fumbled at the buttons of her jacket.  She
peeled it off and tossed it to the side where she hoped it would be safe from
any splatters.  Then she tugged at the bottom of her silk top, desperate to
lift it over her head.
    “Sarah, what are you doing?”
    “Get out!” she yelled, then vomited more.  Including all over the
shirt.
    Now she was crying, in between heaves, as she twisted open the button
on her pants.  They were wool, lined, one of her nicest pairs.  And she still
had two more days of depositions when she’d have to wear them.
    “What are you doing?” Joe asked again.  “Leave those on.”
    “I can’t—” but then another wave hit her, and her gut exploded once
more.
    Sarah rested for a moment against the toilet seat, and reached up to
push down the handle.  The bathroom reeked of vomit, and still Joe Burke stood
in the doorway.
    Sarah resumed trying to take off her pants.
    “You’ll freeze to death,” Joe said.  “Stop it.”
    “Just help me,” she said.
    Without asking why, he did.  He pulled them off in one quick move,
leaving Sarah in just her black bra and matching underwear, sitting on the cold
tile floor.
    “Here.”  Joe spread out bath towels beside her and helped her shift her
knees on top of them.  Then he disappeared for a moment, and returned with the
thick white hotel robe that had been hanging in the closet.
    Joe helped Sarah thread her arms through the sleeves, then he wrapped
it around her and tied the belt.  Just that little bit of jiggling against her
belly had Sarah twisting toward the toilet bowl again and losing so much of her
insides, it felt like it included whatever she’d eaten since junior high, and
maybe even elementary school.
    When the wave passed, Sarah reached up and flushed again.  Then she
rolled onto the towels Joe spread out, curled her legs up into her for warmth,
and let out a low moan.
    She felt Joe lifting her head, then placing a soft pillow beneath it. 
He laid another towel over her bare legs and feet.
    “Go away,” Sarah moaned.
    “I will,” Joe said.
    But meanwhile he swabbed her face with a washcloth.
    “It’s disgusting,” she mumbled.
    “It is,” he agreed.
    “It stinks,” she