He Loves Me Right, Finally novel Chapter 85

Chapter 85 Stepped In

The next morning. Wynette opened her eyes and found Adriel lying right beside her.

She flung herself upright in a panic.

** Gorshed

And completely forgot that hospital beds weren’t built for that kind of movement. Her weight tipped backward, and she went right over the edge.

Adriel shot his hand out and cau

ght her, pulling her into his chest. “You’re not made of stone, you know… Why do you keep throwing yourself at things?”

At this point, he’d lost count of how many times this had happened.

A rapid, steady heartbeat filled Wynette’s ear.

His arm was wrapped around her waist, and the full length of their bodies was pressed together.

Wynette’s face went scarlet. She extracted herself from his arms and looked firmly at the floor. “Thank you,” she said, barely above a whisper.

This was mortifying.

What is wrong with me? She’d been embarrassing herself in front of Adriel for days straight now.

At this point, she’d have gladly vanished through the floor if given the option.

Then a new, deeply uncomfortable thought surfaced. She’d fallen asleep on the sofa last night.

So why did I wake up in the hospital bed?

Had I sleepwalked?

The question burrowed into her with quiet, unsettling persistence.

She finally forced herself to look up at him, sheepish and uncertain. “Last night, I…”

She was trying to ask how she’d ended up in the bed.

Adriel answered with complete composure. “I honestly don’t know. The IV knocked me out pretty fast, and when I woke up, you were already springing out of the bed in a panic. Wynette, you must’ve climbed in without realizing it.”

Wynette’s mouth twitched at the corners.

Climbed in without realizing it. Sure.

The worst part was that she had absolutely zero memory of doing any such thing, which meant she had no

counter–argument to offer him.

How had I managed to do something this spectacularly awkward?

2:21 pm P Pp.

Chapter 85 Stepped in

Finished

Adriel watched her cycle through mortification and flustered disbelief, and something warm and deeply amused sculed in his chest.

He had absolutely no intention of telling her he’d been the one to carry her to bed.

Because if Wynette decided he was some kind of opportunist and wrote him off entirely, he’d have no one to blame but himself.

Wynette turned it over and over in her head and came up empty every time. Finally, she met Adriel’s quietly curious gaze, bit down on her pride, and said in a small voice, “I’m usually a very still sleeper. I’ve never walked in my sleep before. I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t explain it, but the evidence was undeniable. She’d ended up in his bed. The only thing left to do was own it with whatever grace she had remaining.

Adriel watched her adorable distress and came very close, more than once, to just telling her the truth.

Every time, he swallowed it back down.

He waved it off with easy generosity. “Oh, it’s fine. The sofa probably wasn’t comfortable. That’s on me. came all this way to look after me, and I put you on the sofa.”

Wynette found she had absolutely nothing to say to that.

She pulled in a slow breath, steadied herself, and stepped forward with genuine concern. “How are you feeling? Does your head still hurt? Any dizziness? Any nausea?”

Right now, his wellbeing was the only thing that mattered to her.

Adriel answered her honestly. “The back of my head’s still a little sore, but everything else is fine.”

“Good.” The tension drained out of her completely.

Still, she had the doctor come in and run through another check before she’d let herself fully relax.

The doctor told Adriel to rest at home for a few days and come back in if anything felt off.

With medical clearance in hand, Wynette brought Adriel home.

It was the first time she’d ever set foot in his private space.

His floor plan was identical to hers, and his interior was done in the same clean, minimalist style. The whole place had an uncluttered, quietly elegant ease to it that put her at rest the moment she stepped inside.

She helped him to his room and got him settled in bed.

Then she looked at him and said, “I’ll stay today and look after you.”

2:21 pm p pp

Now it all made sense. Every seemingly fortunate turn over these past weeks had Adriel’s hand behind it. Adriel realized, a beat too late, that one careless sentence had given everything away.

Worried she’d think he’d overstepped, he rushed to manage the damage. “I only got involved the tiniest bit. Genuinely, the absolute smallest amount possible.”

2:21 pmp pp

Chapter 85 Stepped in

Both things had been his doing.

Finished

After learning that Wynette had been quietly trying to track down Adam’s whereabouts, Adriel had moved first and laid the full story of Noah’s behavior directly at the old patriarch’s feet.

He’d also been the one to arrange for Adam to arrive at the Jewell residence in time to intervene on Wynette’s behalf.

All of it was Adriel.

He cleared his throat. “If you think I’ve crossed a line, you can let me have it. I won’t argue back, not even a little.”

He knew he’d acted without her consent, and he lowered himself accordingly.

Wynette looked at him with genuine puzzlement. “I’m still figuring out how to thank you. Why would I be angry at you?”

Without what Adriel had done, she never could’ve made such a clean, swift break from the Shepherds in

that short a time.

If anything, he’d done her an enormous favor. Gratitude was the only reasonable response.

Adriel had braced himself for a real scolding.

He’d acted without her knowledge or permission, and he’d been fully prepared to accept the

consequences.

He studied her carefully. “You really don’t think I was overstepping?”

“Not at all.” Wynette shook her head. “You handled it well. You helped me out of a serious situation. Once you’re feeling better, dinner’s on me as a proper thank–you.”

She finished with a small, warm smile directed right at him.

Something in Adriel’s chest unknotted itself completely at her words.

20