by Lexi Blake
Mrs. Herbert’s eyes went wide, but she allowed Armie to pick her up.
The ambulance pulled through and two EMTs got out, quickly taking over for Mabel.
“We got this, Doc,” the big man said.
His female partner was already dealing with Rene’s injury. “He’s stable. He would have bled out if they hadn’t gotten to him quickly. I hear you’ve got a cardiac patient. Do we need to look at her? We can fit him on the bench and her on the stretcher.”
She shook her head. “I have a chopper coming for her. She needs a cath lab ASAP.”
The EMT gave her a thumbs-up. “You did good work here.”
Mabel stood up. They were both covered in blood, but they still had work to do.
She needed to get Mrs. Herbert safely on that chopper and then check out her daughter and granddaughter.
Her day wasn’t close to being done.
chapter eight
Hours later, Armie sat in the clinic waiting room, a vision of a blood-soaked Lila Daley single-handedly taking chaos and turning it into survival imprinted on his brain.
They’d been on the knife’s edge today. One wrong move and they would have lost Rene or Janice or that precious baby.
She’d been the difference. If she hadn’t been there, the day would have turned out very differently.
“What are you doing here?” Lila asked as she walked in. “Of course. You want an update. The good news is Rene came through his surgery with flying colors. He didn’t need the rod I thought he might. He was lucky. He’ll be in a cast for a few weeks and he’ll be weak, but I hear he’s already making plans to come home. As for Janice, she had an eighty-eight-percent blockage. They put a stent in and she’s resting comfortably now. She’s got some lifestyle modifications she’ll have to make, though.” Lila closed her office door behind her. She’d put on new clothes, taken a shower in the back, and now she looked perfectly clean, but he remembered what she’d looked like when she’d taken control.
She’d looked like a warrior, like a freaking Valkyrie.
He’d been wrong to tell her to fit in.
“I came to drive you home.”
There was a weary look in her eyes. “I have a car here.”
“Lila, you went through a lot today. Let me drive you home. Or take you to your sister’s. I don’t think you should be alone tonight.”
She seemed to think about that for a moment. “Lisa and Remy are in New Orleans for the weekend. I’m fine. It was a job, and one I’ve done a hundred times.”
It wasn’t her job to do that kind of work in the field. He knew how hard it could be. He’d been emotional out there, shocked at how close his friends had come to losing everything. She was certainly feeling the consequences of all the pressure she’d felt today. She’d done a phenomenal job of shoving it aside and doing the job, but she would crash. “Not when you were the only one responsible, you haven’t. When you took over the clinic you took responsibility for this town, and you take that seriously. Even when the town let you down.”
“No one let me down. They just don’t like me. They don’t have to like me.”
Her words sounded hollow, and he wondered how much the day had cost her. She’d been there when the helicopter had come to take Janice to the hospital. She’d updated the medics on the patient’s condition and the way she’d stabilized Janice. Then she’d rechecked the baby, made sure Hallie was all right, and only then had she done a thing to take care of herself. Only after Hallie’s cousin had shown up to drive them to the hospital had she gone to take her shower and calm down.
And he knew she’d needed to calm down because despite her demeanor, she had to be a rolling wave of emotion. Once the adrenaline was gone, the trauma of the day would have been waiting for her. He knew.
Yet from what he understood, while he and Roxie and the new guys had been dealing with the fallout of the accident, she’d spent the rest of the afternoon on her job. She’d done two complete physicals with blood draws and all the paperwork, kept in touch with the hospital, and stitched up a tourist who had cut his hand fishing.
She’d sent Mabel home and finished out the last hour of her shift alone.
She needed someone to take care of her. He damn straight wanted to be the one to do it.
“I think people will have a different view of you after today. I know I do. Lila, I’m sorry about what I said. You be you because we need you. I think I might need you.”
She sniffled but shook her head. “No. I can’t do this right now.”
There was a knock on the glass doors. Armie sighed and looked back. Dixie stood outside the clinic, two bags in her hand. He did not need another smackdown between those two, and he wasn’t about to let anyone argue with Lila tonight. Tomorrow he would make his position clear to the rest of the town, but he could start here.
He shook his head. “Not now, Dixie. She’s going home.”
Lila waved her key card over the reader, completely ignoring his words. The doors slid open. “What do you need?”
Dixie strode in and set her bags on the counter. “I didn’t know what you would want for dinner. I do know Bill’s kitchen is a wretched mess. Miranda never should have sold you that place. Here’s the deal. I brought Doc his lunch every day, no charge. It was my pleasure to help out a man who served the community even long after he was good at serving us. You are going to be spectacular at serving us, Doc Daley.”
Lila shook her head. “I’m not a doctor.”
Dixie waved that fact off. “Deal with it. We don’t understand the whole nurse practitioning thing. I might have been too sensitive earlier. I apologize.” She shook off the emotion he’d seen in her eyes and she was back to professional, practical Dixie. “Like I said, I didn’t know what you would want so there’s a big salad. I put all the fixin’s on the side. There’s also some meatloaf, green beans, corn, a big container of red beans and rice, and both bread pudding and chocolate pie.”
Lila looked at the big bags and her lips curled up slightly. “Trying to fatten me up?”
Dixie winked her way. “You need it, girl.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Lila said, holding her hand out to the café owner. “I might not have been sensitive enough.”
Dixie shook her hand before she turned and started for the door. “All is forgiven, then. I’ll be back tomorrow with a salad and the soup of the day. If you want to change your lunch order, call one of my girls before noon and let us know. Have a nice night, Doc.”
Lila frowned, stepping in front of the bags and looking inside. “Do you think she’ll come back and take them away? That’s what Miranda did. I didn’t care that they were her second-best cookies or that she made them to insult me. I liked that they were food I didn’t have to cook myself.”
Oh, it was bad. The words were coming out of her mouth, but there was absolutely not a hint of emotion behind them.
She stopped and looked around, her eyes flaring. “Where’s Peanut?”
He’d already settled Peanut for the night. She didn’t need to worry about the dog. She needed all the attention on her. “Noelle has him. Mabel let me take him home when I dropped Noelle and her friend there. They’ll take care of him. I gave them instructions on how much food he can have. I know he’s got to go slow. Beth is spending the night. He’s got two dog-loving teens to lavish him with affection. And Dixie’s not going to take your food. I think you made a believer of her. I know you made one of me. Let me take you home, Lila. Let me take care of you. I promise I won’t push you. I’ll drive you home, make sure you get fed, and I’ll sleep on the couch again because you need rest. You had a long, stressful day, and tell me that’s not exactly the time when you dream about it. Tell me you won’t sleep better in a brand-new place knowing someone is watching your back.”
She was still for a moment. “Just for tonight.”
Not if he h
ad a say, but they were doing things her way. “Just for tonight.”
She started to reach for the bags, but he moved in quickly.
“I’ve got it.”
She nodded and went to get her purse. She was quiet as he led her to his SUV, quiet as he drove her past the parking lot where the accident had happened, quiet as he turned onto her street.
She waited as he killed the engine. He was surprised she was still in the car when he got around to her door, but she was staring out the front and he knew she wasn’t seeing the yard or the night. She was somewhere else, and it was his job to bring her back to the present with him.
He opened the passenger-side door and held out his hand. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you inside. We’ll feed you, get you a glass of wine or two, another shower, and put you in bed.”
“Okay.”
She was an automaton, going through the motions. She let him take her hand but dropped it the minute her feet hit the ground.
“Maybe we should have eaten at the clinic.” She glanced back down the road that they’d just driven. “I have a microwave in the back.”
“I fixed yours.” He hoped what he told her next didn’t make her mad. “I might know where Bill kept his spare key and I might have gone into your house after we finished up at the scene and I might have fixed your microwave and the stove and that drip in the bathroom sink. I know I shouldn’t have but I had to do something. I couldn’t go home. I needed something to do with my hands.”
“You fixed my microwave?”
“It needed some rewiring. My dad was an electrician. He worked on the oil rigs. I know a little. It works, though it’s ancient. It will definitely warm up those red beans and rice.” He got her to the door and used the key he’d taken earlier to open it. “I also stocked your fridge with the important stuff. Wine. Beer. There’s a bottle of bourbon in your pantry. That’s for me.”
She sighed. “I love bourbon. That’s mine. You can have the wine. Wait. I think I want the wine, too.”
She could have anything she wanted.
“I’m going to get the bags from Dixie’s. You go in and sit down. I’ll take care of everything.” He jogged back to the SUV and grabbed the bags.
He’d hurt her. She’d said some things, too, but he could handle it. He understood her, or at least he thought he did. When she felt hurt, she punched back. He could do that, too. He’d certainly done it before himself. Hell, he’d deserved it. He’d basically told her she needed to fucking smile more.
He locked the car door and ran up the steps. He needed to fix those, too. In the few days she’d been in the house, she’d started to clear out a lot of the clutter. He could move easily through the front hall.
The sound of Billie Holiday’s “Fine and Mellow” pulsed through the house. She’d obviously found Bill’s old-school stereo. It was really old school since Bill had bought it back in the seventies and had original vinyl from long before then.
It would be good to listen to some old jazz and relax with the bourbon. He would make sure she slept tonight.
“Do you want the salad?” He thought she needed something more, but he wasn’t going to argue with her. Not tonight. In the morning he would get up and make her bacon and eggs and gently prod her to eat. “Or I can heat up the meatloaf or the rice and beans.”
She stood and turned. “I would rather you kissed me.”
He dropped the bags and moved to her because that was definitely something he could do.
* * *
• • •
She knew she should go to bed. Without him. She knew she was making a mistake, but after the day she’d had she needed hands on her. His hands. One night. That was all she would let herself have.
But why? If it went well why couldn’t she continue to have him in her bed? What was the problem?
She shook off her inner questions. This wasn’t the time to make decisions. It was the time to fill a need, and he was the only man she’d wanted in years.
The day had been so long.
There had been the thrill of the contract with the oil company. Not that it would be a ton of money, but it meant patients. And then the confrontation with Miranda, the confrontation with Dixie, the one with Armie. So much conflict.
She hadn’t thought about it at the time but if she’d been off even a little, someone would have died today. It had all been on her. It would always be on her.
It was only now when the world had finally slowed down that it all hit her. She could cry. She could let out all the tension by screaming until her throat was sore. She could pound on something.
Or she could wrap herself around him, let him fill her up until she screamed for another reason. She could try to finally understand what it meant to need a man.
She’d said it. She’d said she wanted him to kiss her. There was no taking it back because he was already invading her space.
It played through her head that she wasn’t this girl. She didn’t fall into bed with a man she’d known for so little time. A few days, and they’d spent a good portion of those days fighting.
She didn’t want to fight him tonight. She’d made a half-hearted attempt when she’d told him she could drive herself, but she’d caved because she didn’t want to be alone. Maybe if her sister had been in town . . .
Her sister didn’t make her heart start to thud in her chest, her whole body going electric. He was gorgeous. Armie was a massive wall of muscle who managed to make her feel petite and feminine when she often didn’t. He made her think about her body as something more than a tool to use to work.
She’d talked to Noelle about her body today, pretending like she knew what she was saying. She knew all the technical terms, all the functions, but she’d ignored her own needs for so long she’d forgotten how good it felt to want someone.
Or maybe she’d simply never wanted anyone the way she wanted Armie LaVigne.
“I know I should wait, but I can’t,” he said, getting into her space. His hands came out, cupping her cheeks.
The minute he touched her, the world seemed like a softer place. She could breathe again. “I don’t want to wait. I need this tonight.”
“I know you need this and I’m going to give you everything I have,” he said, hovering over her lips. “But I want you to need me. Only me.”
She thought she did, but she couldn’t tell him that. After their fight, she still felt vulnerable. “This is only for tonight. I still don’t think this can work.”
He lowered his lips to hers and held her still for a kiss that sent shock waves through her. When he came up for air, he brushed his nose against hers in the sweetest gesture of affection. “I’m going to prove to you it can. I was wrong today. I was a dumbass guy who was holding you to a different standard than I’d ever want myself held to. This is a small town, and not fitting in can be rough for a woman, but there’s no reason for you to not be able to be you. You are amazing. If they can’t handle it then they can fuck themselves.”
Sweet words, but she couldn’t believe them. He was a part of this community, an important part. His job depended on votes, and if the last few days were any kind of an indication, she would cost him. But not tonight. Hell, everyone thought they’d already spent the night together. She’d already done some of the time. It was time to do the crime.
She let her hands drift up to find the silk of his hair as he took her mouth again, drugging her with pure desire. His lips were soft but oh, the rest of that man was hard. She ran her hands from his hair to the corded muscles of his neck and shoulders. He’d been dependable in the field, never once questioning her.
She’d been able to work because she’d known he would back her up. If only he could do it in real life. He was still in shock. He would wake up in a few days and realize how difficult she was. He would go back to the Mirandas of the world.
But for
tonight he was hers, and she was going to revel in the freedom to touch and explore this magnificent man.
His hands went to her hips, dragging her against him. She let her whole body go soft, ceding all control to him. She didn’t want to think, didn’t want to be in charge. Tonight she wanted him to take the lead so all she had to think about was how her body responded to him.
“I wanted to kiss you the first time I saw you. Lust at first sight,” he whispered against her lips.
Maybe that was why she’d really run. She’d seen his interest, his raw sexuality, and hadn’t understood it. She hadn’t wanted that shot of pure desire that had gone through her. Sex had been something she planned, and yes, she’d enjoyed it, but more for the intimacy than the actual act. Sex had been something she’d thought was normal and natural, and therefore she should schedule it into her life.
Then she’d realized she wasn’t in control of anything at all, that control was something that could be stripped from her at any moment, and she hadn’t wanted intimacy.
“Don’t leave me. I know you get lost in that head of yours, but I want you here with me tonight. Stay with me.” His hand fisted in her hair, drawing it out of the loose bun she’d put it in and forcing her to look into his eyes. “Let it all go. There’s nothing but the here and now. You and me. Shut everything else out.”
The words came from his mouth in a low, sexy rumble.
Let go. She needed to let go and focus on him. Focus on how warm he was, how vital and alive he could make her feel.
He kissed her again, his tongue surging inside and sliding against hers in a silky dance. This was all that mattered, this moment and this man.
His lips moved across her cheek, making their way along her jawline and down to lave affection on her neck and shoulders. “I can’t think of anything but you. Since you drove into this town, you’ve invaded my every thought, every dream. All I’ve wanted to do is this—touch you, taste you, feel you.”
