“Come here, buddy.” He crouched down on his haunches and grinned. Thor ran over, barking excitedly, and Chains put his arms around the dog’s neck and hugged him gently. “You ready to go home, buddy?” He ran his fingers through Thor’s fur. Another excited bark had Chains standing up, and he noticed the tech had Thor’s leash.
“He’s certainly happy to be going home.” The young woman extended her hand. “I’m Amanda. Christina told me about you … and Thor.”
He studied the cute blonde, who seemed to be about twenty-four or so. “I’m Chains. Can I have his leash?”
She giggled. “Oh, of course. I’m sorry.”
Chains took it from her hands, then attached it to Thor’s collar.
“If you need anything, you can call me.” Amanda slipped her hand into the front pocket of her turquoise smock, pulled out a card, and handed it to him.
“I already have a couple of business cards.”
“This is my direct number so you don’t have to bother with the answering service during after-hours.”
He took the card and the large smile plastered across her face told him she’d be an easy lay. Chains shoved it in the pocket of his cut.
“Let me walk out with you,” she offered.
“I’m good.” He threw her a stern look—the one that stopped citizens in their tracks—then left the room with Thor bounding in front of him.
Once Thor was settled in the car, Chains pulled out of the lot. The dog hung his head out the window, and Chains decided that it was time he found another clinic for Thor. He had no interest in seeing Autumn again. For a small slice of time, he’d lost his head and let a pretty woman get into his system, but not anymore. He never had to see her again. Afterall, she was nothing more than a mere blip on the timeline of his life.
Chains rolled down the rest of the windows in the SUV, letting the fresh, crisp air rush over him as he and Thor headed back home.
Chapter Seven
“I hope your parents are coming to my Mom’s brunch in a couple of weeks. She’s starting to think they don’t give a damn about the wedding,” Bret said before popping an olive into his mouth.
“They are, and I’m the one who told my mom to not worry about coming to every shower. Denver’s a good eight-hour drive to Alina, and my mom’s afraid to fly,” Autumn replied.
“It’s just that my mom thinks your parents should be more involved.”
“I actually wish that we were the ones involved. It seems like I’m doing a lot of the planning without you, and whatever I do, you or your mother veto it. What happened to the small wedding we wanted?”
“You wanted it, remember?”
“You told me you did too.”
“I was just trying to keep the peace.” Bret motioned the waiter over. “Another martini.” He looked at Autumn. “Did you want another drink?”
“I’ll have a glass of merlot this time,” she said to the waiter. Autumn waited for him to leave, then shook her head. “I thought we were in this together. And what does ‘keeping the peace’ mean?”
Bret reached out and grasped her hand. “With my mother—not you. She’s going nuts because I’m the first one of my siblings to get married.”
Autumn sighed. He has an answer for everything. “I’m surprised Emily and Will haven’t tied the knot yet.”
“Me too. My parents are mad as hell at her for shacking up so long with him. I can’t blame them. He should either marry her or move on. Emily wants to get married in the worst way.” He laughed. “It feels sort of good one-upping the golden child.”
“I can’t relate to the dynamics you have with your siblings since I never had any.”
“Count yourself lucky. Sometimes they can be too much.”
The waiter placed the wineglass in front of her.
“Thank you,” she said before taking a sip out of it. “I’ve met everyone in your family but your brother. Will he be coming to the brunch?” A knot of muscles at the side of Bret’s jaw pulsed, and she knew she’d hit a nerve.
“Who knows or cares?”
She lifted one shoulder slightly. “I was just wondering. I know the two of you aren’t that close, but you are brothers.”
“Unfortunately.” Bret took a big gulp of his drink.
“What’s the cause of the bad blood between you two?” Since she and Bret had been together, he rarely spoke of his brother.
“Chet’s a fucking loser. He’s always thought he didn’t have to follow the rules, and he gave our parents a real hard time, especially our dad, when he was in high school. The guy’s bad news, and if I never see him again, I wouldn’t give a damn.” He drained the rest of his martini, then gestured the waiter to bring another.
“What does he do?”
“How the hell should I know? He’s in that criminal gang—the Night Rebels.” Bret glanced at his phone.
“The motorcycle club?”
“Yes. It figures he’d get mixed up with them. It’s an embarrassment to our family.” Bret tapped something into his phone. “Why the hell are we talking about that him anyway?”
“I was just wondering if he’d be at the brunch. There was this client at the clinic who had the most beautiful Siberian husky. He rode the coolest-looking motorcycle I’d ever seen.” Autumn took another sip of wine.
“Anyone who rides a motorcycle is either a thug or doesn’t give a damn about his life. There’s no way I’d get on one of those death-traps.” Bret’s phone beeped again.
“They can be freeing,” she whispered under her breath. “The guy had an air of defiance … rebelliousness about him,” she said wistfully.
“Who’re you talking about?”
With a slight shake of her head, she answered, “No one.”
“Oh.” He glanced at his phone again. “I wonder what’s taking so long for us to get our dinner.”
“Why? Do you have somewhere to go?” Tension crept into her voice.
“It’s because I’m fucking starved,” he said a bit too loud.
Several diners around them looked over, then spoke in hushed voices.
“Keep your voice down. Maybe you shouldn’t have any more to drink,” Autumn said.
“Don’t tell me what to do—you’re not my damn mother. And besides … I’m fine.” He craned his neck. “Where the hell’s the waiter?”
The phone beeped again.
“Can you cut off the texting conversation you’ve got going there?” she asked, pointing to the cell. “I’d hoped for a dinner with just the two of us, not you, me, and your phone.”
Bret scrunched up his face. “Aren’t you the funny one. I’ve got some business going here.”
“Can’t it wait until after we’re done eating?”
“No.”
Before Autumn could answer, the waiter arrived with a large tray filled with food; he placed the rare T-bone in front of Bret and the medium-well filet mignon in front of her. Baked potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and lightly steamed asparagus rounded out the meal. Bret ordered two more martinis, and Autumn’s stomach twisted: her fiancé wasn’t a jovial drunk. Whenever he was plastered, he became loud, obnoxious, belligerent, and rude—nothing she was looking forward to.
“I need to ask a favor of you,” Bret said before cutting into the steak.
“What is it?” She popped a morsel into her mouth and chewed.
“I need to borrow some money from you. I hate asking, but I’m running a little short and I have some bills to pay. I’ve never asked you before.”
Autumn set down her fork and knife, and caught his gaze. “How much do you need?”
Bret glanced down at his plate and cut into the meat. “Ten grand.”
He said the amount so offhandedly that, at first, she didn’t think she’d heard right. She watched him slather butter on a slice of bread and then her gaze went back to him.
“Did you say ten thousand dollars?”
He stuffed a big piece of bread in his mouth and nodded while chewing.
“I wish. I don’t have ten thousand to loan you. I have a lot of expenses and even more now with the wedding and all.”
Bret’s fork stopped in mid-air. “I can’t believe you’re using the wedding as a reason not to help me out.” He fixed her with a steely look.
“I’m not using anything as an excuse. I don’t have that kind of cash to give you.” All of a sudden she’d lost her appetite. “What do you really need the money for?”
“A business venture I want to get off the ground. You can be part of it if you want. I just need some capital to invest.”
“What kind of business?”
“Why all the fucking questions? I thought you wanted to support me.” Anger oozed from him.
“Calm down—I’m just asking. It’s a legitimate question.”
The phone beeped several times. Now when Bret looked at it, worry etched his face.
“So do you want to help or not?”
“I can loan you three thousand,” Autumn answered.
“That’s it?” He quirked his lips.
“That’s all I have. I’m sorry,” she said.
“Then I guess it’ll have to do. See if you can get another grand or so, okay? It’s for our future—remember that. I’ll need it by tomorrow though, can you swing it?”
“Yeah, I’ll take it from one of my bank accounts.”
“Cool, but try and scrounge up another thousand.” He winked. “Love you.”
For the next hour, Bret had gotten so drunk and loud that by the time they’d finished dinner and exited the restaurant, he was in one of the foulest liquor-induced moods she’d ever seen. When she suggested they call a Lyft, he disagreed with her very loudly. The valet stood sentry as if waiting to see who would win the argument.
In the end, Autumn wound up taking a Lyft by herself, while Bret stubbornly insisted he could drive and refused to go with her. By the time she arrived home, her stomach was in knots, and she worried endlessly about Bret making it home safely. She repeatedly called his number until he finally picked up and told her to “leave him the fuck alone.” Autumn had, at least, managed to get him to tell her he was at his apartment, which eased her mind.
“How did such a perfect night end so shitty?” she asked aloud.
Cinder curled up against Autumn on the couch after she had changed her clothes, washed her face, and poured herself a glass of red wine. As she sipped it, Chains flitted through her mind as he’d been doing since she’d first met him. When Autumn had told him she was engaged, she could’ve sworn she saw an angry, betrayed look flash in his eyes. And then he asked if Christina was engaged. That question had played through her head for the rest of the day.
To Autumn’s surprise, she felt an unexpected twinge of jealousy as she wondered whether Chains had asked Christina out on a date. The reaction surprised and frightened her. It wasn’t any of her business if he made plans with the tech, and Autumn certainly shouldn’t be feeling jealous, especially since she was engaged and planning a wedding.
“Why am I feeling so restless?” she asked her cat, who just stared and then nuzzled against her. After the night she’d had with Bret, she wondered if she even wanted to get married. “Maybe we need to get away like he said. He wants us to go to Aspen,” she said to Cinder.
The phone buzzed and Autumn picked it up.
“Hi, Mark. What’s up?” she asked the veterinarian.
“Not much. I was just wondering if you wanted me to do follow-up calls for your patients.”
Hesitating, she reined in her professionalism. “No, I’ll do it, but thanks for offering. You must be beat after last night’s emergency surgeries.”
“I am. I’m spending tomorrow on the golf course.”
“Good for you—you deserve a break.”
“So do you.”
“I’ll be taking a long one for my honeymoon,” she replied.
“That’s not for a while. Just take a day or two off—we all need it.”
“I know. Have fun tomorrow.”
Autumn made all the calls except for one: Chains. Chiding herself for acting like a schoolgirl instead of a professional, she tapped in his number quickly.
“Yeah?” His voice rumbled with a low, sexy timbre.
“Hello, Chains. This is Dr. Stanford and I’m calling to see—”
“We’re back to Dr. Stanford?”
Autumn poured more wine into her glass and took a quick sip. Ignoring his question, she said, “I’m calling to see how Thor’s doing.”
“He’s doing great.”
“Did he eat well?”
“Yeah. One of the club girls made him chicken and rice like you said. He seemed to love it.”
Club girls? “So he tolerated it?” Don’t ask any personal questions. This is a business call.
“Yeah. Whatcha got going on?”
“I just got home from dinner. I’m sorry I’m calling so late.”
“It’s not even ten. Damn, you need to really get out.” A small pause. “Anyway, it’s all cool. I’ll let you get back to your fiancé.” Chains sounded casual and jovial, and it bugged the hell out of her.
“He’s not with me. I mean we don’t live together.” Why the hell did I say that?
“Okay. Are you trying to tell me something?”
“I don’t know why I told you that.” She took a gulp of wine.
“I do … and so do you, but we’ll play like we don’t.” His low chuckle rattled her nerves and sent shivers up her spine.
“I have to go. I’m glad Thor’s doing well. Call the clinic if things change. Bye.” Without waiting for his response, Autumn clicked off. What the hell’s wrong with me? Ugh!
Picking up the phone, she stared at the screen then called Sadie.
“It’s about time you returned my call,” her best friend said.
“I’m sorry,” Autumn groaned. “We’ve been swamped at the clinic for the past two days. How’re you doing? How’s it going with Mitch?”
“Doing great, and Mitch and I are still dating, so that’s a good thing. What’s going on with you?”
“Bret got stinking drunk at dinner tonight. We ate at Flanigan’s, and he insisted on driving home.”
“Tell me you didn’t go with him.”
“I didn’t. I called a Lyft but he refused to go with me. I was scared the whole time until he finally got home. I don’t understand him sometimes.”
“Drinking too much is one thing—we’ve all done that more times than we’d like to confess, but driving home drunk is stupid and selfish. What about the innocent people on the road?”
“I know … I agree with you, but Bret can be so fucking stubborn.”
The conversation turned to planning a shopping weekend in Denver at the end of the month. While they talked, Autumn wrestled with telling Sadie about Chains, but in the end, she decided not to say anything. What was there to say? That she was attracted to a hot-looking guy? That was really the extent of it, wasn’t it? Anyway, Thor was back home and doing fine. When a patient returned home, her protocol was to call the day of to make sure all was going well, then to close out the case.
Well, Autumn had made the obligatory call and it was time to move on. She walked into the kitchen, washed the wineglass, then ascended the stairs.
She probably wouldn’t see Chains or his dog again for at least six months when Thor was due for his shots, and by then she’d be blissfully married to Bret. Happy that the rugged biker would be nothing but a memory, Autumn slipped on a nightgown and slid under the sheets. In a matter of minutes, she was out like a light.
Chapter Eight
Two weeks later
On his way to town, Chains drove by the clinic and look
ed over at the parking lot, his jaw clenching when he saw Autumn’s car in the space at the far end of the building. That seemed to be her usual spot since her vehicle had been parked there each time Chains had passed by, which had been more times than he’d ever admit.
A picture of Autumn petting Thor while warmly smiling at Chains had taken up residence in his mind, and he couldn’t shake the image no matter how hard he’d tried. No amount of tequila or weed could rub it out. And various images of Autumn in her lab coat—on and off—factored into some pretty graphic fantasies while he was in the shower or lying in bed in the late hours of the night.
If any of the brothers got a whiff of his little detours each time Chains rode into town, they’d never let him forget that he was acting like a fucking grade-A pansy-ass. In anger, he revved the engine at the stoplight, then sped off the minute the light turned green. A few cars honked at him, so he stretched his hand out the window, lifted it in the air, and prominently displayed his middle finger.
Ever since the night Autumn called him when Thor had come home from the clinic, Chains had debated about giving her a jingle. The fact that she’d stated she didn’t live with her fiancé told Chains that she wanted to have some fun on the side before donning the ball and chain. Autumn was looking to cheat and would make a shitty partner like his ex-wife had, but if the woman wanted to spread her legs and have some fun, he was down for it. There was no way he’d get emotionally involved with her, but Chains couldn’t deny the attraction they had for each other. But in the end, he hadn’t called her. His pride wouldn’t let him because whether it was for a hookup or something more, Chains liked being the only man in a chick’s life while they saw each other. When he picked a club girl to be his for however long, she never fucked any of the other members during that time. That was just the way Chains was wired, and that’s why his ex-wife and best friend’s betrayal hurt him deeply. After nearly seven years, he’d finally gotten over it, but not to the extent that he’d get seriously involved with another citizen.
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