Taken By The Heart (4 Contemporary Romance Novellas)

by Sierra Rose

  My cheeks turned red. “What in the hell are you doing?” I snapped, rushing towards him. I grabbed the panties from his fist while noticing that he’d had the gall to empty out all of my clothing from the dryer, placing them in a pile on top. “And who gave you permission to touch other people’s clothing?!”

  “Who told you the dryer was exclusive to only you?” he asked, looking rather grumpy.

  I glared at him, trying to ignore the fact that, not only was he one of the most good-looking men I’d ever met, with his tousled black hair, thick-lashed blue eyes, and dimples, but underneath his sweats and orange tank-top, it was obvious that he had the form of an athlete – one who probably spent hours lifting weights and running on the treadmill. As a nurse, I understood the body enough to know that he took very good care of his, and as a woman who hadn’t had sex in months, it was distracting in a very irritating kind of way. “Nobody, but –”

  “Look,” he said, standing back so I could grab my things more easily, “your clothes have been sitting in the dryer for almost forty minutes, completely dry. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you by touching your things, but I’d expect you to do the same to my clothes. I mean, fuck, it’s almost four o’clock in the morning; sorry but I was tired of waiting.”

  I picked up my basket and walked towards the door. “Fine, whatever.”

  He sighed and then mumbled something as I stepped out of the laundry room. Ignoring him, I walked towards my apartment when the door across the hall from mine opened up and a young, curvaceous brunette stood wearing a T-shirt and shorts so miniscule, I wondered why she even bothered.

  “Oh, sorry, I thought you were Chase,” she smiled, holding a bottle of water. “I was going to hold the door open for him.”

  “I believe he’s the guy still hanging out in the laundry room.”

  She looked down the hall and smirked. “Oh, I think I’ll go see if he needs help.”

  “He needs a lot of help,” I said under my breath as she closed the door and walked towards the laundry room barely dressed. I shook my head in disbelief and stepped back into my own apartment.

  ***

  Later that day, after getting a few more hours of sleep, I made myself some oatmeal with honey, and then got ready for another long shift at St. Peter’s Hospital. I took a shower, put on my uniform, and twisted my hair up into a bun. As I stared at myself in the mirror, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to add a little mascara and lip gloss for once. When I finished, I nodded in approval. I looked pretty good; much better than the washed-out woman from last night.

  As I left the building and began walking towards my Regal, I noticed the irritating hunk from last night in the parking lot arguing with his girlfriend. Today he had on low-riding faded blue jeans and a light blue T-shirt that hugged his muscles and showed off his lean waist. Unfortunately, they were parked right next to my car.

  Crap.

  “Would you just calm down?” he said, lowering his voice. “You’re acting like a child.”

  “Fuck you, Chase! I’m sick of you treating me this way,” she whined. “You never have time for me, always making excuses, and now this? You seem to care more about your job and could give a shit about anything else. And… what about that party you were supposed to take me to tonight?”

  “Gemma, calm the fuck down,” he replied, still not noticing me.

  I just wanted to slip past them as quickly as possible and make my exit.

  She started her car. “Just forget it,” she snapped. “I’m going to the party with Chris instead.”

  “Fine. Whatever.”

  I cringed as my car chirped and they both turned to look at me. Averting my eyes, I got inside and started the engine right as she peeled out of her parking spot and sped off. Sighing, I shoved my key into the ignition and turned my head to back up when I noticed in horror that he was now standing outside of my window, motioning for me to roll it down.

  Sighing in irritation, I did. “Yes?”

  With an amused grin, he reached into his faded blue jeans and pulled out a pair of my underwear, this one was white cotton and embarrassingly, spinsterish. “You forgot these in the dryer.”

  Scowling, I reached for them. “You could have just left them in the laundry room or hell, just tossed them into the garbage, instead of carrying them around in your pocket.”

  His chuckle was deep, sexy, and infuriating. “And miss watching you turn red and go ape-shit again? Not on your life.”

  “I am not red nor am I going ape-shit,” I sputtered, stuffing the underwear into my purse.

  “Bullshit, you’re ready to spit bullets,” he said, his blue eyes twinkling. “I’ll be lucky if you don’t try to run my ass over with your car.”

  “You seem to bring that behavior out in women, I see.”

  He chuckled again, clearly enjoying himself. “Oh, you’ve got me all figured out, huh?”

  I don’t know what was more infuriating, the fact that he was laughing at me, or the way my stomach fluttered when he smiled. I clenched my jaw. “Whatever. I have to go to work, so if you could please back away from my car, I’d appreciate it.”

  His eyes lowered to my nurse’s uniform. “Are you this friendly with your patients, too?”

  I raised my chin. “No, only you.”

  He smiled again as he backed away. “I thought I was special, but needed to hear you say it.”

  Rolling my eyes again, I backed up, and pulled out of my spot. As I glanced at him in the rearview mirror, I noticed he was still grinning.

  Asshole.

  Chapter Three

  The E.R. was exceptionally busy, which is typical around the holidays. Needless to say, by the time it was eleven o’clock, I’d helped care for several patients, including three chest-pain cases – one fatal, two burn victims, a diabetic-induced seizure, a child with a temperature of one-hundred-and-five, a broken leg, a sprained wrist, an accidental gunshot wound, and two cases of food poisoning. I was pretty tired and already counting down the last hour of my shift when I was needed to check on a stab victim who’d already been stitched and now wanted to leave. When I saw who it was, I stopped in my tracks.

  You’ve got to be kidding me?!

  “Well hello there, Sunshine.”

  I put on a professional face and forced myself forward. “Hello yourself,” I replied, staring at his bandaged shoulder. “So, looks like you ran into some trouble?”

  He smiled humorlessly. “Cokehead got a little angry during a bust.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “A bust? You a cop?”

  “DEA agent.”

  “Ah… now I understand the late-night laundry.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You have a ride home?” I asked, trying not to gawk too much at his incredible pecs. Early this morning, he’d been hot in a tank, but now that he was shirtless, I had to close my mouth to keep from drooling.

  “My sister, hopefully.”

  “Have you spoken to her?”

  “I left her a message about an hour ago, but she hasn’t gotten back to me.” He stared past me, looking troubled. “Hell, I think I might need to pick up my car and go search for her.”

  I picked up his medical chart and noticed that they’d given him morphine. “As you very well know, you shouldn’t be driving a car with all of the pain meds you’re on. Anyway, how old is your sister?”

  “Gemma’s nineteen. You saw her earlier today.”

  My eyes widened. “That was your sister?”

  He stood up and reached for his cell phone. “Yep. Handful, too, that one.”

  Young, sexy, and obviously a hot-head. “I can imagine.”

  He sighed. “She headed off to some college party earlier with one of her new friends, a girl named Chris Shapell. Told me there wasn’t going to be any drinking, but…”

  “College kids and no drinking?” I smirked. “Who is she kidding, and how could you be so gullible?”

  “Yeah, I know, but she’s over eighteen and I can’t stop her from go
ing out.”

  “True.”

  “I’m just worried because she’s not answering her phone. She has it on her twenty-four-seven, so her not answering either my calls or texts isn’t normal.”

  “I see. Why don’t you call one of your buddies? Another cop or something?”

  “No, this is something I’d like to take care of myself. She’s my little sister and I’ll handle it.”

  “My shift is almost over. I can give you a lift home.”

  Did I say that out loud?!

  “Seriously? Can you give me a lift to my car? It’s at the precinct, not too far from here.”

  I bit my lower lip. “Chase, right?”

  “Chase Williams.”

  “Being a DEA agent, you of all people should know that driving under the influence of a strong prescription drug is dangerous. Can you call a relative?”

  “Nope. Our parents are in Montana and I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on Gemma while she studies at the U of M, which isn’t always easy with my schedule.”

  “I can imagine. Well, I suppose if there’s nobody else, I could give you a ride to this party; we could check up on her, make sure she’s okay.”

  He smiled again and his dimples warmed my stomach. “I’d really appreciate it. Thank you, ah… Emma,” he replied, staring at my nametag.

  “No problem. I just have a few more things to take care of before we check you out and then we can leave,” I replied, walking towards the doorway. “I’ll be back shortly.”

  “What about my gun?” he asked, grabbing his empty holster.

  “You’ll get it, but remember – you’re medicated. It’s not wise to have possession of a gun while you’re still under the influence of morphine.”

  “Would you get it for me? If you’re really that nervous about me handling it, I’d appreciate it if you’d carry the gun instead.”

  “You actually want me to hold it?” I’d never even touched one before and it was a little unnerving to think about carrying it out of the hospital.

  His eyes sparkled. “Yeah, you’d be the first woman to ever hold it. My metal gun, that is...”

  My cheeks turned pink. “I, uh, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable about holding it. I’d be too afraid it would go off, you know, by accident.”

  “As long as you don’t play with it,” he replied with a wicked grin. “You should be safe.”

  I quickly turned away from him and started towards the doorway. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

  ***

  A half hour later, we were alone in my car with the gun safely in the back of my trunk. As I started the engine, I caught a whiff of his aftershave. I had to admit that the woodsy scent was sexier than hell and decided that the sooner I got rid of him, the better.

  I cleared my throat. “So, where to?”

  “You know where Lake Pleasant is?” he asked, clasping his seatbelt.

  “Yes.”

  “There’s a private beach on the north side. That’s where she’s supposed to be.”

  “Okay.”

  “Thanks again for the lift. I’m sure I can get a ride back once we find Gemma so I won’t be a burden on you anymore.”

  My eyes widened. “You’re not a burden.”

  He smirked. “Emma, don’t ever play poker.”

  “Seriously, you’re not a burden.”

  “Right, the look on your face a few seconds ago said otherwise.”

  “I’m just tired, it’s not you,” I said, leaving the parking lot. “How’s your shoulder, by the way?”

  He moved it and winced. “Tender, but I’ve had worse.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Two years ago I was shot in the thigh.”

  I snorted. “Wow. Your job comes with a lot of perks.”

  “You could say with all of the drug dealers, prostitutes, and crack-heads I get to meet, I’m definitely living the American Dream.”

  “By that sparkle in your eye, something tells me you still enjoy it.”

  “You know it. Just last month we made a major bust and removed almost three hundred pounds of methamphetamine from this drug-ring in Saint Paul. We obviously interrupted a major flow of drug trafficking. That in itself is a major high. ”

  “I can certainly appreciate that. Just yesterday we admitted three O.D.s, and one of them died. So I’m glad you do what you do.”

  “Three, huh? Just another day in the E.R., I bet.”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “My older brother died of an overdose,” he said softly. “Heroin.”

  I turned to him. “Oh, my God, I’m sorry to hear that.”

  He shrugged. “I was only four, so I don’t remember much about him. But, it affected my parents quite a bit. In fact, they divorced a year after it happened.”

  “They couldn’t get over his death?”

  He smiled humorlessly. “That and the fact that my dad was screwing his secretary.”

  “Oh, your poor mother.”

  “I’m sure she was pretty distraught. She handled it pretty well, considering. She handles everything thrown at her like a champ. Amazing woman.”

  “It sounds like it.”

  “Fortunately, she met Tony a couple years later, that’s Gemma’s father. They got married and the rest is history.”

  “Was Tony good to you growing up?”

  “Yeah, he’s a decent guy. More of a father than my old man, who married again and started another family soon after he left us. I haven’t heard from him for over fifteen years. No birthday card or anything.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Not really. It’s hard to respect a man who was fucking another woman when his wife needed him the most.”

  “Well, maybe he was dealing with his emotions by using his secretary as an outlet. Maybe it was just too much for him?” I offered, although I would have been angry, too.

  “Maybe,” he sighed. “But he’s still an asshole.”

  “There is no good excuse for an affair, that’s for sure.”

  “So, what about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “I’ve been talking your ear off and know nothing about you. So, you married? Divorced? With someone?”

  “I’m married to my job,” I replied. “Not a lot of time for dating.”

  “Same here. A few dates here and there, but nothing steady.”

  I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and thought that it was almost a waste for someone like him to be single. Of course, I didn’t really know anything about him other than he was hot, a cop, kind of irritating, and had a sister who needed babysitting. For all I knew, he could have a major temper, be domineering, an impulsive liar, or have other hidden flaws that most of the gorgeous guys I’d met in the past usually had.

  God, I have to quit being so critical of men, I thought.

  “Take a right up at the lights,” he said.

  Hah! Bossy. I knew it.

  “I’ve been there a few times.”

  He smiled. “Sorry, just used to giving directions.”

  “No problem,” I replied, turning towards the service road leading to the lake. “I may need directions to the party, though.”

  “No problem.”

  He gave me directions to the private beach and when we finally arrived, there was a security guard monitoring people entering the parking lot.

  “Do you have your invitation?” asked the guard, after I rolled down my window.”

  Chase flipped his wallet open and flashed his badge. “Will this do?”

  The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Is there a problem I don’t know about? We have security keeping things under control on the beach.”

  Chase put away his wallet. “I’m just here to pick up my sister.”

  “Okay, good,” replied the man, his face relaxing. “You had me worried there for a second. Go right through and park where you want,” he said, stepping away from the vehicle.

  “That’s promising,” I said as we drove away
. “At least they’re monitoring the kids.”

  “They’re just rental cops. I’ll relax when I find her safe and sound. Then I’ll tear into her for not keeping her phone with her.”

  The parking lot was still full, more than seventy cars, and twenty more parked on the grass. It was rowdy and crazy, reminding me of the times my friends tried dragging me to keggers and frat parties in college, when all I was really interested in was studying. They would tease me constantly, telling me that I was too serious, although I liked to think of it as being determined – determined to be more than a housewife using someone else’s credit card, like my dear mother.

  I found an open spot quickly. We got out and started walking towards the crowd.

  “Wow, crazy, huh?” I said, catching a whiff of marijuana as we passed a group of guys. I glanced at Chase to see if he smelled it too. From the look on his face, he did, and wasn’t happy.

  “No drinking or drugs,” he said gruffly. “Should have fucking known.”

  There was a cover band playing near a crowded pavilion, and kids, many obviously underage, were dancing, playing volleyball, making out, drinking beer, or staggering to a nearby tree to throw up.

  I sighed. Oh, the good old days of college.

  “I can’t believe how many people are still at this party,” I replied, looking at my watch. It was almost twelve-thirty in the morning.

  “Remember, these are college kids,” he said. “Some of them have just arrived.”

  “You see her yet?” I asked, scanning the crowded beach, which was lit up by numerous Tiki torches. Several makeshift bars were set up where many of the partiers congregated, either talking to friends or flirting with the opposite sex. Farther down the beach was a volleyball net set up with bikini-clad girls engrossed in batting the ball back and forth while guys cheered them on.

  “Not yet.”

  “We should split up.”

  “Split up? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  I turned to him in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  His eyes swept over me quickly. “You’re a beautiful woman. One of these guys might try whisking you away into the night. Then I’ll have two girls to rescue.”