Fated Bliss (The Bliss Series Book 2)

by Cassie Strickland

  “After listening to Linc and witnessing her reaction to her arm, I believe it was the blood.” I met Grey’s gaze. “Has she had that reaction in the past?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. She can’t stand the sight.”

  “Right. So, to answer your question,” I turned my attention to Adam, “no. But we need to keep a close eye on her and her arm.

  The door opened suddenly, and Brad, Emma, and Lincoln rushed in. “Where’s Sam?” Emma asked, panicked.

  “She’s back in X-ray, but she’s fine,” I explained. “She has a lot of bumps and bruises, and she’ll be sore for a while. It’s nothing life-threatening, though.”

  “How did this happen?” Brad growled, a vein in his forehead protruding.

  From the corner of my eye, I noticed Lincoln shrink back.

  Poor fella.

  He needed to face this head on, though.

  “Linc,” I prompted, “explain to Brad and Emma what happened.”

  Wide-eyed, he stepped forward and approached Emma and Brad. “It was an accident,” he began and then proceeded to recall the events, putting on a brave face.

  “Good God, boy,” Brad barked. “You’re like a whirlwind.”

  I opened my mouth to defend Lincoln, but Emma beat me to it.

  “Brad, do you not see the poor kid? He’s beatin’ himself up over this.” Emma cupped Lincoln’s face and smiled sadly. “It’s okay, Linc. Accidents happen all the time. You didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

  Lincoln swallowed hard. “I really am sorry. She surprised me, and then it all just happened. If I could go back and change it, I would.”

  “I know,” Emma murmured.

  God, how I wished my mother was like that with him, loving and affectionate. She just threw money at him.

  I immediately brushed that notion aside.

  “Right…” I cleared my voice, getting my head on straight. “So, Samantha should be back shortly. If her X-rays come back clean, she’ll be able to go home. She’ll need to be watched closely for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Someone should-”

  “This isn’t our first ER visit,” Emma interjected, shooting a meaningful look at Adam and Grey. “These two had plenty of scrapes and bruises when they played football back in high school.”

  Good to know.

  “I’m going to write her a prescription for antibiotics and pain meds. She’ll need to keep her arm in a sling and rest it until the stitches are removed. It is imperative that she doesn’t strain her arm and that it heals properly.”

  Adam snorted. “Good luck with that. She’ll hit the ground running once she’s back on our level again.”

  “Back on our level?” Emma glanced at me, needing clarification.

  “She received morphine. She was a little…loopy.”

  “And informative,” Grey added under his breath. “Too informative.”

  Kill me now.

  I prayed he wouldn’t elaborate.

  “I’ll leave you to it then,” I said before he had a chance. “I have some other patients I need to check on. You are more than welcome to wait here for Samantha.”

  “Can I wait too, Dad?” Lincoln questioned, staring at me with big, innocent eyes. The poor kid was still freaked.

  I rubbed his hair playfully. “Sure thing, bud.”

  “Thank you, Ben,” Emma offered.

  “My pleasure,” I assured her.

  Once I was out of the room and away from prying eyes, I let out the breath I’d been holding since realizing my patient was Samantha.

  She’s okay.

  Just a few bumps and bruises, but she’s okay.

  I couldn’t have dreamt the turn of events, but I needed to think this through. Her living in Bliss changed a lot of things – her being Brad and Emma’s daughter especially. Pops held them in high regard. Plus, Emma and Mom were once friends. This whole ordeal was one giant cluster-fuck. Add the fact that Samantha pretty much laid it out for her brother…

  I’m so screwed.

  I had a small bone to pick with Lyric, too. What Samantha said earlier still dumbfounded me. What did she tell Lyric that made her think this was a game? I know I didn’t say anything of the sort.

  I opened the door to my office, having every intention of calling Lyric, when my name was called from down the hall. I glanced back and found Adam jogging my way.

  Who is he to Samantha?

  Their closeness caused an insane amount of jealousy to rise up in me. When he called her sweet cheeks earlier, I had to suppress the all-consuming rage overwhelming my system and force myself to remain seated.

  Had they ever been intimate?

  Although I was a man, I could still recognize Adam’s appeal. He was just as tall as me and in good physical condition. I was positive women found him attractive.

  Did Samantha find him attractive?

  They were obviously close enough that she told him about our night together, so maybe it was just friendship.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Adam questioned, breaking my thoughts.

  I frowned when I noticed my death-grip on my doorknob. “Sure,” I answered, swinging my door the rest of the way open, and waved him in. “Follow me.”

  He closed the door behind him and rested against it. I rounded my desk and took a seat, showing him that I still wasn’t intimidated by leaning back and letting my body language appear at ease.

  “So…what can I do for you?” I prompted, though I had a good feeling he only wanted to talk about Samantha.

  “Look,” Adam began, “Sam is a big girl, and she’s gonna do whatever the hell she wants to do – I won’t get in the way. Still, I think you need to understand a few things.”

  “Adam-”

  “When you didn’t call, she called me. She was hysterical.” My mouth snapped shut. “Sam isn’t the hysterical type. I’m sure you’ve already gathered that.”

  “Yes, I have,” I agreed, feeling like an even bigger asshole for how everything went down.

  “She’s gonna kill me when she finds out I said this to you, but it has to be said.” His eyes darkened dangerously. “You hurt her. Even though your time together was brief, she began to care for you, and you hurt her.”

  I made my decision then and there – she was going to be mine. All of the facts, Brad, Emma, Pops, and even Lincoln, didn’t matter. I wanted her with every fiber of my being.

  “I know,” I stated simply.

  His face registered surprise. “You know?”

  “Yes, I know.” I opened the top drawer of my desk and pulled out the notepad that sat on top of a stack of papers. “Before anything happened, I had a pretty clear understanding of her character. She doesn’t let people in that easily. She’s rather innocent when it comes to sex and dating, so she doesn’t do either much. Am I correct?”

  He appeared even more surprised. “No, she doesn’t date at all. Especially after what her ex did to her.”

  “Right, the Facebook asshole.”

  Adam blanched. “She told you about that?”

  “Yep.”

  “Interesting.” He pursed his lips and eyed me oddly.

  “For her to tell me that, to allow me into her bed…her body…she had to trust me to a degree. Am I right?”

  “Yes,” he gritted out, not liking my wording.

  “That meant something to me. Actually, it meant everything. You have no idea-” I cut myself off from saying things I shouldn’t mention about Gwen and my past, and I threw the notepad on my desk. “Look at that.”

  “What is it?” he questioned suspiciously, stepping forward.

  “Just look at it.” He picked it up and scanned it. “As I was saying, what Samantha and I shared meant a lot to me. She wasn’t the only one that started to develop feelings, feelings I wanted to explore. She’s extraordinary…special.” I rubbed my jaw, feeling uneasy. I was doing something I said I wouldn’t, but he came in here in hopes to get me to back down.

  Well, that just wasn’t happening. />
  “I didn’t get around to telling Samantha that I was moving here. She didn’t divulge the name of the town she lived in, either – Samantha only said that she lived in North Carolina – so I was very surprised when she showed up here today.”

  “If that’s true, then why the disappearin’ act? And what’s this?” He threw the notepad down on my desk.

  “Like I said before, I need to explain that to Samantha. I’ve already given you more than I should have. I will say this – I had a good reason…an important reason.” I tapped the notepad with my fingers. “This is a list of all the B&Bs’ within a sixty-mile radius of Asheville. Well, all but the ones in Bliss.” A small smile snuck its way to my lips at the craziness of the situation. “There were two important facts Samantha gave to me about herself. One, she lived an hour outside of Asheville. Two, she owned a bed and breakfast. You can see that I’ve already crossed off a good portion of that list.”

  His eyes widened, realization sinking in. “You’ve been lookin’ for her.”

  “Yes. When I was able to call her finally, she had already checked out of her hotel and I couldn’t find her anywhere to explain. So, once I got here, I started searching. She deserved to know why I didn’t call. I knew that she would have felt used and betrayed, and that was the last thing I wanted.”

  Adam fell into the chair in front of my desk, astonished. “Wow. That’s nuts.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “So you had no idea she lived here.” He laughed, slapping his knee. “How in the world did that happen?”

  I grinned. “Hell if I know. It about knocked me on my ass when I realized my patient was Samantha.”

  “No kiddin’.” Slowly, he sobered and considered me again. “You care about her, don’t you?”

  “Haven’t been able to stop thinking about her,” I told him truthfully. “She’s been driving me crazy. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

  “Sam’s special,” he murmured.

  “I’ve said that already.”

  “That, you did.” He chuckled again. “I’ll see what I can do about gettin’ Grey off your back. He’s only lookin’ out for her.”

  “You don’t have to do that.” I shook my head, not wanting special favors. “This is my battle to fight. I’ll win both of them over eventually.”

  “You’re pretty sure of yourself, Doctor,” he remarked, his eyes dancing with amusement.

  “Not sure, determined,” I corrected him.

  He grinned and leaned forward, snatching a pen off my desk. He scribbled something on the bottom of my notepad. “Here’s my number. You’re not what I expected, Ben. Not at all. We’ll grab beers at Bobby’s or somethin’.”

  I glanced down at the notepad and lifted a brow, amused. “Are we gonna be buddies now?”

  “Trust me, when it comes to Sam, you’re gonna need someone to help you blow off some steam. She’s a firecracker and will test your limits at every turn.” He appeared to enjoy the prospect immensely.

  “I don’t doubt it.” I laughed, rubbing a hand down my face. This day was bizarre, to say the least.

  “Plus, you’re new to town,” Adam added, shrugging.

  “Thanks.”

  We were silent for a second, and I could tell that Adam wanted to ask something.

  “Get on with it,” I finally demanded.

  “Is that kid really yours?”

  I didn’t expect that question.

  “Yes.” I blanked my face, not knowing where this was going.

  “You’re around my age, so that had to put you at, what, sixteen when he was born?”

  Everyone’s always curious about that.

  I’d grown accustomed to questions and judgements when it came to my son. Even if the situation around his conception was on the up and up, and whether I was ten or fifty when he was born, I couldn’t be prouder to call Lincoln my son. No one could take that away from me. If anyone didn’t like it, they could take a flying leap.

  I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes. “I was just shy of seventeen when he was born,” I explained, but I wasn’t going to give him any other details.

  Adam held up his hands. “Whoa! I was just askin’ a simple question. There’s no need for the death stare.”

  “Yet, you find that I’m suspicious of your question.”

  “I’m curious.” He lifted one shoulder, unruffled. “Not judgin’. I couldn’t imagine bein’ that young and becomin’ a father.” He turned thoughtful. “By your reaction, you encountered a lot of judgmental assholes because of it.”

  I relaxed slightly. “That’s putting it mildly.”

  “But you still managed to go to medical school. That’s impressive.” His expression morphed into one of compassion. “Had to be tough.”

  I let out a bitter bark of laughter. “It’s not tough when you’ve got a rich father paying your way. He dreamed that I’d be a neurosurgeon one day, so he took care of everything. He flipped when he found out that wasn’t happening and almost stopped footing the bill. My mother stepped in on Linc’s behalf.”

  “Sounds like there’s no love lost between you and your old man,” Adam deduced with a wince. “I can relate. I hate my dad. He cheated on my mom my entire life and didn’t care about how it affected my brother or me.”

  I was on uncomfortable ground with him again. Seriously, this guy was excellent at pulling information out of me. I needed to wrap this up.

  “Are we going to continue to bare our souls, or are we done here?”

  Adam smirked, dipping his chin. “We’re done.” He stood and walked to the door. “Oh, and good luck with Sam.”

  It took a whole ten minutes after he left to realize that the sneaky bastard had written Samantha’s number under his.

  Chapter 18

  Samantha

  Groggily, I tried to pry my eyes open. There was a dull pain in my face and arm, and my head felt wrong…weird.

  “She’s wakin’ up,” I heard Mom say.

  “’Bout time,” Adam grumbled. “I’ve missed a half a days’ worth of work.”

  “Oh, stop your bellyachin’,” Dad chided, laughing. “You could have left an hour ago. You’re worried like the rest of us.”

  “True,” Adam agreed easily. “But I mainly stayed to see her face when she realizes what she said when she was all doped up.”

  Doped up?

  Why would I be doped up?

  “Adam,” Grey warned, his tone chilling.

  “What do you mean, what she said? What are you two hidin’?” Mom questioned, peeved.

  Grey’s voice came back final. “Nothin’.”

  Uh, oh.

  Mom was about to flip.

  “Grey, you know better-”

  “Argh,” I groaned. “All this racket is givin’ me a headache. Can y’all shut up?”

  The room quieted, but I heard movement. Someone touched my face and smoothed my hair back, and I recognized it as Mom’s touch.

  “Sam?” she whispered, worried. “You okay?”

  “If I could get my eyes to work, I might be,” I muttered, trying to fight off the drowsiness. Slowly, I blinked my eyes open, but the light was too bright and I had to squint to take in the room. It took a moment to realize I was in Dr. Melbourne’s clinic. “What on earth?” I murmured and glanced around, experiencing a weird sense of déjà vu.

  Had this happened before?

  It took another moment to realize Mom, Dad, Grey, and Adam were surrounding my bed. However, it was the face at the end of the bed that puzzled me.

  Ben.

  No, not Ben, I recalled suddenly.

  Linc.

  Memories of Ben flooded my brain, though the one of me telling the entire room that I had crazy monkey sex with Ben stood out the most. Gently, I covered my face with my hands and let out another groan, but this one was out of mortification.

  “Are you in pain?” Mom asked, more concerned. “I can see if Lily can give you some mo
re pain medication.”

  “No!” I cried.

  Adam snickered, sang, “I think someone’s rememberin’.”

  “Shut it,” I snapped, then immediately regretted it.

  More pain meds might be a good idea.

  Everything in my face throbbed.

  “Do you need anythin’?” Dad asked softly.

  A one-way ticket out of the country, I wanted to say. How in the hell was I going to face Grey after telling him that? And Ben! Dear God, Ben was in Bliss. He lived in Bliss. What was I supposed to do with that?

  “No, Dad,” I told him and uncovered my flaming face, leveling him with pleading eyes. “Just get me out of here and get me home.”

  “We’re waitin’ for Dr. Rhodes to come back, and then we’ll be able to get you out of here,” he assured me, offering me a tender smile.

  I shot Grey and Adam a panicked look. “What?”

  “You need the all clear from Ben,” Adam stated, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “I mean Dr. Rhodes.”

  I gave him the evil eye and then flinched.

  Damn, that hurt.

  “I brought you some clothes,” Mom said, glancing between us. She knew something was up, but she was waiting to spring her questions on me. They were coming, though. “I ran to your house while you were asleep. I figured you’d want to get out of your bloody clothes.”

  I glanced down at myself and saw that she was right – I had blood all down the front of me.

  Crap, that’s one of my favorite tops.

  Tentatively, I agreed, “Yeah, sure.”

  “How are you feeling?” a new voice asked.

  I peeked up at Linc, who was still apprehensive. “I’ll be fine. Nothin’ a little rest and time won’t take care of,” I assured the poor kid.

  It was insane to look at him. The resemblance between father and son was striking. That brought up so many questions, but I wasn’t about to ask them. I needed to get away from Ben and his son as fast as I could. My head was too muddled to deal with it. Also, there was the damaged part of my heart that said flee now that I couldn’t ignore.

  How was I supposed to live in the same town as Ben?

  This had train wreck written all over it.

  “Come on,” Mom urged, helping me sit up, and then addressed everyone else. “Y’all give us a minute to get her changed.”