“But…but…” she stumbled out.
“I promise we’re not murderers, rapists or torturers,” Archer told her easily.
He turned to gape at his older brother. “Why the hell would you put that stuff into her mind?”
“I didn’t,” Archer told him. “Those were the first questions she asked me.”
Doc turned to her. She shrugged. “Can’t be too careful, right?”
“Jesus,” he muttered. “Girl like you shouldn’t be worrying about that.”
“A girl like me?” she asked curiously.
“Doesn’t matter,” he replied, not sure what he was thinking. What did he mean, a girl like her? He didn’t even know her. “We’re not any of those things. You’re safe with us. Now, let’s head back to your place so you can take a hot bath and get out of those wet clothes before you make yourself sick.”
“What my brother is trying to say is that we would really appreciate it if we could stay the night at your place. Driving long hours in this storm in a truck with a barely working heater and no seatbelt is dangerous and we don’t want you putting yourself at risk for us. We promise to keep out of your way and be model house guests.”
“I do not promise that,” Doc replied. He turned to glare at Archer, holding in a wince as his head throbbed mercilessly. “And don’t put words in my mouth.”
“We can always drug him,” Archer told her. “I’m a doctor. I have the necessary credentials.”
“Barely,” Doc muttered.
Archer sighed. “We can give you the number of someone you can call to vouch for us if you’d like.” Archer dug into his pocket and brought out his cell phone. “I have several other psychiatrists I know or a judge. I even have a television host.”
“She doesn’t want to talk to one of your ex-girlfriends,” he said. Okay, he was being a prick. But he just knew Caley would be bamboozled by Archer’s charm. Everyone preferred Archer. He told himself he shouldn’t care.
She’s not Evelyn. She doesn’t mean anything to you. You just met the girl.
“Murray vouched for you. That’s enough for me,” she muttered. “Judges can be bought off. And a television host? No thanks. You can stay the night, I guess. Don’t really trust this weather anyway. Better we hunker down and try in the morning.”
“What about psychiatrists? Aren’t they trustworthy?” Archer asked as she started turning her big behemoth of a truck around. Damn thing was so ancient it probably didn’t even have power steering. How was a little thing like her meant to drive around in this?
She grunted with effort. And he reached over and helped her tug at the steering wheel.
“Psychiatrists are talkers. Like television personalities. Don’t trust talkers.”
“Good Lord, I’m stuck in a truck with two of them,” Archer muttered with exasperation.
“Thanks, I got this,” she said to Isaac, panting slightly.
“Just take the help, girl. Ain’t no one giving out prizes for doing it all on your own.” And he wanted to help her. Normally he avoided meeting new people. Even the people he knew, he kept away from. He looked after everyone on the ranch, but he couldn’t say he was particularly close to anyone.
Yet this petite girl who was a combination of spitfire and sweet totally had his attention.
It’s just because she came out to help you. You feel responsible for her.
Yeah, that had to be it.
* * *
Archer sat back in the ancient truck, wincing as a spring dug into his ass. This piece of junk should have been retired a long time ago. He’d thought Caley would put up more of a fight. After all, having two strange men stay with you when you lived in the middle of nowhere would be enough to make any woman worry.
And Caley…well, she seemed to have more of an overactive imagination than most.
He’d thought that he’d have to run interference for his brother. Most people could only handle Isaac in small doses.
But to his shock, Caley could give as good as she got. She didn’t seem intimidated by Isaac’s gruffness. Which gave him an idea…
Nah. That was ridiculous. He didn’t know anything about her other than she had some sass. There was no reason to think she was a submissive, let alone a Little. And that’s what Isaac needed. Someone that he could focus entirely on. Archer knew that Isaac wouldn’t truly be complete without someone to look after. He might have a terrible bedside manner, but he had a deep need to take care of people. And a Little who was his, would give him that. Would help round out his rough edges.
Because underneath the snarly exterior was a man who could be caring and kind. With the right person.
They rattled along in the truck, with Caley bouncing around in her seat. Christ, her ass had to hurt, not to mention her arms and shoulders. No doubt she could do with a good rubdown…maybe he should mention that to Isaac.
He groaned. Not here to be a matchmaker.
“You okay back there?” Caley asked, sounding concerned. “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”
“Oh no. I’m fine, thank you.”
“He’s probably worried you don’t have indoor plumbing,” Isaac said.
He’d bite back if they were on their own and he couldn’t hear the note of tiredness and pain in his brother’s voice. Just how bad was his head? Great. Now, he’d have to convince him to sit down and let him doctor him.
And put up with a hundred and one complaints about how he was doing it wrong.
Why was he trying to mend fences with this asshole again?
Oh yeah. Because he was his brother and he loved him.
He had to keep reminding himself of that.
4
Great.
What had she been thinking? Agreeing to them staying the night? Did she have enough food to feed them? They were big guys. They probably ate a lot. But they’d only be here for dinner and breakfast. Maybe they’d already eaten.
Forget about the food, Caley. What about the mess!
Oh shit. She hadn’t even thought about that. She lived alone and she didn’t have a lot of stuff, but she wasn’t all that fond of picking up after herself either. And without someone riding her ass, reminding her to clean up…
Well…to call it a pigsty was uncharitable but if the shoe fit…
She stopped the truck close to the front door of her cute, three-bedroom log cabin. It had a large porch out the front where she liked to sit and work in summer. Inside was a fairly simple layout. One large room in the middle of the cabin that served as living, dining and kitchen. To the right were two small bedrooms, one of which she used as a study and a bathroom.
On the other side was a larger master suite. It was almost too much room for her on her own.
“Maybe you two should wait here,” she said as she turned off the truck. Oh drat. She’d forgotten to turn on the outside porch light. Shouldn’t the sensor lights come on? Hmm, when had she last checked that they were working?
“Wait out here?” Doc asked. “Why?”
Did everything he said come out as a demand?
“It’s just…umm…”
“Spit it out, girl,” Doc told her tiredly.
“Isaac,” Archer snapped.
“She’s shivering, even with my jacket on. We need to get her warm before she catches pneumonia.”
“I didn’t think you caught pneumonia from being cold.”
“Girl…” Doc warned.
Jeez. Why did he keep calling her that? She was thirty-one years old. Definitely not a girl by any stretch of the imagination.
“I left in a hurry and I wasn’t expecting visitors. It’s a bit of a mess.”
They were both silent for a moment.
“We don’t care about a bit of a mess, girl.”
“Let’s just get inside and get you warm,” Archer agreed with his brother. “Isaac needs his head looked at too.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” What was she thinking keeping them out here when Isaac was injured, and they were likely b
oth cold and hungry?
“The fire should be still going, at least. I might need to get some more wood in.” She started pulling off the jacket Doc had given her. “Here, have your—”
“Keep that on,” he demanded as he opened his door. “I’ll be fine.”
He was out before she could say anything more.
“Shoot.”
“I’ll get the bags, you two head in,” Archer called out, before climbing out. Leaving her sitting there.
Why are you just sitting there, Caley? Get a move on.
Sometimes, she was such an idiot.
* * *
Doc stepped into the log cabin.
Okay. When she said a mess, he thought she meant that she’d left a few things sitting around. But unless a tornado had somehow hit and only gone through her living room…
His lips twitched with another smile.
Jesus, that was twice in one day. Something of a miracle.
“See. I told you it was a mess.” She whipped past him before he could grab at her. Dressed in his dripping jacket which was miles too big on her and her muddy rainboots, she stomped around picking up pieces of clothing that lay strewn over the sectional in front of the stone fireplace. Which was, thankfully, still burning.
“Girl—”
“I know, I know, I let it get a bit out of control. You sit. I’ll find the first aid kit. I’m sure we have one somewhere.”
We? He thought she lived alone. So who was we? He was surprised at the stab of disappointment.
Not your business.
“Girl—”
“I’ll clear off the sofa. Here. It’s okay. Most of it is clean. I think.” She stared down at a sweater she picked up in confusion. “Is this even mine?”
“Caley,” he said sharply as the door behind him opened.
“Holy shit,” Archer exclaimed. Then he no doubt caught himself. “Nice house you have here.”
“Sorry…sorry…” she said worriedly.
He narrowed his gaze at her. She was diving from mess to mess without actually making much of an impact.
Nervous. She’s nervous.
“Caley, come here,” he commanded.
“Uh, Isaac, I’m sure we can get the place tidied up,” Archer told him.
He gave his brother a look. “I don’t care about the mess.”
Archer raised an eyebrow.
“Much,” he added. He wasn’t that bad about mess and cleanliness. Was he? He grimaced. All right he might have a tiny OCD issue. But that wasn’t what he was mainly concerned about.
“Please sit down. I promise, this place will look spotless soon. Well, maybe not spotless. I’m not sure where the broom is. Oh, yes, I do. I’m using it to keep the dryer door shut.”
He blinked. She what? Okay, none of that mattered right now. He needed to get her calmed down.
“Caley,” he said in a low, commanding voice putting plenty of Dom into his tone. “Come here.”
“Isaac,” Archer warned.
Archer was a Dom. He liked to tie his partners up in the bedroom. He enjoyed going to his club. But he wasn’t interested in anything beyond that. Doc was different. He’d always wanted a relationship where he was firmly in charge all the time. He’d wanted a submissive who was also his baby girl. Who he could restrain and fuck in the bedroom and cuddle and indulge the rest of the time.
Archer was warning him against using that tone with a woman they didn’t know. Who wasn’t a submissive.
Maybe.
Her eyes had dropped as soon as he used that tone. But then, she was distracted by her worry over the state of the cabin. And by the two hulking strangers standing in it.
For a moment, he thought he might be wrong, and she was going to ignore him. Or tell him off. Instead, she started towards him.
“Put the stuff down on the sofa, girl. We’ll get it in a moment.”
That was last on his to-do list. First was getting her settled, dry and warm. Second was getting in some wood for the fireplace since the basket next to it was empty. Third was seeing to his head. Fourth was sleep. He didn’t even care about food at this point.
She put the stuff down on the arm of the sofa, where it all slid off onto the floor. He winced but didn’t say anything. And she didn’t seem to notice as she walked towards him.
“What is it?”
He pointed at the bench seat next to the door. “Sit.”
She frowned but sat. He went to crouch down, biting back a wince as his head protested the movement.
“Here, let me,” Archer said quietly. “You need to go take a look at that head. Think she’s right. It could use some stitches.”
He’d get to that in a moment. But he did let Archer crouch down in front of her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
Archer reached for one boot, sliding it off.
“You were traipsing mud through the house,” Doc explained gruffly.
“Oh. Right. Shoot. I was so focused on tidying up I didn’t even notice.” She sighed. “You guys think I’m a total slob, right?”
Well, not a total one. Archer set her boots to one side of the door. Then he stood. Isaac held a hand out to her, helping her stand. Shoot. Her hand was freezing.
“We need to stoke the fire up,” he commented to Archer as he undid the zipper on his jacket, slipping it off her. He barely noticed that his own sweater was soaked through.
A woman’s care always came first.
“Where do you keep your firewood, Caley?” Archer asked. “I’ll bring some in while Isaac helps you get those clothes off.”
“I don’t think so! Nobody is taking my clothes off but me!”
5
She couldn’t believe she’d just said that.
Such a dork.
Then there was the way she’d grabbed hold of her shirt, as though she’d expected him to start ripping it off her.
Yep. Total. Dork.
“Easy, girl. He didn’t mean it like that. But you need to get out of your wet clothes,” Doc told her in a calm voice. She noticed he kept his hands out at his sides. “I ain’t gonna touch you so don’t look at me like that. But I do want you to strip off and take a nice hot shower and don’t come out ‘til you’re warmer, got it?”
“He meant to frame that as a request rather than a command,” Archer said, trying to smooth over his brother’s hard edges. She wondered how often he did that. And why he thought he had to. She saw Isaac’s jaw tense at his brother’s words. And wondered how much that annoyed him.
A lot, she’d bet.
She got why Archer did it. It was likely not everyone could take Isaac’s rather gruff personality. Archer didn’t need worry that he might offend her. If he did, she’d tell him.
Their relationship was interesting and there seemed to be some undercurrent of anger between them. But right now, she didn’t have time to figure it out.
“No. I didn’t. ‘Cause a request means she can say no. And I’m worried about how cold she feels.”
Archer frowned then reached out to lightly grasp hold of her hand. “Yeah, she’s freezing.”
“I’m fine. I’ll quickly clean up, get some wood and find the first-aid kit. Oh, and show you where you are going to be staying. I only have one spare bed. I—”
Doc reached out and grabbed hold of her hand as she flung it through the air, gesturing nervously. “Caley, get undressed. Get showered. Then you might as well put on your PJs. It’s nearly bedtime.”
She blinked at him then looked over at the clock. “It’s only nine.”
“Yeah, and after you’ve had a shower, it will be close to ten. Which should be your bedtime. Now go.” He turned her around.
In what universe was ten p.m. a bedtime? Sheesh. Most of the time, she stayed up until one or two in the morning, especially when on a deadline. She liked to keep going when she was on a roll.
To her surprise, she found herself in her bathroom before she’d even thought about it. Huh. She guessed she might as wel
l shower and get changed. It was a little weird, though. Having two strangers in the cabin.
She made sure her bedroom door was locked. Not that she thought they would walk in…but still…
“This was an idiotic idea, Caley. Should have just driven them into town,” she muttered to herself. She sighed and shook her head as she turned on her shower. She shivered in the cool bathroom air. She really needed to get the heater in here fixed. She put her fingers to her temples and rubbed.
The number of things that needed fixing or were falling apart around here stressed her out if she thought about it too much. So in usual Caley-style, she tried not to. Which meant everything fell into more disarray.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have the money to get it all fixed, it was more that she didn’t know where to begin. It all felt too much.
Tackle a bit at a time, Caley Jane. Small bites.
She knew that was exactly what Dave would tell her. It was his fault, though. He’d taken care of all the day-to-day stuff so she didn’t have to. And now that he was gone…she was lost. Alone. Afraid. She stepped into the shower.
“I’m doing all right. Everything will be okay. I have it all under control.”
If only she had someone to help her. If she’d just had one person to call when it all got too much it might help. But there was no one. She was all alone.
* * *
“Could you be a bit more diplomatic,” Archer snapped as soon as Caley disappeared.
“Not really.” His brother walked over to the sofa where the stuff Caley had been collecting lay in a pile on the floor, he bent over then swayed slightly.
“Oh for God’s sake. Will you sit down before you fall over? Exactly how hard did you hit your head?”
“Not that hard. Made of rocks, remember?”
“Yeah. I remember.”
Archer had screamed that at him. When he’d refused to let him explain about Evelyn. Fuck.
But to his surprise, Isaac sat on the sofa. He must be feeling a lot worse than he was letting on if he was doing anything Archer said.
Heal Me, Daddy Page 3
