The Trouble with Holly [Merricks, Montana 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by McKinlay Thomson

  Wolf nodded and took Candy by the arm, pulling her away.

  “If you want to get anywhere near Silk Ties tonight,” Wolf told her. “Go back to your table and eat your food. If I see you anywhere near Holly again, you will be banned for life.”

  “But, Master Wolf, that’s not fair,” she said. “I was only offering her my concern and she was so rude to me.”

  “I’m not playing games anymore, Candy. Do what you are told or find another club.”

  Candy sent Jarrod a look that could have frozen water, and as Wolf started to reprimand her again, Chase turned his attention back to Holly. She was watching the spectacle that Candy was making, still lying on the floor holding her wrists. Enough was enough, and they had to move.

  “Let’s get you up and to the doctor,” Chase told her, and his voice was deep with his worry for her.

  Chase and Jarrod slowly pulled Holly to her feet, and the other men backed up to give them room. As she stood, Chris, one of the owners of Stephie’s, was rushing over.

  “Holly,” Chris said. “What did you do this time?”

  Chase was pissed off at the owner’s lack of concern toward his woman, especially on the heels of Candy and her silly mind games. He hadn’t even asked if she was all right. Chase opened his mouth to snap at the owner when Jarrod’s words cut him off.

  “She is injured,” Jarrod snapped. “Holly will be taking the rest of the night off. We will contact you when she is well enough to return.”

  Chris instantly looked contrite. Chase knew it wasn’t like the owner to be so uncaring, and Holly was a klutz, but his and Jarrod’s protective instinct had roared to the forefront to defend their woman.

  “I’m sorry, Holly,” Chris said. “I didn’t realize it was so bad. I thought you just spilt some drinks. I’ll give you all the time you need, and you will send the medical expenses to me. You were injured at work, so it’s my responsibility.”

  “That’s really kind of you, Mr. Gruber,” Holly replied. Chase swept Holly up into his arms and carried her toward the door. The owner was hot on his heels.

  “I’ve asked you to call me Chris, Holly. I hope you haven’t hurt yourself too badly, and I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”

  Holly didn’t answer him, but she smiled in acknowledgment. Chase could see the pain in her face and thought maybe it was getting worse. They needed to get her to a doctor. Her right wrist was swollen and turning black, and her left didn’t look much better.

  “Grab her purse,” Chase told his brother. “And meet us at the truck.”

  “Be right with you,” Jarrod replied and darted toward the back of the bar.

  They exited the bar and Chase walked over to his truck. He sat Holly on the hood and fished in his pockets for his keys. When he had the truck open and Holly settled inside, he got in and started the engine.

  Jarrod ran over and jumped in. Chase pulled from the parking lot and started to drive the small distance to the doc’s.

  “Hawk called the doc and he will meet us at the surgery,” Jarrod said.

  “Glad someone thought to call ahead,” Chase replied. “It totally slipped my mind.”

  “Not much longer, sweetheart, and you’ll feel better,” Jarrod told Holly.

  Chase looked over at Holly as he drove. Her face was pinched with pain. Jarrod pulled her toward him and placed a small kiss on her head, causing Chase to smile.

  “I’m glad,” Holly told them. “Cause my wrists hurt like a bitch.”

  “Language, baby girl,” Jarrod said. “What does that even mean?”

  “Not sure. It just really fuckin’ hurts.”

  Chase couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from his chest. Their woman had a potty mouth when she was injured.

  Chapter Six

  Holly sat quietly in between Chase and Jarrod, as they waited for the doctor to come into the exam room. Her wrists and elbows hurt like the dickens and she was getting close to tears. She didn’t want to break down in front of the brothers, but goddamn it, she was in pain.

  They were both being very kind to her, too. She didn’t know why, not after the way she embarrassed herself in front of them. She hadn’t seen them since her drunken folly. Now she was injured and in pain and they were looking after her.

  Holly couldn’t tell them about Candy. She knew that she had something to do with her fall, but she just couldn’t prove it. The way she had come up all innocent asking if she was all right and if she could help, just made Holly so angry she could spit.

  At least Chase and Jarrod didn’t seem to fall for her false act of caring and concern. When she had touched Jarrod, rubbing herself on him, Holly had seen red. If she hadn’t been so injured, Holly would have punched her in the eye.

  Holly heard the door open and close as the doctor walked in. She looked up in surprise when she heard the deep voice of the doctor that entered.

  “Holly Butterfield?” the doctors asked. “I’m Doctor Landon Harkins. They tell me you have hurt your wrists.”

  Holly’s mouth flapped open and shut, but no words came out. Doctor Landon was gorgeous. Not ruggedly hot like Chase and Jarrod, but supermodel hot. He had a chiseled face and deep bottle-green eyes. His styled black hair was cut short and neat and shone in the lights from overhead.

  Holly had never seen such perfection in a man. He was even built well. His muscles bulged under his white lab coat, and Holly thought she might have drooled. He wore a light-blue shirt with a dark-blue tie and dark-navy slacks.

  Holly blushed when he lifted one sculpted eyebrow and smiled at her. She looked at the men either side of her and noticed their scowls, before she ducked her head again.

  “What happened to Doctor Wiseman?” Chase asked, his displeasure evident in his tone.

  Holly had to hide her delight. They were jealous. Oh, she felt nothing for the hot, hot doctor. He didn’t get her blood boiling and her juices flowing the way that Chase and Jarrod did, but he was sure nice to look at.

  Holly hadn’t seen him around town. She would have remembered. Nor had any of her friends gossiped about him either. He must be really new to town. She was just about to ask him when he spoke.

  “He is away on leave and I’m taking his patients for awhile,” he said. “I’ve only been in town for a week.”

  “That’s lovely,” she replied. “Can we get on with this now? I’m in a bit of pain.”

  “Sure thing. Just come over here and sit on the bed and let me have a look at you.”

  Holly slowly stood and walked over to the table. She had to let out a laugh when Chase and Jarrod came with her, and after Jarrod lifted to sit on the bed, they both went back to protectively hovering on either side.

  “Gentlemen, if you could take a seat again so I can examine the patient.”

  “We stay,” Chase curtly answered. The doctor held his hands up in surrender. Holly wanted to roll her eyes at them. They were both sitting so close the doctor had no way to get anywhere near her.

  “Please,” she said. “I’m fine, and the doctor needs room to examine me properly.” Chase nodded down at her and, after placing a small kiss on her forehead, moved over to the chairs.

  Jarrod wasn’t so subtle when he planted his mouth on Holly’s. She lost herself in his kiss until she went to grab onto him and moved her wrist. Pain shot through her arm and she broke off the kiss gasping.

  “We will be right over there if you need us,” Jarrod said, before walking to sit next to Chase.

  “I’ll take a look at the right wrist first,” the doctor told her. “It looks worse than the left.”

  Holly sucked in a breath as he gently took her arm in his hand and looked her wrist over.

  “Can you move your fingers?” he asked. Holly tried, and nothing happened but shooting pain up her arm.

  “No, it hurts.”

  “We will need to take X-rays, but I think it is broken. Let me look at the other one.”

  The doctor spent more time examining the left wrist and elbow moving
it back and forth and gently pressing against it. While it hurt, it was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her right.

  “Your men are very intense,” the doctor said quietly, as he continued to examine her arm.

  “Yes.” It was all Holly could think to say. She couldn’t explain their relationship to herself, let alone someone else.

  “They have nothing to worry about. Not from me.”

  Hey, that was a bit harsh, Holly thought. She knew he was out of her league, but to so bluntly tell her was a bit much.

  “Don’t look at me like that, doll. I’m gay. I don’t normally tell people I just met, but your men look ready to smash my face in, so I thought I better mention it before they wipe the floor with me.”

  Holly looked over at the brothers scowling in their direction and back at the hot doctor. All she could do was blink. Chase and Jarrod were acting very possessive and it was confusing her.

  “They wouldn’t fight you. I don’t think. I’ve only ever seen them fight with each other. It’s like sport to them.”

  “Good to know, but I’ll keep my distance just in case.”

  Holly smiled at the doctor and felt more and more at ease in his presence. He was still the hottest man to walk the earth, gay or not, and Holly still wanted to stare at him. Wait until the girls heard about him.

  “I’ll get you some painkillers and then we can go to the X-ray room and take films of your wrist. I’ll take films for both arms just in case, but I believe that it’s only the right we need to be concerned about.”

  * * * *

  Jarrod watched as Holly sent sly looks at the new doctor. He knew that he and Chase were acting like Neanderthals, but he didn’t care. Holly was his and Chase’s. She could look all she wanted, but it was them she was going home with and them she would be kissing and touching and obeying.

  Once they got her back to their place, they would introduce her to the lifestyle, the pampering side of it anyway. Once her wrists were healed they could explore things further.

  “Let’s go and get those X-rays, shall we?” Doc Landon said, helping Holly down from the table. Jarrod let out a small growl when the doctor placed his hands on her waist.

  Holly looked over at him in surprise.

  “Did you just growl?” she asked, her eyes wide in shock.

  Chase was covering his mouth to hide his laughter. Jarrod wanted to reach across and wipe the smirk from his brother’s face.

  “Yes,” Chase replied for him. “He did. I never knew you could make a sound like that. It was most impressive.”

  Jarrod had surprised himself when he had made the noise. It just popped out of him when the doctor had touched what he considered his.

  Holly shook her head and turned back to the doctor. “The X-rays.”

  “Sure,” he replied. “This way.”

  Jarrod and Chase stood to follow and they all shuffled down the hall toward the back of the surgery.

  Doc Landon opened a door and flicked on the lights and they all walked into a stark barren room. The X-ray machine sat along the back wall, hanging over a single bed. The only other object in the room was the light box on the opposite wall, so the doctor could read the films.

  Holly walked over to the machine and placed her arm along the bed with her fingers laid out flat.

  “You’ve done this before,” Doc Landon said. He was strapping on a vest as he walked over to the machine.

  “Yes,” Holly replied. “If it’s broken this will be the third time I have broken this wrist.”

  The doc looked down at Holly with concern. That had Jarrod worried, and he walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder for support. Chase walked over and stood next to him. They both looked at the doctor for answers.

  Holly was clumsy, but she never said anything about broken bones. Jarrod wondered if it had something to do with her ex-boyfriend. She had never said that he was abusive, just that he was a lazy jerk that stole all her life savings.

  Jarrod almost growled again at the thought of any man raising a hand to his woman. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know her then. No one touched what was his. Abusing women was unacceptable, any woman, and Jarrod hated abusers.

  “There was nothing in your records about any previous breaks,” Doc Landon said.

  “No,” she replied. “I broke it back in Chicago, and my records were never transferred over.”

  The doctor sighed and walked back out of the room. Jarrod almost followed him.

  “I never thought my old injuries were such a big deal.”

  Jarrod hesitated to ask her the question he desperately wanted to know. He looked over at his brother and saw Chase wore an equal expression of concern and curiosity.

  “Baby,” he said. “I don’t want to upset you, but how did you manage to break your wrist more than once?”

  “I was just about to ask the same question,” Doc Landon said, as he walked back into the room carrying Holly’s file.

  “I can hardly remember anymore,” she answered. “The first time I fell of my bike. I was eight. Um…the second was my other wrist and that was falling down stairs. I was twelve. At fourteen, I broke my right wrist again. That was the monkey bars at a playground. Um…when I was sixteen, I got hit by a car and broke two ribs and got a concussion. Then there was the time I—”

  “You mean there’s more?” Chase had practically roared the question. Jarrod glared at him and the doctor looked up from where he was scribbling in Holly’s notes. Holly looked close to tears at Chase’s reaction.

  “Yes,” she said and then coughed to hide her tears. Jarrod wasn’t fooled, though, and he pulled her into his arms to comfort her.

  “Chase isn’t mad at you, baby,” he told her. “He is just upset that you have hurt yourself so much.”

  “It’s not like I did it on purpose. They were accidents.”

  Holly buried her head in his chest, and he pulled her in tighter to his body. He had to be careful of her wrist, but it felt good to have her in his arms.

  His cock grew inappropriately in his Wranglers and he had to shuffle back so Holly didn’t feel what she did to him. Now wasn’t the time for an erection, but his cock didn’t want to listen when Holly’s soft and supple body was pressed against him.

  “We need to finish, so we can get your wrist plastered,” Doc Landon interrupted them. “It will most likely be broken again. Your bones will be more susceptible to breaks and will be weaker. We will know more once I take the X-rays, but hopefully you won’t need surgery.”

  “Surgery?” Jarrod asked. She had just fallen down. He didn’t understand why she would need surgery.

  “Holly has broken the same wrist more than once. Each time she re-breaks it, the bone is harder to heal. Depending on the extent of the damage, she might need a rod and pins put in to support the wrist and help the bone heal.”

  Holly moved out of his arms and put her hand back on the machine. Jarrod could tell she was exhausted. She had dark circles under her eyes and still wore a pinched look on her delicate little face.

  “Let’s get this done so we can get you home to bed,” he told her. Holly didn’t answer him, but she nodded her head.

  The doctor moved the machine into position and then asked Jarrod and Chase to step out of the room. They didn’t want to leave her, but the doctor assured them that it was only for a second.

  Jarrod shut the door behind him, before turning to his brother.

  “She’ll be all right,” he said. “The doctor will look after her.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” Chase replied.

  Jarrod smiled at his brother’s remark. Doc Landon had been nothing but professional. They were just possessive dominant bastards.

  “Holly sure has hurt herself a lot,” Jarrod said. She must have been in and out of hospitals a lot as a kid. Her medical expenses must have been astronomical.

  “I feel so helpless,” Chase said. “I want to take away her pain and fix it all for her, but I can’t.
It’s different with animals and it makes me feel useless.”

  “I understand. Our woman is hurting and you want to fix it. All we can do is take her home and look after her until she’s better.”

  That’s what Jarrod had to keep telling himself. He wanted to go back to the bar and find out what caused her to fall and heaven help the person that had caused this, but she needed him now. That would have to wait. They could look into it tomorrow, once they had her settled.

  Then there was the ex they still had to talk about, too. Which gave Jarrod an idea. Why hadn’t they thought about it before? The Carters ran a security company. Brock Crater specialized in computers. He would get Brock to look into this ex of Holly’s, and maybe they could retrieve some of her missing money.

  Jarrod smiled and walked back inside the room when he heard the doctor call out. She didn’t need the money, not now that she had them to look after her, but he couldn’t let the bastard get away with it. Holly would probably tell him to let it go, but that was all right. He just wouldn’t tell her until it was done.

  Chapter Seven

  Holly sat quietly in between Jarrod and Chase. They were in Chase’s truck driving back to the MC ranch, and Holly was exhausted and in pain. The doctor had taken the X-rays and told her while her wrist was broken, she wouldn’t need surgery. They would watch its progress, and if it healed properly she should be fine.

  Her other wrist was just sprained and was wrapped in a bandage for support. She was to go easy and not to strain it while her other wrist was out of commission. Her elbows were just bruised and would be fine.

  He had then given her some painkillers and set her wrist in plaster. Before he let her leave, he had given her strict care instructions and a warning to be careful. Then he had turned her over to Chase and Jarrod’s care.

  She had tried to convince them to drop her back at Emily’s, but the men had refused. They were taking her home so they could watch her, and she was too exhausted to argue with them.

  Then she remembered that they still lived at home with their parents. She had met Helen and her husbands when they had come into the Stephie’s for a meal, but it hadn’t been more than a passing hello or taking their order.