by KB Winters
“You want us to be friends?”
“Among other things, yes. Is that so hard to believe?”
“Honestly, Wheeler, it is. I tried to get to know you all these months, without any ulterior motive. I just wanted to know the man I was sharing my body with. You didn’t want that, and you made it abundantly clear.”
“And things can’t change? I’m just a broken down, pill popping solider, right? Once a thing, always a thing. Is that it?”
She shrugged and spoke around her hamburger. “Your words not mine.”
“Bullshit.”
“I admire your service even though you’re determined to forget it ever happened. I don’t give a damn about your leg. It means you paid a heavy price to help keep this nation safe, damn you. I don’t think you’re even a pill popper. I just think it’s easier to take a pill rather than, I don’t know, maybe fix your problems.” She took another bite, this one angry and forceful, leaving me speechless. “Nothing to say? I’m not surprised.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you never, ever have anything to say Wheeler. It’s kind of your thing, the quiet, brooding, bad boy. I thought it was just an act, now I’m not so sure.”
Dammit, I was losing her. Again. If I ever had her in the first damn place. She was uninterested at best and putting more distance between us with every passing moment.
“Isn’t that part of the appeal?”
She snorted. “Hardly.”
Ouch. “So it was just the sex, then?”
“Wheeler, I’m not doing this with you. Not today. Not now.” She shook her head, smiling knowingly at me. “I don’t think you really want me, Wheeler. I don’t even think you like me all that much, so really, what is this all about?”
“I want you AB. I want to get to know you, what makes you laugh and cry. What else makes you horny. Why you don’t talk about your parents. Why you came to Opey. I want to know it all.”
“That sounds nice,” she started, and my shoulders relaxed. “But why should I believe you?”
Damn, Peaches was right. AB didn’t trust easily. Maybe not at all. “Because I’m saying the words to you. To your face. Right now.” I leaned forward on my elbows until just a few inches separated us. “That way when I start to show you the truth, you’ll know why.” When I pulled back, AB looked bewildered. Completely shocked by my words.
“You…what. Why? No.” It wasn’t coherent or positive, but strangely I wasn’t worried.
“I mean it. Because you’re kind of incredible, AB. A chance, that’s all I’m asking for.” It was all I needed.
“A chance.” She whispered the words and closed her eyes, almost as if she was trying to envision what it might look like, giving me a second chance. Was she wondering if I’d show up for sex and then leave before the condom hit the trash can?
“I don’t know, Wheeler.”
“That’s the point, AB. I fucked up, and we both know it. But we’re never gonna know if we’re good together if we don’t try, right? That’s pretty much the scientific method.”
Her serious expression melted and a small laugh escaped. “Is it? Then how can I—”
The nurse from earlier approached our table with an apologetic smile. “Dr. Keyes, I just got a call from Darryl, a bull broke free over at the county fair. At least a dozen injuries coming our way, including two cowboys with hoof marks where there shouldn’t be none.” She caught her breath and flashed a shrug my way before shuffling away.
“Damn.” For a moment, AB looked stricken, and I realized she dealt with the same trauma I did, only it was all day every day, Nonstop. “I have to…go.”
“Do what you have to do. We’ll talk again, AB. Soon.”
She nodded and stood, letting down her long brown hair and retying it into a ponytail and pushing those sexy red glasses back up her nose. “At least I got to finish most of my breakfast. Look, Wheeler, I appreciate your sentiment, and I admit, I’m tempted. But I just can’t. I need to make better decisions.”
“And I’m a bad decision?”
She nodded. “No, that’s not right. I don’t regret it, but we don’t even see eye to eye on casual sex. Surely you can see how complicated anything else might be.”
“Complicated is my thing. I’m not afraid. Are you?” Before she could come up with a smart ass answer, I brushed a gentle kiss to her lips and walked away. This wasn’t over yet. In fact, I was just getting started.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Annabelle
“You have a good evenin’, Doc.” Tish called out her farewell with half of her body already inside the passenger seat of her car as she waved at me. “Enjoy having a day off. You’ve earned it!”
I sighed and sent a tired wave to Tish and her family. “Thanks. Enjoy your day of shopping.”
“Oh I plan to, honey. Good night!”
It was hard not to smile around Tish, even at the end of a twelve-hour shift that had turned into a fifteen-hour shift thanks to a texting teenager. Exhaustion wore on me, heavier by the second as I slid into my own car and aimed my wheels towards the familiar path home. My mind wandered all over the place, at everything and somehow also at nothing. My thoughts swung wildly from the kid I couldn’t save today to Wheeler’s words.
To the man himself. True to his word, for the past five or six months he’d been putting forth a full frontal assault to show me that he gave a damn. Whether it was the cutest text messages telling me little details about him, like his favorite color, blue. Or his favorite meal, fried chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, and sweet peas. His favorite movie, Forrest Gump, but he tells people it’s Born on the Fourth of July. He’d been making a real effort since brushing that kiss across my mouth in the hospital cafeteria and walking away with his lazy, leggy gait and, I was sure, a satisfied smile on his face.
I still didn’t trust his motives or how long they would last, but it was kind of nice to have someone so eager to talk to me and hear what I have to say. Even if nothing came of it, or if something did but it didn’t last, I promised myself that I would enjoy this. Getting to know a man like Wheeler, so masculine and strong but somehow vulnerable and broken too. It was a compelling mix that beckoned me closer when a smarter woman would be running as fast as her legs would carry her.
“And there he is.” My headlights illuminated his big, masculine form, reclined on a on the steps of my porch, relaxed as all get out with his long legs spread across nearly every step. Every so often he would show up like this, to chat and sometimes more. In the few months since the shootout, I’d almost become used it, though not quite.
I sucked in a deep breath and took in the sight Wheeler made in his dark jeans, bunched around the ankles thanks to his big black leather motorcycle boots. The light gray shirt he wore over his leather vest should have been plain, basic even, but it made him look like every cowboy fantasy I’d ever entertained. And he was on my porch.
Waiting. For me.
With that thought, I took a deep breath and let it out as I pushed open the door of my car and stepped out into the cool night air, letting the soft breeze cool my suddenly overheated skin.
“Wheeler,” I grunted despite the way I stood straight up, taking notice of him. “What are you doing here?”
“Tempting you,” he said with a smile and pushed off the steps until he stood in front of me, tall and imposing with his sexy smile.
“With?” As great as sex with Wheeler was, I was tired to even entertain that thought right now. Mostly, even if my nipples disagreed at the moment.
“Dinner. Made by these hands.” He showed off both sides of his large, slightly scarred hands before picking up two paper bags I hadn’t noticed until now. “What do you say?”
I gave a short nod. I was too tired to fight and wasn’t dumb enough to turn down a home cooked meal made by a handsome man. Yeah, okay, and maybe there was the tiny little fact that I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Wheeler’s words, especially the kind of incredible part. No on
e had ever called me incredible before. Bright and smart, sure. Articulate, without a doubt. Pretty sometimes too, but never incredible.
Hell, I wasn’t sure anyone had ever even thought I was incredible. and it was kind of…exhilarating. To know that this big, strong, capable man thought I was incredible.
“All right come on in,” I told him after a long, drawn out silence.
He flashed a boyish smile that made my knees weak and put his hand on the small of my back, guiding me inside my own home. “I hope you like steak.”
“I’m a Texas girl,” I told him, utterly offended. “Of course I like steak.”
“Good,” he grinned again and this time it was darker, with more intent. “Because I can do excellent things with meat.”
I stared at his too-handsome face for a long moment before I burst out laughing. “I’m sure you can,” I told him on a laugh. “A skill I’m sure comes in very handy at The Barn Door.”
He quirked a brow at me, and I laughed again, suddenly feeling light and young and carefree, an odd thing to feel after fifteen hours of blood, guts and death. “I’ll give you that one for free.”
The heat in his eyes distracted me for a moment, giving Wheeler plenty of time to invade my space, to press his big body against mine until goosebumps broke out on my skin and produced a shiver. Then he leaned in, and before I could think better of it, his lips were on mine. Soft and firm and demanding absolute and total submission. I submitted, because what the hell else could I do when his lips and his tongue glided against mine, harder and harder until I vibrated with need, inching closer because it wasn’t enough.
Nothing was.
Eventually, we broke apart naturally, smiling at each other with giddy, matching grins. “Never gets old,” he growled and kissed me again. This time it was soft, gentle even, and then he stepped back. “Better get going or it’ll be midnight by the time we eat.”
Midnight wasn’t too far off and there was a good chance we’d sit down for dinner about twenty minutes before a new day began. “As long as I can eat it, after I get cleaned up, I don’t care if its breakfast.”
His lips curled into an affectionate grin I couldn’t ignore if I wanted to so I nodded, hiding my nervousness behind a laugh. “Good to know. Bad day at work?”
The concern, genuine concern, in his deep blue eyes affected me in ways I didn’t even understand. I nodded. “Let’s just say it wasn’t good. A hot shower and a stiff drink, and I’ll be as good as new.” I didn’t have to be at the hospital tomorrow so I might even have two stiff drinks.
Wheeler groaned. “Let’s not talk about you naked and in the shower. Not yet.”
“Naked is generally how people shower, Wheeler.” His lips pursed and his jaw clenched, like he was trying really hard to be good. It was a pity really, but since I was covered in dried bodily fluids and probably a few visible spots too, I decided a shower was my main priority. “Music is on the window ledge and booze is in the cabinet. Good luck and try not to burn down my kitchen.”
He laughed. “Oh ye of little faith. You’ll be eating those words right along with my juicy meat.”
The thought of his meat had me shivering, and I hurried to put some distance between us before I did something silly like beg him to toss me on the counter and make me come at least twice. Maybe more, if he was up to it. Hell, if I was up to it. Instead of responding, I slowly climbed the steps and made a beeline to the master bath that had a soaking tub and a glassed in double shower. It was why I’d bought the place and why I refused to get a bigger space.
I took my time in the hot shower, letting the hard spray beat the tension from my muscles until, slowly, I began to feel normal again. As normal as I could after the day, the week, even the month I’ve had. The hot spray beat down my back and over my head, and I let the recent events of my life replay in my mind. Sewing up bullet holes and cuts, treating bruises and abrasions. All that was in addition to my work at the hospital, fixing broken bones, defective organs or parts mangled by motor vehicles. I had to wonder, when the hell did this become my life?
When did I keep company with bikers? When did I have friends period, never mind the kind who kept big, life altering secrets from me? When did I start letting strange men into my home to take over my kitchen? This life wasn’t what I pictured, not even a little bit, when I was a little girl trying hard to impress my father. But as I stepped from the shower and dried off, taking my time drying my hair and rubbing moisturizer all over my body, I realized I was happy with my lot in life.
Mostly.
Would I love to have a man look at me the way Gunnar looks at Peaches? Absolutely, but my life isn’t suffering because I don’t. I have a job I love and I happen to be very good at it. I have a great home with an amazing shower, a growing group of friends that could almost be classified as a support system. I had nothing to be down about or ashamed of, and I wasn’t.
This wasn’t the life I’d mapped out with the eyes and thoughts of a little girl, but it was the life created by a woman who knew life didn’t always turn out how I thought it would. It was a good life and right now, it featured a sexy as hell motorcycle-riding veteran with a bad attitude and a body made for sin.
And I was upstairs, lost in my thoughts. Squandering the moment.
I got my head screwed on straight and fifteen minutes later I was dressed for comfort, not to impress, and headed back towards the kitchen. “Smells like more than steak in here.” It smelled divine, like peppers and garlic and cumin. My stomach growled at the aroma and I was grateful for the rock drifting from the wireless speakers.
“That’s because it’s steak tacos.” He smiled, looking so proud, and I felt myself being pulled in to his orbit, into the world where he ruled over all.
“I even made salsa.” He nodded towards the table where a big bowl of salsa sat beside a platter of chips. “And I toasted the chips.”
I turned to him and arched a brow. “Careful, Wheeler, I might start getting ideas.”
He grinned. “That’s what I have in mind, AB.”
There it was again, those eyes and the nickname and the playful smile that actually made me start getting ideas. Damn him.
“Well let’s see if the chips and salsa impress.” I felt Wheeler’s blue eyes on me as I drew closer to the table and picked up a warm chip before running it through the salsa.
“Damn,” I said after a savory bite, “that is impressive. And spicy,” I told him with a smile.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet, AB.”
***
“You make a damn good margarita, AB.” Wheeler smiled at me from across the sofa where we relaxed with a pitcher of margaritas on the coffee table beside the platter of chips and salsa. Talking. Again. Getting to know each other, with our clothes on.
“Should I be offended at your surprise?”
He grinned that aw shucks grin that I was sure had all the old ladies in town pinching his cheeks and longing to pinch his ass. “Not offended. You’re a regular Renaissance woman.”
I laughed. “Good save.” Talking to Wheeler was nice. When he wasn’t being a surly ass who hid every emotion behind a steel wall, he was actually charming. And funny. And so damn sexy, I needed to make this my last margarita or we’d be naked before he had a chance to mash up the guacamole. “So, why steak tacos?”
“You love steak and I love tacos.” His words were simple but they meant so much to me.
“I do love a good piece of thick, juicy meat.” I was playing with fire, I knew that, but a gorgeous man had kicked off his shoes and made food to nourish me from scratch, I was allowed to act a little bit slutty, right?
“Annabelle,” he groaned and dropped his head between his arms. “You’re killing me.”
“By talking about steak?” I blinked slowly, feigning innocence, enjoying toying with him. Just a little.
“AB,” he said, his voice a warning.
“I thought guys loved talking about steak. There’s so many cuts of meat. Thick. Thi
ck and juicy. Big. Big and juicy. So juicy that it makes a mess. Everywhere.” Okay, maybe that was pushing it a little. I blamed exhaustion and margaritas, and the calming presence of Wheeler.
“Annabelle,” he growled and the sound of my name on his lips, send a visible shiver through me that he not only noticed, but decided to pounce on immediately. Wheeler slid across the sofa until our bodies touched. It was an innocent touch, his knee and thigh pressed up against mine, but the intent in his eyes wasn’t innocent. Not at all.
“You’re playing with fire.”
Yes, I was playing with fire and I knew it, but the margaritas were making me feel a little bit reckless. I was overdue. “Maybe so, but it’s a controlled burn. Right?”
Though Wheeler was fully capable of losing himself in the midst of carnal pleasure, I knew I didn’t have to worry about him getting lost in anything more significant than that. Even if I was slowly starting to wonder myself.
Wheeler’s serious expression morphed into a dark smile. He leaned in with a nod. “It can be controlled, but when it comes to you babe, all bets are off.”
I wanted a second, just a moment to let those words and the way he said them sink in, but his lips were on mine in an instant. They were firm and commanding, perfectly at home taking charge of the kiss, directing my movements like a skilled maestro. His mouth devoured mine and his tongue played and teased until I vibrated and purred like a kitten in his arms.
I couldn’t get enough of this man, and it was damn disturbing, a thought that, no matter how fast or frequently it came, I couldn’t quell the heat simmering inside of me. Every swipe of his tongue was another bolt of lightning darting through my body, leaving streaks of white heat imprinted on my skin. His hands roamed and wandered, adding to the heat already making my skin boil. “Wheeler,” I moaned when his tongue skated along my collarbone. “Please.”
A primal grunt sounded at my words and he deepened the kiss, pulling me onto his lap so our bodies were perfectly aligned and holding me close, like he couldn’t bear for me to be too far away from him. “AB, I can’t resist you.”
