The Damaged Heroes Collection [Box Set #1: The Damaged Heroes Collection] (BookStrand Publishing Mainstream)

by James, Sandy

  “I beg your pardon?” Her somewhat garbled words were getting harder to understand.

  Seth tried to remember what she’d told him about herself on opening night. Hadn’t she said she was twenty-six? “How old are you?”

  “Old enough.” She gulped down the last of her beer and raised her hand to get the waitress’s attention. Unfortunately, Brian’s head happened to be in the way, and Katie inadvertently gave him a good smack, the slapping sound loud enough to echo over the music.

  “Hey! Katie, what the hell?” Brian yelled, rubbing his temple.

  “Sorry. Just wanted another drink,” she offered with a slur to the words before waving her arm again.

  “I think you’ve had enough.” Seth grabbed her hand and pulled it out of the air. “I thought you said you didn’t drink much.”

  “Since when’s it your business? Aren’t you tired of butting in my life yet? God, what an ego!” Katie pouted like a child for a moment before some thought perked her up. She looked at Seth, a coy smile spreading across her face. “I sing I’ll think.”

  Seth couldn’t resist laughing at her. “‘I sing I’ll think?’ You’re drunk.”

  “That’s not what I said. I think I’ll sing. Got it, rich boy? Geesh.” She waved her hand in dismissal and then repeated the action, staring at her fingers as they moved.

  Seth shook his head and tried not to laugh at her again, but the woman was plastered.

  Samantha leaned toward her friend. “Katie, I don’t think that’s a good idea tonight.” Her voice was downright parental.

  “Sure, it is. I even know exactly what to sting... to sing,” Katie replied with a giggle and a hiccup.

  Brian chimed in as he shook his head. “Katie, I wouldn’t—”

  She cut him off by waving her hand again. “No, you wouldn’t, but I would.”

  Seth leaned over the table to get Samantha’s attention. “Why don’t you want her to sing?”

  Sam appeared horribly uncomfortable, and she seemed to select her words carefully. “Katie always chooses... um... appropriate songs.”

  “What do you mean? ‘Appropriate?’”

  “She picks songs that match a person, what she thinks he’s like. I don’t really think she should sing to you,” Sam replied.

  “She’s not singing to me.”

  Both Sam and Brian snorted a laugh. Seth scowled at them and turned back to watch Katie.

  She’d made her way to the stage. From her weaving walk, he was concerned whether she would be upright for too much longer. She grabbed the microphone out of Rachel’s hand, pushed the woman out of the way, and then stooped to ponder the selections on the karaoke machine. Rachel actually backed down and went back to the table. Seth had pegged her as too catty to simply step aside. Maybe she’d recognized Katie wasn’t quite... herself. Of course the threatening glares Sam threw at Rachel were probably a bit intimidating.

  After a couple of tries, Katie eventually punched the correct buttons and she moved to the edge of the stage where she teetered awaiting the song’s intro. Turning to face Seth as the music played, she began to sing “You’re So Vain” in a less than steady voice. Katie didn’t make it through the second verse before she slipped off the edge of the stage and found herself sitting on the floor.

  Seth jumped up and ran to her aid. “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head.

  “Time to go home, Carly Simon. Where are your keys?”

  Katie smiled and clutched his proffered hand as he helped her to stand. “In my pants pocket,” she answered before she turned to face him, fisted her hands in his shirtfront, and leaned heavily against his chest. “Wanna play ‘Go Fish’?”

  “Not tonight, Boss. Let’s go.” Seth pulled out his wallet and dropped some money on the table to pay for their bill. “Good night, everyone.” He herded Katie out of the door before anyone would have time to stop them. Once in the parking lot, she obediently handed over the keys to her truck.

  He listened to Katie sing several differing renditions of “You’re So Vain” all the way to the farm. She even rolled down the window and serenaded some cows they passed along the way. While the words might never have come out entirely correct, he most certainly got the gist of her message. He knew he should be offended, but he wasn’t. She made him laugh, even at himself.

  Helping her out of the truck, Seth tried to guide Katie to her office to get her settled in for the night before he returned to the dorm. She would be madder than a hornet when he drove her truck back to the track, but the only other option would be to stay at the farm and sleep on the office floor. Too many people had seen them leave together. Staying at the farm would be a recipe for disaster. With all the gossip he’d heard in his time at the track, he’d grown insight into what Katie meant that day in Arthur’s office. There really were no secrets in the barn.

  Seth wrapped a steadying arm around her waist and led her down the long aisle toward her room. She wasn’t horribly cooperative as she kept dragging her feet and reaching around to put her hand on his butt. “C’mon, Boss. A little help here.”

  She pulled her keychain from his back pocket and planted her feet. “Come to my room, Handsome.” She turned to face him and jiggled the keys.

  Seth furrowed his brow. “Don’t call me that.” He knew the alcohol was talking and not the Katie he knew.

  “Why not? It works for Rachel. She had you eating out of her hands. What do you say, Handsome?”

  She slipped her keys into her pocket, grabbed Seth’s arm, and pushed her chest against his bicep. Seth sucked in his breath and tried hard to stop his physical reaction to her teasing. He wasn’t successful.

  “Katie, don’t call me that,” he scolded. “You’re not Rachel. You’ll never be like her.”

  What he intended to be a compliment was taken as an insult. “I know I’m not as pretty as she is, but I’m a woman too.”

  “Katie, I never said—”

  “I might not come on as strong as she does, but I want you. I want you bad.”

  Clearly drunk, she couldn’t know what she was saying. But she was too close, too feminine, and too willing. He tried to put some distance between them before things went entirely to hell. “Rachel doesn’t want me.”

  Katie put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Bullshit. She wants you, and you damn well know it. She can’t have you, too. Not this time.”

  Seth had not a clue what Katie was rambling on about. “You need to go to bed, Boss.” He tried to take her hand; she jerked it away. Her expression kept shifting between anger and sadness. Her green eyes smoldered then pled for mercy. Seth wished he knew what was hurting her so much because he damn well wanted to make it stop. “You’re not like Rachel.”

  “I could be. If you want me to be. Just watch.” Katie dug her fingers into Seth’s shirt and pulled him to her. Standing on tiptoe, she kissed him before he could even think to block her action. Not that he would have wanted to.

  She retreated before he even had a chance to kiss her back. Katie stood there on unsteady toes, staring up at him with those intense eyes. She still had her fingers clenched in his shirtfront, teetering against him, nothing but her small fists separating them. Then she let out a small, contented sigh. He could feel her breath caress his neck. Such a preposterously simple stimulus to elicit such a response. Just a sigh. All the blood left his brain.

  “That was a nice kiss,” Katie whispered, relaxing her grip and stepping back.

  “Nice kiss, my ass.” Pulling her roughly back against his chest, Seth claimed her mouth and showed her what he thought a real kiss should be.

  Seth made love to her with his lips and his tongue. Her mouth was so warm, and she tasted wonderful. Katie revealed her true passionate nature to him in her zealous response. He’d known all along what hid behind that wall of protection she’d so carefully constructed. She clearly burned as hot as he did.

  Her tongue didn’t hesitate to seek his. He thought he heard her growl, and the sou
nd only made his heart pound harder as the primitive rhythm thrummed through him. Again and again their mouths slanted across each other as their tongues exchanged caress after caress. He’d never had a woman react with such openness, such abandon, or such passion. God, he wanted her. And all because of a sigh.

  She leaned heavily against him. Seth drew her closer in his arms, measured the length of her with his own body. Katie slipped her hands around his neck and laced her fingers through his hair.

  Something in the depths of what remained of Seth’s tenuous self-control began to shout a warning. You’re playing with fire! But he couldn’t seem to find the strength to pull away. His body betrayed his true feelings, stood at attention, refused to push her away. A damned sigh.

  In her drunken state, Katie had absolutely no inhibitions. She pulled her hands back scraping her nails along his shoulders, slipped her arms around his waist, and then slowly lowered her palms to his backside.

  She broke the magic spell the kiss had spun around them. “I love your butt.” Four drunken words ended the enchantment.

  Seth slowly came back to Earth, knowing this wasn’t how it should be. Not here, not now, not like this.

  The sigh’s spell was broken.

  “Katie, stop it,” Seth scolded as he finally found enough of what remained of his shaken sanity to pull away from the intoxicated and intoxicating kiss.

  “I don’t wanna,” Katie pouted. “You taste so good.” She slowly and seductively licked her lips. “Like... um... you.” She stood on tiptoe to try to kiss him again. He groaned as he fought the desire still raging through him, barely controlled, wanting the spell to be cast again.

  “Katie, please,” he pleaded, grasping her shoulders and pushing her firmly away. It wasn’t far enough to do much good. He could still taste her, smell her, want her. “We can’t. You know we can’t.”

  “No. You can’t. I can.”

  “You’re drunk.”

  “And you’re gorgeous.” She moved toward him again; he took a step in retreat. Katie gave him a crooked, naughty smile. “Are you afraid of me?”

  “No, I’m not afraid of... Look, you need to go to bed.”

  She licked her lips again. He tried not to watch. “Sounds like a great idea. Care to join me?”

  Seth desperately hoped she wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning. “Hand over the keys, Katie.”

  She pouted her lip, but she jerked on the keys in her pocket. It only took her three tries to get them out. She held the keychain out and jingled it at Seth.

  He grabbed the keys, and in his befuddled state, it took him a couple of moments to open her office door. When he turned to lead her inside, Seth noticed she had suddenly taken on a green pallor.

  Green. Her favorite color.

  About to grab her and rush her to the bathroom, he jumped when she threw up on his shoes.

  Well, I guess that’s what I get for trying to wear Chinellis with jeans.

  Katie began to sob. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Come on,” Seth said, kicking off his shoes and pulling her out of the hall toward the bathroom. He sat her down on the closed toilet seat, grabbed a washcloth off the towel rack, and ran warm water over it. With a tender touch that came without thought, Seth gently washed her flushed face. She appeared so vulnerable with her eyes closed, humming to herself as if his touch relaxed all of her worries. For a moment, he wondered if she would begin to purr like a cat if a man was lucky enough to make love to her. “Are you better now?”

  She sighed. “Buch metter, Seth. So much better.” Then she hiccupped hard enough to bounce.

  “Where do you keep your shirts?” Katie pointed toward the dresser. After he retrieved a clean garment, he lifted her soiled shirt over her head and threw it in the sink, trying not to stare at her lacey purple bra. But, damn, those were nice breasts. He ached to caress them. Rein it in, Remington. You can’t have her. “Come on, Katie. Lift your arms.” He helped her into the clean shirt.

  Seth took off her shoes, tugged Katie to her feet, and led her to the bed. He dragged back the quilt. “Get in. Time for bed.”

  “All by myself?”

  He patted the pillow. “Yes, Boss. All by yourself. Be a good girl.”

  After finally getting Katie settled, he returned to the bathroom to wash her shirt out in the sink before hanging it over the shower stall to dry. Then using the wash stall hose, he sprayed down the hallway and his shoes to clean things up.

  By the time he walked back into the bedroom to check on Katie, she was asleep. Seth stopped for a moment and leaned his back against the wall. Rubbing his fingers against his forehead, he watched her. Katie’s long, red-gold curls fanned around her head like a halo, and Seth counted the light brown freckles on her nose. She sighed once and smiled but slept on. Another sigh. But he had sobered.

  This one could be more than I can handle.

  He’d never known a woman who could be so fiercely independent and still be comfortable with the many different types of people she worked with in and around the racetrack. And she was a giving person. So many times, he’d seen Katie go out of her way to help people when they needed assistance with an unruly animal or had a problem with equipment. Yet she never asked for anything in return.

  Katie Murphy was unique—one special woman among millions. Seth suddenly realized he could learn to love this one.

  “No woman’s worth that much money,” he reminded himself, quietly slipping out of the room.

  Not even an angel.

  Chapter 11

  “You look like shit.”

  Just the sound of Chris’s voice made Katie cringe. “Probably because I feel like shit,” she mumbled. She could feel her cheeks flame with embarrassment. She still wore her jeans, and she didn’t remember changing her shirt. Her hair had to look as messy as an opened bail of hay. “What are you doing here anyway? It’s your day off.” She whispered the words, fearing anything louder would increase the throbbing in her head.

  “I brought your truck back.” He tossed the keys to her.

  She grabbed them out of the air, wincing at the loud sound they made when they slapped her hand. “My truck? Isn’t it parked out...?”

  No. Oh, my God, no.

  As some memories of the evening came flooding back, Katie fervently wished to be able to pack up all of her belongings and move far, far away. Did she really puke on Seth’s shoes? Maybe someplace like New Zealand would be nice. They raced harness horses there after all.

  She scanned the barn to see if she’d have to deal with the awkwardness over her actions now or if it could be mercifully postponed. To her relief, Chris came alone. “Seth... um... Crash didn’t come with you?”

  “Nah. When I saw your truck this morning, I figured he left you here and drove back to the track. I knocked on his door, and he snarled and threw the keys at me. Didn’t seem a lot perkier than you are today.” He chuckled as he tossed a flake of hay into Jack’s stall. “Of course, he’s not a morning person to begin with.” Chris gave Katie a lopsided smile and began to hum the melody of “You’re So Vain” as he continued feeding the horses.

  “Chris, you can just kiss my—”

  “I can what?” he asked over his shoulder.

  “Never mind,” Katie groaned.

  Brushing her teeth twice didn’t seem to take the layer of film off her tongue, but the hot, albeit short shower relaxed her muscles enough to take the edge off of her pounding head. The barn’s owner really needed to buy a water heater that provided more than a few minutes of hot water.

  Using her damp towel to wipe away the thin layer of condensation from the foggy mirror, Katie took a moment and considered her distorted reflection. “What did you do? God, what must he think of you?” The reflection refused to answer. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.” At least the face staring back at her appeared properly contrite.

  After swallowing some aspirin, Katie dressed and joined Chris as he completed the morning chores.

  �
�Want to catch some breakfast?” Katie asked, hoping some toast and coffee might take the edge off of her aching head and touchy stomach.

  “Nah. Already ate, but I’d like a ride back. I’ve got some plans this afternoon.”

  She jingled her key ring at Chris. The action brought back more memories of her less than ladylike evening. She vowed that she would never set foot in The Place again. “Let’s go.”

  On the ride to the track, Katie’s apprehension grew by leaps and bounds. She didn’t know what she would say to Seth when she saw him. What would he think of her now? Would it be best to start with a huge apology? Maybe a better plan of action would be to act as if none of it ever happened.

  Is there possibly a large sinkhole that might conveniently open up and swallow me whole?

  A complication. That’s all Monday night was—another damn complication. Katie was fed up with snags in her once orderly life. Everything about her existence had always been so simple, so regimented. She had a routine to every aspect of her world and a solid plan in place for her future.

  Then he had arrived.

  Sure, Seth did a great job around the barn. He’d turned out to be a really good groom. And she had to admit it was nice to have more time to train now that both Seth and Chris jogged horses for her. But she had an increasingly hard time keeping Seth from sneaking into her thoughts. Her stable and her mind were no longer her own.

  How could she possibly repair the damage and get things back to the way they were? Or did she really want her life to return to what it was before Seth Remington arrived?

  Katie honestly wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted anymore. And that scared the hell out of her.

  “Is something wrong? Anything I can do?” Chris asked. “You chew on that lip of yours any harder, you’ll draw blood.” After a few silent moments, he tried again. “Katie? Can I help?”

  She sighed. “No. But thanks anyway.”

  “It’ll be all right. It’s not like you two slept—”

  She grimaced, slapping him soundly on the upper arm. “Don’t even say it, Chris.”

  “Well, it’s not. He got back to the dorms about the time I did, so I know he wasn’t at the farm long. Look, you had a few too many beers, and the guy drove you home. Nothing happened. He was a gentleman. Right?”