I know I’m manhandling her, but there’s no way I’m going to let her go. Not like this. And even though she’s quite a bit shorter than me... she’s definitely quick. I reach my arm around her waist and haul her back against me. I suck in a breath at the feel of her tight little body against mine. Fuck me, I could bend her over the tattoo chair right now and take her without a second thought, but I don’t want to scare her. When she doesn’t resist, I hold on to her for just a second longer before I turn her in my arms. “Hold up. You can’t just say all that and then just leave. Let’s talk this out.”
I smile down at her, going for an innocent look, but I don’t know if I’m pulling it off. She smells of honeysuckle, and I could stay right here, breathing her in for days if she’d let me. Her hand goes to my chest, but she doesn’t push me away. Our lips are so close to each other all I have to do is dip my head and I could taste her. The pull is too hard to resist, and I start to lower my head just as a ring sounds from her purse that is smooshed between us. She does pull away then and reaches in to grab the fucking cock blocker. “Sorry, I have to get this.”
I’m towering over her and see the name Jamie on the caller ID. I clench my hands into fists as my mind starts to wander. Is Jamie a man or a woman? Does Katie have a man? If she does, she won’t for long.
“Oh my God, no!” she says. “I told him not to get on that. His dad was supposed to fix it and never – forget it. Yes, I’ll meet you at Mercy.”
She hangs up the phone, and her eyes are wide and tormented. “Lane—my son—fell from the treehouse. I have to go.”
I grab my keys off the counter and follow behind her. We get all the way out on the sidewalk before she realizes I’m following her. “Where are you going?”
I grab on to her elbow and pull her around to the side lot where my truck is parked. There’s no way I’m going to let her drive all the way to Mercy Hospital in Jasper. “I’m taking you to the hospital. You’re in no condition to drive.”
“You’re not driving me there. You need to work. I’m fine.”
“I need to make sure you get to your son in one piece. C’mon, up you go.” I have her lifted up into the passenger side of my truck without another word from her. Before I slam the door, I tell her. “Put your seatbelt on.”
I’m not usually this bossy, but from the second I saw the look on her face when she found her son was hurt, I knew there was no way I was just going to let her go. I get into the driver’s side and spin tires pulling out of the lot. It’s almost a thirty-minute drive to Jasper, but I know I can make it in less.
“What did Jamie say exactly?” I ask, trying to get her talking.
“She said that he probably has a stable fracture of the ulna bone. It’s already swelling and painful to the touch.” She must catch my confused look because she continues. “Jamie is a nurse. We work together at the hospital.”
“How old is Lane?” I ask her, trying to keep her talking.
“He’s five years old. He was playing on the treehouse. My ex-husband has said over and over he was going to fix the railing on it, but he never did,” she says in a disgusted voice.
We talk the remainder of the trip, mostly about Lane. Katie texts back and forth with Jamie and mumbles something about texting her ex. We pull into the lot, and I pull up right next to the emergency doors. She’s already got the door open and is jumping out before I’m fully stopped. “Thank you so much for this, Trey. I owe you one.”
I shake my head. Someone else might get put off by the fact that this woman is constantly trying to distance herself, but not me because I’m not going to let it happen. “Go on in. I’m going to park, and I’ll be right behind you.”
Her eyes widen. “You don’t have to—"
“Go,” I interrupt her. “I’ll be right in.”
She shuts the door, and I wait until she walks into the entrance before I pull out to park. I all but run to where I dropped off Katie. A nurse is waiting for me when I walk in. Her eyes take me in. “Hi... are you here with Katie?”
I nod.
“Okay, well, she said to bring you back when you came in.”