Talkin' Trash (Bear Bottom Guardians MC 2)

She was wearing navy blue scrubs with bright turquoise tennis shoes. Her brown hair was up in the familiar bun that women could accomplish in half a second with very little effort, and she had a slight smile on her face as she nodded every few seconds.

“Can I help you?”

I looked over to find Tyson glaring at me, and I smiled. “Yes, actually. I’m here with Conleigh’s lunch.”

“You can leave it here,” he suggested.

I wasn’t born yesterday, moron, my look said.

“I’m sure I could,” I said. “But I want to talk to her. I haven’t seen her since yesterday.”

Tyson’s face soured, but it was the woman beside him that caught my attention.

“You’re Linc?” the woman asked.

She had curly blonde hair that reached mid-back, and she had a beautiful face. She was gorgeous.

But…she wasn’t Conleigh.

“Yep,” I confirmed, my eyes going to her name badge on her left breast pocket. “Pru. Pru Mackenzie, by chance?”

The woman beamed. “That’s me!”

I laughed and offered her my free hand. “Nice to finally meet you. Conleigh talks about you all the time.”

Pru’s eyes shined. “Good things, I hope.”

“Well,” I hesitated. “Mostly.”

Pru threw her head back and laughed.

She was really pretty, and when she laughed, she was even prettier.

But, I had a thing for a foul-mouthed little pain-in-my-ass who was in a perpetually bad mood. One with a heart of gold, a killer smile, and a touch that threw me off balance.

“Linc? What are you doing here?”

I turned to find Conleigh hurrying toward me.

I took her in, studying everything.

She had a pen mark in her right hand, and a pocketful of what looked like Band-Aids, alcohol swabs, and pens. It was her eye that caught my attention, though.

I placed the food on the tall counter at my side and walked forward until I came to a stop directly in front of her.

She didn’t back away but looked at me quizzically as I lifted my hand and touched one finger to her puffy eye.

“Looks bad,” I said softly. “Did you get whatever was in your eye out?”

Conleigh grimaced. “I had Dr. Fernaldi look at it. It’s an abrasion on my cornea. It’ll hurt for a few days while it heals.”

“She’s a trooper,” who I assumed was Dr. Fernaldi exclaimed as he too held out his hand to me. “I’m a big fan. It’s nice to meet you.”

I took it, shook it twice, and then dropped it to turn back to Conleigh.

“Ouch,” I told her. “Good thing you have tomorrow and the next day off…is the redness from you touching it?”

She nodded. “It should be all cleared up for the banquet this weekend. Don’t worry.”

That was the last thing on my mind. “I’m not worried about it. You’re the most beautiful woman in the room regardless of what you wear or what your eye looks like, honey.”

The ‘awww’ from Pru, as well as the gag from Tyson, had me grinning at the girl in front of me.

She drifted closer to me, but not because she was happy about what I said. She moved so that she could lower her voice so that only I could hear what she had to say.

“Laying it on thick, aren’t you?” She snickered so only I could hear.

If she only knew that I meant every goddamn word.

In time, she would.

I was totally in love with the girl and had been since I could remember.

What would she say if I told her that there’d been nobody but her since I’d met her? What would she say if I told her that every single woman that the media said was my latest fling was a lie?

She’d probably call me a liar.

But I wasn’t.

It’d only been her for me and that was something she’d have to come to terms with sooner or later.

But for now, my game was different.

She’d continue to be left in the dark until the perfect time came to make her aware that she was mine and would be for the rest of my life.

But this time, I didn’t want her to think that I didn’t feel every single word that I’d just said.

The woman really was beautiful, no matter what she wore or what she thought she looked like.

“I meant every word,” I told her, lowering my voice. “Now, let’s eat…unless you’re busy.”

“She’s free for a break.” Pru broke into our conversation. “But she only has thirty minutes because that’s all we can spare, so you’ll have to eat fast.”

I winked in her direction. “I can do fast.”

And we all knew exactly what I meant with that innuendo, even McFuckFace who was staring at me like I was a cat turd pulled out of the litter box by his dog.

I grabbed the food just as Conleigh grabbed my hand and led me to the staff break room that was just outside of the ER.