I close my eyes again. I can feel the hot pain in my leg from the memory.
“What did he do to you?” Brent’s voice is level but there’s a strange anger there, almost a malice.
“Pushed me,” I say. “We have steps… we were upstairs when the fight started. I want to get away from him, tried to get downstairs. I made it halfway down before he kicked me in the back. I flipped, hit the stairs once, then smashed down onto my leg.”
He sucks in a breath. “Jesus.”
“I know. He apologized after but things haven’t been the same since. Yesterday… he took me to meet the rancher and his son. Dave and Michael. They’re not that bad actually. Michael’s not my type, but he seems nice enough.”
“Your dad did that to you.” His voice is calm but his eyes are burning hot embers.
“I know.”
“Amber. We need to call the police.”
I reach out without thinking. I take his hand and stare in his eyes. “No. You can’t.”
“Amber.” He holds my hand in both of his. “Your father kicked you down the stairs. He broke your femur in a really horrific way. We have to call the police.”
“No,” I say again. “I swear, Brent. If you do that, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll tell them you’re a liar.”
“Why would you defend him?”
“I’m not.” I pull my hand away. “But I’m not going to the police on my own father. I don’t know them and I don’t trust them. And more than that, my father donates a lot of money to the cops. He has friends on the force. I just… I don’t believe they’ll help me.”
Brent shakes his head. “You can’t stay with him. You absolutely can’t be around him.”
“I know.” I bite my lip. “I can’t marry that boy. I’m not going to do it.”
“I know,” he says. “You’re not going anywhere near them again.”
I stare into his eyes. He stares back at me and I can’t help but wonder… “Why are you doing this?”
“Because,” he says.
“Because why?”
He seems to struggle for a moment. “When I saw you… your limp, your break… and talked to you, I just… I knew I had to find out what really happened. I knew I could help you if you told me the truth. And now I know I’m going to.”
“That doesn’t explain why.”
He leans toward me, eyes fierce. “Because I want you, Amber. And I protect those that I want.”
I stare back at him, heart racing. I can’t believe he just said that. I feel like now we’ve gone past the point of no return. He’s not my doctor anymore. He’s a man, and his eyes tell me that he wants a lot more than just a professional relationship.
And I feel the same way. He’s handsome, gorgeous really. He’s muscular and tall and everything I want. I don’t care if he was my doctor.
He’s not anymore. He’s something else.
“What do we do?” I ask.
“Finish lunch. We’ll figure out what to do after that.”
“Are you… sure? You don’t owe me anything. You know that, right?”
“I told you. I protect what I want, Amber. And I want you.”
I feel that thrill again. I just nod at him, like there’s no way I could argue.
“Eat,” he says. “Go ahead. We might as well.”
He’s seething with rage. I can see it all over. He attacks his food like it murdered his puppy. I take a few bites of the eggs then nibble at the toast before sipping the water.
An odd feeling rolls over me. It’s part relief, part fear… and part desire. I want this man more than I thought I could, but I’m so afraid of what happens now. At the very least, I’m relieved to have told someone my story.
And relieved that he believed me.
We finish eating and he puts some cash on the table. “Come on.” He leads me out, helping me along. I limp after him, down the ramp, and toward a big black truck parked in the back.
“Of course you have a truck,” I say with a smile.
“It’s Texas. When you move here, they just hand you one.”
“That and a gun rack.”
“Absolutely.” He laughs but there’s tension in his voice. We reach his truck and he opens the door.
I turn around to thank him and find him inches away from me. He puts his hands on my hips, head cocked slightly.
“I meant it when I said I wanted you,” he says, his voice pitched low. “And I meant it when I said I’d protect you. I won’t let him hurt you again. I’m going to take you home, and we’ll figure out what to do together. If things get bad… you lock yourself in your room and call me. Okay?”
“I can’t ask that from you.”
“You don’t have to.”
He leans down and kisses me.
I feel that spark again, but this time it’s a huge jolt. I kiss him back and shock myself with my own hunger. I taste his lips, his tongue, and if we weren’t in public right now, I’d want more him from.