Skirt Steak (Grade-A Beefcakes 5)

* * *

I sagged against the wall as my heart was beating out of my chest.

Oh. My. God.

What was I going to do? I pulled my phone from my purse, pressed Tommy’s number with shaky fingers. It went right to voicemail. I hung up, shoved the phone away.

Shit. Shit! A woman came down the hall, smiled at me as she made her way to the bathroom. I realized then I’d been gone for a while. Liam! Oh, shit. He was coming from the station to pick me up.

I took a deep breath, then another as I made my way back through the restaurant. Liam was walking toward me, a big grin on his face. I didn’t see the others, so I had to assume they’d already left. God, he looked so good, so handsome in his jeans and heavy coat. He took his hat off when he saw me. I wanted to wrap my arms around him, have him hug me close, kiss the top of my head. I wanted to hear his heartbeat as I pressed my head to his chest, breathed in his clean scent.

But no. I couldn’t let him do that. He was the sheriff! I was going to have to break the law or Tommy would be cut up into little bits. Then there was Porter. It was his job to prosecute criminals, to put them in jail. They were both on the right side of the law. They worked for justice, for keeping the peace. And they were dating a soon-to-be criminal. What was I going to do?

I couldn’t tell them the truth. Not yet. Not now. I had to think this through. If I didn’t do what those men wanted, they’d kill Tommy. If I did, then I could ruin both their careers.

“Hey, baby.” His smile slipped when he got a close look at me. “What’s the matter?”

I had to think of something fast, of some excuse as to why I was all freaked out. Miserable. Scared. I was a horrible actress, and there was no way I could fake being all right after that.

“I, I… um, got my period. I’ve got horrible cramps.”

He frowned, but didn’t bolt like some guys would have at the mention of girl stuff. Fortunately, it seemed he wasn’t knowledgeable enough about an IUD to know I hadn’t had a period in years.

“Okay, let’s get you home and what? Need some aspirin and a heating pad?”

“Can you just take me home? To my house?” I clarified. It was easy to feign miserable cramps when I felt miserable. “I’ve got everything I need there and I’m not very good company right now.”

I wanted to throw the covers of my own bed over my head and think. Hide.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and steered me toward the door. “Sure, but I’m staying with you. No way will I leave my girl alone when she’s hurting.”

I almost started crying then because he was so fucking sweet, but willed it back.

An hour later, I was spooned up against a sleeping Liam in my bed. He hadn’t done anything except kiss me sweetly and pull me into his arms. Porter had been called and hoped I felt better, but had said he was glad Liam was with me. Two caring men. They loved me. But they wouldn’t soon enough when I broke the law. As I listened to Liam’s deep breathing, I stared at the dark walls and wondered what I was going to do.

I made it through my shift at the hospital, thankful the number of scheduled surgeries was small. Both Liam and Porter had texted to check in. It had been easy to reply on a break since the messages were short and easy to fake. Over lunch, I went into one of the emergency stairwells and tried calling Tommy again. To my surprise, he answered.

“Hey, sis.”

“Tommy, are you all right?” I asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Where are you?”

“What, you want to sic your boyfriends on me?”

I pulled my cell away from my head and stared at it for a few seconds. “No, I thought maybe two guys, one with a crooked nose might have found you.”

Now he was quiet. “Do what they say, Jilly.”

“Yeah, I figured that out,” I muttered. If I knew what they looked like, then that meant I’d talked with them. Tommy didn’t even ask if I was all right or be mad because they’d approached me. Threatened me.

“They’re going to hurt me if you don’t.”

If there was a possibility of a brain transplant, it was my brother who had gotten one. Who was this guy talking to me? I didn’t hear anything of my little brother in him. “Hurt you? They threatened me, Tommy.”

“You’ve got the sheriff and the prosecutor to protect you from jail. Just get the scripts and everything will be fine.”