2.
A JAX
I managed to make it all the way down the hill to the coffee shop without dying, but I had a feeling that the walk back up to Rooster’s cabin might be what killed me after all. However, if I stayed in that room for another minute under the watchful eye of my older brother, I’d end up back in prison - this time for life, unless they had the death penalty in this state. That was probably something I should look into.
The steps leading up to the office where I knew I’d find my friend, Dianna, looked taller than I remembered, so I weighed my options - I could go say hello and end up stuck there or choose the coffee shop and have to camp out there for the next week or so. The coffee prevailed, probably because I’d been smelling Mads roasting a batch of beans for the last few hours and was experiencing what could only be withdrawal since my lovely doctor and grumpy nurse had insisted I could only have broth or water to drink and wouldn't even let me eat real food.
Since Jewel had disappeared and the nurse was probably out torturing other defenseless patients, I took the opportunity to escape, hoping that they’d never think to look for me right in the middle of . . . well, shit.
The raised eyebrow and irritated frown of Nurse Ratched was the first thing I saw when I walked into the joint, so my escape plan was ruined. Might as well get a cup of coffee and a smile from my little sweetheart before the nurse dragged me back to bed, kicking and screaming if she didn’t just knock me out here and let me die on the floor.
I had no doubt she could do it, especially since they’d been starving me for days and I was already woozy from my trek down the hill.
“Ajax!” Mads, my friend Rooster’s younger sister, squealed when she saw me in line. She stopped what she was doing and ran around the counter. Before I could warn her, she hit me like a linebacker and wrapped her arms around my waist. I was still trying to catch my breath when she asked, “When did you get here?”
“I had to come see my favorite girl,” I told her.
She didn’t even notice that I hadn’t answered the question and asked, “How long are you staying?”
“I’m not really sure,” I answered honestly. “I’ll have to take it day by day.”
“Will you be here long enough to have a spa day with me?”
I scoffed before I said, “I wouldn’t miss it.”
“I’ll get our appointments booked. Which day is good for you?”
“What’s today?” I asked, genuinely curious. I wasn’t sure exactly how long I’d been out, and even when I was awake, I wasn’t really alert.
“It’s Monday.”
I thought about it for a minute and asked, “Can we do it next Wednesday?”
“You’ll still be here?”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be staying longer than usual,” I answered.
“That’s great! Let me get your coffee. Do you want your regular?”
“Please, yes,” I said and wasn’t even ashamed that it sounded like I was begging.
Suddenly, Mads let me go, and I wasn’t quite ready. I felt myself starting to tip and tried to catch my balance, but my leg didn’t want to obey my brain. I just knew I was about to faceplant when the Angel of Death suddenly swooped in and fit herself under my arm to brace me.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you knew each other,” Mads said cheerfully. “You make such a cute couple!”
I heard Sandi sputter out a laugh, and I sighed before I lied to her face. “We’re just friends.”
Madison wiggled her eyebrows before she winked at me. I knew she had at least three romance novel plot ideas running through her head, but I hated to discourage her, so I didn’t say anything else.
Once she turned and walked away, Sandi said, “I should let you fall right here in the middle of the shop.”
I pulled her closer to my side, trying to ignore how nice she smelled, before I said, “That would upset Mads.”
“She’s the coffee goddess, so I can’t have that,” Sandi grumbled before she took a step toward the table where she’d been sitting. I shuffled along beside her, wondering how I had never noticed just how big the damn coffee shop was before today. When we finally got to her table, Sandi pulled out a chair and nudged me toward it before she lifted my arm over her head and placed my hand on the table. “Can you take it from here?”
“I’m not an invalid,” I snapped. Sandi’s smile was breathtaking, and I felt my breath catch as I stared at her. She ruined the moment when she pushed me so hard that I had no choice but to fall into the chair she had pulled out. “That was unnecessary, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, but it was damn sure fun.”
“What the hell did I do to you?”
“Nothing, really. I just don’t fancy men who think they’re all that and a bag of chips.”
“I love chips.”
“I’m not a fan.”
“Of course you’re not,” I said with a roll of my eyes before I smiled at Mads, who was walking over with two large cups of coffee. She set mine in front of me and then gave Sandi hers before she rushed back over to the counter so she could help her other customers. I made a mental note to leave her a tip and then frowned when I realized I didn’t bring my wallet. At this point, I wasn’t even sure where my wallet was, which could prove to be a problem. “Can I borrow twenty bucks?”
“I’ve done everything but wipe your ass for the last three days, and now you want money?”
“Jesus, woman! I didn’t fucking ask you to help me.”
“But I did. And now you want to be a mooch.”
“I don’t know where the hell my wallet is at the moment, and I need money for Mads’ tip jar because she refuses to charge me.”
Sandi’s frown softened, and then she actually smiled at me before she said, “That’s sweet.”
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“That’s a yes.”
“Thank you.” Just because I was in pain and cranky, I decided to keep our banter going by asking, “Does it physically hurt you to be nice?”
“It might. I’m not willing to risk it.”
“What made you become a nurse?” I asked on a whim. I couldn’t resist adding, “Did you get passed up for the position of torturer at your local dungeon?”
“They don’t have health benefits or a good retirement package, so I only work there part time.”
“Do you have any kids?”
“Let me just tell you now that this little sparring match we’ve got going on has been fun, but if you bring my kids into it, I’ll do things to you that will make your own mother cry.”
I chuckled before I said, “I’m not going to insult your children. I was just wondering if you have a long-lost daughter named Juni.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because she’s the only other woman I’ve ever met who has a mouth that could rival yours.”
“I guess you have a type.”
“I thought I did,” I muttered before I took a sip of my coffee.
Obviously, I was worse off than I had originally thought when I was laying in that field a few nights ago. That wasn’t the first time in my life that I was sure I was about to die, but it felt like that was the closest I’d come to it. I’d clearly lost so much blood that it had affected my brain because I couldn’t think of another reason why I would find this irritating woman so fucking sexy.
She was brash, abrasive, insulting, and smelled like heaven. Her hands were strong and steady but so soft that I could only imagine what they’d feel like on my skin. When she smiled, it lit up her entire face, and I wondered how it would feel if she ever aimed a genuine smile my way. She frowned at me a lot, but her brown eyes seemed to hold a universe of emotion. When she insulted me, all I could think about was exactly how I wanted to shut her up, and I wondered if her lips were as magical as they seemed.
I had most definitely lost my mind and my sanity, along with way too much blood.
“Why do you hate me so much?”
“I don’t hate you. I just don’t have time for useless pretty boys who think the sun rises and sets out of their ass.”
I started to laugh but somehow sucked coffee down the wrong way and started coughing, hurting the wound in my side and sending a sharp pain all the way down to my toes. Sandi must have sensed my discomfort because she reached across the table and took the coffee cup out of my hand before she squeezed my fingers and whispered, “Breathe in gently through your nose and hold it for a few seconds before you exhale through your mouth.”
I took a shuddering breath as she’d instructed, and even though it felt like I still needed to cough, I was able to clear my throat and recover. “Thank you.”
Sandi dropped my hand and waved dismissively. “I worked on you for hours. No sense in ruining all that hard work.”
“Why did you do it?”
“Because my friend asked me to.”
“You break the law for your friends?”
“I only have a select few, and I’d do anything for them, including break the law.”
“That says a lot about you, you know.”
“Like what?”
“You’re loyal.”
“That’s one word. Not a lot.”
“That means more than anything in this world, Sandi. A loyal friend is incredibly hard to find.”
She scoffed and said, “I found that out the hard way.”
She looked so despondent that I couldn’t resist reaching across the table and taking her hand. I squeezed it once before I went to let it go, but when she flipped her hand over and squeezed mine back, I left it lying in hers.
The electricity that shot through my arm was almost enough to make me forget about the pain I was feeling. I tried to play it off by asking, “How far do you think I’ll make it on the trek back to Rooster’s cabin?”
Sandi smiled genuinely before she said, “I give it about thirty feet.”
“I guess I’m just going to have to live here for a while, then.”
“Or I could help you get to the cabin that your friend reserved for your stay.”
“He wants me out of his house, huh?”
“I believe that he is going to enjoy some time alone with Rosie the second we’re all out of his hair.”
“My brother is the one that needs to leave.”
“Tell me about your family feud.”
“I’d rather not.”
“He was very worried about you.”
“Doubtful.”
“I could tell by his demeanor that he was more upset than he let on, but you can believe what you want.”
“My brother and I have a complicated history.”
“And yet he was willing to hop into his car and drive four hours on a moment’s notice to come make sure you were okay.”
“I haven’t had time to process that yet.”
Sandi smiled before she said, “Don’t hurt yourself.”
“There she is. I was beginning to wonder if you were starting to go soft.”
“I’m soft where it counts, but you’re not going to find that out.”
“You say that, but I think I might be able to get in there if I try.”
“Don’t expend too much effort, sweetheart. If you get too close, I bite.”
“How do you know I won’t like that?”
Sandi blinked a few times before she howled with laughter, and it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. Maddening because she was laughing at me, but beautiful all the same.
Finally, after her laughter died down, she said, “Don’t waste your energy trying to flirt with me. It’s not going to get you anywhere.”
“We’ll see.”
◆◆◆
SANDI
“I’ve dealt with a lot of stubborn patients in my day, but you take the cake,” I grumbled as I adjusted the covers over his bare chest. I glanced up at the IV and saw that I’d need to change out the bag in the next hour or so. I made a mental note to ask Jewel if she had any sedatives we might be able to add.
Apparently, the medication we’d given him had helped his pain levels to where he thought it would be a good idea to get up and walk around, take a hike, enjoy the outdoors, visit with friends, and then collapse twenty feet from the front door of the cabin. He was lucky I didn’t just leave his ass there for the buzzards.
Instead, I called Jewel, who called his brother and friend, and they came over and hauled his ass into the cabin and got him settled again.
I had a thought and smiled at my deviousness before I pulled my phone out to text Jewel.
I knew a way that would definitely keep the man still short of handcuffing him to the bed, which I wouldn’t mind doing in a completely different situation . . . but that was for another time.
Maybe.
Probably.
Okay, doing unmentionable things to this man’s body was at the top of my priority list, even if for no other reason than to give myself some material to keep me warm on those cold and lonely winter nights.
However, I had other plans for that beautiful cock of his right now, and he wasn’t going to like them at all.