Blaze: A Small Town, Nerdy Girl, Opposites Attract, Protector Romance (Ghost Ops Book 1)

Chapter 28

“And your parents are really okay?”Rory asked. “Nothing stolen?”

Emma rubbed her forehead as she sat on Blaze’s couch and talked to Rory on the phone. She could hear the music thumping from the bar, but Rory was in the office, so it was quieter.

It was almost midnight and Blaze had been gone for nearly two hours. What kind of client expected the range to open especially for them at almost ten o’clock at night?

She hadn’t asked because it was their business and they could run it how they liked. Seemed a little odd though.

Especially since he wouldn’t let her go with him.

“Nothing stolen.” She hesitated, thinking how best to tell Rory what had happened. In the end, she simply started at the beginning and told her friend everything from meeting Simon and dating him to the breakup and the Barbie tonight.

“Oh my God, sweetie. I’m so sorry you went through that. Are you okay?”

She heard the unspoken questions, the sympathy, in her friend’s voice. It helped break down another wall inside her. She’d been hiding her trauma from everyone, and it hadn’t helped a bit. Sometimes you needed the sympathy of others to let you know you weren’t alone.

Emma pulled in a breath. “Yes. Mostly. I don’t know why he’s here, if he really wants me dead or he’s just harassing me because he’s angry. But I need you and Theo to be careful. He knows you’re my friends, and he might try to use you to get to me. Or target you in some way because it’ll upset me.”

“Don’t you worry, babe, we’ve got your back and we’ll be careful. Do you have a picture of him? I’ll put it on the wall in the Dawg and make everyone aware.”

“No pictures.” She described him like she had for Blaze. “I know a lot of men fit that description. He can be very charming, too, so watch for any guy who’s a little too suave. I doubt he’ll show up in the Dawg now that the police are looking for him, but be on the lookout just in case.”

“Got it. Sick fucker. Are you safe alone? Do you need me to come stay with you?”

Emma’s heart throbbed. “I’m, uh, staying in Blaze’s apartment. In the guest room,” she emphasized at Rory’s intake of breath.

“Oooooh, and you were with him tonight when I called you.”

“How did you know that?”

“I didn’t until just now.” Rory cackled.

Emma’s skin heated. “There’s nothing going on. He was teaching me to shoot.”

“Shoot what?” Rory asked with more than a hint of wickedness.

Emma laughed. “A gun, Rory. I told you nothing happened between us the other night. Yes, we kissed and he walked me home. That was it.”

“I know, and I believe you because why would you lie, but dang, girl, you need to jump that man and let him take you to the moon. Especially if you’re staying in his apartment!”

“I’m getting to know him first. And then maybe I’ll sleep with him.”

In reality, she’d have slept with him tonight after that kiss. Maybe she still would.

“What about you? Did you squeeze Chance’s ass yet?”

“Girl, no. I told you there’s no way.” Rory hesitated a second. “But I did meet someone tonight. A guy from Huntsville. He came into the bar, and we talked. A really cute guy, too. Kinda shy and awkward, though. He didn’t ask, but I gave him my number. So we’ll see. Before you ask, he doesn’t match the description of Simon and he wasn’t exactly charming. Awkward, like I said. But cute.”

She definitely would have asked. “Aw, that’s good, honey. Is he a Vitamin D prospect?”

“I think so. Need to talk to him some more, see if the good impression holds.”

“There’s no rush, Rory. There are other ways to take care of that itch, you know.”

“I know, and believe me I have. But Gus isn’t nearly as satisfying as a real man.”

Emma nearly choked. “Gus?”

“Gus the Glamorous. He lives in my bedside drawer and takes care of Mama’s needs.”

“Oh Lord, you absolutely kill me sometimes,” Emma said with a laugh. “I missed you and I’m so sorry I let too much time go by without calling you more often.”

“Hey, you had an important job to do. You were busy saving lives. I get it. You don’t have to apologize.”

Warmth radiated all the way to her bones. “Thank you, but I should have made time.”

“You’ll make time now.”

“I will.”

“Good. Because I’m immature and I need somebody to be immature with me.”

“But not too immature.”

“Of course not,” Rory said with a sniff. “All right, though I’d rather talk to you, let me get off here and finish the books for tonight so I can go home. Maybe I’ll see if Gus is feeling particularly amorous.”

“TMI, Ror.”

Rory snorted a laugh, and Emma laughed with her. When the call ended, Emma got up to wander into the kitchen. She didn’t need a snack, but she wanted one. She found a piece of cheese and ate that while considering whether or not to go to bed. She was tired, but she wouldn’t sleep if Blaze wasn’t there.

Instead, she went to the couch again and turned on the TV. Not too loud because she wanted to hear if anyone was in the hall. The outer doors to the building, both front and back, were locked now, but that didn’t stop her from worrying about Simon breaking in anyway.

She needed to hear him if he did. Just in case the camera app didn’t warn her.

She knew Blaze kept a pistol in a drawer in the kitchen. It was loaded and ready. She hated that it made her feel better knowing it was there.

Grabbing it and using it was a whole other thing, but she’d worry about that if it happened.

By the time her phone rang, she’d dozed off on the couch. She jumped, fumbling for it, finally getting it to her ear with a rusty, “Hello?”

“It’s me, Sunshine. We’re coming inside the building.”

Relief left her feeling weak as she pushed to her feet and ran over to the door. Her phone dinged with a notification as she twisted the lock and yanked the door open. She could hear Blaze and Chance on the stairs.

“Told you not to open the door, Emma,” Blaze said tiredly when he spotted her. He didn’t sound angry though.

“I know, but you called and said you were here, so I saved you a step.”

“What if Simon was holding a gun to my head and made me say it?”

Emma crossed her arms and glared. “He could also hold a gun to your head and make you unlock the door, so why would he force you to call me first?”

“Smart-ass.”

He looked tired. Chance did too. Emma frowned as she studied them. Were they drunk?

Maybe Chance was because he looked a little glassy-eyed. Blaze looked clear-eyed but tired. She ran her gaze over them both, then jerked it back to the dark spot forming on the sleeve of Chance’s sweatshirt.

“You’re bleeding.”

Chance glanced at his sleeve. “Crap, it must have opened up again. It’s nothing. Just a scratch.”

“Judging by the rapidly expanding blood stain, it’s not a scratch. Let me see.”

Chance waved a hand. “No need. It’s fine.”

“It’s not. Get inside. Now.”

“Emma,” Blaze said, glancing at his friend. “I’ll bind it for him again and leave him at your place. It’ll be fine.”

Emma pulled herself upright, stiffened her spine, and glared at the two of them like she’d had to glare at men during most of her career to get them to take her seriously. “I’m a doctor. I’ve had my hands in more guts than either of you have ever seen in your lives, guaranteed, and I’ve never lost my cookies. So either you let me take a look at that scratch or I’m calling an ambulance.”

Both men blinked. “For a bleeding scratch? You’d call an ambulance?”

She thrust her chin out and nodded. She was blustering, but they’d scared her.

“Hell yeah, I would. I only have your word that’s what it is but at the rate I’m seeing blood, somebody needs to make sure you haven’t shot yourself.”

Chance’s face paled. A stone formed in her gut.

“Holy shit, you were shot, weren’t you? Downstairs, now.”

Blaze closed his hand around her arm as she started to turn. “Babe, no. The bullet wound is only a graze. But there was some barbed wire and he, uh, fell against it. Sliced his arm open.”

Her mind boggled. Shot and sliced? “I’m still going to look. At both wounds. Downstairs.”

“Not downstairs. That’s official. Inside the apartment, okay?”

She wanted to argue, but she could tell it was a battle she wouldn’t win. “Fine.”

She walked inside and the men followed. Blaze closed the door and Chance went over to sit at the kitchen island where the lights were brightest. He peeled off his shirt to reveal his arm. A bandage was wrapped around his upper arm, soaked through.

“You idiots,” she hissed, unwrapping the bandage so she could get a look at the wound. “He needs stitches. Where’s the gunshot?”

Blaze was frowning. “We cleaned it and applied a clotting agent before binding. It didn’t look that bad at the time. The shot grazed his right thigh.”

“Okay, pants down.”

Chance looked a little wild-eyed. “Uh, it’s fine. Really.”

“Pants. Now.”

“Better do it,” Blaze grumbled.

Chance stood, unbuckled his belt, and dropped his jeans to reveal his thigh. She resolutely didn’t look at his tighty-whities as she lifted the bandage and peered at the graze. It was ragged but not deep. Grazes were never stitched, and it looked as if they’d cleaned it. Still, she’d clean it again just to make sure it was done right.

“I need supplies. Can you go down to the practice and get them for me?” She threw the words at Blaze.

“Yes.”

Emma told him what she needed and where her keys were, and he ran out the door. He was back in a few minutes, dumping supplies on the island.

“The clotting agent did the job it was supposed to, but you’ve opened it up again. What the hell were you two doing, anyway?”

“We work at a shooting range, Doc,” Chance said. “Shit happens.”

She gave him a hard look. “Really? Barbed wire happens in the middle of the night when you’ve gone to the range to open it for a special client? And you get shot too? Seriously, any client who calls you out that late is clearly not right in the head. Maybe you should think about that the next time. And don’t play with barbed wire or guns.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She shot Blaze a look. He was frowning but didn’t offer any explanation as she got to work. She treated the cut first, injecting lidocaine to numb the area and then irrigating the wound before she started stitching. When it was done, she applied a fresh bandage then got to work on cleaning and patching the graze. She told Chance how to care for both as she stripped off her gloves.

“I’ll remove the stitches in a week or so.”

“I can take them out,” Blaze said. “You don’t have to.”

She stared at him. Then she shrugged, though she was angry deep down. “Suit yourself. You’re done, Chance. Try not to tangle with barbed wire again.”

“It’s always the goal, Doc.”

She went over to wash her hands again. “You do know I’m supposed to report a gunshot wound, right? I’m going to assume neither of you want me to do that.”

Blaze shook his head. “It’s an accidental wound, Emma. You aren’t required to report that. And we’re in my apartment, not your office.”

“Which is why you wanted it done here. And you’re right, I don’t have to report an accidental wound. But I don’t personally know that’s what it is, do I? All I have is your word for it.”

“It was an accident. Chance went downrange to retrieve the target because the pulley wasn’t working right. Unfortunately, the idiot in the next bay didn’t get the memo. We’ve learned our lesson about this client. He’s not welcome back again.”

“And the barbed wire?”

“An unfortunate accident when he lost his balance and fell against the fence as we were leaving. He might have, uh, had a shot of whiskey or two to ease the pain in his thigh.”

She studied them both for a long moment. There was tension in their features. She didn’t know why, and it bothered her.

She hadn’t smelled whiskey. Chance had taken a strong painkiller, not alcohol.

Did they really think she was so stupid she didn’t know the difference?

Or that she believed the crap they were laying down?

Whatever they’d been doing, it had resulted in one of them getting winged by a bullet and tangling with barbed wire. But what could it have been?

Robbing a bank? A gas station?

No. That was ridiculous.

And it was literally none of her business what kind of shit they’d gotten involved in.

Hell, it was probably better if she didn’t know. Even if the fact they didn’t trust her enough to tell her punched deep.

She’d been feeling things for Blaze, wanting him, so maybe this was her reality check. Don’t get involved with men you don’t know, no matter how heroic they seem.

Emma rubbed her eyes. “You know what? I’m tired. I’m going to bed. I’m glad you’re both okay, and sorry you got shot, Chance. Maybe get that pulley fixed and don’t ever walk onto the range when you have clients on the premises, huh?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Chance said, sounding more chastened than she’d ever heard before.

She looked at Blaze again. His eyes spoke volumes, but she wasn’t willing to stand there and figure it all out.

“Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome.”

She went into her room and locked the door.