Chapter 10
EWAN
I inhale as deeply as my lungs will let me, then try and push it a little more, still holding on to Maisey for all that she’s worth.
Which is my entire life—and then some. I need to get my wits about me—and calm my raging dick—because the last thing I need before leading a hundred seventh graders into the woods for three days is a raging hard-on.
Maisey seems to have other ideas though.
Wiggling in my arms, she rubs her perfect self right up against that hard-on. Fuck me. She is not fighting fair. At this rate, I’m going to be hard for this entire fucking trip.
I let out a groan, my eyes fluttering shut, saying a little prayer that there aren’t a hundred plus sets of eyeballs on us.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I yank her into me, thrusting my hips forward, making sure she feels that bulge and just what she’s doing to me. “Because you do know that I have to go help teach kids about the joys of nature.”
She giggles, sending another zing down my spine. Seriously, she fights dirty without even trying. So unfair.
“I was just making sure you had a reason to come home on Saturday is all.”
The comment is light, flirty, and I can tell it’s meant to elicit a certain reaction. But there’s more to it. There’s something underneath that tone that tells me this wasn’t just some flirty nothing.
Locking my eyes with her, I hold her gaze for a beat, making sure she knows that she has my full and complete attention. That she has all of me. Despite the chaos surging in this parking lot.
“I already had every reason to come home. What would make you think otherwise?”
That pretty shade of pink tinges across her cheeks, Maisey’s eyes flicking away for a second.
“Because you hadn’t kissed me since that night in the rain. Even though you asked me to be yours, you haven’t made another move. So, I wanted to make sure you knew that you can. That you should. Unless you’re rethinking things.”
In true Maisey form, her resolve never falters. Her voice is steady, calm, and even. The brief flicker in her blue eyes gives her away, however. The one you’d never catch unless you knew to look. And after all these years, I know to look.
“I’m not rethinking anything, beautiful,” I reassure her, pressing my lips softly to her forehead.
“I will admit to holding back though. Because I’ve been afraid if I kissed you again, I wouldn’t stop.
I almost didn’t stop that night. Fuck, even stopping now, when I know we have a massive underage audience, damn near killed me. ”
Maisey lets out a single chuckle, her cheeks tingeing an even deeper pink.
“More than anything, I don’t want you to think that I don’t respect you. That this is about something other than being your man, your partner. It was a ketchup pact, not a condom pact.”
Throwing her head back, Maisey lets out a loud roar of laughter. It rolls through her whole body, the infectious sound working its way into me, until I can’t hold it in either. I didn’t mean for it to be that funny.
Sucking in a breath to control herself, she looks up at me. “Ewan, I am not opposed to you respectfully disrespecting me.”
Well then…
Unable to hold back my smirk, the corner of my mouth tilts in response.
Because if that’s what my girl wants, then it is game on.
Instantly, my pulse kicks up a couple of notches, my brain flooded with all sorts of naughty thoughts—the kinds of things I’ve only fantasized about over the years.
Things that now have the potential to be a reality.
“Mais—”
I’m cut off by a scream. A high-pitched, ear-splitting scream. The kind that makes your blood run cold and you feel down deep in your bones, echoing through them as if some kind of weird muscle memory.
That sound is more than enough to cool my ardor, sending the hairs on the back of my neck straight up. It also sends Maisey into high alert.
She’s out of my arms faster than Superman’s speeding bullet, her trauma nurse spidey senses clearly tingling, every alarm bell in her head sounding at full blast. Head whipping around, she zeros in on the source of horror as another scream rings out.
I watch as a group of kids gather round, Maisey sprinting across the lot like she’s trying out for the Olympics. Following as fast as I can—not nearly as quick as her—I fight my way through the group trying to give her enough room to do whatever it is she’s going to need to do.
Then I see who it is.
Little Kendall Farlow, Chet’s daughter, is on the ground wailing, big fat tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutches her arm. My insides tighten, the shrieking toddler an overwhelming sight.
“Hey there,” Maisey coos, kneeling down beside her. “Hi, I’m Maisey. Can you tell me your name?”
Kendall screams again, rolling away from Maisey, which lands her on the side of her hurt arm. When that results in more pain, she lets out another ear-piercing sound and rocks back into the same position.
“It hurts, I know,” Maisey continues. “But I’m a nurse, and I’m here to help. But I need to know your name first.”
“It’s Kendall,” I say, trying to help.
Maisey turns around, giving me a look that says thank you and not helpful all at the same time. “Ewan, will you help push everyone back? Give Kendall and me some room to breathe?”
Her voice is still that same steady, calm, and even as it was earlier, but this time, there’s an I mean business tone to it.
She’s in nurse mode. I do as she says, moving everyone back, telling them there’s nothing to see, and making them move over to where the buses are. We should be leaving soon anyway.
Or well, maybe not now that Chet’s kid is hurt.
“Your name is Kendall?” Maisey asks, the sweetness back in her voice as she returns to the toddler. Chet and his wife, Kate, both push past me, running over to be next to their daughter. “That’s a pretty name. Can you tell me where it hurts, Kendall?”
Stepping away for a moment, I dial the local emergency number, dispatching our paramedic team. I trust that if this truly needed a full-on 911 call, Maisey would have hollered that instruction at me, so our local team should be able to do the trick.
Then I make one more call. Because there is someone else who is going to want to see this.
Turning back to the scene, I find little Kendall sitting in Kate’s lap, her cheeks still bright red and eyes still puffy, but her tears dried up for now.
Maisey is kneeling down in front of her, a toddler arm carefully balanced in her hand, examining it the best she can.
All while gently and calmly reassuring Kendall.
I’m mesmerized by the sight. By the way she took charge, without hesitation or question. Just ran across the parking lot, started barking orders, and went into boss mode. All while comforting her patient. This might just be the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen.
I can’t imagine what she’d be like if there’d been actual bloodshed.
Somewhere in the background I hear the sirens, but they barely register. I’m too taken by watching my girl in action. Watching how she’s completely owning the moment.
“So, why did you need us?” Landon Noble, assistant fire chief and lead paramedic asks, laughing as he sidles up to me. “Seems like Maisey has this completely under control.”
“Because Maisey doesn’t have her medic bag!” she calls over her shoulder, semi-sarcastically referring to herself in third person. “Which makes it kinda hard to fashion a splint and sling.”
“That’s fair,” Landon responds, stepping in and handing her his.
I hang back, laughing at her response and that she is taking absolutely zero prisoners here.
Had you asked me ten minutes ago, I would have told you that I didn’t think I could love Maisey Phillips any more than I already did.
But watching her like this is proving me wrong.
Because I am falling for her even harder now.
“So…her local certs current?” Landon whispers, leaning into me.
I look at him, blinking hard. I actually have no idea.
“They are,” a deep, booming voice says from behind us.
It’s not loud enough for anyone but Landon and me to hear, but there’s no mistaking it. Especially since it belongs to the other person I called. Spinning around, I nod at Fire Chief Phillips, Maisey’s dad, taking in his proud smile as he watches his daughter.
“It’s part of what is required for the company that she contracts with,” he continues. “She has to maintain accreditations in at least one state in her home country. So she is one hundred percent legal to practice as a nurse paramedic in the state of Georgia.”
Damn, that’s good to know.
“Does that have any bearing on…” I trail off, gesturing to what’s happening in front of us. My mouth goes dry, worry creeping up that this could have gone wrong if she hadn’t been licensed.
“Oh no,” Landon says. “Her jumping in to help until we got here, regardless of any kind of medical training, is covered under the Good Samaritan law. It’s more that I’m short an EMT.
Having a fully licensed nurse paramedic at the ready almost seems too good to be true.
Think she’d be willing to help out while she’s here? ”
“You’d have to ask her,” I tell him. “I don’t speak for her.”
“No, but I bet you could convince her to say yes,” Chief Phillips chimes in.
Errrr…
I swallow hard, not sure what her father is implying. Nor am I sure I want to know. He and I have always gotten along, but then again, that was before my status changed with his daughter. Fuck, I don’t even know if he knows that my status has changed with his daughter. I might need to address that.
“Chief, I—”
“I should head out before she sees me,” he says, cutting me off. “Ewan, we should do lunch next week.”
Oh, he knows…
“Yes, sir.”
He turns on his heel with a nod, disappearing as quickly as he appeared.
“Okay, hard to really know anything without X-rays, so a trip to Tifton is in your immediate future,” Maisey says, pushing to her feet. Kate rises with her, holding Kendall on her hip. “Judging by what I can feel, I have no doubt something is broken. It’s just a matter of what and how broken.”
“Just what we need,” Kate sighs.
“Could be worse. At least it’s not her face,” Maisey jokes.
“Very true.”
“Give me a few minutes to find a replacement chaperone and—” Chet starts.
“Nope,” Kate cuts him off. “You go. This is the highlight of your year, taking these kids out on this thing. We’ll be fine. It’s only a couple of days.”
“I’ll go with you to the hospital, if that’ll help,” Maisey offers.
“See? We’re all good. Get the kids in the buses and into the woods,” Kate instructs.
Chet looks to me and shrugs. “You heard the woman.”
“I sure did.”
We gather everyone up again, starting a new round of goodbyes with parents. This time it’s faster, at least a little bit, since most of the bags are already loaded.
Wandering over to Maisey, I gather her in my arms, trying to sneak in one more kiss before we take off.
“That was the most impressive thing I’ve ever witnessed,” I tell her, capturing her lips with mine. “Serious fucking turn-on.”
“If that does it for you, you should see me when someone needs stitches.”
“Don’t tease me; I just got my dick calmed down.”
Maisey giggles, kissing me thoroughly, and I’m hard all over again. So much for that.
“We’re back Saturday. See you then?”
“Without question.”
I lean in, kissing her one more time. It’s risky, all the kids around, but I don’t care. The floodgates have been opened and there’s no going back. She’s an addiction—a habit I don’t want to break.
“Ewan!”
Now, that’s a voice I wasn’t expecting.
Maisey and I step back, turning in unison to face my mother.
Where did she come from?!
“Mama…”
I know that I am a fully grown man and I have done nothing wrong—okay, almost nothing wrong—but I still can’t help but feel like a little kid who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and is about to get that hand slapped.
“Don’t y’all have the environmental science trip?”
“We got a bit delayed because Kendall Farlow took a tumble,” I say.
“Oh, I hope she’s okay.”
“She is,” Maisey adds. “Likely a broken elbow, but overall, not world ending. Speaking of, I should probably head to Tifton. Kate’s already left and I told her I’d meet her at the ER.”
Right. Well, now this is awkward. Because I one hundred percent want to kiss her goodbye—for the fourth time this afternoon—but my mother is standing right here.
Sure, my parents are the least prudish people on this earth, never shying away from a little PDA themselves, happily being the model for a healthy marriage not only for my siblings and me but for all of Hickory Hills.
But that doesn’t mean I want to kiss the woman I’m newly… with…in front of her just yet.
Fuck.
Maisey, however, apparently doesn’t think twice. Pressing up onto her toes, she presses a quick kiss to my lips.
“See you Saturday.”
“Oh good, then you’ll be home for Sunday dinner,” Miss Belle says. Then, not skipping a beat, she adds, “Ewan, why hasn’t Maisey made an appearance at Sunday dinner yet?”
Nicely placed guilt trip, Mama…
“She will on Sunday. Promise.”
“Perfect! Maisey, I’ll give you a call and we can do lunch while he’s out camping.”
“Sounds good,” Maisey says. “But I should go—don’t want to leave Kate waiting.”
I grab her hand and steal another kiss before she turns and runs to her car. Miss Belle gives me a knowing look that I choose to ignore, opting to go with a simple, respectful nod to excuse myself to my assigned bus.
Ten minutes later, we’re finally on the road, the wild teenage chatter surrounding me fading into the background as I think about the events of this afternoon.
About how amazing that kiss was. How amazing Maisey was.
And just how much I want to make sure I do everything I can to make sure she stays in Hickory Hills.
Pulling out my phone, I notice the little text icon, wondering how I missed it.
Maisey
Sunday dinner? As a girlfriend?
I chuckle, quickly tapping out a response. Because there’s only one thing to say to that.
Welcome to the family, baby