Chapter 2
Chapter Two
May finished digging the wood chips out of Kyle’s knuckles while Ivy patiently handed her gauze.
The exam room smelled faintly of antiseptic and expensive cologne that didn’t belong in a place with paper-covered tables and stainless steel trays.
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead. May kept her focus on the small, precise work of cleaning the abrasions, ignoring the way familiarity tugged at her senses.
“You’ll want to keep some antibacterial gel on this for the next few days,” she said, wrapping tape over the gauze.
“Nothing’s broken, though. You’ve got a decent sprain.
I’d suggest icing it on and off for the next twenty-four hours or so.
” She took a step away, all too familiar with Kyle’s cologne.
She’d thought it appealing once. That memory arrived with an old, dull ache she refused to examine.
“Ivy can help you get checked out, Senator.”
He smiled. “I have another matter I’d like to discuss with you, Doctor.”
May slowly peeled off the blue latex gloves and tossed them into the nearest trash.
The snap of elastic sounded louder than it should have.
“Go ahead.” She looked at him. Yeah, in his mid-thirties, he was handsome.
He sat on the examination table wearing a dark blue, probably Armani, suit with a red and silver striped power tie.
He’d loosened the knot and released the first button on his starched white shirt.
His dark brown hair was mussed, his blue eyes as charismatic as ever.
That hadn’t changed. Of course it hadn’t.
“Actually, I’d like some privacy.” He winked at Ivy. “Although you’re the prettiest nurse I’ve ever seen.”
Ivy blushed a pretty red. Even so, her gaze swung to May and her body appeared alert. “I don’t mind staying.”
Yeah. The woman had excellent instincts.
“I’m sorry, but it’s a personal matter, and I only feel comfortable discussing it with my doctor,” Kyle said smoothly.
“I’m not your doctor,” May retorted. “I’m here on an emergency basis because, apparently, if I had to guess, you punched a wall.
But I’m not your doctor. Can’t be. Sorry.
” She wasn’t. Not at all. Her blood thrummed, her body buzzing like it wasn’t fully her own.
She knew the feeling of a warded-off panic attack better than anyone.
Her chest felt tight and she could barely keep her hands steady.
“I think I should stay here,” Ivy said. “Believe me, anything you say is confidential.”
May cut her a quick smile. She’d been smart to hire the nurse.
“I have a medical issue, and you’re the only doctor in town. I might be a United States senator, but my taxes do help pay your salary,” he said, watching May.
Irritation clocked through her. “As a United States senator, you don’t pay taxes.”
Ivy gasped softly. “Is that true? Do senators not pay taxes like the rest of us?”
Kyle chuckled, relaxed, as if this were cocktail conversation instead of a standoff in a cramped exam room.
“No, it actually is not true. That’s a rumor.
Not even remotely true. I’m subject to federal and state taxes, as well as Social Security, Medicare taxes, and all the other taxes everybody else has to pay.
You hear this myth a lot. I think it’s because before 1984 we didn’t have to pay Social Security or something like that, but we do now. ”
Ivy leaned back against the counter. “I bet you have good work-related benefits, though.”
He nodded. “We do. We have housing allowances that are very limited, some travel deductions, and decent retirement plans. But other than that, we pay just as many taxes as anybody else.”
“Oh,” Ivy said, mollified. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, a lot of people believe that old rumor. It’s all right.” His humor faded, replaced by intensity. “Now please, may I have a medical consultation?”
May crossed her arms. The posture was defensive and she knew it, but she didn’t care. “Unless it’s an emergency, no. I can’t be your doctor, Kyle.” She wouldn’t be. Ever.
“It is an emergency.”
May looked him over. His breathing was even. No tremor. No pallor. He appeared just as healthy as ever. “You don’t seem to be in distress.”
“Like I said, it’s a matter I can’t wait to discuss with my real doctor, and it could be an issue.” He cast what could only be called an apologetic glance at Ivy. “It’s very personal. If you don’t mind.”
Ivy waited, watching May, her expression both curious and intense. Definitely loyal.
Silence ticked around the room for a moment. The clinic walls were thin, the winter wind scratching faintly at the windows. Somewhere down the hall a heater clicked and then sighed.
May knew Kyle. He wouldn’t leave. Sure, she could get Ace to toss his ass out.
The thought of Ace stiffened her spine. She had backup if she needed it.
If she so much as squawked, Ace would be in that room in a hot minute.
Oh, he had all sorts of issues, but she trusted him on that level.
“Fine. It’s okay, Ivy. Please go make sure Ace isn’t bleeding all over my waiting room. ” Hopefully he’d stuck around.
“Sure. I guess I could give him a bandage,” Ivy said.
May chuckled, the sound lighter than she felt. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. He’s being stubborn. Go ahead and put some gauze on him. In fact, if you want, you could apply the butterfly bandage.” She hadn’t even thought to turn Ace over to her nurse. Interesting.
“Okay.” Ivy brightened, already pivoting toward the door.
May watched her go. What was that about? Ivy seemed way too excited to slap a bandage on Ace. Not that she could blame the younger woman. To be truthful, the guy was hot. The door swung shut with a soft thud, and silence pooled in its wake, thick and uneasy.
May cleared her throat. “All right, Kyle, what’s your emergency?”
He just stared at her for a moment.
“Kyle?” she repeated, eyebrows lifting. Maybe it was his heart. She hadn’t thought he had one.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find you, even if you fled to the middle of nowhere?” he asked.
Ah. It was this discussion. “I honestly didn’t think you’d look.”
“I searched for you for quite some time.”
“Yeah. Well, here I am. Do you have a medical emergency or do you not?”
His jaw hardened.
May took an automatic step back. She wasn’t stupid. The overhead lights cast hard shadows along his cheekbones, turning his expression into something carved and cold.
“You alone here very often, May?” he asked softly.
“Kyle, do you have a medical emergency or do you not?” she asked, every inch of her going on high alert.
His expression turned to the fake and compassionate one she wanted to wipe off his face. “We’re going to have a nice long discussion while I’m in town.”
She would not panic. “Is that why you’re in town? You came to this tiny alcove in Alaska just to find me?”
“I thought we had something.”
“We didn’t have shit.”
His eyes flashed. “Nice language you’ve learned out here in the bush.”
“It’s more mountainous than bush,” she muttered. “What do you want?”
“I’m here on my reelection tour, as I’m sure you know.”
Actually, she’d had no clue. She stopped paying attention to politics the minute she left D.C. The world beyond Knife’s Edge had gone pleasantly fuzzy, like static she could finally mute.
“I do have to wonder, though.” He tilted his head. “When you left D.C., you could’ve gone to any state in the world, and you came to mine.”
Truth be told, she’d applied for several jobs in remote areas.
This had been the first offer. In addition, she figured he’d never suspect she’d run to his state.
It was contrary to all logic, which was exactly why she’d done it.
Plus, she’d visited Knife’s Edge once as a kid and loved it.
Her father had been a grand adventurer, and they’d traveled a lot.
This place had stayed with her, a bright pin on the map of her memory, and she thought she’d be safe here.
“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d look in Alaska. ”
He chuckled. “That’s fair. I didn’t. Though you really didn’t have to run away. If you didn’t want to date me, you could’ve just said so.”
A chill shook her. “Right. Last time I said so, you tried to break my arm.” He’d grabbed her hard enough she’d been concerned.
“You’re so silly. That never happened. You’re not still taking that medication that made you so goofy, are you?” He glanced at his shiny silver wristwatch. Nice, but not too flashy. Of course.
She would never be gaslit again. Yes, she had taken meds for panic attacks for a while when she’d sought counseling, and she had no problem with that.
Now she controlled her anxiety with meditation and exercise, although she’d easily seek help again if she needed it.
“Do you have a medical emergency or not? If not, I have another patient waiting.”
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah. Speaking of him, is he your newest?”
“My newest?”
“We both know what a little slut you were before we got together.”
What a complete dick. “Senator, you obviously don’t have a medical problem. Your other ones need to be dealt with by somebody else.” She moved toward the door. The linoleum felt slick beneath her shoes and her pulse ticked loudly in her head.
He grabbed her arm and jerked her back. “I’m not finished.”
Pain burst through her biceps. She looked down at his hand banded around her arm.
His grip was tight but not harsh enough to bruise.
She looked back up, meeting his gaze evenly, refusing to blink.
“Release me, or I will have you arrested.” Just imagining the headline steadied her breathing.
U.S. Senator Gets Arrested in Podunk Town. That would be something.
“Yeah, about that,” he said, leaning in. “Rumor has it you’ve got a sheriff here.”
She blinked once. “We do.” Ah, crap.
“Alaska towns don’t have sheriffs.” His words came out clipped and controlled.
“We do,” she retorted. The town had been quirky back when it was settled, and they’d elected a sheriff. No one else in the state had one, but Alaska had let the idiosyncrasy slide. Ace’s brother Brock was the sheriff, and even though he complained a lot, he loved the job. The town needed him.
Kyle leaned toward her. “I could change that, you know.”
“Is that a threat?” she spat.
“Oh yeah. I could take care of that problem in a second.” His grip tightened just a fraction. “How about you and I have lunch tomorrow and really discuss this. I mean, sneaking off in the middle of the night was a pretty cowardly thing to do.”
It had been a smart thing for her to do.
“Let go of my arm, or I’ll scream, and the mountain man in the waiting room will come in here and beat the absolute shit out of you.
” She knew the second the words were out she shouldn’t have said that.
Every instinct she had screamed it was the wrong thing to say.
Even so, Kyle released her. “The mountain man? Fascinating. We’ll just have to see what to do about that.” He slid off the examination table and straightened, smoothing his suit like this had all been perfectly civilized.
She took several steps back, her heart hammering. The room felt smaller now, and the air too tight.
“Now May,” he said patiently. “I know all about you murdering a man this past spring, and I seriously doubt the crime was truly investigated. I could change that fact quickly.”
Bile splashed in her stomach. “It was self-defense,” she said, which was true. She’d been attacked and had fought back, accidentally killing her attacker. While she’d been arrested initially, the assistant district attorney had decided it was self-defense and hadn’t charged her. So it was over.
That had also sent her back into counseling, via Zoom with an expert in Anchorage, and she was doing much better now. The nightmares had finally gone away. “Do your worst, Kyle.”
He sighed. “Fine. Have dinner with me tonight. We can talk all about it.”
Not in a million eons. “No.”
“You’ll change your mind.” He turned and headed toward the door, opening it and walking out into the hallway.
Her hands shook. She stayed where she was, took several deep breaths, and forced her shoulders to steel. Then she followed him out.
When she walked into the waiting room, she wasn’t surprised to see Kyle and Ace standing and pretty much facing off. The contrast between them was almost absurd. Kyle looked polished and composed, while Ace appeared solid, bleeding, and entirely unimpressed.
“We didn’t get introduced. I’m Kyle Mercer.” Kyle held out his left hand.
Ace just lifted an eyebrow. He apparently hadn’t accepted Ivy’s bandage. The cut on his forehead was still open, blood trickling down his face. “So?”
Kyle laughed and dropped his hand. “That’s how it is, huh?” He jerked his head at May. “It’s a mistake you will most undoubtedly regret. Trust me.” He pivoted and strolled casually out the door, the bell jangling softly behind him.
Ace looked down at her. “What was that about?”
She pasted her most professional expression into place. “Nothing. Let’s get you a bandage, Ace.” After she finished work for the day, she’d go home and make sure her guns and knives were still placed strategically around her small home.