by Mary Stone
“Hey, sweetheart,” Linc said, sliding down the embankment toward the small pair. With a gentle hand, he touched the girl’s face. It was cold. So very cold.
More urgently now, he felt for a pulse, his other hand moving to beneath her nose, praying for any small sign of life.
It was there.
The child’s breathing was shallow, her pulse slower than he liked. Pale and clammy. She was in shock. He needed to treat her quickly.
Her eyelids fluttered as he began to strip her from the sodden clothes, pulling the mylar rescue blanket from his pack. He needed to get her warm. That was his first priority.
All the while he was doing so, he spoke to the child, telling her how glad he was to see her, how much her mommy and daddy couldn’t wait to see her again. He pulled a second blanket out and wrapped the puppy in its warmth. The little thing didn’t look good, but he could only care for one of them at a time.
Then it happened. The eyelids opened, and blue eyes stared up at him in confusion. Fear. The girl blinked several times, looking around.
“Hi, Bethany,” he said in a gentle voice. He knew very little about Down syndrome on a personal level and wasn’t sure how cognitive the girl would be. Wasn’t sure how well she could communicate or understand direction.
Then a miracle happened…she smiled. Just a little.
It was beautiful. Precious. Tinged in blue, but he was working on that. Linc squeezed her a little tighter against him.
The smile faded away, and he released his hold, taking his cues from her. Trusting that the little girl would be able to communicate enough.
“Scoo-beeee.”
Link smiled. Yeah, she could communicate enough.
“Scooby is in his own blanket, getting warmed up too.” He was worried about the little dog, but now wasn’t the time to exude that concern. “I’m going to call for someone to come help us get you and him back. Your mommy and daddy are sure missing you.”
Bethany brightened and started shivering hard. Good. Shivering was good. “Mom-my? Dad-dy? See ‘em.”
Her voice was slurred, like her tongue was a bit too big for her mouth, but he knew exactly what she was saying.
“You sure are going to see them. Hold on a second while I call in our position.” Linc reached for the radio. “Jacob. I’ve got her. Shock but stable at the moment. Get the EMTs over here.”
Linc gave Jacob his precise location and waited with his arms around the little girl, keeping her warm while he massaged the puppy with the blanket, hoping to stir him a little.
The EMT team was a welcome site, and Bethany was starting to look much better as they took control. Linc turned to the dog. Storm had laid down beside the little thing, licking its head and using her own body to help save him. She was totally ignoring the toy he’d tossed to her to celebrate the find, which was unusual.
He patted the Shepherd’s head. “Good girl.”
Like Bethany’s father had said, the little mutt was a beagle mix, no more than a couple months old. It was still breathing, just suffering from signs of hypothermia too. Linc wrapped it tighter and picked it up, holding the dog close as Storm trotted at his side, toy in her mouth. They followed closely behind the stretcher, ready to help if the muddy hillside caused the emergency workers any trouble.
Midway through the walk back to Bethany’s home, the puppy began to twitch and yip a little. It was almost back to its old self as he made his way back to the trailer park.
Jacob gave him a high-five as he came back up the ridge. “Well, you did it again,” Jacob said, grinning as Linc lifted the edge of the blanket and showed him the puppy. Jacob tickled its belly. “Cute thing.”
“Yeah. He’ll be okay. Tough little fighter.”
The corner of Jacob’s mouth turned up in amusement. “The kid, or the dog?”
“Both.”
Linc watched as Bethany’s parents ran up to the stretcher, tears of relief pouring down their faces while the EMTs began the process of transferring her to a proper stretcher.
“Warms the heart, doesn’t it?” Jacob asked, patting Linc on the back. “You made that possible.”
Linc frowned and looked down at the puppy. He was no hero. No hero hurt a woman. He closed his eyes against the reminder of the fear in Kylie’s eyes.
As Bethany was being loaded into the back of the ambulance, her parents turned toward Linc. Stephanie ran up and hugged him. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“No need, ma’am,” Linc said, hugging her stiffly back while holding on to the pup. “It’s my job. Go and be with your daughter.”
Eddy shook his hand and looked at the puppy in his arms. “He gonna be okay?” Eddy asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Should be, but he should be taken to the vet, just to be sure.”
Linc offered the puppy to him, but Eddy shook his head. “Well, you see…” His face began to grow red. “Believe it or not, my wife and I both have really good jobs, but we had to move here…” he raised a hand to indicate the trailer park, “after Bethany was born. The bills, even with insurance.” He rubbed at his jaw and looked down at the ground. “I—”
“Listen,” Linc broke in. “Take him to Asheville Veterinary and ask for Dr. Evans, tell her to put it on Linc Coulter’s account.” Linc stroked the puppy’s floppy ears. “He’ll be okay, but he does need to be looked at.”
Relief flooded Eddy’s features. Relief mixed with embarrassment. “Are you sure? That’s mighty nice of you. I’ll drop him off on the way to the hospital. That should be okay, shouldn’t it? Under the circumstances?”
Linc nodded and handed the pup over. If the man had said no, Linc would have kept Scooby for himself. He had a hard time coming across a stray he didn’t want to take in. When you had as many dogs as he had, one more wasn’t that much of a difference.
“Not a problem,” Linc said, turning toward Jacob’s truck. “Take care of your family.”
Jacob was waiting there for him, his hat pulled down low over his eyes. “Linc Coulter. Friend to man and beast alike.”
Linc gave him a playful shove in the chest. “Shut up.”
By the time Storm and Linc got back into Jacob’s truck, they were both soaked to the skin and shivering. Jacob turned the heat up high and played some country music at top volume and Linc felt better. Finding that little girl and knowing she was going to be all right had done a lot for his mood, and his ego. He didn’t feel like such a worthless sack of shit anymore.
Almost.
Linc told himself it was a good thing he hadn’t called Kylie. He was exhausted as hell, especially after last night’s lack of sleep, but he was back to his old way of thinking.
Search and rescue was what he was good at. This was what he needed to concentrate on. Screw everything else.
That thinking lasted up until Jacob pulled in his driveway, and Linc saw Kylie’s little Mazda in the driveway.
“Well, it looks like you got company,” Jacob said with a grin.
Linc’s body tensed. His cock pulsed. His lips involuntarily mumbled, “Shit.”
“What?” Jacob said, giving Linc a look like he was insane. “I thought everything was good in Kylie Land. Damn girl’s a damned peach. Don’t think you can do any better, man. Because I’ll tell you right now. You can’t.”
“Wasn’t thinking that at all,” Linc said as they got closer and he spied Kylie sitting cross-legged on the porch swing. She stood up as they approached, holding a little red umbrella and shaking raindrops from her hair.
Dammit. He was happy to see her.
She was wearing this little red flowered dress that reminded him of something a farmgirl would wear. Her legs were bare. Her dark hair was hanging long and wavy in her face. Linc could bet money she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Hot damn, he thought, just as Jacob leaned in close to the window and murmured, “Hot damn.” Linc squinted at him. Jacob shrugged. “What?”
No one could deny it. Kylie Hatfield was damn beautiful. And
Jacob ogling her like that made Linc feel suddenly possessive. He’d just gotten done deciding he needed to concentrate on SAR and the things he could do right. He shouldn’t have been glad to see her. Sitting on his porch. Waiting for him.
But he was. Hell yes, he was.
12
Kylie grinned as Jacob jumped out of the truck, running around the side of it. His arms were wide-open, ready for a hug, his mouth spread in a big, infectious grin. The detective was his normal giant teddy bear self, exuding warmth while giving her a hug that was a little too tight.
“If you ever get tired of the old ball and chain, I’ll be waiting for you,” he said in a fake whisper so loud she was sure the llamas could hear him.
She grinned back. Jacob was the typical ladies’ man, a real player if ever she’d met one. And as charming as the day was long.
But Linc? He looked a little like death warmed over.
It scared Kylie, how dark his eyes were. His normally sun-kissed face was pale, his hair and clothes were wet, and his eyes were rimmed in purple. He looked like he was recovering from some horrible plague. He shivered a little as he slipped almost lifelessly out of the truck, pulling off his jacket to reveal an equally wet plaid flannel shirt, open to expose a thermal that was probably also soaked. Poor thing.
Jacob pointed over his shoulder at Linc. “Your ever-so-dreamy boyfriend is a real hero.”
Kylie smiled. She wasn’t sure he was her boyfriend, but she was still proud. Dying of the plague or not, he was still super-tasty. “Really? What happened?”
“Little girl with Down syndrome wandered away from home with her puppy. Found them both, like a boss.”
They both looked at Linc, who freed his gear from the back of the truck and stared into the distance darkly, quietly, like he was thinking some really heavy thoughts.
Jacob waved at him dismissively. “Ah, you know him. Can’t accept praise. All in a day’s work for him, anyway. How’s the injury, killer?” Jacob teased Kylie, pointing to her shoulder.
She shrugged off her jean jacket and moved aside the collar of her dress to show him her still healing scar. “Much better. I’m supposed to still be wearing the sling, but I hate it, so…” She shrugged and winced a little. “You okay?”
Jacob shrugged too. “Ah, same old thing. Haven’t heard of any more serial killings we need to bring our top gun in for yet, or else I’d have been calling your number.”
Kylie wrinkled her nose. “And I’d be running in the other direction, thanks very much!”
They both laughed. Of course, Jacob was kidding, but Linc stared at the ground, his face turning darker yet. What the hell had bitten his butt?
As if his dark mood had descended on the mountain top, the smiles fell from both Kylie and Jacob’s faces. Jacob rubbed his jaw, eyeing Linc warily. “Ah, well. Better be going now. Take care, you two.”
She waved at the detective as he pulled away, but Linc didn’t say a word. He just let Storm into the yard, where Vader welcomed the Shepherd with a running tackle. Still not saying a word, Linc turned and went inside. He might have grunted something, but she wasn’t sure as the screen closed behind him with a bang.
She turned toward her car. Maybe she should just leave. He clearly didn’t want her here. But then she thought of his face, how haggard, haunted, he’d looked.
Taking a deep breath, she followed him into the little mudroom and leaned one hip on a cabinet. “Want to talk about it?”
He didn’t answer. Hanging his jacket on a hook, he tore off his flannel, tossing it on the floor, then lifted off his thermal shirt, which was so soaked it fell to the floor with a resounding splat. He kicked off his shoes, his movements clipped, and went into the kitchen, opening up the fridge and ducking to peer inside.
Refusing to give up, Kylie followed him. “So, who are you pissed at? Me or Jacob?”
He gave her a sour look. “Why don’t you throw your arms around him and press your tits up against him a little more? In fact, why don’t you just screw him right in front of me?”
Her jaw dropped. She’d hugged Jacob, but no differently than she hugged all her friends. She was a touchy-feely hugger. Was Linc really angry about that? If so, they’d never get along.
“So, me, huh?”
“Oh, no. I’m plenty pissed off at him too, copping feels of your ass like that. Right while I was watching.”
Kylie crossed her arms. Had Jacob grabbed her ass? No! It had been the most innocent of hugs. “Oh. So, you’re jealous.”
He grabbed a quart of milk from the fridge and turned his gorgeous back on her. His hair was wet, and water dripped from it, down the curved, defined muscles, over his sloped spine, to the rise of the perfect ass covered in wet jeans. “Hell yes. I’m jealous.”
The admission startled a laugh out of her. She quickly clamped her lips shut. “Jacob would never—”
“Yeah, he would.”
“No, he wouldn’t.”
He turned on her, milk still in his hand. “Trust me. He thinks you’re hot as hell, and you’re just his type. He wants you.”
“But he’s your best friend, so, he’d never—”
Linc took a long step in her direction. “Hell yes, he would, and not just because I know my best friend. I’m a man, and I know men. I know what other men are thinking when they’re looking at you. And believe me, the things he wants to do to you, I haven’t even done to you yet.”
Damn, he was sexy when he was angry. She took a step closer to him. She wanted to change the direction of this conversation. Make him understand that he was the only one she wanted. “Really? Like what? Can you show me?”
His eyes drifted down her body, as various emotions flitted over his handsome face. It settled back into pissed. “I don’t know. Are you just going to go and show them to Jacob when I get done with you?”
Was he serious?
Kylie stared at him. Surely not, but she couldn’t fully tell.
What was she doing?
Why had she skipped her lunch hour so she could leave work early and drive up the winding mountain just to be spoken to in this way? Was she really so pathetic?
“Maybe it’s time I leave.” Her heart was pounding in her chest as she spoke the words.
He stared at her, his face rigid, chest heaving. He uncapped the milk and didn’t take his eyes from hers as he tossed his head back and started to drink. He gulped half the container down, holding her gaze. When he finished, he wiped his mouth. “That might be for the best.”
Sadness mixed with anger flooded her system as she turned for the door, hardly able to breathe.
It was over.
Really over.
Maybe it was for the best.
If so, why didn’t it feel that way?
Before she reached for the handle, his hands were on her arms. In a blink, he turned her, pulling her to him. “Don’t—”
Her shoulder protested the movements, protested being held so tightly, but she nuzzled her face in his chest anyway, ignoring the pain.
“I’m sorry, Kylie.” His voice broke on her name. “Don’t go.”
The angry part of her wanted to pull away. The sad part of her wanted to never leave. And there was another part of her, that part of her was filled with…what? Hope? She wasn’t sure.
“Why did you come here?”
The question had her pulling away. She needed to not be touching him. She needed space to think.
“I came because I missed you, Linc. And I was worried about you. I texted you, but you obviously don’t have the decency to even let me know you’re alive.”
“Yeah. I know.” He ran his hands through his wet hair, leaving them tangled there as he looked at anything but her.
No apology. No anything. First, he accused her of flirting with his best friend, and then he didn’t have the decency to apologize for blowing her off?
What a dick. She had to leave here, and now.
But her damn legs were rooted to the spot. Might have been so
mething about his bare chest, glistening in the orange glow of the lights, all wet and defined and muscular like that. His jeans hung dangerously low on his hips, baring the waistband of his boxer briefs, showing the top of the sexy V that led to his…
God, what was wrong with her? Doing her own Linc impersonation, she looked anywhere but at him.
“I’m with you, Linc. I don’t know what we are, but I know one thing…I’m with you. Unless you think otherwise?” She couldn’t stop herself, she looked at his face, and when he didn’t meet her eyes she moved until he had no choice but to meet her gaze. “And if you think otherwise, tell me.”
His hands reached for her even as he stepped away. “I don’t know, Kylie. I just don’t know anymore.” His voice was full of grit, his eyes full of pain.
She inhaled deeply, blew the air out slowly. “Do you see how confusing this is for me? You’re possessive one second, pushing me away the next. I don’t understand. I—”
Like a whip, his hand closed on her arm. He pushed up her sleeve, bringing the bruises to light. His voice was rough, but his touch was soft. “This is what happens when I touch you.”
Kylie didn’t try to pull away. She didn’t move. Full circle, they were back to this.
His nightmares.
His fears.
Her three seconds of psychology classes hadn’t prepared her for this. She’d never known someone who carried so much pain and responsibility on his shoulders.
Moving with deliberate slowness, she peeled his fingers from her arm, but instead of pushing him away, she threaded her fingers with his.
“No, it isn’t.” She lifted her arm to show him the goose bumps that had appeared. “This is.”
His gaze never left hers. His jaw clenched and worked, his body so tense it shuddered.
With one hand, Kylie slowly unbuttoned the top two buttons of her dress. She guided his fingertips to her breast, which had hardened to a little bead. “This is.”
He took in a labored breath, still holding her gaze.
“What happened last night isn’t you, Linc.” She ran her hand through his damp hair. “The man who saved that little girl today is you. The man who makes my heart pound in my chest is you. The good man. The decent man. Take me to bed and let me show you how much I trust being with you.”