I find the source of the bleeding, a huge gash along his left side, likely where something sharp on the bumper slashed him. I shave the edges in record time, aware of every precious second ticking by with him bleeding.
To her credit, Victoria is watching, silent. Her presence is unobtrusive, which is abnormal for people watching their dog die.
I stitch him up with Sam hurrying to snip the threads and dab up blood. Twenty two stitches later, we’re done and there’s far less blood flowing from the wound. I probe the ribs, wondering if we should X-ray. I know two are broken, I feel them. But they can be manipulated back into place. His breathing isn’t labored, which leads me to believe his lungs weren’t punctured.
“We need to get Jax off the transfusion,” Sam says, her focus on cleaning up Sentinel.
“A little longer,” I say, hoping that I’m not asking too much of Jax.
“You’re going to kill him,” Sam says, her tone urgent and terrified.
“Trust me,” I tell her. I know we’re cutting it close. But Sentinel needs all the blood he can get.
“Don’t trade one life for another,” Sam says, her tone admonishing. I look into her eyes, wondering when she’d gotten so old. Sure, I knew she was in her forties, but she’s never looked her age. Until now.
“Just a little bit longer,” I say, looking over at my dog. Jax is resting, head between his front paws. His big blue eyes are on me and I know he’d follow me to the ends of the earth. He’d die if I let him.
Even now, as he gets weaker and weaker, his lifeblood saving the life of another, he trusts me.
Chapter 5
Victoria
I watch the two argue about how Kyle is killing Jax, a beautiful husky with the most beautiful silver blue eyes I’ve ever seen. But while the two stare each other down, I feel myself needing to step in.
Before I can say anything, Kyle steps up. “Okay. Let’s get Jax some food.” They work together with Sam ending the transfusion and I Kyle offering some canned food to the pretty husky. He talks quietly to the dog and I realize it’s his dog.
The rude guy was risking his own dog’s life to save mine.
I walk over, needing to thank Jax, who has his head down as if he’s too tired to lift it. “Good boy,” I say as he licks up some wet food. Beside me, I feel Kyle tense up. “Thank you,” I whisper to Jax, while reaching out to pet him.
He offers my arm a weak lick and I smile.
“Sam,” Kyle says, and I listen to him without saying anything. Something tells me that the only reason I’m even allowed back here right now is because I’m staying out of the way and quiet. “Please X-ray Sentinel.”
She’s quick to do so and I sense that he’s got something to say to me. When we’re alone in the room – save for Jax, who’s paying us no mind while there’s food in front of him – he turns to me.
“He’s in rough shape. If he lasts through the night then we’re pretty well out of the woods.” His voice is the kindest I’ve heard it, and I know the dire news is affecting him too.
I want to thank him, to tell him no one has ever been so kind to me, but my voice won’t work.
Kyle studies me. “I’d like to take him home for the night.”
Frozen by the words, I realize I hadn’t let myself think ahead at all. I have no plans. Nowhere to stay the night. Not really even enough money to get something. And even if I did, my truck is back at the grocery store.
“I’m not from around here,” I say, not willing to give away too much information. He doesn’t need to know the sordid details of my past or why I’m just passing through.
He lets out a sigh that’s so frustrated I’m instantly up in arms. “Do you have somewhere you can stay the night?” he asks, clearly annoyed but doing his best to keep it in check.
My cheeks burn in shame as I try to figure out how to tell him I’m broke, that this wasn’t part of my tightly managed plan. I’ve got enough money to make it to the place I’d decided to run to. I’d chosen the farthest I could run and still somewhere I could get a job and maybe disappear.
Everything I have has to go to that. Miserable, I shake my head. My life hasn’t been easy. I don’t have an amazing, well-paying job. He doesn’t understand what it means to scrimp and save, all the while under the thumb of someone who refuses to let you have any freedoms. My freedom is the only thing I’ve got; I don’t want to give it up for anyone.
Except maybe Sentinel.
He studies his dog, who’s alternately licking food and his owner’s knuckles. There’s a tension in the air that bothers me. Is he really mad at me that I’m not able to just drop money wherever like he can? Hell, if I was the only vet in a town full of people, I bet I’d have deep pockets too. Not everybody just gets life handed to them.
Besides, if he’s as much an ass to everyone else as he is to me, then he’s damn lucky he’s the only vet in town.
He lets out a sigh and I see his jaw working like he’s clenching his jaw against whatever words are trying to come out. His hands ball up and his knuckles go white before he finally releases them with an exhale.
“I’ve got a place you can stay,” He says through gritted teeth. He sounds as excited at the offer as I feel about it. There’s no way in hell I’d be able to stay under a roof with this guy. We’d be at each other’s throats in no time.
Damn it. I promised myself I’d never owe any guy anything again. And not only is he helping me save my dog’s life, he’s offering me a place to stay. And he clearly doesn’t even want to. What the hell is with this guy?
“I don’t need your charity.” I spit the words with all the venom I feel and he looks at me sideways.
But he doesn’t say anything. At first.
“Oh no?” He asks, arching an eyebrow at me. “Then where are you going tonight?” What he doesn’t say – but I hear – is how am I going to pay for the vet bill.
I stare at him, trying to sort out the anger rising in me. I want to slap his pretty face. But as his blue eyes stay locked on my face, I just freeze in shock and pain. How dare he be so rude to me?
I’m a fucking survivor! I don’t need some asshole taking cheap shots at me. I’ve lived through so much worse than this pretty boy, silver spoon, spoiled little bitch has ever even thought about. What’s the worst thing he’s ever had to deal with? His rich daddy-o paying his way? Or maybe they made him work while he went to Harvard or whatever rich boy school he went to. Ooooh, he’s totally one who can understand how hard life can be.
But even as I prepare a sharp retort, I feel tears sting in my eyes. And I hate myself for it. His blue eyes are still locked on my face as if daring me to say something, anything.
“I’ll find a way to pay you back,” I whisper.
To my horror, he snorts.
Chapter 6
Kyle
“You really don’t give a damn how much of an asshole you are, do you?” She asks, and I’m taken aback.
An asshole? Really? She’s looking at me like I’m some disgusting thing that she tracked in on the bottom of her shoe, yet I’m the asshole. I offered her a place to stay against every damn thought and warning bell in my mind, and yet I’m an asshole.
“Darlin’,” I drawl with more ease than I feel, “I’m letting a total stranger stay in my home. I’m trusting someone who’s just passing through when I don’t know you from Adam. I don’t know if you’re a con artist, a serial killer, a fucking psycho, but here I am offering you a place to stay. If that makes me an asshole…” I shrug, lifting my hands, palm up. Jax takes the opportunity to weakly lick at my fingers.
The myriad of expressions crossing Victoria’s face are just as varied as they had been before. It’s like watching a fucking wheel of emotions that slow and finally stop on confusion. “I meant that you’re a jerk-”
“An asshole.” I’m not letting her back down so quickly. She said it, she can fucking own it.
Her eyes narrow before she continues, “Because you seem to think I can�
��t pay you back.”
Is she new to this life thing? “Do you think you’re the first person to say that to me?” I ask, wondering just how sheltered she is. Maybe she is a con. Maybe all of this was set up. I doubt it, she feels genuine and her dog seems to mean the world to her. Still, how could anyone get through life being so oblivious and unaware?
Her expression falls and I realize it’s finally dawning on her. But instead of responding in anger, she squares her shoulders and lifts her chin like she’s ready to do battle. “I will pay you back,” she says, her tone firm and serious.
But something in me tells me to humor her rather than knock her back again. I dip my chin in agreement. “Okay,” I say with every bit as much firmness as she did. I’m shocked at the sudden change in her as the word leaves my lips.
It’s as if I’m the first person to ever believe in her, even a tiny bit. What the hell happened to this girl?
She rubs her hands on the hips of her black leggings. There’s a new note to her voice as she talks to me. “And I’m not a con, or a fucking psycho. Serial killer, maybe.” The corners of her lips lift in a small smile.
“That makes two of us,” I say, and her expression drops. She studies me and I stare into her worried brown eyes, again, feeling like something’s not quite right with this girl. “Would I really tell you?” I ask, feeling my eyebrow arch as she thinks it over.
“Maybe. Hiding truths in a joke would be a good way to blend in.” She sounds like she’s considering it as we speak and I have to agree with her.
“I guess. But if I really seem like the kind of person who could do that, it would be stupid to joke about it if it were true, right?” I say as she reaches out to pet Jax, who thumps his tail at her.
“True,” she says, and I feel a sudden shock of warmth at her approval. “I guess I should thank you,” she says, her tone decidedly warmer.
“Don’t mention it,” I say, still struggling with that nagging doubt in my mind. I care about Sentinel. I care about animals. People are assholes. They let you down, they lie, they cheat, they steal. Animals might steal, but it’s for good reason. They’re easy to understand. They don’t set out to deceive, like people.
I want to keep Sentinel safe and get him through the night and these first crucial weeks. His owner? Well, she’s just… here.
“You’re kind of strange,” she muses, her hand gently tugging Jax’s ears. He’s loving the attention. “You save my dog, help me out, and you’re modest about it.”
Because the one I’m actually doing it for wouldn’t offer me words.
At that moment, Sam comes back in and I breathe a sigh of relief. She hangs up the X-rays and I look them over. Instantly I see two broken ribs and a fractured third. Somehow, those are the only broken bones.
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Let’s set those and wrap him,” I tell Sam. She nods and we hurry to set the bones and wrap him up while the pain meds are still freely flowing through him.
“I’m taking him home,” I tell Sam who looks over at a silent Victoria. Her glance back at me is knowing, and I want to shake my head at her. It’s not like that. And she should know better.
“Good,” She says, “Jax will have someone to recuperate with.” She gives me a wink and I shake my head. She’s quick to dig her elbow into my ribs. “Just enjoy yourself,” she says softly.
I’m not going to enjoy myself. I don’t get close to women. Not the ones I take home, not the ones that claim to love me, not the ones who are grateful for everything I do for their pets. And this? The woman who is obviously just as annoyed by me as I am her? Not a snowball’s chance in hell we’re going to enjoy ourselves.
I glance over at Victoria, who’s back to loving on Jax. He’s staring up at her with his best love me look, and I try not to be surprised he’s taking to her so well. He’s as dissociated as I am, generally.
But no, his tail is thudding on the wall and he’s panting while watching her with a look that begs her not to stop loving on his ears.
It’s fucking weird.
Chapter 7
Victoria
I want to ask him to take me to get my truck, but there’s something so off putting about asking him for another favor. He’s done so much for me that even this small thing seems like a herculean task.
Even now, with Sentinel on a stretcher between us as we walk the sort distance to his home, I feel overwhelming gratitude. And Sentinel, still sleeping off the pain meds and anesthetic, is resting easily.
Jax, still a bit wobbly on his feet, walks beside Kyle without a leash. But he’s so well behaved it doesn’t seem at all off that he’s almost heeling without being reminded. Every once in a while he looks up at his owner, his ears cocked, as if Kyle’s saying something I can’t hear.
At the door of the beautiful home, I notice that the place is ultra-modern, sleek and beautiful. It’s all dark walls, steel beams and floor to ceiling glass rectangles. The door itself is a single sheet of glass that he unlocks with a weird key and slides it open.
“Who built this? I ask in awe.
Kyle looks over his shoulder at me. “Connor.” The single word is rife with emotion, and I sense there’s a connection between the men. Perhaps they’re lovers.
“It’s beautiful,” I say as I step over the threshold. The inside is beautiful. Underfoot there’s an ashen off white wood floor glossed to a mirror like shine. The walls are soft grey until about halfway up, in which they’re a delicate cream color. The ceilings are the same silken grey, with ultra-bright recessed lighting.
The outside of the windows show that he’s either an avid gardener or he’s got landscapers working regularly. I know that there’s a town on the other side of the greenery out each window, but it’s hard to believe it when you can’t see it. Or hear it.
“Bring him in here,” Kyle says as he guides me through the house. I follow and find myself in a dining room slash kitchen area. A marble covered counter separates the two rooms, and a table that seats eight is in the middle of the dining room.
Past the table there’s another sliding door. This one opens to a back yard that’s all greenery and a tall wooden fence in the deepest cherry color. By that back door, we gingerly set Sentinel’s stretcher on the ground.
“I’ll get him a bed,” Kyle says and sets off down a hall. I chase him, wanting to help. And see more of this amazing house, of course.
He stops at a wall with seams that just looks like decoration. But he presses around mid-height on the walls and they pop open. Inside, there are linens, sheets and the like, and some blankets. He takes one from the bottom shelf, a microfiber blanket in the deepest earthen brown, and hands it to me.
I take it as he grabs a few things here and there, sheets, pillow cases, a pillow off the top shelf, a nice microfiber blanket that’s a soft tawny fawn color. He walks further down the hall and into another room.
This room is the same color scheme as the rest of the house, but one wall is totally painted a deep mahogany that relaxes me like nothing else. This is someone who uses color to affect mood. I love it.
“Did you choose the colors?” I ask as he places the sheets on the bed. He glances at me over his shoulder and I’m struck by how the colors seem to intensify the incredible blue of his eyes.
“I did. But it occurs to me that you may be more comfortable in the mother in law.” His gaze is searching and I nod. I’d much rather have my own space.
“If that’s not too much trouble,” I say gently as he scoops up the sheets and blankets once more.
“Not at all,” he says, his tone short. We head back into the room where Sentinel is sleeping and Jax is standing guard, albeit in a laying down, half-asleep kind of way.
“The dark one stays,” Kyle says, jerking his chin toward the blanket in my hands. I set it down and he opens the back sliding door. I’m hot on his heels as he walks down off the little stone porch and down a little path. The mother in law is huge, like another house in the back yard. It’s quite lik
e a smaller version of the main house.
He opens the door and leads me into the place. It’s like a little one bedroom apartment complete with a bathroom, kitchen, and everything. It’s a dream place, way more beautiful than the shitty little studio apartments I’ve been looking at.
The thought of what I’m going to do next crosses my mind and I shift uncomfortably as Kyle leads me into the bedroom. We make up the bed, working together on the fitted sheet, neither of us speaking.
It’s going to be so difficult to find an apartment without a steady income. I have to hope I’ll find someone willing to take first and last month’s rent without my even having a job. And I’ll have to get a job right away. It’s scary walking into the unknown like this, but when I consider the alternative…
I shiver.
Kyle glances at me, his stunning blue eyes serious. “Are you cold?” he asks, his voice oddly husky. I wonder what he’s thinking, but shake off the questions to answer him.
“No,” I say, running a finger along the soft blanket. The colors in this room are just as soothing. This one is that same gray as the main house, but the accent wall is a pale minty green. So very pale, in fact, I begin to question myself if it really has a green tint or if my eyes are playing tricks on me.
“I’ll show you where the thermostat is,” he says, and I follow him back into the dining area. The kitchen is all stainless steel and cream colors. The counters are the same white marble as the main house, and I wonder if I’ve died and gone to heaven. This place is absolutely incredible.
He stops so suddenly I almost slam into him and he presses his thumb to the button and it shows that it’s sixty-eight degrees. But I don’t’ care about the temperature I care that suddenly, standing next to him, I feel breathless. It’s like he’s sending out little pulses of static energy that are tickling my skin.
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