by Jill Shalvis
Look at that, she had a ragged nail. She hoped someone here had a nail file or she’d be tempted to chew it off.
“A couple hundred?”
“No. And never mind.” She moved to the filing cabinet. Or more accurately, limped to the filing cabinet, because now her entire body ached like a sonofabitch. She rubbed her leg without thinking and caught AJ’s gaze narrowing in on the movement of her hand.
“Stress is bad for your recovery,” he said quietly.
She dropped her hand. “I know how to take care of myself.”
He arched a brow, and hell if that didn’t really put her back up. She wanted to sit but her pride wouldn’t let her until he moved off. And fine, yes, once upon a damn time she’d been shit at taking care of herself.
Case in point—wrapping her car around a tree on a stormy night on a deserted highway out in the middle of nowhere and nearly dying. But that had been eleven months ago, and a woman could change.
Or at least, she could be working on that change …
The door opened and Zoe strode in. Darcy’s older sister was looking professional in a business suit, clearly dressed for a flight. As one of only two pilots for hire at Sunshine’s local airport, Zoe stayed busy.
But thankfully not too busy, because she was carrying a bag of—yes!—Gummy Bears. Darcy’s drug of choice.
Tall and willowy, Zoe had all eyes on her as she strode across the floor, sparing a smile for AJ.
AJ returned it, and without any warning, Darcy’s heart careened off her ribs. It really wasn’t fair that he looked like a fallen angel when he smiled. Good thing he rarely did.
“What’s up?” he asked Zoe.
“Just here to visit your sweet, adorable, kind receptionist.”
“She’s not in today,” AJ said, deadpan.
Zoe laughed.
And Darcy sighed. But then her sister handed her the Gummy Bears, which went a long way toward soothing her rumpled feathers.
“You’ve been here for two weeks without getting fired,” Zoe said. “Impressive.”
She was referring, of course, to the three days Darcy had worked at the local bar before being shown the door. “Hey,” she said. “Putting false engagement rings in women’s drinks as an early present from Santa was funny.”
“Not to their boyfriends,” Zoe said, and then stage-whispered, “and please don’t try to punk AJ, okay? He means a lot to me, so if he kills you, it’ll be all sorts of awkward.”
“I won’t go up for murder,” AJ said. “They’d never find the body.”
AJ humor. Darcy rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the goodies,” she said to Zoe. “But I’m sure you have to go now.”
“I’ve got a few minutes.”
Great. Darcy looked at AJ. “Tell her I’m too busy to socialize. And you’re too busy, too. Ronan’s waiting.”
As if on cue, Ronan sat up from where he’d been doing sit-ups and looked over.
“Hey, Ronan,” Zoe called out with a warm smile. “How’s your mom?”
“Done with chemo and looking better.”
Zoe’s smile brightened. “Oh, I’m so glad!”
Sunshine was too damn small, Darcy thought. Not only did everyone know everyone, but no one had ever learned to mind their own business. Darcy started to move back to her computer but AJ stepped in her way, ducking down a little to look into her eyes.
“Ice the leg,” he said, and without waiting for a response, headed toward Ronan.
Damn, the man had a way of moving, his body shifting with barely sheathed loose-limbed power and grace, and both Darcy and Zoe watched him go.
“He’s got such an edible butt,” Zoe whispered. “Do you think he knows it?”
“I don’t think he cares.” Besides, his being hot didn’t change the fact that he was a bigger problem for her than Johnny could even think about being. Johnny was just an asshole. AJ was … well, she wasn’t sure what. Dangerous as hell to her well-being, for starters.
“So why do you do it?” Zoe asked her.
Darcy tore her gaze away from AJ’s ass. “Do what?”
Zoe took her big-sister status very seriously. But then again, in spite of the fact that there were only a few years between them, Zoe had always been more maternal toward Darcy than their actual mom ever had.
“Bait him,” Zoe said. “He’s great guy. He’s smart, hardworking, self-made …”
“Maybe you should date him.”
Zoe laughed. “We’re not suited.”
“Because?” Darcy asked.
“Well … he’s a bit alpha.”
Yeah. Just a bit.
“We’d butt heads,” Zoe said. “But I’ve always thought that maybe you two might …”
“A minute ago you were worried he might kill me.”
“Well, sleeping with him might go a long way toward making sure he wouldn’t.”
Darcy snorted. “Go away, Z.”
“In a minute. He did so much for you after your accident.”
This was absolutely true. Darcy had had five surgeries, and once she’d been okayed for physical therapy, AJ had taken over her care. He’d been a drill sergeant but he’d also saved her life. She knew it. He knew it.
And wasn’t that just the problem. She hated knowing that she hadn’t been able to save herself, that she’d needed help. “You’re right,” she agreed softly. “He’s done a lot for me.”
“I mean look at you, Darce. You’re walking.”
A miracle. Darcy got that. She was grateful for that, so very grateful he’d gotten her out of a wheelchair and onto her own feet again. Sure, she’d never win a track meet and she was always going to be somewhat unstable on her own two legs—especially the right one which still enjoyed buckling on her at the worst of times—but yeah. AJ would forever be a hero for what he’d done for her.
Which wasn’t to say she liked him.
In fact, during her PT she’d actually hated him. She’d dreamed nightly about strangling him, drowning him …
Very satisfying dreams, too.
And if there’d been a few others, some that had involved a different kind of altercation altogether between them, of the naked and sweaty variety, well, those were her little secrets.
Across the large room, past all the exercise equipment to the mirrored wall, Ronan lay flat on his back now, working with a large rubber band around his ankles, doing strengthening exercises.
On his knees at his side, AJ guided him, and wrong as it might be, the sight of the two built guys working so hard together made her pulse race just a little bit.
During a quick beat of rest for Ronan, AJ glanced over the carved muscles of his shoulder to meet Darcy’s gaze.
She stopped breathing.
At her side, so did Zoe. “I just don’t get why you’re so hard on him,” her sister said.
“Actually, I think you’ve got that backward.” He was hard on her.
Very hard.
And she resented that. It was almost as if he expected her to soften her edges, to be something she wasn’t—like maybe one of those soft, sweet, bendy yoga instructors he was fond of dating. But though Darcy was working on herself, she was never going to be soft and sweet.
Or, thanks to her accident, bendy.
“Maybe you could just try a little bit harder to be more … friendly,” Zoe suggested.
Darcy didn’t have words for what she felt for AJ, but she was pretty sure “friendly” wasn’t going to make the list. And yet if AJ had been there for Darcy in a huge way, so had Zoe. Always. So Darcy blew out a breath and managed a smile for her sister. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll try.”
Two
Several days later, AJ was in the middle of his weekly game of rec league football. And since Sunshine was a place where only the rugged, the hearty, and the tough-as-hell resided, the “flag” part of the game had long ago been forgotten, making it a contact sport. Complainers were booted and banned. For life.
AJ’s team consisted of old friends: Dar
cy’s veterinarian brother, Wyatt. Griffin, a friend from high school. And the three brothers who ran the Belle Haven Animal Center: Brady, Dell, and Adam.
Their opposing team was a company of local firefighters who played fast and dirty.
Really dirty.
In the first half AJ took a hard hit and found himself flat on his back.
From the sidelines came the collective groan of the spectators. Sunshine took its sports seriously.
AJ rubbed his aching ribs and decided that probably nothing was broken. Just as well. Not even broken ribs would’ve gotten him benched—they had no substitute players tonight. He lay there a minute to catch his breath, staring up at the sky. Looked like it was going to rain again. He heard Wyatt call a time-out.
Wyatt’s face appeared above him. “Haven’t seen that in a while,” his best friend said with a smirk. “Whatcha doing?”
“Just needed a quick rest,” AJ said.
“Well, rest on your own time. We’re down by three and I’ve got fifty bucks riding on this. Plus, Emily’s watching.”
Emily was Wyatt’s girlfriend, and he was in the “show-off” phase of their relationship.
AJ lifted his head and eyed the crowd. Yep, the cutiepie, new-to-town intern vet was indeed watching. In fact, most of the town was.
Emily, who was just as crazy about Wyatt as Wyatt was about her, stood up, waved, and blew him a kiss.
Wyatt grinned stupidly at her.
“If you blow her a kiss back,” AJ muttered, “I’m taking away your man card.”
But he was wasting his breath because Wyatt blew her a kiss back.
AJ flopped his head back to the grass and groaned.
“Hey,” Wyatt said. “Which of us is going to get laid tonight? Me, that’s who. In fact, I get laid just about every night, so who’s got the man card now?” He offered AJ a hand up. “You going to tell me what your problem is?”
“In the middle of a time out here.”
“They’ll wait. Given your performance tonight, they think you’re so old you need the rest, that buys us some time.”
“Mind’s not on the game, that’s all,” AJ said.
“No shit. Where’s it at?”
Excellent question. Wyatt was easygoing and laid-back, which made him a great vet, and in fact, a great guy, but there were limits to what a man could say to his best friend. For instance, My mind’s on your frustrating, crazy-hot sister wasn’t going to fly, not if he wanted to keep his teeth where they were. “Work,” he finally said, figuring it was close enough to the truth.
Wyatt’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not Darcy, is it?”
AJ resisted taking yet another look at the crowd watching. He didn’t have to; he’d memorized her. She wore dark sunglasses on her clear jade green eyes and her honeycolored hair had been left on the loose tonight, the curls wild and free, much like the woman herself. She wore sexy, painted-on jeans, boots designed to make a grown man drop to his knees and beg, and a formfitting, scoop-neck vintage Led Zeppelin tee. She was long-legged, hotter than the sun that hadn’t bothered to show its face in weeks, and looked like the poster woman for the very best kind of trouble—trouble she could and had delivered.
And she was one hundred percent the most dangerous thing he’d ever faced, and that included his six years in the Navy. “No,” he said. “It’s not Darcy. She’s …” Driving him right out of his ever-loving mind. “Fine. It’s nothing. Let’s finish this.”
Wyatt’s expression said Nothing my ass, but he nodded and they went back to the game.
By the time the game finally ended, they were filthy and a little bloody, but they’d won by three—no thanks at all to AJ. He sucked down water like it was going out of style as Wyatt sat on the bench at his side.
“Is it your dad?” Wyatt asked. “He have another skin cancer scare?”
“No,” AJ said. “He’s fine.” Ornery as hell, but fine. “And I told you, nothing’s wrong.”
“Can’t bullshit a bullshitter,” Wyatt said. “It’s a woman. Right?”
AJ bent to the task of switching out his cleats for running shoes.
“Yeah,” Wyatt said. “It’s a woman.”
Still ignoring him, AJ stood.
“Listen, not three weeks ago you helped me get my head out of my ass,” Wyatt said. “Told me to go after the love of my life. I did and it worked out.”
AJ sighed and turned to face him. “We were both drunk. You’re just lucky I didn’t suggest something stupid, such as running like hell.”
“You never suggest anything stupid,” Wyatt said. “You’re the most logical, reasonable guy I know.”
AJ pulled out his phone and looked at the time.
“My point,” Wyatt said, “is that love isn’t logical or reasonable.”
“Gee, there’s a news flash.”
Wyatt stood up and pushed AJ’s phone away, smiling when AJ narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “It’s my turn to be Obi Wan, and that’s because now I get that the right one isn’t the right one unless she’s driving you absolutely bonkers in the best possible way. And I gotta say … you’re looking a little bonkers, man.”
He had that right. “Let it go,” AJ said.
“Fine. You don’t want my help until you fuck it all up, I get that, too. But I’ll be standing right here when you need me.”
AJ shook his head. “Thanks for the warning.”
“And not that you deserve the invite, but Emily and I are thinking about going camping up to Marble Flats this weekend. Her sister and her fiancé will probably come, too. We could get some of the guys and—”
“Can’t,” AJ said.
“You off to consult somewhere or heading to D.C.?”
Besides running the Sunshine Wellness Center, AJ consulted on physical therapy at military bases across the country, mostly within the special ops units. He also went to D.C. regularly to fight for better, longer PT care for injured vets. “Neither,” he said. “I’m heading to Boise.”
“That guy who’s interested in your grant program finally set up a meet, then?”
“Yeah.” AJ had been working on putting together grants to cover extended treatment for patients with extensive trauma cases who got cut off too early by their insurance companies. Unfortunately he had way too many of those cases and not nearly enough funding, so he’d gone looking for people willing to fund grants and had someone interested.
“I hope he bites,” Wyatt said. “You need this. I don’t know what we’d have done if Darcy hadn’t had you at her back when her insurance ran out.”
“She had all of us,” AJ said, but knew Wyatt was right. If Darcy had quit PT when her insurance had stopped covering her treatment, she’d still be in a wheelchair. “This guy’s got a wife who needed long-term PT care after an accident. He’s a CEO of a team-building corporation, and he’s having a weekend retreat for his employees. I’ve been asked to bring along someone I helped pro bono after they ran out of funds. Someone who’d have benefited from the grant program. My plan was to bring Seth.”
Another of AJ’s clients, Seth Williams had been in a climbing accident and worked his way back from an incomplete SCI—spinal cord injury—thanks to extended treatment.
“Seth agreed to that?” Wyatt asked, surprised.