by Becky McGraw
"I don't give a damn, get this crap the hell off of me, now," he demanded and ripped off the last white circle from his chest and handed it to her.
"The doctor is not here, that's not possible."
Luke stuck one of his long naked legs out from under the cover and went to sit up again. God, he was an even worse patient than she was, if that was possible. He needed to get a grip on himself, before he opened up that wound again. "Luke!" she yelled and walked over beside the nurse, "Settle yourself down or I'm gonna hog-tie you."
He stopped his motion and then looked up into her eyes with a sexy grin. "Now that definitely sounds like something I'd be okay with, sugar."
The nurse looked at them like they'd both lost their minds and Cassie and Luke shared a glance then their shared laughter bounced off the walls of the room. The nurse harrumphed and flicked off the monitor that was attached to the leads, mumbling something about wishing she was the doctor so she could get him out of her hair, before she stomped out of the room.
They laughed again and she gently pushed him back to the bed, "Now, you be good, and you'll be out of here tomorrow."
He scooted over in the bed and patted it. "I'll be good, if you come lay down here with me. It's late and I'm tired, but I'm not going to sleep without you beside me."
Cassie chewed her lip, looked back over her shoulder where the nurse had exited, then looked back at him. What the hell, she thought, what were they going to do kick him out? He'd be happy as a hog in shit if they did...so she laid down on the bed beside him, careful to avoid his injured side. His arm instantly went around her and he pulled her closer to him, snuggled his nose into her hair and sighed closing his eyes. "Love you, darlin'," he said then she heard his soft snores in her ear.
Cassie smiled peacefully then closed her own eyes. I love you too, sugar, she thought, so damned much, right before she drifted off herself.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Taking a sip of the tarry black coffee she'd gotten at the hospital, before she left, Cassie changed lanes to avoid a slow dump truck up ahead of her on the interstate near the Sky Harbor airport exit. She swung Luke's truck back over and then immediately took the airport exit, studying the signs to see where she needed to go next. The exit to terminal three came up on her fast, and she almost missed it, and spilled a little of her coffee on the seat, but she managed to ease into the chute at the last minute. Navigating airport roads always made her nervous, even more nervous considering she was driving Luke's big pickup with a cast on her left leg.
Cassie eased up under the terminal canopy and glanced at all the people standing on the sidewalk, looking for Cole. She slammed on the brakes when she saw him step off the curb in her path and wave. Damned man, must have a death wish, she thought, as he walked around to the driver's side and threw his duffle bag in the bed, then opened the door. "Shove over, sugar," he drawled authoritatively.
Cassie scooted over to the passenger side, more than glad to let him drive. He smiled over at her, his eyes warm and friendly. "How's your leg?"
"It's good. Other than feeling like I'm wearing a concrete shoe, I don't even notice it anymore," she told him and laughed.
His smile faded and then he looked back at the road and asked, "How's Luke?"
"Ornery, agitated...a worse patient than I was. I thought that nurse was going to shoot him herself last night," she chuckled.
"He must be feeling okay then," Cole said and huffed out what sounded like a relieved breath.
"Yeah, he's going to be okay, Cole," she told him seriously. "Thank, god...and thank you for coming. As much as he protested, I think it'll make him feel better."
"Cassie, about what I said by the lake..." his voice was low and apologetic.
"You only said that because you care about him, Cole. I understand...and I did seem to be the cause of him getting into trouble. That's why I was thinking of leaving Bowie again. I didn't want to ruin his life or your friendship." She looked out the window and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You're the best damned thing that could have happened to him. You coming back to Bowie has made him face things he'd brushed under the carpet for ten years," he hesitated, with his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter, he admitted, " I've thought it over and him resigning as Sheriff, is probably for the best. I pushed him into running for the job in the first place, and he hasn't been happy...I saw that, but didn't want to admit it."
"Thank you for saying that," she felt tears burn behind her eyes, but she held them back with effort.
Silence filled the cab of the truck as he took the road to get back on the interstate, toward Phoenix. It lasted until he had been on SR 143 for about ten miles. He glanced over at her with a serious plea in his green gaze. "Don't leave him, Cassie...he was a wreck last time...this time, it would kill him."
Surprised, she turned toward him then stuck out her left hand to him. He glanced down at it then up into her eyes, his eyes held tons of questions. "Luke asked me to marry him in Amarillo," she told him and smiled widely. "I'm not going anywhere without him, Cole."
He looked back at the road then slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "Well I'll be damned. That's great news, sugar. Congratulations," She saw him smile from ear to ear as he stared at the road and said, "Lucky bastard."
Excitement bubbled up inside of her that Cole accepted that she and Luke were going to be together, and she told him all about Luke's grand proposal in Amarillo, and then gushed on about Titan and how gorgeous he was.
Cole laughed and listened intently, but she could see something was bothering him. "Something bothering you?"
He shook his head, hesitated then asked, "So Luke is planning on helping you with the horses now instead of the cattle?"
"No--why would you think that?"
"Honey, there's no way he could afford to do both. He's saved up money, but not enough to buy into the cattle herd and buy the stud you've just described."
Shocked Cassie sat back against the door and stared at him for a second. His face was an unreadable mask now. "He said he had enough. I told him I didn't need for him to buy Titan for me. I have money."
"He was trying to make sure you stayed in Bowie. He'd been talking about it, but once he started talking about doing the cattle thing with me, I figured he'd changed his mind."
Cassie was furious with Luke. He'd lied to her, and she didn't know what was rattling around in that head of his. Maybe he planned to take out a loan for the money he needed for his portion of the price to buy the herd from her daddy. He should have talked to her about it. So much for him and his communication speech to her. She huffed out a breath then slammed herself against the seat back, refolding her arms over her chest.
Cole gave her a concerned look then asked, "What's going on in that pretty head of yours, Cassie? I don't want to cause trouble with you and Luke."
"Oh there's trouble all right, but none you caused. He should have talked to me..." she huffed out a frustrated sigh, "He's still in on the herd with you Cole. You don't worry, I'll fix it, but don't tell him anything...I want him to stew a while more, he deserves it."
Cole chuckled then and said, "Honey, he's definitely met his match with you. I have a feeling you'll keep him in line just fine."
When they got to the hospital, the parking lot was almost full, and Cole had to take a spot on the last row, a good trek from the front entrance. They walked across the lot, then went inside and up to Luke's room. When they walked inside, he was standing there in a pair of dark blue scrubs beside a wheelchair with his hand to his side, arguing with a nurse about needing a wheelchair.
Even though she was still mad at him, laughter bubbled up inside of her at the incredibly delicious, but ridiculous sight he made in those scrubs and his cowboy boots. Lot a hot cowboy doctor. Her mouth watered. She walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. He turned his angry brown eyes down to look at her.
"Excuse me, doctor...." she said suggestively, and winked at him knowing he'd rememb
er their kidnapping/doctor fantasy. "What's a girl got to do to get kidnapped around this place?"
Desire sparked in his eyes and his face turned beet red, before he gave her a sexy lopsided grin that caused all kinds of tingles to dance through her. Then his gaze drifted over her shoulder and he saw Cole behind her. "Bout damned time you got here," he said grumpily.
"Bout damned time you let Cassie make an honest man of you," Cole flipped right back at him. "Congratulations, man." Cole walked over and stuck out his hand, but Luke pulled him into a man hug and slapped his back.
"Thanks for coming, although I told your hardheaded ass you didn't need to."
"I wanted to come and check out the scenery in Phoenix," he said and his eyes traveled to the pretty blue-eyed nurse who'd been arguing with Luke when they walked in. He gave her a wink and she blushed. "Looks pretty damned good so far," he said exaggerating his drawl.
Luke bristled and said gruffly, "If you'd quit being a hound dog, I want to get my ass out of this place."
The petite nurse moved to put her finger in Luke's chest, her nose barely reaching above his navel. "Then you need to sit your ass down in that chair," she pointed at the chair then brought her finger back to poke him again, "and I will gladly roll your ass out of here!"
Cole and Cassie hooted in laughter, but Luke just stared down at the woman angrily. Cole walked over to Luke and grabbed his arm then told her with an amused chuckle, "Sugar, I like your style," before he forced a grumbling Luke down into the chair.
Once they reached the front exit, Luke had made them leave the wheelchair at the hospital exit, insisting on walking to the truck. He didn't want to wait in the crowd of cars under the canopy, or in the throng of people on the sidewalk waiting for their ride.
As they made the hike toward the truck, the Arizona sun was out full force, and the heat radiated off the pavement scorching Cassie's toes where they peeped out of her cast. She noticed Luke was sweating profusely, and breathing hard by the time they got his surly ass to the truck.
Texas was hot, but Arizona was in a different league than her home state...this felt like hell. She noticed that although Luke was sweating and his cheeks were flushed, his face was paler than it had been inside the hospital. She and Cole wrangled him up in the truck, then she walked around the truck and slid in the driver's side before Cole, so she could sit between the two men. Luke put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.
Heat poured off of him in waves, and she tried to pull away from his stickiness. "Darlin' it's too hot for cuddling right now. Let Cole get the air going first," she said and slid back over to the middle. He grunted and then leaned his head against the window.
Cole slid in the truck and cranked it up then fiddled with the dash to crank up the a/c to high. "Man, I couldn't take this heat day in and out. I'd fucking melt."
"It feels like it sometimes for sure," Cassie agreed.
"He doing okay over there?" Cole glanced over at Luke.
Cassie saw his eyes were closed, and his shirt was drenched. "We need to get him to my house and in bed. The nurse gave me a prescription for antibiotics and pain medicine...we need to get them filled on the way home."
Cole nodded and put the truck in drive. She gave him directions to a nearby pharmacy where she went in and got Luke's medicine and fresh bandages and other supplies to redress his wound, then headed back to the truck and gave Cole directions to her house.
They pulled up in front of her cozy little stucco house with the teal blue shutters and clay tiled roof, looking so neat and pristine on the outside, but she remembered the mess James had made of it on the inside. She groaned and told Cole, "I'll clear off a spot on the couch for him, until I can get the bedroom cleaned up."
"Maid take the week off?" Cole teased.
She felt tears burning behind her eyes and told him, "No, James decided to redecorate, before he shot Luke."
"I'm sorry, Cassie," he told her with sincerity.
"Things can be replaced, Luke can't. I'll clean up the mess."
Cole opened the door and let her out. They walked around the truck and helped Luke out and each of them took an arm to guide him to the porch. Concerned that his color hadn't gotten better even with the a/c in the truck cooling him off, she reached up and felt his forehead. His skin was still burning up, and his cheeks were still flushed. And he was quiet, not himself for sure. That worried her more than the flush.
The nurse had told her he might spike a fever and to give him Tylenol if that happened, but Cassie wasn't sure if he was just overheated or if he truly had a fever. She'd get him settled, give him his prescriptions and keep an eye on him.
She dropped Luke's arm then put her key in the lock before flinging open the door. Cole helped Luke inside and then whistled. "Jesus, Joseph and Mary..." he said his eyes traveling over the piles of her things, which now amounted to garbage strewn across her home.
"Amen," Cassie said and walked inside where she began picking up stuff to clear a path for them. Once she had a cleared trail to the couch, she swept all the stuff off the sofa and motioned for Cole to bring Luke over. She fluffed a pillow and put it in the corner by the arm and helped Cole ease him down. Luke groaned, and she felt his head again. Still scorching hot. "I'm going to get a cool rag for his head."
Cassie ran to the kitchen and filled a bowl with water and a few ice cubes, and then searched the drawer and found a couple of clean dish towels. She walked back in the living room and dipped one of the towels in the bowl then wrung it out and put it on his throat, and repeated the process to put one on his forehead. "Luke are you awake, baby? Talk to me."
He opened one glazed eye and said weakly, "Yeah, I'm awake," then closed his eye.
She grabbed the white pharmacy bag from the sofa table where Cole had sat it when they came in and asked him, "There's bottled water in the fridge, can you grab a couple? There's a beer in there too, I think if you want one instead."
Cole went to do as she asked, and Cassie quickly read the dosage instructions for the meds and then opened the caps to pull out the correct amounts. When she looked up, Cole handed her one of the cold bottles that he'd already opened for her. "Sit up if you can, Luke. You have to take your medicine."
"Can't..." he said in a voice as weak as a kitten.
She swallowed hard and looked at Cole. "Can you help him sit up?"
He nodded and went over to slid his arm under Luke's shoulders to hold him up. "Luke open your eyes, sugar," Cassie told him, then set the water down and picked up his hand to drop the pills in his palm.
"Open up, Luke," she said then guided his hand to his mouth and he popped in the pills. Quickly, she lifted the bottle of water to his lips and encouraged him to drink the whole bottle. When Luke was done, Cole slid him back down on the pillow.
"I'm worried about him..." Cassie said quietly.
"Me too--what do you think it is? He was pretty perky at the hospital, but after we got him across the parking lot to the truck, he looked pretty bad."
"The nurse said he'd probably spike a fever...maybe the antibiotic will help. I'm going get him some ibuprofen too." She was back with the pills in her hand, and Cole lifted him up again, and they managed to get them down his throat.
"Okay you keep an eye on him and I'll go get the bedroom cleaned up."
"Sure you don't want me to help?" Cole asked then his eyes traveled around the disheveled living room again.
"No, you stay with Luke, and I'll take care of it. I'll set up the spare room for you too."
"Don't go to any trouble for me, darlin'. I can clean it up when I go in there later."
Cassie nodded and took off for her bedroom before she broke down in tears in front of Cole and Luke. She was worried sick about Luke, and was an emotional mess over the state of her home, but she'd managed to keep it together, so far. She didn't think she'd be that lucky once she was alone.