Tame Horses Wild Hearts

by Alison Paige

  “Just stop it,” Eddy said. “Everything’s perfect. You’re ruining it. Take your birthday present so we can be together. You have to accept it.”

  “That’s not how it works and you know it.” Kate took a small step closer and Joe’s gut clenched. “You can’t give a person an engagement ring as a gift unless you’re already a couple.”

  “We are a couple.”

  “No. We’re friends.”

  Joe held his ground, waiting to see if Kate could talk Eddy off the proverbial ledge—and the real one. His shoulder braced against the thick tree trunk, Joe raised his gun, lined the shot and waited. He’d take Eddy out in a heartbeat if it came to it. He wouldn’t think twice. Not when Kate was involved.

  “That’s how the best marriages start. As friends.” Eddy closed the distance between them. “I love you, Kate. I know you love me. You’re just scared to admit it.”

  “No, Eddy.”

  “I understand that you think it’s wrong. I mean, it was only a couple years ago I was camper here, a kid. But I’m a man now. I can be what you need.” He reached for her, a gun in one hand a ring box in the other. He stroked her arms with his wrists and Joe watched how Kate’s body tensed.

  “I saw what you did with Joe, Kate. When you were naked. I saw the two of you screwing. I’m not mad.” Eddy shrugged. “Well, I was. But I know you were just trying to make me jealous. I forgive you. Besides, once we’re married you’ll be in my bed. Forever.”

  Kate stepped back, her mouth lax. “What do you mean you saw? You said… When?”

  “You know when. At the house, and before that at Bare Lake. I watched him fucking you. You looked straight at me.”

  “No. That’s not true and you know it. Listen to me. I didn’t want you to watch me. I didn’t want you to take those horrible pictures. I don’t want to marry you. I don’t feel that way about you. I can’t.”

  Eddy shook his head, blinking. “But you do. I can tell. The way you treat me, the way you talk to me, like, like I’m special.”

  “I talk to you like a friend, Eddy. That’s all. Understand?”

  “No. You’re lying. You’re just saying that ’cause Joe’s poisoned you against me. You think he’s the only one who can do those things to you. But I can do everything he can, Kate. I want to. I think about being with you, being inside you all the time.” He glanced to the bulging ridge at his crotch. “See what you do to me?”

  Eddy moved to grab her, but Kate stepped out of his reach and right in the line of Joe’s sight.

  Dammit.

  “Don’t run from me.” Eddy’s voice dropped, held the sharp edge of anger. “You don’t know what it’s like watching Joe shove his cock inside you. Listening to you call his name, listening to you moan like that. I’ve lain in bed night after night thinking about doing that to you. I won’t wait any longer. You can’t tease me like this.”

  Instinct raised the hairs at the back of Joe’s neck. The situation had just gone south. He couldn’t shoot. Kate was still in the way.

  He strode forward, cleared his sight, gun double fisted in front of him. “Don’t move.”

  But Eddy was just as quick. He lunged for Kate, spun her around, jammed the barrel of his gun against her head hard enough to make her wince.

  The world stopped. Time ticked by slow and heavy with each solid thud of Joe’s heart. “Let her go.”

  “No. No, you just, just go away.” Eddy’s gun hand was shaking. He inched them backward, holding Kate tight to his chest by crossing her arm to her opposite shoulder, his hand strangling her wrist.

  “Not gonna happen, kid.” Joe sidestepped, trying to find an opening. He was a damn good shot, but with Kate’s body in front of Eddy’s and his head ducked low by hers, Joe wasn’t ready to take the risk.

  “Why not? No one invited you. You’re not supposed to be here.” Eddy squeezed Kate tighter, stepped farther back. “You’re ruining everything.”

  “Don’t wanna hurt you, kid. You keep this up, it’s not gonna end pretty.”

  “Shut up.” Eddy wagged the gun at Joe, then swung it back to Kate’s temple. “Just shut up. She’s mine now. She took off that stupid ring you gave her. I got her a better one. A diamond.”

  “I took it off to clue Joe in—” Kate stopped short when Eddy jerked his grip around her, made her wince. They stumbled backward several steps before Eddy caught his balance and steadied Kate.

  Joe swallowed the flash of rage flooding behind his eyes—found the numbing calm honed from years of training. “I got this, dollface.”

  “No. You don’t have anything,” Eddy said, his face red, lips curled back from his teeth. “You shouldn’t even be here. I just needed a few more minutes. A few more minutes and she was gonna say yes.”

  “Wrong, kid.”

  “Ya-huh. You ruined it. That’s why I brought her here. This is our special place. Where we kissed for the first time.”

  Kate squirmed. “I never kissed you.”

  Eddy’s gaze dropped to Kate and Joe inched closer.

  “Yes you did,” he said. “The other kids were teasing me ’cause I’m not a good swimmer. You sat with me and hugged me. Told me a lot of smart people don’t waste time learning to swim well. Then you kissed me.”

  “I kissed your cheek.”

  “’Cause the rules wouldn’t allow you to kiss me on the lips.”

  “No, Eddy. I was—”

  “Give it up, kid. You’re not winning her this way,” Joe said.

  Eddy’s looked up, eyes widening when he saw how close Joe had come. He shuffled back, dragging Kate. “Stay back. I don’t need your opinion. You just want her for yourself. I won’t give up. I’ve waited too long. She’s the only one. I’d rather, rather die.”

  Something flashed behind Eddy’s eyes, some desperate rationalization.

  “Easy, kid,” Joe said, circling slow, trying to herd him back from the cliff’s edge.

  “What would you do if I shot her?” Eddy’s voice was like ice, chillingly calm.

  “You’ll go down before your ears stopped ringing.”

  Eddy flinched at Joe’s blunt response. “Figured you’d say that. But then we’d finally be together.”

  He seemed to lose himself in his thoughts for a second, then his eyes focused on Joe again, brows high. “You think it’ll hurt? When you shoot me, will it hurt?”

  “Yeah. It’ll hurt like hell.”

  Anger rolled across his face like a storm cloud. “’Cause you’ll make sure of it, right?”

  The scenario shifted in Joe’s mind. He was playing this wrong. “’Cause you won’t die from it. She’ll be gone. You’ll have killed her for nothing.”

  Eddy blinked at that for a moment. “Bullshit. I don’t believe you. You love her too much. You’ll kill me on reflex. Won’t even think about it.”

  Joe liked to believe he had more control than that, but he’d never been in this position before, never cared so damn much. This wasn’t working. Trying to force the kid was pushing him in the wrong direction, both physically and emotionally. He’d shoot her or take her over the edge of the cliff with him. Time for a new tactic.

  “Alright.” Joe held up his hands in surrender. “Okay. You win. I’m puttin’ it down. Let’s talk this out.”

  Joe clicked on the safety and tossed the gun—not so far he couldn’t dive for if he had to. Eddy’s shoulders relaxed, his choking grip around Kate eased.

  “Good. Yeah.” He exhaled, watching Joe’s gun as it hit the dirt. “But there’s nothing to talk about. You need to leave. Everything will be fine if you’d just leave.”

  “I’m not leaving without Kate.”

  “’Cause you love her?” he asked, his tone caustic.

  “Yeah.” Joe’s gaze dropped to Kate’s, held. “I love her.”

  A smile tried to flicker across her soft lips, but Eddy’s tightening grip squeezed it away. “Well, I love her too. I love her more. And she was starting to love me back.”

  Eddy shook
his head, a twisted sneer curling his mouth. “Now, what? ’Cause of you I’m gonna go to jail. Right? And you’ll be around to help her get over it. To get over me. It’s not fair. If it weren’t for you distracting her we’d be together already. If it weren’t for you…”

  That same telling flicker he’d seen before in Eddy’s bug eyes was Joe’s only warning. Eddy swung the barrel of his gun. “What was I thinking? I just have to get rid of you. Solves everything.”

  A flurry of sequences happened at once. Joe dove toward his gun. An explosion roared past his ear. Kate screamed. White-hot fire pierced his flesh at the shoulder and the hard ground slammed the air from his lungs.

  He centered his vision on Kate the instant he could and saw her ram her elbow into Eddy’s gut. The tall lanky young man doubled over and Kate stomped the toe of his sneaker with her hard boot heel.

  “You ass…” Kate shoved from his grip.

  Eddy dropped the gun and stumbled back, pain squeezing his eyes nearly shut.

  Adrenaline, fear, rage, all of it thundered through Joe like a freight train. His muscles coiled so tight his flesh was hot from it. He launched to his feet. Charged, shoulder down. The distance between him and Eddy disappeared. Their bodies collided, the young man’s thinner frame buckling over Joe’s like a wet blanket to a wrecking ball. Eddy huffed when he hit the ground, crushed between the hard earth and Joe’s solid muscled body.

  Joe pushed up to his knees, fisted the front of Eddy’s T-shirt and jerked him up. His glasses were gone and he blinked, squinting, his brows tight, face an ugly snarl. Joe made a fist, punched—clean and quick. Kate’s stalker collapsed beneath him.

  “You’re bleeding,” Kate said when Joe stumbled back to her.

  He glanced at his shoulder. His T-shirt was dark, nearly black, with blood. His flesh burned the second he actually saw the evidence of his wound. He bit back the pain, reorganized his thoughts to more important things.

  “You okay?” He cupped her face even as she nodded. He had to touch her, had to make sure. Her skin was warm. The dark hair behind her ear, moist from sweat, brushed his fingers.

  “I’m good.” She forced a smile that trembled the more she tried. “Thought the two of you were going over the edge for a minute. Long drop and the water’s not deep enough here.”

  Her smile vanished, eyes glistening as she buried her face in his chest. “Gawd, I thought he killed you when he shot that gun.”

  Joe stroked the back of her head, holding her. “Naww. Saw it comin’. Used my Spidey sense. Can’t kill Spiderman with bullets.”

  She snorted, her laugh shaking her shoulders and the sound did things for him no drug on earth could do. She was alive. She was safe. Thank God.

  He straightened, tipped his head toward the sky and exhaled. Relief rippled through him. Adrenaline drained away and with it the ability to ignore his body. A flood of burns and stabs and aches swamped over him. His shoulder, the stitch in his side, the scream of his muscles, exhaustion taking the flipside of adrenaline.

  She shifted in his arms, raised her head so her chin rested against his chest. He imagined she was smiling at him, could almost feel those greener than green eyes staring up at him, but he didn’t have the chance to look.

  “Joe, watch out!”

  Joe swung his gaze around just as Eddy rammed shoulder first into his side, ripping him from Kate’s embrace. Eddy had knocked the wind out of Joe, and they hit the ground hard. Pain roared through Joe’s body, centering like a white-hot poker at his shoulder. They tumbled, one over the other, toward the edge.

  Just as the ground fell away beneath them and the open air rushed past, one thought echoed through Joe’s head.

  The water’s not deep enough here.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “It’s for you,” Clayton said behind her. Kate twisted her chin to her shoulder, tucking the scratchy gray ambulance blanket tighter across her body. She dropped her gaze to the phone he held.

  She sniffled. “Who is it?”

  “Your father.”

  She felt her brows float up but couldn’t help it. “What’s he want?”

  “To talk to you.”

  “I don’t want—” She bit her bottom lip on the reflexive response. She wiped a tear from her cheek and took the phone.

  “Hello.”

  “Katharine?” Edward Mathers’ voice hadn’t changed in fourteen years, a warm tenor, crisp, assured. She liked that, never mind why.

  “Yeah.”

  “I, ah…heard you had one hell of a birthday.” He sounded nervous, the lightness forced.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I’m glad you’re all right. I’d, I’d like to see you. If you want. Perhaps dinner?”

  Her belly tightened. “I—”

  “Just dinner. No strings. I, I miss you, sweetheart.”

  Kate’s gaze swung to the two patrol cars and the ambulance blocking the circle drive of the main house ten yards away. Red, white and blue strobe lights flashed in sequence off the trees and grass and house, making movements seem stunted and turning everything a muted unreal shade. She hunkered closer to her knees on the step below her, Clayton still hovering close behind on the grand porch.

  “It’s been so long,” he said. “I know I wasn’t the best father. I’ve got no excuse. But I’m getting old. Well, old-er, and I’m starting to see things differently. We’re family, Katharine. Blood. You’re all I’ve got.”

  “My family’s here.”

  “I know, I know, and I’m not asking for you to walk away from them. I’m just asking…I’m just asking for a place in your life.”

  Two ambulance attendants struggled with their gurney over the white gravel drive. Their patient lay still as death, tucked beneath a gray blanket, neon orange straps across his chest, waist and thighs. Metal legs collapsed as they shoved the slim bed into the back of the truck, one of them jumping in behind to check his vitals.

  Kate’s stomach roiled. Her body shook despite the warmth of the blanket. She couldn’t tear her eyes from the long stretch of that body on the bed, from the poke of his toes beneath the blanket, the steady rise and fall of his chest.

  “Katharine?” Edward Mathers said. “If it’ll help, you can bring that Garity fellow. When he called to quit the other day I got the feeling things had taken a decidedly personal turn for him. I’m guessing the feeling’s mutual?”

  Her chin trembled, emotions choking at the back of her throat, a knot she couldn’t swallow away. Her hand went to her lips, tried to hold back a building sob.

  “Katharine?”

  The door on the closest police car opened. A uniformed state cop pushed out. He turned and opened the back door. Joe’s wet leg and sodden sneaker fell out, followed quickly by the rest of him. He stood, soaked to the bone, bandage over the wound on his shoulder, but safe. The cops were finally done taking his statement.

  Joe shook the officer’s hand then swung his dark eyes to Kate. His ink black hair clung wet against his head and in drying waves down to the tops of his shoulders. His mouth curled in a crooked smile, the scar at the corner of his lip lost in his grin. He winked and Kate’s heart skipped.

  “Katharine, are you—”

  “Okay,” she said to her father.

  “What?”

  “Dinner. I’ll be there. And I’m bringing Joe…my boyfriend.”

  “Really? That’s, that’s great. Excellent. I’ll call later to set a date. Soon, right?”

  “Sure.”

  “Excellent. Then I’ll talk to you soon. And Katharine?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Happy birthday.”

  “Thanks.” She pushed the off button and raised her hand, knowing Clayton was close enough to take the phone.

  “Just like that?” he asked. “All’s forgiven?”

  “No. But it’s a place to start. And I can do that.”

  “Least he’s finally showing some real interest. Can’t believe he was Frank’s email contact,” Clayton said. “You
think he’s genuine? Paid a pretty penny for a few tidbits of info and some snapshots.”

  “Don’t know. But it’s time I find out.” She pushed to her feet when she saw Joe heading toward her.

  “I’m proud of you, Kate,” Clayton said. “You’ve really come into your own. I admire you.”

  She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Yeah? Thanks, big brother.”

  “And as much as I hate to admit it.” Clayton tipped his chin toward Joe. “He’s a good man. He’s also an arrogant ass, and he sure as hell takes some getting used to. But you mean more to him than his own life and I like that about him.”

  “Yeah.” Kate winked. “I like that about him.”

  She jogged down the steps and over the cobblestone path, throwing herself into Joe’s arms. He caught her, winced when her arm brushed over the bandage on his shoulder and squeezed her tight to his chest.

  “Hey, dollface.” He nuzzled her neck.

  She loosened her hold, sliding down his body until her feet touched the ground. “Ick, you’re cold and wet.”

  “Go figure.” He framed her face with his hands, stole a kiss and she gave him another. The warmth of his mouth, the soft strength of his lips, sent a simmering wave of pleasure through her body. Heat pooled low in her pelvis, muscles flexing. She pushed up to her toes, wanting more, loving the hot taste of him, completely forgetting about his wet clothes.

  “Ah, excuse me.” They parted, though Joe’s hands never left her waist, and looked to the police officer suddenly beside them. “Thought you might want this back. Found it up at the scene.”

  Joe glanced at Eddy’s ring box. “Belongs to the guy on the gurney. How’s he doing?”

  “Concussion, broken leg, broken arm, couple busted ribs and a busted nose. Surprised you didn’t break anything,” the uniformed officer said.

  “He cushioned my fall. Nothing I could do about it. Happened fast.”

  “I bet. Lucky you both survived,” the cop said. “He’ll be getting a psych eval. Let you know where things go after that.”

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

  The officer gave a nod then headed for the ambulance tossing the ring box and catching it as he walked.