Dead Man's Bluff

by Adriana Law

  Sarcasm dripped in her every word, “AND THAT WAS A GOOD THING? And in case you’ve repressed the memory… HE DIED!”

  Lillian expression softened, “Yes, he did. But, even if I would have known the ending… I still would have wanted to be with him. Is this about Drew possibly breaking your heart… or are you afraid you may break his.”

  Megan’s lowered her eyes to her lap. “The cancer could come back. Everyone was always saying how much dad and I were alike…”

  Lillian gathered her daughter’s hands in hers and forced their eyes to meet. “You’re right about the Drew thing. He does remind me of your father, but not in the way you might think. It’s the way he looks at you, like your father used to look at me. I believe you underestimate what he’s capable of. Have you ever thought that maybe the lack of love in his life will make him appreciate it more when he has it?”

  Megan shook her head. “You have way too much faith in him.”

  “Do I? Why don’t you let Drew decide whether he wants to take the risk? We’re all taking risk, Megan. Nobody knows how long they have. The best advice I can give you is to love deeply and passionately while you can. Playing it safe gets you nothing but a lifetime of dull.”

  “It doesn’t really matter. I think Drew has already made the decision for the both of us. I suspect he’s already drunk and passed out in some other girl’s bed by now.”

  “So, does this mean you’re still marrying Conner?” ♠

  Two hours later

  Megan was lying on her side on her bed, staring sad-like at the ring sparkling on her left hand. It looked foreign on her slender finger. It was loose. Incredibly loose. Sometimes she felt as it was going to slip right off and she’d never find it again. Did that small detail hold some kind of meaning? She distractedly slid the band up over her knuckle to the finger nail, and then returned it to its proper place at the base of her finger, repeating the same pointless action over and over as if it would somehow give her clarity.

  Her mother and Paul had tried their best to get her to eat a steak, but she’d nearly puked from the smell of the meat sizzling on the grill.

  She may ever eat again.

  Or smile.

  It was the same as before, there was an emptiness inside of her, an indescribable hollow ache. She tried to convince herself she’d been happy without Drew Mackenzie, but the truth was…she’d accepted a life without him, accepting and happy were two totally different things, miles apart.

  And what of Conner? How did she feel about him? She remembered the first time she’d met him. Nurses had been buzzing in every direction, white sneakers squeaking over polished floors, passing by her sitting out there in the hallway of the hospital in a wheel chair wearing one of those bland hospital gowns and an ugly pink-cotton-candy-colored terry-cloth robe. Her nurse had parked her there saying she’d be right back, right back turned into an embarrassing long time. She was being discharged in a couple of hours and her mother would anxiously be waiting to drive her home. Her breast still throbbed from the surgery and tightly bandaged, at the time she’d thought the worst of over, but little did she know the worse was still ahead.

  Anyways, there were still a few labs and test they felt needed to be completed before she was discharged, which resulted in a wheelchair ride that took her helplessness to a whole new level.

  “It can’t be as bad as it looks,” was suddenly whispered near her ear, a deep sexy voice that had her blushing before she even saw the whole package that went with the voice.

  “Excuse me?” she muttered, confused and caught off guard by the smell of his cologne.

  He stepped around where she could see him: 6’ 2”, messy dirty blonde hair, blue eyes that held a certain amount of mirth, and a cocky stance—arms folded over a broad chest, feet apart. He kind of rocked where he stood grinning at her. The clothes were typical hot guy—faded jeans, and a short sleeve navy T-shirt that showed off his bulging biceps and matched the shade of his eyes.

  “You look as though someone stole your best friend…I’m guessing that means the position is up for grabs?”

  “No. Nothing that dramatic…I’m waiting for my nurse.”

  His gaze slid beyond the double doors to the desk where there was an abundance of nurses, laughing and cutting up. “Which one is she…I’ll be glad to go in there and inform her you’ve been sitting out here for a good twenty minutes unattended.”

  Had he been watching her?

  “She’s not any of them.” Suddenly she was laughing. “Honestly, I have no idea where she went.”

  The entire situation fell right in with her shitty luck lately: sitting in a wheel chair without makeup on, hair that hadn’t been washed in days swept up in a ponytail, and Mr. Sexy comes along feeling sorry for her pathetic ass. Yep, her life was shit.

  Before she knew what was happening, Mr. Sexy had kicked off the lever that locked the wheels to keep the chair from rolling and he was pushing her towards the glass exit doors.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She squeaked out, lifting the bedroom slippers sliding over the polish floor to the foot rest before he ran them over.

  “Relax; I’m just taking you out for a little fresh air.”

  “But…”

  Gripping the handle of the chair, he leaned in, “your nurse most likely snuck off to have a cigarette and a nice long break…she’s going to come back to find you gone and freak…now, do you feel an ounce of guilt for making her worry?”

  She squinted against the bright sun as the glass door automatically “wushed” opened and a fresh air hit her face. A couple of days spent in the hospital and you come out appreciating the sun. She tilted her face toward it and smiled. First smile in a while and it was all because of some stranger.

  He parked her by the door and collapsed down on the closest bench where patients where loaded and unload at the emergency room. Today, there didn’t seem to be any emergency’s.

  “Do you feel better?” He asked, smirking. He knew damn well he had been the highlight of her day, her week, her month. “I’m Conner, by the way.”

  “Megan.”

  He didn’t ask her what was wrong with her. They just talked. Mostly about how shotty the hospital’s care was. A few times she had wanted to ask if he was there visiting a patient, but she respected the fact that he didn’t ask her a lot of questions, so she returned the favor.

  Then she heard her name being called. Like a sneaky child pulling a prank he hid by the brick wall watching as the nurse’s face grew more concerned by the minute. “She looks like some lady who’s just come out of the grocery store and can’t remember where she parked her car, doesn’t she?” He pointed out with a cocky grin. He was enjoying it way too much.

  The glass door rushed open. “There you are!” The nurse said, scowling as she stalked towards Megan helpless in the wheel chair. It was clear she had a few not so nice words she wanted to let fly, but froze and blushed profusely when her gaze found Conner leaning against the brick wall. Her palm flew to her chest, “Dr. Hamilton!”

  Dr?

  He straightened, the smirk disappearing, replaced by a power that had the girl shrink before him. “Are you having a problem keeping up with your patients, Libby?”

  “No, sir, I had…”

  He cut her off, “Don’t let it happen again, understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Megan was whisked away by the crimson-faced nurse. She glanced back one last time to see that the cocky grin had returned to Dr. Hamilton’s face and she knew instantly he was the kind of man that went after what he wanted.

  “Hey beautiful,” Conner pressed his lips lightly to her cheek bringing her back to the present. She’d not even heard him come into the bedroom. “You look so sad…is everything okay?” She nodded. The side of the mattress dipped with his weight and he brushed hair out of her eyes as she blinked up at him. He tucked the hair behind her ear. “Your mother said she thought you were taking a nap. Are you ill?” His palm tou
ched her forehead, checking for a fever.

  He would forever be a doctor at heart: nurturing, companionate, always thinking of others. She pushed up onto her elbow. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.”

  His gaze dropped the ring she now held between her index finger and thumb. She must have slid it completely off of her finger without even realizing she’d done it. He glanced at her through the down-sweep of thick lashes, his blue eyes full of unspoken hurt at seeing the ring no longer on her finger. His words were spoken low, “Please, tell me you’re not thinking about breaking up with me, Meg?”

  She sat up on the bed, swept tears from the corner of her eye with a bent finger and held out the ring for him to take, “Here, you should save it for the right girl.”

  He rubbed his short hair with a large hand, “I don’t understand…you are the right girl.”

  “No. I’m not.” She urged him to take the ring, but he wouldn’t.

  He clenched his jaw, “It’s because you went to the ranch…it’s because of him, isn’t it?”

  She clamped her eyes shut and tried to swallow, but couldn’t past the bile rising up in the back of her throat. “I had sex with him.”

  Silence.

  Deafening, horrible silence.

  She felt the brush of his fingers and the ring was gone.

  A sharp pain shot through her stomach. She opened her eyes to find him leaning forward, elbows on his knees, rolling the ring between his fingers. “Do you love him?”

  “What I feel for Drew is…indescribable.” Sometimes it was love, sometimes hate.

  He exhaled a long breath, stood, and paced, the quiet calm turning into a rage. “You let him fuck you?” He shouted and she cringed hoping her mother and Paul hadn’t over heard. Conner paused, leveling her with stormy blue eyes. “You and I haven’t even…” Back to more

  wild pacing, muscles along his neck bulging.

  “I know…I’m sorry. You deserve better,” she choked out.

  “I knew I shouldn’t have left you with that smug bastard!” Then in an instant he was there by the bed, kneeling in front of her, gathering her trembling hands in his. “No, you deserve better! Where is he, Meg? I don’t see him fighting to have you. He only takes what is conveniently laid in his lap.”

  Her thoughts exactly.

  He lifted one of her hands and placed a soft kiss on the back of it. “He screwed with your head. He tempted you into doing something you normally wouldn’t do. I get that. I’ve done my share of lying to get into some females pants, but with you it’s always been different. You’ve been through a lot. It’s understandable for you to be vulnerable. I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should have kicked his ass when I had the chance…but, WE can get past this together…” He uncurled her clenched left hand and slid the glistening ring back in place with shaky hands.

  He was shaking?

  Hell, she was the one who’d messed up.

  His blue eyes lifted to hers. “I love you and that means loving every part of you…” the ever present smug grin, “even the parts that make huge mistakes.”

  A sob bubbled up out of her in a rush. She was stunned. Overwhelmed. “Are you saying you still want to marry me even after…” he pressed a finger to her lips to silence her.

  “More than anything. The question is… do you still want to marry me?” ♠

  Twenty- Four

  “Is she still here?” Drew asked Lillian as she opened the front door wider to let him in.

  “Yes. She’s still sleeping. Conner was here late last night.”

  “And?”

  “And he didn’t stay the night, and she didn’t leave with him. Don’t make me regret this Drew Mackenzie.” She picked up her purse from the narrow table in the hallway and checked her perfectly styled mahogany-colored hair once in the mirror hanging over the table before she moved towards the door, her high heels clicking over tile. “I need to go to work.” Her brows crease and she frowned.

  He leaned in, kissing her lightly on the cheek. “Thank you, for this, but also for always believing there was something decent in me.”

  She pretended to be unaffected, but when she spoke again there was a slight crack in her words, “Don’t make me regret it. Paul and I won’t be home until after 5…if she’s crying when I get here…I’m hunting your ass down.” She patted him twice on the shoulder and then turned to leave.

  “Lillian?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Which room is hers?”

  “Shit. I forgot you’ve never been here.” She pointed him in the right direction, before she left.

  Drew stepped carefully trying his best not to wake Megan as he pushed open the bedroom door. His chest tightened as his gaze swept over the sunny room: everything white or lavender, except for the cherry stained hardwood floors, the room of a teenage girl. Fuck. Could he be any more nervous? This was huge for him. Monumental. But he refused to let her go twice, and to be fair about it, he had warned her. He’d told her what he would do if she ever tried to run from him again. The handcuffs in his back pocket was proof that, he might be lacking in many things, but willingness to follow through with what he claimed he would do wasn’t one of those things. He moved towards the bed, slid off his shoes, cuffed one of her wrist to the bed post, stretched about beside her and then patiently waited. ♠

  Megan woke lying on her side, her right arm stretched high above her head. Clank! Clank! She tried to move her arm, but couldn’t. Her gaze widened against the morning sun, her eyes shifting up to the bed post and the pair of handcuffs rubbing at her wrist. She tugged a couple of times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

  Not only was she handcuffed to the bed, she was also not alone and anger started to simmer deep inside her. Pushing up on an elbow she glared over her shoulder at him, the snoring fool that thought he had a right to spoon with her whenever he liked. She huffed, throwing back the covers, scowling at the arms around her waist holding her snug up against him. Okay, she could handle this real easily. She peeled two of his fingers off her belly and bent those suckers back toward his wrist as far as she could.

  “Oww! Stop! That hurts?” he yelped!

  “Good! Now uncuff me!” She snapped over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing into venomous slits.

  His simply said, “No.”

  Clank! Clank! She tugged furiously on her arm again. “Dammit! You think this is funny?” She screamed, “Mom! MOM!”

  “Nobody’s here except us.”

  “She let you in, didn’t she?”

  “Yes. I’m very determined. ”

  Yes, she was starting to see that. Something about the way he smiled as he divulged that information caused her heartbeat to skyrocket. They were alone, all alone. Not at the ranch, but in her bed. Now, there would always be the memory of him in a place that was her safe place. He was invading her space, her life, and that scared the shit out of her. Even worse, her mother was encouraging it!

  She pushed up, deciding the best and only thing she could do was to attempt to get as far away from him as the bed would allow, which meant cowering up toward the headboard.

  “Where do you think you’re going? Come back here.” He went up on his knees, took complete control of her legs, and then her bottom was quickly sliding down the bed towards him. He crawled over her body, slow, predatory like, spreading her bent legs to accommodate his body between them. She swallowed hard at the intensity in his brown eyes as his head dipped and his lips brushed over hers, gently. It wasn’t a wild ‘I have to have you right now’ kind of kiss, but it was sweet. His nose skimmed her jaw line. “Mmm you smell good?” he whispered, warm breath feathering out over her neck.

  She hated that about him. How quickly he could take control of her and the situation. “Why are you here anyways? Did you run out of hoes to sleep with?” She used her free hand to shove against his shoulder as it shook with laughter.

  “Now, that’s not nice.” He seized her wrist with a hand, his grin widening. “Yo
u’re not wearing the ring.”

  “Of course you and your big ego are going to take that as a sign,” she bit out, her body already starting to melt into his.

  “Thank you.” he whispered.

  “I didn’t break up with him for you…”

  “Then why did you?”

  “It was the right thing to do.”

  He wouldn’t stop smiling. It was making her antsy, kind of squirmy underneath him, like she was trapped. Wait! She was trapped! She was handcuffed to the bed!

  “Unlock …”

  “No. Not yet.” Kiss.

  “Please.” Kiss.

  “No.” His hands cupped her face and he kept kissing her, kissing her like he had all day just to enjoy tasting her lips. The rest him matched the unhurried pace, his erection stroking her center. He grinned, “I lied.”