“Kerry,” growled Paulie, getting all big brothers protective on her. “You just got shot. You cannot be thinking of working tomorrow. You need rest.”
“I can’t not go in. I’ve never had a day sick and I’m going to heal so fast there isn’t any point in telling him I got shot. I might as well work. I’ll ask Bart if I can man the desk all day—that won’t be too taxing.”
“I can’t talk you out of this, can I?”
“Nope. Sorry. Tell Susan thanks though.”
Chapter Eight
Bart had no problems when Kerry asked him if he’d let her man the desk for her entire shift. He hated to stand there, ringing up purchases. He preferred the dingy, dark smell of the stock room or the upstairs stacks putting out new books or re shelving misplaced titles.
Kerry’s side twinged every time she had to reach for something but of the few customers they had, only one older lady asked if she were alright. Kerry assured her that she was fine. She rang up a book on knitting patterns for children’s jumpers and wished her a very pleasant day. Kerry practically had to sneak past her momma to get out of the house that morning. Luckily, her father left for work at the cotton mill early.
Her mother called the store the minute she knew Kerry was gone and reamed her up and down for worrying her half to death. Kerry assured her mother about ten times that she would be fine. She told her how she’d managed to walk into work without any trouble. It was a lie because she’d been panting and out of breath when she reached the employee entrance. She assured her mom she would be home promptly at the end of her shift for dinner without any deviations before her mother finally got off the phone.
The day looked like it would pass without incident until Caleb came storming in. He was more casually dressed than she’d seen him before. He wore the same tight black jeans she’d seen before but this time he wore a short-sleeved, dark blue T-shirt that strained at his biceps. He was also thunderously angry, balling his hands into fists. His shiner had already healed but he still had a pair of dark sunglasses sticking out of his pocket even though the day wasn’t as bright or warm as it had the last few days.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he growled at her.
Kerry straightened up her from her position. She’d been reading more chapters in What to Expect When You’re Mated. She slid the book back into her purse, expecting a fight on its way. Kerry sensed them, like a vibration in the air.
“Hello Caleb. I’m at work right now. This isn’t the time or the place,” she said calmly. She hoped if she kept her voice calm, it wouldn’t escalate.
“That is exactly my point. You shouldn’t be here. You should be at home, resting,” he said through gritted teeth. He looked around the near empty store and lowered his voice. “You aren’t well.”
Kerry motioned for him to come closer to the counter. “I am perfectly fine. The fever is gone. I’m taped up tighter than a nun’s chastity belt. I will be okay. Now, if you will calm down…” Kerry knew her mistake the minute she had said it.
Caleb fumed and smashed his fist into the top of the desk. The whole thing shuddered and the drawer on the cash register popped open. Kerry shut it quickly, making her side twinge.
“I will not calm down. You should have more sense than this.”
“You barely know me so how can you tell that for sure?”
Caleb growled at her and it drew the gaze of a middle-aged woman browsing their small selection of diet guides.
“I won’t get to know you at this rate.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Are you completely dense? Someone tried to shoot you, ergo that means someone wants to kill you. You just walk around out here in the open where they can try again.”
Kerry raised a finger at him, turning it nail down to make it clear she was making a point not going to poke him with it.
“You listen to me…” she said, getting a little of her own anger flowing. “I am not going to sit away in my house and hide. I have a life and I am not going to let anyone take it from me. You may be my mate, Caleb Vander, but you do not own me. You cannot tell me what I can and cannot do.”
“I am your mate and you should heed my advice.”
“That’s just it—you can give your advice. I’m not stopping you. I’m just plain old ignoring you.”
Caleb glowered at her and she glowered right back. She crossed her arms over her chest and refused to drop her gaze. She was not subservient to him.
Caleb turned to the side, rounding the counter towards her.
Kerry rushed to push him back. “What do you think you’re doing? You can’t come behind here.”
“I am taking you home.”
“I’ve told you, ‘no’. I’ve only got a couple more hours to work and then I will take myself home. No one is going to come into a busy shop and off me.”
Caleb looked around the bookstore rather pointedly, demonstrating how little foot traffic they had.
Kerry growled, balling her fist and punched him in the arm hard. Caleb barely winced but he looked at his arm and then at her, displeased.
“I’m beginning to think I’ve got myself mated to a huge jackass.”
“ I’m stuck with a stubborn bitch who won’t let me do for her like I am supposed to.”
Kerry didn’t flinch at the word bitch. The way Caleb said it wasn’t like when calling someone a name but more as talking about an animal’s gender. She was the bitch to his dog.
“Then just go home and let’ what happens happen. Then you’ll be able to chose whoever the hell you want when your free of me, won’t you? I’m obviously too much trouble for you.”
Caleb looked at her like she had slapped him with a Chevy. He blinked at her. Did she really think I would just let her die? That she wasn’t what he wanted with every fiber of his being even though she was difficult as hell and completely bent on ignoring every tradition drilled into him since he was a pup. Caleb grew up an alpha male. He made enough that he didn’t have to work a whole lot. He could take care of a woman. He could protect her but she wouldn’t let him.
He felt helpless. All the things he thought having a mate meant, all the things he thought he would have to do as the male and Kerry made him useless. He tried to touch her, use their physical connection to persuade her to come with him but she stepped out of his reach. A couple of people watched their fight now so Caleb felt vulnerable and exposed—a feeling he didn’t like.
“Why do you make this so hard? I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” He walked back around the counter and out the door.
Kerry felt immediately guilty. She took a deep breath and went after him. She wasn’t surrendering ground, she just didn’t want him to go away on such a sour note. Like her momma taught her: never go to bed on an argument. Okay, they weren’t going to bed right that moment, but Kerry told herself it was the same sort of principle.
Caleb stopped when he heard the door open and close behind him. He was halfway across the road. The street wasn’t busy and his car was parked just on the other side. He twirled his keys on his finger and prepared for a quick exit.
“Caleb, wait,” called Kerry, stepping out from between two parked cars and joining him.
He turned around, looking down at her. “Changed your mind?” he asked a little bitterly.
“No, I’m still working to the end of my shift but I don’t want you to go away like this. I don’t want this to be one of those relationships where we fight and one of us storms off all the time. Now, if you’ll just listen to me. I am glad you’re worried about me, that you care. I will tell you that up until the fighting I had a good time dancing with you that night.”
Caleb smiled a little. He had enjoyed dancing with her too.
She continued, “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing so for years because—up until last moon—I thought I would spend the rest of my life either on my own or with a human.” She tactfully didn’t say with Dick because she wanted Caleb
to be less angry not more. “I may be a woman and your mate now, but I am as capable as I have ever been. I am not dumb just because I didn’t go to a fancy boarding school in New York—oh, Ye of little accent.”
Caleb stared at her but he smiled softly. “How do you know I went to boarding school and where?”
Kerry’s cheeks flushed a little. “You are not the only one who can tap into the kitchen and beauty parlor gossip circle. I want to know more about you and I can find out just as easily as you can.”
“You could just ask me.”
“I will when we get to a point where you stop yelling at me because I won’t put on a pinafore dress and turn into my momma. I will when you stop saying stupid things to me that make me get all mad. Maybe then, I would think about things like moving in, planning a wedding, and pups. Right this minute, it’s too much all at once.”
Caleb took a couple of steps closer to her, reaching out his arms to embrace her.
Kerry didn’t move from her spot. She relaxed her shoulders and prepared to let him hug her.
A deafening roar of an engine broke into their moment. Caleb’s hug turned into a shove which knocked her over on her ass, back in the space between the two park cars. He dove, barely missing the fender of the car which tried to steam right into them. It bounced off a parked car just past them and then turned, squealing around the corner before Caleb could get in a position to see the license plate.
Kerry heard someone inside the shop scream. People, including her boss, came pouring out to see what had happened.
Kerry groaned, she’d landed badly on her side, reopening her wound. She was bleeding through the white of her T-shirt. Caleb ran over to her, dropping on his knees next to her.
“Is she bleeding? Did it hit her?” asked her boss, looking over at him. Bart’s face was pinched with fatherly concern and his distinct lack of stomach for violence and blood.
“Her wounds probably re-opened. She needs to go home,” said Caleb, praying that Kerry wouldn’t kick up a fuss this time.
She was pale and taking deep breaths.
“Wound? Kerry? What happened to her?”
“Hunting accident,” said Caleb quickly. He wrapped his arms under her and lifted her up against his chest. Kerry made a little startled sound and moaned with the pain.
“Kerry hunts,” said Bart, scratching his head.
Caleb rolled his eyes and coughed, making him focus on him for a moment. “Can you cover for her or call Susan to take the rest of her shift?”
“Yes, things here will be fine. Just make sure she gets better, alright?”
Caleb nodded. He carried her across to his car and strapped her into the passenger seat.
Kerry had her eyes closed tight. Her lips were sucked in like she’d just eaten a persimmon and her face still had no color to it.
Caleb got in and turned on the vehicle. He pulled out, heading away from people who still crowded around trying to find out what had happened.
Caleb thought about that too. That car was not just an impatient person. No cars were on that road when they started their conversation and someone who wanted to just pass would have honked their horn or yelled at them to move.
The driver deliberately tried to mow them down. They swerved a little to the left so Caleb was sure they aimed to mow Kerry down. He would have just been collateral. If he’d not shoved her, she might have been hit broad side, thrown up in the air, and killed. She was already coming off one injury, to get so injured when she hadn’t healed yet could put her into a critical condition. He made a snap decision and took a different road.
Kerry’s breathing became slow and even. Blood returned to her cheeks in small doses and her eyes fluttered open. She had her pain under control for now but Caleb needed to see under her bandages, find out how much damage had been done, and re dress it. Kerry looked around her as they turned on to Pine Ridge Road.
“Where are we going?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“To my place.”
She rolled her head towards him. “Why?”
“Honestly? Because your daddy won’t be there at any point.”
Kerry gave him a weak little smile.
He turned onto a drive and hit a little button on the fob attached to his keys. High metal gates slowly slid open to allow the car through.
The drive ended just up a small bank from the gate in a circle with a beautiful fountain made of natural stones and water flowing over them. Bushes lined the edge of the drive and up to the door where the scents of honeysuckle filled Kerry’s nose.
Caleb carried her from the car to the house as carefully as he could, pushing the door open with his shoulder. Soft New Orleans jazz played from a speaker as they entered the house. Caleb carried her into his living room and lay her down on a pristine, white couch which looked new. He pulled a throw from the back of the couch down and covered her with it.
Caleb fumbled with a control panel on the wall to turn the music off before returning to her.
“It was nice. I liked it,” she said, smiling at him.
He stroked her hair off her face and looked at her side. The blood had soaked the entire side of the shirt.“Try to get this off. I’ll get my first aid kit.”
Kerry nodded, watching him disappear through a door leading to a stainless steel kitchen.
She pulled at the T-shirt, getting it up over her good side and then peeling it down on the side wet with her blood. She cried out as it stung to pull the fabric from the wound.
Caleb came back with a large, clunky green box that read First Aid Kit in bright white letters on it. He bent down at her side and examined her skin through the blood. He opened the kit, pulling out a pack of antibacterial wipes and started cleaning her up.
Caleb saw it had opened up again but it already started to heal over again. Kerry had to have caught it hard on the gravel as she fell. Once he had all the blood mopped up, he squirted some antiseptic cream onto his finger. As gently as he could, he rubbed it along the wound, making sure it made a seal of protection around her torn flesh. When she cried out at the sting, he gently blew on her skin to ease it. Kerry watched him with great attention as he covered it over with a new piece of gauze, tapping it into place.
“There now, can you sit up?”
Kerry carefully pushed herself up into a sitting position, bringing her breasts level with Caleb’s eyes. He examined the pretty pink bra she wore that was now dappled along one side with blood. Kerry winced a little and had to stop herself from rubbing her hand flat over her side to sooth it.
Caleb watched her halt her gesture. Then he packed bits back into the box. “Do you want some Tylenol? I have some in the bathroom.”
“No. I’ll be okay in a minute. So, this is your place?” Kerry looked around her. The hall from the front door came straight into the living room. There was a couch, with two arm chairs positioned around a coffee table in front of a huge fireplace. The back wall was all windows opening out onto a deck with a fantastic view of the forest and the mountains behind that. The door to the kitchen was to the left of the fireplace and to the right, a corridor led down to more rooms. The entire floor was polished hard wood with a rug or two to break the space into sections. There was a mirror over the fireplace reflecting the room back and the bare walls.
“You need to get you some pictures,” said Kerry, turning her head to look at the smooth light colored walls. Then she turned back to at Caleb and added, “And a couch you can spill something on without ruining it.”
“Well, if you want to move in and redecorate, I won’t make a fuss.”
Kerry let her mouth hang open for a minute while he chuckled.
“You are like a dog with a bone.”
Caleb gave her his best charming smile. He watched her twitch in reaction with some amusement. Kerry was desperate for a change of subject.
“Show me the rest of the house,” Kerry said while trying to stand up on her own.
Caleb was to his own feet quick as a flash
and swooped her into his arms. “Oh, no you don’t. A tour can wait. You are being put straight to bed to get some rest.”
Kerry didn’t argue with him. She let her head rest in the crook of his neck as he carried her down the hall to his bedroom. She was grateful when he sat her down on the bed. He bent down and took off her socks and shoes for her. She swung her legs round, collapsing back against his pillows.
“Now, that’s a pretty sight,” he said with a wired smile. He pulled the covers over her feet.
“Quit it. I’m all icky.”
He pulled the covers up to her chin and kissed her lips very softly. “Still beautiful. Get some sleep. Bathroom is just across the hall if you need it. If you’re not up by suppertime, I’ll wake you.”
“I never miss a meal,” she said smugly, then sat upright wincing. “Momma! She expects me home.”
“I’ll call her,” Caleb said, settling her back down. “Get some rest.” Caleb drew the blinds and shut the door.
Kerry wriggled down under the covers and let her eyes fall closed.
* * * *
Kerry awoke to the sound of raised voices. She opened an eye to see the bedroom was still dark. The voices came from down the hall. She opened both her eyes and crossed herself, praying it wasn’t her daddy outside.
She got out of bed regardless that she was only in a blood caked bra and shorts and crept to the bedroom door, opening it a crack to peek out. Caleb’s voice and that of a woman she thought she recognized were coming from the living room.
Kerry crept along the wall and craned her neck to look into the large main room. Caleb paced back and forth while the statuesque blonde from the dance sat in the chair with her back to Kerry. She could see her reflection in the window. The blonde looked pissed and her arms were crossed defiantly. Kerry tried to remember what her name was.
“Avrilyne,” growled Caleb continuing his pacing. “I’m very serious!”
Avrilyne! That was right. She was the one meant for Caleb, not her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Quit pacing; you’re giving me a headache and you’re going to scuff the floor.”
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