Carter bit his lip and looked down at the floor. She could tell he was trying not to smile. Since he didn’t know how much she wanted this job, she’d give him a tiny bit of slack, but if he didn’t get it through his thick skull pretty damn quick that she wasn’t going to back down, she was going to have to brain him. He wouldn’t look so high and mighty flat on his ass would he?
Then again, she knew exactly how he looked flat on his ass. Of course, he’d been naked at the time, which made the view so much nicer.
“I’ll keep an eye on her too.” Tad’s words almost made Ryan groan.
She gritted her teeth. “I don’t need a keeper.”
Tad snorted. “You’ve needed one since you were born.”
Ryan turned on him, ready to punch him in the eye. Wouldn’t be the first time the two of them had gone a few rounds. They’d spent a ton of time together growing up because their fathers had been so close. Although Tom wasn’t her biological father, he’d stepped up to the plate when she was still a baby. Tom’s brother, her step-uncle, Chris, had been part of her life from the beginning, and no one had ever treated her like an outsider. Except for the epilepsy. The men in her family were definitely an overprotective lot and to this day still tended to coddle her.
All except Tad who did his best to antagonize the shit out of her.
“Children.” Tom stepped between them. “It wouldn’t matter if you were a man, Ryan. The truth is someone sabotaged Eric’s equipment. If it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone. Especially a more vulnerable target. Got it?”
Tom had a fairly decent way of blowing the wind right out of her sails. He was correct. She did make a more vulnerable target. She was grown up enough now to admit her faults.
“Fine, Carter. Send your babysitters.”
“I will.” The way Carter said so made her think the alternative had never been in question.
She scowled at him, despite how it made her feel petty and childish. “Don’t you have work to do?”
Tom cleared his throat. “We do work for Mr. Malone, Ryan.”
“I have a feeling he’s gone beyond Mr. Malone with her.” Tad stood, a wicked gleam in his eye, and Ryan couldn’t resist. She stomped on his toe with the heel of her boot.
The desired effect was not forthcoming. Instead he laughed, pulled her into the crook of his arm and proceeded to give her a noogie. Fucking humiliating her in front of her boss. She decided she would maim her cousin later when there were no witnesses.
“Ryan?” Tom was eyeing both her and Carter dubiously.
When she finally managed to break free of the schmuck’s hold, she found herself being stared down by the older man.
“We didn’t know who we were.” Yeah, that sounded coherent.
“Sir.” Carter lifted his hand for another shake from Tom. “Your daughter and I have been seeing each other for a couple of weeks now. It wasn’t until this morning that we discovered the work connection.”
The statement made Tom’s eyes widen. “Seeing each other?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Guess you know why the door was locked now, huh, Uncle Tom?” Tad danced out of the way of Ryan’s reach.
“I guess so.” Her stepdad smiled and she wondered about it before turning her quickly-rising-to-the-boiling-point anger at Tad.
“Asshole.”
“Get lost, nephew, before I let her loose to destruct you piece by piece.”
“As if,” Tad murmured, heading out the door.
“So. You’re seeing someone?”
“Oh my God.” How on Earth could the man do this to her? Hello? Was she still in high school?
“Your mother will be pleased.”
“I’ll bet.” She wished the floor would swallow her up.
“I expect you to call her.”
“She will.” Carter gripped her hand, threading her fingers through his. “I’ll make sure.”
Tom’s smile nearly blinded her. The man was in heaven. Thankful no doubt that he could report back to her mother that all was well in Ryansville and by golly, the girl had even gone and gotten herself a man. She wondered if he would tell her mother that she’d fucked said man on her desk too.
Ryan knew she should go ahead and X out this Sunday afternoon because it was a sure bet her mother would call her before noon today and invite them for Sunday brunch. A brunch that would include a grilling of momentous proportions, and she wasn’t talking barbecue.
~ * ~
The men were finally gone, off to inspect the site. It had taken Ryan promising she would talk and listen to Max Jensen the super-spy PI-guy whatever-he-was to make Carter go. She wiped a hand over her face and slumped in her chair. What a damn morning. She’d come to work pumped to do the job her stepfather had entrusted her to do, fought with then fucked her lover of two weeks, been caught by her family after having engaged in such an act and now here she sat waiting on some security hero to come and save the day. Like she was a girl.
“God save me from men.” She groaned and laid her head on the desk. If she didn’t know it would hurt like hell, she’d bang it a few times to clear her head. And since her head was already pounding…
Or was that the door? “Ms. Cooper?” Her eyes narrowed at the gruff male voice on the other side of it.
She wasn’t done being a baby. A little more alone time would have been nice. Ryan yanked open the door to find a stranger. Her heart thumped.
“I’m Max Jensen, ma’am.”
Sheesh. All their freaking warnings. She was losing her mind. Since when had a stranger thrown her for a loop? Especially one as good-looking as this one. He epitomized yum. Lots of muscles, military-short cropped hair, tall, tan, green eyes…
Hello, you have a man already. Doesn’t the smell of sex shrouded with floral air freshener in an enclosed space remind you of that fact?
“Ma’am?”
“Ugh.” She would kill Carter later for tying her all in a knot. “Come in.”
His face brightened with a hundred-watt smile. He must have women hanging all over him. Somewhere out in the world were no doubt a whole bunch of drooling females. “What can I do for you, Mr. Jensen?”
“Max, please. Carter sent me to check into some things. Just wanted you to know I was here in case you saw me out there wandering around and wondered who the hell I was.”
“Right.” She could only imagine. Good thing most of the construction crew were men. Otherwise the project would come to a standstill while Max made his inquiries. The few women they did have were sure to take up a good portion of his time just so they could keep looking at him. On the other hand, there were two or three gay men on the payroll. Perhaps she should warn him?
He pushed his hands into his pockets. The action revealed the butt end of a nasty-looking gun at his hip.
“Are you planning on shooting someone?”
He smiled again. “Nope. But I don’t leave my house without it. I’ve had it for so long it’s kind of an extra appendage. Besides, if someone points a nail gun at me, I want to be prepared.”
“Uh-huh. Mr. Jensen, if any one of my workers points a nail gun at you for any reason other than to protect themselves from your weapon, then they’ll be fired on the spot.”
“Then I can use it to help escort them from the lot, yeah?”
“Whatever floats your boat. Can I get you anything to drink? There’s water, coffee, a few sodas left over from Eric…” She turned and retrieved her decaf pitcher from its maker and poured herself a cup.
“That looks great, thanks.”
“Oh no, this one is mine. Decaf. Sorry. Me no share.” She took a long sip, loving the warm, chocolate-tasting feel of it sliding down her throat and moaned.
Max laughed. “Does the caffeine mess with your epilepsy?”
She narrowed her eyes. “How did you know about that already?”
“You’re dating Carter. He’s a very protective sort of man. Always handles his women with care. But even if he hadn’t told
me, I’d have dug into your background and found it before I got here.”
If her eyes were any narrower she wouldn’t be able to see anymore. “Great. I’m so glad it’s so easy. By the way, that kind of shit could get him dumped real quick.”
Those pearly whites showed themselves again. The man must have permanent laugh lines in his face. “I don’t think you can get rid of him quite that easily.”
“How would you know? You slept with him too?”
He snorted. “Hell no. He’s not my type.”
“What? Egotistical, overbearing, know-it-all doesn’t do it for you?”
“No, but apparently he does it for you.”
“What can I say?” She poured him a cup from the regular coffee pot and handed it to him before drinking from her own again. She was a sucker for the brown-eyed blondie. Carter revved her engine so to speak. And until this morning when he’d weirded out about her epilepsy, things had been going along so smoothly.
Even though he’d freaked, like she knew he would, Ryan didn’t want to lose him.
The man fucked you on your desk post news, idiot. He didn’t look ready to fuck and run either. Not to mention he told Tom outright that you were dating.
“So you never answered the question. Does caffeine screw with your epilepsy?”
Ryan took a long, hot swallow before answering. She hated people prying into her personal life. Made her feel like a bug under a microscope, and since she’d spent the majority of her childhood that way, she was going to live her adult life the way she wanted to. Not the way anyone else did.
However, the truth wasn’t going to hurt here. Max needed to know anything pertinent to investigate what was happening at the site, and if she was going to be a so-called target, then she might as well divulge.
“Yes it does. Along with a few other things. Flashing lights, migraines, certain medicines, sex.”
Max spewed the mouthful of coffee he’d sipped, choking and coughing until the spasms subsided.
“Just kidding.”
“Good one.” He wiped up his mess with a tissue from the desk and tossed it in the trash.
“I take it though, from the fact you drive and work here, that it’s under control.”
“Yes. Haven’t had a seizure in two years. I’m very careful, Mr…Max. I think you’ll find that what happened to Eric is someone taking their vengeance out on a man who, although he did a fantastic job as foreman, wasn’t the most personable man in the world. I’m sure this has nothing to do with this particular job but Eric himself.”
Max nodded and set his half-empty coffee cup down. “Maybe. I still have to look into all angles. Whether or not it was Eric who was targeted, or the leadership, someone caused another man to fall and get injured.”
“And for that he…or she, should pay. I’ll stand behind you one hundred percent either way.”
“All right then. Mind showing me around?”
“Nope.” Ryan grabbed her jacket from the coat tree in the corner and shrugged into it.
“Any ideas on who might have hated Eric enough to want to do him harm? Cutting a man’s safety harness isn’t really a prank. There’s no way to know when the harness would fail. Eric could have been four stories up, not ten feet.”
Ryan locked the door behind them. “I know.” When she turned and surveyed the site, she saw Carter and Tom hovering over the plans. Carter held a hammer in both hands and he was…caressing it almost. She smiled. It was obvious he wanted to dive in and help out with the building portion of construction. The way he stared at the steel beams in front of him made her think of a little boy in front of the most rad BMX bike in the world. One he wasn’t allowed to touch.
Her knee buckled when she stepped toward him.
“Whoa.” Max grasped her elbow to keep her from going down. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Musta stepped on something.” She turned in a circle to search the ground. There wasn’t anything that would have made her stumble.
“No harm no foul. Carter’s watching you, better not do that again.” He chuckled and let go.
“Yeah.” Her knees both felt shaky now. As did her hands. What the hell?
She straightened, a sudden thought smacking her between the eyes, and searched for the aura that always, without fail, preceded one of her seizures. Panic stole over her. She hadn’t had one in so long! Had she conjured one simply by talking about it so much this morning? Would she never be free of the stigma? Taking a deep breath, she searched inward for the aura. It was nowhere to be found. So no seizure. Going from warmth to chill? Getting up too fast? Come to think of it, her head was a little swimmy.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” The concern in Max’s voice jerked her out of her musings.
“Yes. I’m sure. Guess the cold got to me.”
His concerned lightened. “You’re one of those people who are always cold even if it’s warm, aren’t you?”
“No.” Why was he asking stupid questions? They were halfway across to the area where Carter and Tom stood when another wave of dizziness hit her. She stumbled again.
“Shit.” She heard Max from a distance and then a shout. Strong arms caught her around her waist and the world spun. Blue sky greeted her as she opened her eyes.
“What happened?” She was so tired. And… “Cold.”
“Get a blanket,” Max barked, hurting her ears.
Heavy warmth ensconced her, fighting to win over the nausea stirring in her belly.
“Ryan. Ryan.” Carter was there above her, frantically peering down at her, his face a war of confusion and worry.
“What?” They needed to give her some space, let her get up. She didn’t want her men to see her this way. They might think she couldn’t handle the job. “Need to…get up.” She pushed on whatever held her down to no avail. It held her tight like a heavy weight settling on her chest. Her teeth chattered she was so cold.
“I called nine-one-one,” someone said.
“Why?” There wasn’t anything wrong. She’d tripped, for God’s sake, and they were treating her as if she were made of spun glass. A pain shot through her stomach and for a second she thought she might vomit.
“Roll her on her side.” Tom’s voice soothed her. He knew how to handle things.
“Aren’t you supposed to put something in her mouth?” she heard another voice ask.
God no, she thought to whoever had spoken. The last time someone had done that she’d practically bitten off her tongue and choked to death.
“No,” Tom snapped.
“A seizure?” This from Carter. God he was seeing her at her best. If she hadn’t run him off before, this would do the trick. She’d wake up later with no memory of what had happened and no Carter to comfort her. The mere thought was enough to make her puke even if she hadn’t already been feeling sick.
The shaking started in her right leg and moved across her hips and up her side. Her teeth slammed together, her spine arched sharply. She felt it all, begged it to go away and leave her alone. Except something was wrong. Different. This was not one of her seizures. She had to tell them. But the voices were drowning her out. The yelling, the sirens, the constant banging. How could she get a word in edgewise? Her brain was sluggish, not allowing her thoughts to coalesce into words, and the noise wouldn’t shut up.
Tom would never let her back on the site again.
Chapter Six
Jesus Christ he’d never been so scared in his entire life. It was a scene he never wanted to see again for as long as he lived. One minute he’d been watching her progress toward him, the next her legs had buckled and she’d fallen to the ground. Thank God Max had been there to soften the impact. He’d managed to catch her before her face kissed the earth.
How had she lived like this?
Carter flipped an errant clump of hair from Ryan’s forehead as he watched her rest. After being transported by ambulance to the hospital, doctors had stabilized her condition and given her a room to recover in. He’d been
shocked when Tom told him her seizures didn’t normally require any kind of medical intervention. They typically let the seizure run its course and offered comfort when it was over. This one had been different from normal.
As if epilepsy could ever be considered normal.
He didn’t care if it was normal or not, seeing her eyes roll back in her head had nearly made him piss himself.
Tonight, while he watched her sleep—because he for damn sure wouldn’t leave her side—he’d bone up on the disease and learn everything he could so he’d be ready for the next time.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Tom had told him her driver’s license would likely be stripped and worse, he wasn’t sure how he could keep her as foreman. The reason he’d taken a chance was because she’d gone so long without an episode.
Tom had given him a little background on Ryan’s seizures since Carter knew less than nothing. They had always followed a certain pattern. She’d see an aura, which in essence warned her of an upcoming seizure, she would zone out for a short time period and then the seizure would begin. Normally by that point they would’ve already gotten her to the ground, or she would have done it herself. Never had one come on so suddenly.
The doctors weren’t clear as to why her symptoms had changed, but they’d done a series of blood work and were waiting on the results. For now, Tom had left Carter to wait for Ryan to wake up while he drove home to pick up Carol, her mother, who was frantic wondering what was happening. Carter was glad that Tom had talked her into not driving while she was in such a state or she’d likely be occupying the bed next to Ryan’s.
The door opened behind him and Carter stood, eager to hear what the doctor had to say.
“How’s she doing?” The doctor wasn’t someone Carter recognized from the emergency room.
“I have no idea.” No clue whatsoever. He wondered if he really knew anything about anything at the moment. Carter slipped his hands in his back pockets and waited while the doctor read Ryan’s chart. After a few minutes and couple of nods the man looked up.
Bridging the Gap Page 5