by Hope Ford
3
Treyton
She’s about to space out again. I can see it. But this time instead of asking her about it, I wait. She’s beautiful with her short brown hair that curls around her face. Her eyes are big and expressive, and from the minute our eyes met, I knew she was attracted to me. Fuck, the feeling is mutual. When I first walked in, she had her back to me, and all I could look at was her ass in those jeans. I’ve never wanted to grab on to something so badly in my life. But even though she’s attracted to me, she’s not comfortable with the feeling. I’m used to having women throw themselves at me or flirt endlessly. She’s doing none of those things. It figures the one time I feel something for a woman, she is going to fight it.
She takes a deep breath and blows it out. She turns in the chair to face me, and when she realizes how close we are, she stands up and starts to pace. I still don’t say anything. I just follow her with my eyes and take in her curvy ass and the way it fills out her jeans. She’s beautiful, but it doesn’t seem like she realizes it. I have to drag my eyes up to her face when she stops suddenly and looks at me. In one long jumble of random musings, she stuns me. “I wanted a butterfly tattoo and maybe to have you cover up a stretch mark. You could match my skin tone... You can do that, right? I’ve heard of that being done. But now I don’t think it’s a good idea. I really expected to walk in here and have some guy with a big beer gut and long beard, possibly named Bubba, to be the one doing the tattooing. I didn’t expect you, and well, there’s just no way I’m going to bare this to you so I shouldn’t waste any more of your time. I should probably just go.” Her face is red, and once she’s done with her tirade, she walks toward her purse.
I know I’m manhandling her, but there’s no way I’m going to let her go. Not like this. And even though she’s quite a bit shorter than me... she’s definitely quick. I reach my arm around her waist and haul her back against me. I suck in a breath at the feel of her tight little body against mine. Fuck me, I could bend her over the tattoo chair right now and take her without a second thought, but I don’t want to scare her. When she doesn’t resist, I hold on to her for just a second longer before I turn her in my arms. “Hold up. You can’t just say all that and then just leave. Let’s talk this out.”
I smile down at her, going for an innocent look, but I don’t know if I’m pulling it off. She smells of honeysuckle, and I could stay right here, breathing her in for days if she’d let me. Her hand goes to my chest, but she doesn’t push me away. Our lips are so close to each other all I have to do is dip my head and I could taste her. The pull is too hard to resist, and I start to lower my head just as a ring sounds from her purse that is smooshed between us. She does pull away then and reaches in to grab the fucking cock blocker. “Sorry, I have to get this.”
I’m towering over her and see the name Jamie on the caller ID. I clench my hands into fists as my mind starts to wander. Is Jamie a man or a woman? Does Katie have a man? If she does, she won’t for long.
“Oh my God, no!” she says. “I told him not to get on that. His dad was supposed to fix it and never – forget it. Yes, I’ll meet you at Mercy.”
She hangs up the phone, and her eyes are wide and tormented. “Lane—my son—fell from the treehouse. I have to go.”
I grab my keys off the counter and follow behind her. We get all the way out on the sidewalk before she realizes I’m following her. “Where are you going?”
I grab on to her elbow and pull her around to the side lot where my truck is parked. There’s no way I’m going to let her drive all the way to Mercy Hospital in Jasper. “I’m taking you to the hospital. You’re in no condition to drive.”
“You’re not driving me there. You need to work. I’m fine.”
“I need to make sure you get to your son in one piece. C’mon, up you go.” I have her lifted up into the passenger side of my truck without another word from her. Before I slam the door, I tell her. “Put your seatbelt on.”
I’m not usually this bossy, but from the second I saw the look on her face when she found her son was hurt, I knew there was no way I was just going to let her go. I get into the driver’s side and spin tires pulling out of the lot. It’s almost a thirty-minute drive to Jasper, but I know I can make it in less.
“What did Jamie say exactly?” I ask, trying to get her talking.
“She said that he probably has a stable fracture of the ulna bone. It’s already swelling and painful to the touch.” She must catch my confused look because she continues. “Jamie is a nurse. We work together at the hospital.”
“How old is Lane?” I ask her, trying to keep her talking.
“He’s five years old. He was playing on the treehouse. My ex-husband has said over and over he was going to fix the railing on it, but he never did,” she says in a disgusted voice.
We talk the remainder of the trip, mostly about Lane. Katie texts back and forth with Jamie and mumbles something about texting her ex. We pull into the lot, and I pull up right next to the emergency doors. She’s already got the door open and is jumping out before I’m fully stopped. “Thank you so much for this, Trey. I owe you one.”
I shake my head. Someone else might get put off by the fact that this woman is constantly trying to distance herself, but not me because I’m not going to let it happen. “Go on in. I’m going to park, and I’ll be right behind you.”
Her eyes widen. “You don’t have to—"
“Go,” I interrupt her. “I’ll be right in.”
She shuts the door, and I wait until she walks into the entrance before I pull out to park. I all but run to where I dropped off Katie. A nurse is waiting for me when I walk in. Her eyes take me in. “Hi... are you here with Katie?”
I nod.
“Okay, well, she said to bring you back when you came in.”
I follow behind her, and when she points at a door, I walk in, only to stop suddenly. Katie is sitting on the bed with a little boy on her lap. He’s sucking on a sucker, smiling and in the middle of a story telling her how he fell from the treehouse. Another woman is standing behind them, and I’m assuming she’s Jamie.
Once the little boy spots me, his eyes get real big, and he stops mid-story. “Hi,” he says softly. “Are you a doctor?”
I chuckle and sit in a seat next to the bed. “No, I’m a friend of your mom’s.”
Katie and her friend are both staring at me wide-eyed, no doubt wondering what is happening. I don’t have an answer for them, but something is keeping me here. I can’t just leave until I know Lane and his mom are okay. “I hear you hurt your arm, but I’m glad to see you’re smiling.”
He lifts it up and winces. “Yeah, it’s broke. I’m getting a cast.” He looks a little worried as he says it.
“Wow! That’s awesome.”
He blinks. “Why?”
I lean forward. “Well, when the girls at school see your cast they’re going to want to help you carry your books and stuff.”
Lane starts shaking his head. “Ooooh gross, girls.”
I start to laugh. “Ha, ha, okay well, how about you could get some cool artwork on the cast? In a few days when your arm isn’t as sore, you could draw on it. That’s pretty cool, right?”
“Would you draw it for me? Maybe something like what’s on your arms?”
I look down at the skulls and flames on my arm and back up to him. Katie is just smiling at me. “Well, maybe not exactly like mine, but I can put some cool superheroes on there or something. If your mom will let me?”
He twists in his mom’s arms. “Can he, Mom? Please, can he?”
She shakes her head. “Trey has to work, honey.”
She’s giving me an out. I know she is. “Actually, I have a few days scheduled off anyway. I wouldn’t mind at all to tat his cast.” I nod my head at her. “I mean, if it’s okay with you.”
She gulps. “Uh, yeah, if you’re sure.”
I smile at her with a nod. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
I should look away, but
I can’t. “Yay!” Lane hollers just as another nurse walks in with casting equipment.
I watch as Lane’s excited face transforms to one of trepidation. “Yay. I’m already imagining all the fun things we’re going to draw on it, but first you’ve got to be brave just a little longer while they put the cast on. You think you can handle it, buddy?”
I watch as Lane straightens his back and nods his head solemnly. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Good boy,” I say.
I ignore the women’s stares. I can see the questions on their faces, but neither one of them says a thing. Katie sets Lane on the bed, and the nurse gets to work on the cast. We’re all watching, and I swear I’m holding my breath the whole time.
Jamie walks over toward Katie and me. “Well, I guess I’m not needed anymore. I’m sorry about this, Katie.”
But Katie shakes her head. “No way. This is not your fault.” They hug, and when Jamie pulls away, she stops next to me. “I’m Jamie.”
I nod, not taking my eyes off Lane. “I’m Trey.”
“Trey, the tattoo artist?”
I smirk. “That’s me.”
Katie stops Jamie from leaving and asks me, “Do you need to go? I can get Jamie to take us home.”
With my feet firmly planted and my arms over my chest, I shake my head. “No, I’m good.”
Jamie’s eyebrows lift in question at Katie, and Katie merely shrugs. Jamie waves, and I act like I don’t see her mouth to Katie, Call me, girl.
Katie blushes and then goes around to stand next to Lane. “You’re doing so well, Lane. I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m sorry for going in the treehouse, Mom. Are you mad at me?”
His lower lip is puckered out, and he’s looking at his mom with the saddest face, but I know her answer before she even says it. “No, I’m not mad at you. But you have to promise me that you won’t go up there until it gets fixed.”
He nods his head. “Okay. I promise.”
4
Katie
It feels as if I’m in an alternate universe or something. It’s all so surreal. Luckily, Lane is going to be okay. It was a small fracture, and the doctor put it in a cast more to keep it stabilized than anything. He’s been in a good mood, and most of that is due to Trey. He’s kept us both laughing, and he has been a huge help, even carrying Lane out of the hospital and now into the house.
We’re walking up the front steps when the lights of another car come down the street and pull into my driveaway. I can’t help it; my whole body tenses up, and Trey stops next to me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I look up into the blue eyes of my tattooed hero and wonder what exactly he is still doing here. I’m sure he’s had enough of all this family drama, and I’m afraid it’s about to get worse. “That’s my ex-husband, Lane’s father.”
“Daddy’s here?” Lane asks, lifting his drowsy head off Trey’s shoulder.
Katie smiles at him. “Yes, he’s here. You want to go see him?”
He lays his head back down. “I’m sleepy.”
Katie crosses her arms over her chest. “Okay, sport. Trey’s going to carry you in. Can you tell him which room is yours and I’ll be in in just a minute.”
Lane nods, but Trey doesn’t move. “Are you going to be okay?” he asks with a head tilt toward Craig, who’s getting out of the car. Already, I can see the glare on the man’s face. He’s not happy... but of course, he’s never happy.
“Yep, I’ll be fine. Thank you, though.”
He doesn’t want to go. That much is obvious by the way he hesitates. I’ve never been around a man that seems to be completely all about me. Did I really just meet this man a few hours ago? “I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Just holler if you need me,” he tells me and doesn’t move until I agree and try to reassure him with a small smile.
As soon as he walks in the door, I prepare myself to deal with Craig.
“What the hell happened, Katie? You left our son with a babysitter?”
In the past, I would have instantly gone on the defensive, and we would have had a shouting match... but not anymore. I answer him in a bored voice. “I left him with Jamie, a licensed nurse. I didn’t tell her about the treehouse, and Lane went up it to play. I texted you as soon as it happened.” I leave out the part how he got hurt on the treehouse that Craig was supposed to fix for the past year and a half... and I leave out the part where it took him almost three hours to show up to check on his son. Some things I know I’m just wasting my breath on.
“Where is he? I want to see him.”
I point to the door. “He’s in his room, but please be quiet because he’s trying to rest.”
He takes one step toward the door, and it opens. Trey sizes Craig up, and it’s astonishing the differences between the two. Craig is shorter with a little pudge in the middle. He’s wearing one of his twenty collared shirts, and he’s obviously taken aback by having another man in my house. He lifts his head to look at Trey and then back at me. “Who the hell is this?”
Trey steps out onto the porch and pulls the door closed behind him. “I don’t appreciate you raising your voice or cussing at Katie.”
“I’ll ask you again. Who. Is. This?” Craig asks in a stern voice, enunciating each word. He’s mad. His ears are a bright red, and that’s the first indication that he’s about to lose his temper.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but this is Trey. Go ahead, go check on Lane. It’s been a long day, and I’m ready for sleep.”
I wait for him to start yelling but am surprised when he doesn’t. He keeps watching the gentle giant next to me, and I know that’s the only reason he’s keeping his cool. “I’ll just see him tomorrow.” He turns to walk off the porch and stops at the bottom step. “I’m really surprised, Katie. The divorce has only been final for three months, and you’re already dating.”
I should probably correct him, but the feel of Trey’s arm going around my shoulder stops me. I don’t even try to stop the chuckle. “Yeah, I wish I could say the same to you, but you were dating your intern for the last six months of our marriage.”
He opens his mouth to say something but stops suddenly and storms off. I watch him go, knowing that this is not going to the be the end of it.
Treyton
After her ex-husband left, I followed Katie into the house. I’m mad, and that doesn’t even begin to cover it. What the fuck was the dude thinking? He had Katie and fucked it up by cheating on her? What a dumbass. The moment I heard the anger and bitterness in Katie’s voice, I wanted to go and punch the guy in the face. I took a step in that direction to, but with my arm around Katie and her stopping me with her hand to my stomach, I didn’t. Instead, I waved bye to the asshole and watched him drive away.
I’m waiting in the entry hall as she hangs her purse on the wall and walks down the hall toward Lane’s room and peeks her head in to check in on him. She’s back in just a minute and stops in front of me. She looks so defeated, almost like the whole world is against her. I wish I could put my arms around her and hold her close to me, but I’m not sure she’s ready for that. So I do the only thing I can think of. I ask, “Are you okay?”
She takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. “Yeah, but I can’t even begin to thank you for everything you’ve done for me and Lane tonight.” She claps her hands together as if she’s figuring something out. “Let me pay you for your time. I know this was a lot, and you missed out on your appointments tonight and really... you went above and beyond what most people would have done. How much do I owe you?”
She’s rambling again, and I’m starting to realize she does that when she’s nervous. I try not to get offended, but even I can hear the frustration in my voice. “I’m not taking your money.”
She blinks. “But...”
I walk over to her and don’t stop until we’re standing inches apart. I put my hands on her shoulders, and she lifts her head to look up at me. I want nothing more than to kiss her, bu
t I don’t. “Answer me. Are you okay?”
She’s staring at me, not blinking, and I can see the emotion fill her face. She’s fighting it, but one sob breaks free, and then I don’t even hesitate in circling my arms around her. I hold her tightly against me, and her body shakes as she cries in my arms. Her arms go around my waist, and I hold her tight, wishing I could take all the pain away. She’s been through a lot tonight.
I don’t loosen my hold until she starts to pull away, and even then I only let her move a little. I keep my arms around her and wait for her to say something.
“This is crazy. I’m so sorry, I don’t usually react that way.” She rubs her hand on my chest, across the wet part of my T-shirt. “I’ve got your shirt wet.”
I shrug. “It will dry.”
She laughs then. “Trey, what are you doing?” Before I can answer, she holds her hand up to my chest to stop me. “No, don’t answer that. Thank you so much for all you did tonight. I’m not even going to question why you did it. I’m just going to be thankful that you didn’t run away screaming. And no, I’m not going to offer to pay you again. I can tell you get all upset with that, so I’ll just stop rambling and say thank you. You don’t know how much it meant to me and Lane to have you here tonight.”
I put my hand over hers and hold it to my chest. I wonder if she can feel the way my heart is beating triple time just from being close to her. Everything I’m feeling right now is a little overwhelming, and there’s a part of me that wants to run and not look back. I don’t do relationships, and well, Katie is definitely a relationship kind of woman. There are so many things I want to ask her right now. Like about what she said earlier about getting a tattoo, and about her relationship with her ex-husband and if she still loves him. I stop my thoughts from going in that direction. That’s definitely not something I need to be asking the first night I meet her. Reluctantly, I release her and step back. “You’re welcome.”