by Ava Kyle
Ella
The smash of metal on metal rattles through my teeth. I scream. The truck inches closer and smashes into the back of the car again. We’re going as fast as the car can go, but we’re still three miles from the house. I have the phone in a death grip, waiting for the damn text message to go through.
“Come on. Come on.”
“Hang on, he’s going to—”
He rams the car, this time slightly to the left, which sends us careening toward the edge of the road. Logan manages to correct just in time.
“If he hits us again on that side, I won’t be able to control it,” he says.
“We’re almost there.”
“Shit!”
Metal screeches as he catches us on the side. The car spins and something pops. I think it’s a tire because we’re scraping across asphalt, throwing up sparks.
The car can’t handle the extra stress. Logan loses all control. We fly off the road, over the embankment, and crash into a huge tree.
My entire body lunges forward. My head shatters the window. Everything goes black.
When I come to, I groan. It takes a moment before I realize someone’s yanking at the door handle from outside. I fumble for the lock, but it’s already depressed. As I turn toward Logan, pain radiates through my neck. I yelp.
“Open the door, you bitch,” Brock snarls.
“Logan!” He’s hunched over the steering wheel. I shake his shoulder. “Wake up.”
Smoke pours out from the fractured front end of the car. Within seconds, flames appear. Heat radiates up from the area around my feet. We have to get out of here, but Brock’s waiting.
Logan groans. He turns toward me.
“What happened?”
“We crashed. Brock’s trying to get in. Give me the gun.”
“Can you shoot it?” His tone is weak, semi-delirious.
“Give it to me!”
He pulls it from the holster and hands it to me. I turn and point it at the side window.
“Back the fuck up, Brock!”
“You won’t shoot me. I’m going to fucking kill you.”
I fumble with the gun. I’ve never shot one before, but they do it on TV all the time, so it can’t be that hard. I close my eyes and squeeze.
Nothing happens.
“It’s broken,” I yell.
“The safety…”
“What?”
“Release the safety, it’s on the side.”
I flick anything that looks like it could be a switch. My hands are shaking so hard that I can hardly hold it.
Brock turns sideways and rams his shoulder against the window. He repeats it over and over.
“Hurry,” Logan moans with his head back against the seat.
I have no idea what the hell I’m doing, so I point and try to shoot again.
“You have to help me!”
“Give it to me.”
I hand him the gun. Glass shatters. It rains down on me as hands reach through the window to grab at my hair. I yell and try to jerk away, but I can’t. He’s got me.
“Shoot him!”
Sirens scream in the distance, but it doesn’t matter. If he gets me out of this car, I’m dead.
“I can’t. You’re blocking the shot,” Logan says.
“Come on out, bitch.” Brock manages to drag me through the window.
Logan tries to get out of his side of the car, but the door won’t open. He slams his shoulder again twisted metal.
“Do you know what you’ve put me through?” Brock snarls. “You ruined my fucking life!”
“Let me go.” I wriggle in his arms as he drags me away from the car.
“Not a fucking chance. I’m going to kill you and watch your lover burn to death.”
“Cops are coming.”
“I’ll be gone before they get here.” He wraps his hands around my throat. “Goodbye, wife.”
I can’t respond, because suddenly, I have no air. I kick and claw at his hands, but I can’t get free. Logan’s trying to crawl out of the passenger side window, but it’s too small. He finally kicks out the front glass, but it’s too late. Darkness closes in to consume me.
A loud bang jots me. I hit the ground. Gasping for air, I crawl toward the burning car, toward where I last saw Logan.
Strong arms lift me against a hard chest. I struggle to get away.
“It’s me, baby.”
I go limp in Logan’s arms. For the second time since we met, he’s rescued me. Tears pour down my face. I can’t see for several minutes.
Cops arrive. Several shout orders.
When I can finally see, I spot Brock laying on the ground on his back. Lifeless eyes point toward the sky. In the center of his forehead, a bullet hole spells his demise.
“He’s gone, Ella,” Logan whispers. “He’ll never hurt you again.”
My body’s wracked with sobs. I cling to Logan as he carries me toward a waiting ambulance.
It’s over. It’s finally over.
After a two-day hospital stay, I’m ready to get the heck out of antiseptic-scented confinement. I sit in bed while a nurse removes bandages from my hands.
“The stitches will come out in a week. We’ll make a follow up appointment for you. The cuts on your torso will heal, just keep putting the prescription cream on it. If you notice an increase in redness, or swelling, call right away. Infections are deadly.”
“Deadlier than ex-husbands?” I joke.
She doesn’t appreciate my dark humor.
“When can I see Logan?” I ask.
“He was discharged earlier this morning.”
“Oh.” Energy leaves my body through the pit in my stomach.
He’s gone.
I don’t know what I expected. He rescued me and kept me safe for weeks, but maybe he was only doing it out of a sense of guilt over what happened to Penny. Maybe I’ll never know.
I blink back tears as my parents walk into the room. My mom’s carrying a teddy bear holding a balloon that says, “Get well soon.” I feel like I’m five years old again.
My dad’s more stoic, glancing at my hands and studying the machines beeping by my side.
“You’re being released in about an hour,” he says. “We made up your old room.”
“We can’t wait to take you home.” My mom moves as if she’s going to take my hand but thinks better of it and squeezes my shoulder instead. “How are you doing?”
“Good.”
“You sound sad.”
“I’m just tired.”
“This wouldn’t have to do with your firefighter, would it?” she asks.
“Honey, leave her be,” my dad says, clearly uncomfortable with discussions about the man I stayed with for weeks.
“It’s okay. I just need to rest,” I lie.
My heart is breaking. I thought for sure he’d be here when I got out. How could I have been so wrong?
I replay every moment from the last few weeks through my mind. I thought he loved me as much as I loved him. I should have told him when I’d had the chance. Now, I’ll never be able to share with him how much he changed my life. He didn’t just rescue me from my ex, he rescued me from years of uncertainty. I didn’t think I’d ever fall in love again. It was a pain that plagued me for years. But now that I have, is this pain any less intense? If anything, it’s worse.
Discharge takes longer than expected. My dad’s pacing, and my mom’s furtively glancing at the clock.
When the nurse finally rolls in with a wheelchair, I sigh. This is it. I’m leaving Blues Town forever… without Logan.
I keep my head down as we pass several rooms on the way to the elevator. I stare at the silly dog slippers my mom brought for me. I don’t know how the heck she found something that looks like it was made for little kids in my size, but at least she cares.
As the elevator doors slide open, my mom gasps. My head snaps up.
Logan!
“I spent the last twenty minutes trying to get a damn nurse t
o tell me which room you were in,” he says as he steps out. He’s holding a huge bouquet of colorful balloons. “I finally decide to go door to door until I could find you.”
“You found me,” I whisper.
“I would have brought flowers…” He hands me the balloons. “But they were like, blah blah, can’t have them, blah. So, I’ll just have to get you more some other time.”
“Another time?” I cock my head slightly.
“I mean… If you want them.” He suddenly looks unsure of himself.
“Let’s go outside,” my father suggests. “I can’t stand the lingering scent of death.”
“Dad!”
He punched the down arrow. The elevator arrives moments later. There’s a brief skirmish over who gets to roll me, but my father wins. Not to be outdone, Logan gently grasps my hand. He holds it all the way outside.
A bright moon casts silvery light across the sky. I tip my head and inhale the first real breath of freedom I’ve had since the night Brock almost killed me—again. I’m grateful that I’ll never have to look over my shoulder ever again.
“Which hotel are you staying at?” Logan asks.
“We’re taking her home,” dad says.
“It’s a long drive. It’s dark. You’re more than welcome to stay at my house.”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine driving home,” dad says.
“Honey, let’s get the car,” mom says.
As they head toward the parking lot, mom turns and winks. Leave it up to mom to recognize that I need to talk to Logan alone.
“How are you really feeling?” Concern knits his brows.
“Like someone ran me off the road and then tried to kill me.” I give him a weak smile.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop us from crashing.”
“No one could have. You did far better than most. You saved me.”
“Ella…” He drops to one knee in front of me. He wraps his hand around my waist and presses his head against my body.
I stroke his hair before capturing his cheeks in my palms. I draw him up to kiss me. It’s sweet and full of yearning.
“I don’t want to go,” I say.
“You don’t?” His eyes widen.
“I want to stay.”
“At the hospital?”
“With you.”
He lets out a soft moan. He pulls me against him a bit too hard. I squeak.
“Sorry. Sorry.” He sits back on his heels. “I was hoping you wanted to stay.”
“I do. Although I don’t know how my parents will take it.” I glance at the semi-circular driveway. They’re not here yet, but we don’t have much time, so I decide not to dance around the conversation I’ve been waiting weeks to have with him. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he answers immediately.
“And I don’t want to live a life without you.”
“I don’t either.”
“Memphis isn’t my home anymore. My home is with you.”
“I love you so much, Ella.” He takes my hands in his. “Before I met you, life was an endless series of firefighting calls. I’ve saved more people than I can count, but you’re the only one who saved me in return. You’re the strongest, bravest, sexiest woman—”
A cough interrupts him. My parents are standing off to the side. The car’s running in the driveway.
“Can I—I just need one minute,” Logan says.
“Take all the time you need, son,” dad says.
Son? He never calls anyone that.
“I love your daughter,” Logan says to my parents. “I know it might sound crazy since you don’t know me, but she’s become everything to me. I can’t live without her.”
“I love him too,” I say.
“And there’s more.” He adjusts his position so he’s down on one knee. “I want to marry you.”
“What?” I cover my mouth with my hand.
“This whole thing has been a rollercoaster ride of emotion,” he says. “But the one thing that’s held true through the whole mess is you. You’re the one I want to be with for the rest of my life. I’ve done so much healing in the time we’ve spent together. I can’t imagine living without you.”
I can only stare as he pulls a small black velvet box from his back pocket.
“Ella, will you marry me?”
“Yes.” I don’t hesitate to throw myself into his arms, which was a mistake because I’m pretty sure I popped a stitch or two. “Ouch.”
“Oh, baby, be careful.” He gently pushes me back into the chair.
I hold out my finger so he can slide the ring onto it. He kisses me softly before standing. He turns to my parents.
“I know this seems sudden and crazy, and I’m sure after what you went through with her first husband, you’re not exactly ready to see her married again. But, I love your daughter. I would have asked for permission first, but we don’t even know each other. I hope we can get to know each other.”
“I guess we’ll have to,” my dad says. “I can tell just by looking at you that you make Ella happy. She hasn’t stop smiling since you showed up. And you kept her safe. You didn’t know her, but you rescued her from the fire and then again from the crash. We owe you more than we could ever repay. If that offer to stay at your place for the night still stands, we’d like to take you up on it. Right, dear?”
“Of course.” Mom rushed forward to hug Logan. He holds on for a few seconds before pulling back to shake dad’s hand. Dad slaps him on the back.
“I hope you know how to barbeque, because you can’t waste a night like this on takeout,” dad says.
“I’ve got steak in the fridge and a brother who can grow corn as high as the sky. Let’s barbeque!”
“A brother?” Mom smiles in confusion.
“I guess I never mentioned him. His name’s Jeff and he’s a cop.”
“No kidding,” dad says.
As they roll me toward the car, Logan calls Jeff to tell him we’re coming home with guests. By the time we reach the house, Jeff’s in the backyard grilling. Introductions are brief, but my parents are taking everything in stride. I’m glad they like Logan or things could be so much harder for us.
I sit on the back patio looking out over the fields. My engagement ring glitters under the porch light. I couldn’t be happier. I’ve finally found a man who can love me unconditionally. I know he’ll take care of me and treasure me for the rest of my life. And I’ll do the same for him. And if the tests they ran were right, we’re going to have a family before we know it.
I rest my hand on my belly and smile. I don’t want to tell anyone quite yet. We already have so much to celebrate that I want to save this for later. For when Logan and I are in bed together, alone, making love and showing each other what it means to be family. Then, and only then, will I tell him about our baby.
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About the Author
Ava Kyle is two USA Bestselling Authors who got together to write short, steamy romance. They love sassy heroines, panty-melting heroes, and the promise of everlasting love. If you’re looking for a short, passionate read, then we’re happy to deliver it. Just don’t call us if your e-reader melts. We’re only responsible for one kind of hardware, and that’s not it.
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