Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 75240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Bowe grunted at my back, and his hands tightened.
I gasped in sweet agony as breath filled my chest and rapidly expelled from it like a shot from a cannon.
Panting and exhausted, I slumped onto the swing like a deflated balloon, Bowe falling to his side not long after.
“I think…” I hesitated. “I think I want you to leave.”
Had I really just said that out loud?
Yes. Yes, I did.
Why?
Because he freakin’ scared the shit out of me. I could easily become addicted to him.
He opened his eyes, looked right into mine and gave me a firm, three-word reply.
“Not a chance.”
Chapter 14
A man is only as good as the beard that wears him.
-Fact of Life
Angie
My feet were literally dragging.
If you looked behind me, you would likely see a trail of black rubber from my tennis shoes on the floor.
I’d had to help lift a three-hundred-pound man to get him into an MRI machine, and the reinforced draw pad we’d been using had ripped straight down the middle.
Instead of moving like I should’ve done, I stayed where I was and had nearly all of the man’s body weight land on my hip as I pushed with all my might to keep him in his bed.
At first I hadn’t much noticed the strained muscles, but as the shift wore on, the worse and worse I got until I felt like collapsing.
To make matters worse, I’d gotten a call from my mom telling me that she was called into work. My mom didn’t get called in often past her normal shifts, but when she did, it was because she was needed.
She was a case-worker for the elderly in the area and watched out for their welfare.
It was an awesome job, but it also took a lot out of her and she needed those days off to gather her wits about her.
The only saving grace of the afternoon was Bowe coming to the rescue.
After hearing that my mom needed me to come pick up Elise, he’d volunteered.
And it was only about twenty minutes ago as I was dragging my tired ass out of the ER entrance and I saw PD that I realized that today was the day that Bowe was supposed to take his retest for the fire department.
Which was where I was headed now.
After he had his physical retest, he had to have blood drawn, and had to pass a mental evaluation—all of which would be done at the fire station.
“Hello, Angel.”
My stomach dropped and it took everything I had not to scream and run away.
That voice.
That nickname.
Those two by themselves likely wouldn’t have been all that bad.
But together spelled trouble. For me.
I looked up into the eyes of the man that nearly killed me. The man that, to this day, had yet to pay for his crime.
I didn’t bother to reply.
Replying only invited him to continue speaking, and at this point in my life, I most certainly didn’t want to speak with him.
I wanted nothing more than to pick up a rock that lined the garden in the front of the ER, and bash him over the head with it.
The only downside that I could see to the plan was that we were at the hospital, and help would arrive too fast.
“I’m talking to you.”
I continued to ignore him, but thought better of my path.
I was going to go to my car—not caring that the shuttle that took me to the car was occupied at the moment.
I changed my mind when the first step I took led me to coming closer to Troy instead of away like I’d intended it to.
“Angel,” Troy snapped, lifting his arm.
I took a hasty step back, and immediately turned my back on him to hurry back inside.
That was a mistake.
One which I should’ve known he’d take advantage of.
Taking advantage was something that he liked to do when there were unsuspecting women around.
I felt his callused hands on my elbow, and I nearly cringed as I yanked myself away from him.
“Why are you touching him?” Jade’s nasty voice filled the night around me. “Stop it!”
I pulled away from Troy, who’d gotten a hold of my neck. How could she think that I was touching him?
Then I rushed past Jade, barely missing the shoulder she tried to throw in my direction, and stopped at the security desk.
“Brownie,” I said to the security officer that was working the desk tonight. “Can you give me a ride to my car?”
Brownie, an older man with brown piercing eyes, looked at me with a grin.
“I tell you one time about being the stand-in for the Brownie’s mom for my grandkid’s Girl Scout camp out, and you never let me live it down,” he sighed in exasperation.
His eyes, though, were alert.
They were watching the altercation between Troy and Jade right outside the glass doors.
“Please?” I pleaded.