Chapter Three Hundred Thirteen
TIMMONS
Who the fuck am I kidding?
She’s pregnant with another man’s child! There is no bond! Fuck!
You can stop pacing now, dad. The baby is fine,” Rhodes says, finally getting right up in my face and grasping me by the shoulders to
center my attention.
“What was that, Doc?”
Doc Rhodes smiles knowingly, then hands me a small leather tote with three pill bottles inside. “I said you can stop pacing. You two are doing this all wrong! Has she even been to see a doctor yet?”
“Uh…” I flinch, caught off guard for a moment. “Just you?” Sounds right.
Rhodes shakes his head at me. “You need to take better care of her, Timmons. She shouldn’t be working double shifts. What you’ve got right there in that bag is prenatal vitamins, some folic acid, and an additional iron supplement. It’ll take her a week or so of getting used to, but she needs to be taking one of each every morning. She’s probably going to get sick at first, but it’ll pass.” The Doc pats my shoulder while I remain thoroughly confused. “I know she’s a hard ass, I see her at the diner all the time, busting her butt while that piece of filth, Hugh, chases her around, from one end of the room to the next. Following her into bathrooms and cornering her-”
“Wait! What?” I snap, because now the good doctor has my undivided attention. “Chasing her…what are you saying, Doc? Who’s been chasing her?”
Doc Rhodes sighs heavily. “The owner’s son, Hugh. He’s been running her into the ground almost
week.”
Oh he has, has he?
The Doc shakes his head, and I follow him back to the couch where he begins to unhook her from the monitor. Doc explains, “I’ve seen her there sometimes from five a.m. until four p.m. All the while dodging that lousy pervert while she tried to work. Every other second he’s harassing her about something. If you want my advice, I’d say, she should quit.”
“Hugh,” I repeat. “The owner’s son.” That snaggle toothed little twerp that’s always pouring an ounce of sweat, should he so much as have to lift a finger to give directions? “The manager? Has he been…putting his hands on her?” I manage to bite out through mostly clenched teeth.
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Doc shrugs. “Not as far as I can tell. But he certainly goes after her hard enough. Fortunately, she’s a lot quicker than he is.”
“I see,” I whisper, the tension in my muscles suddenly wound with a hostile intensity. “And is he at the diner until closing?”
The Doc smiles. “I believe so. Yes. But you shouldn’t drag her down there. She needs to rest.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I lie. Not only do I suddenly want to take her down there, I want to stop and get down there, before we head to
the bar.
“You should take her straight home and get her into bed and get her fed Everything else can wait.”
I stare at him for a moment, wondering if he’s truly concerned for Kendall the girl, or if all this is for Kendall the tits. After all, he spent a good deal of time in her shirt measuring them. “I’ll take care of it, Doc. No worries.”
“She needs to take better care of herself, Timmons. I don’t think she’s been eating enough. I could feel her ribs a little too well.”
“I’ll just bet you could,” I slide out, wondering what other parts of her he took it upon himself to check.
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Chapter Three Hundred Thirteen
“She doesn’t have a concussion, there are no signs of trauma, and her art is in good condition, but…she’s exhausted.”
My eyes fall on Kendall, guilt, my immortal friend, climbing back onto my shoulders for yet another ride. She’s still out cold, her dirty blond hair fanned out around her shoulders and her butterfly shaped li barely parted in
slumber when I step forward and scoop Curling her a little deeper into me so that her head is now tucked into my chest, I glance out the window, cursing at the rain that is suddenly barreling down. Eyeing the skimpy crop top Kendall is wearing, I growl. “Shit, Doc. You wouldn’t happen to have a blanket, would you? I don’t want her to get wet.”
her back into my arms. Goddamn she is light. The Doc may have a point she needs
to ear
Whoops. Another lie. I do want to get her wet, just not out in the rain.
She’s pregnant, remember?
You will live the rest of your life without ever having tasted her peach, and is all your own fault.
But…
“Here you go,” Rhodes says, tucking a thick sherpa around her a little too comfortably, and a little too tightly. “She’s good, Doc. I got it,” I announce, nearly flashing him my fangs as his hand comes away from her shoulder.
The doctor’s lips twist into a patronizing smile as he follows me to the front door. “She needs to get better rest, Timmons. Perhaps, given your newest set of circumstances, it’s time.”
Set of circumstances? What circumstances would those be?
And time? Time for what?
Treating me to another pat on the back that not only, do I not need, but that I am not particularly deserving of either, he says, “Make an honest woman out of her, Timmons. She’s a great girl. She deserves better,”
I hear that last part just as I open the door and the cold wind rushes in, carrying with it enough rain to wake the sleeping beauty in my arms. I’m about to correct him, my mouth falls open to do just that, but that’s when Kendall’s eyes flutter open and her sad, sleepy gaze finds mine. Suddenly, she is wide awake and coming completely alive in my arms. When she realizes that I’m the one that’s holding her, I feel her start to react. A nervous tremble skates across her body and her hands grip the front of my uniform. Then, it’s as if she suddenly remembers the asshole underneath, and she releases it to fidget with the blanket instead. Her mouth turns down in a sad little pout and I watch the different gold and olive hues of her hazel brown eyes stretch, and blend, overlapping as they thread in on one another. The
haunt of them stealing my breath away.
“You can put your arms around my neck,” I say roughly, trying like hell not to picture what I usually see whenever I toy with the daydream
that for me, is Kendall.
She never wanted him. You pushed her toward him.
Do not let the memory of that night intrude on this…on her.
But…they were together for an entire two months.
Slamming my eyes shut for a long second, I will the image of Kendall with her legs around Bartlett to wither and die, but the harder I try
to kill it, all the more vivid it becomes.
Come on, just shake it off. At least get to the bar and spend the whole evening with her before you spazz the fuck out.
the feel of Kendall’s cool fingers sliding into the grooves of my shoulders as her hands traipse toward my neck and then around it, snap
me out of my dark moment and I drag my eyelids upward just as the Doc bounces back into view.
“Kendall! Glad to see that you’re fully alert, sweetheart.” Now with the pet names…really? “You fainted at the bar and your knight in shining armor brought you here for a check up. How are you feeling?”
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Chapter Three Hundred Thirteen
Kendall barely glances his way, her entire focus seems to be on studying different parts of my face while I stare unapologetically back at hers. Because unlike before, I have yet to look away from her eyes. “I think I’m okay,” she admits. “Out of a job, but-”
“You still have the job,” I say quickly, wanting to leave before Rhodes does something stupid like mention Hugh again.
“I do?” she queries, her eyes widening in surprise. “But I thought you said-
Stepping out in the rain to cut her off before she can paint the Doc the full picture of what went on between us in the bar earlier, I flash her a quick smile and race out into the rain. “Thanks for everything Doc I call out over my shoulder as I step toward my Charger as swiftly as possible.
But of course, the good doctor follows us out, unable to allow us to leave without throwing at least one more wrench in my way. “Wait! You forgot her vitamins!”
Fuck, of course I did.
I freeze on the spot, waiting for the Doc to reach me with the goods.
“Vitamins?” Kendall chirps, his eyes going dark with uncertainty for a moment.
“Prenatals, iron, and folic acid!” The Doc informs her while handing me the tote. “They’re a necessity!”
“Yuck,” Kendall replies. “I hate pills.”
“Don’t do it for you,” Rhodes says. “Do it for your baby.”
Kendall nods, taking the tote then smiling in thanks.
“And you dad,” Rhodes goes on, looking away from Kendall to place a skinny opportunist hand on my shoulder. “One job. Remember. For your baby’s sake.”
I’m staring at Kendall and she looks absolutely mortified, she literally begins to turn green with embarrassment. Even going as far as to try and leap out of my arms. Unfortunately for her, I keep her locked in tight.
I have not even one tiny clue what possesses me to say, what I say next, but as Kendall opens her mouth to deny that I am the father of her child, something inside of me decides it never wants to hear those words fall from her lips, and I beat her to the punch. Tightening my grip on her, I say, “Absolutely, Doc Rhodes, I agree. Anything, for my baby’s sake.”
