Page 12 of Rekindled Heart

But it doesn’t keep my attention for long. Because there’s something else that I can’t look away from.

Ricky Rowe. He’s sprawled, lounging on a soft leather recliner chair and I gasp when I see the blood on the shoulder of his shirt. Sebastian sits on the sofa across from him and they’re both in front of a huge stone fireplace.

Sebastian stands and his lips quirk. “I’m gonna guess that he’s not expecting to see you right now, Caroline.”

My own mouth firms and I glare at him. “No, he’s not.”

He chuckles roughly. “Well, good luck to the two of you. He’s a little crabby tonight.”

Doc grunts but it doesn’t slow him down. He looks at me. “Can you get everything ready for me to clean him up and find out what we’re dealing with? Go ahead and get sutures ready too just in case. I don’t really know what we’re dealing with but I want to be ready for anything so that we can get this taken care of as quickly as possible.” He eyes the sleeping man. “I hope he stays asleep. Grab the scissors so we can cut him out of that shirt.”

I grab the scissors and kneel beside his chair, delicately plucking at the fabric to pull it away from his bloodied skin. Just as I slip the fabric between the shears, his pain-filled, sleepy eyes open, blurry and unfocused.

“Why did you leave me, angel?” Then his dark eyes close and he sinks lower into the chair.

Doc huffs out a soft breath. “Thank goodness! He’s passed out. Maybe I’ll miss getting another broken nose.”

Ricky snores lightly and we set to work taking care of his shoulder. And I try to ignore what looks like acres of tanned, muscular arm and shoulder right in front of me.

He looks good enough to eat even covered in blood. He smells like wild forest and horse which doesn’t smell as bad as you’d expect it to.

Doc cleans out his wound and then I hand him the fish hook and thread and he quickly lines up and puts several stitches in his shoulder. His perfectly beautiful shoulder.

Then he hands it back for me to take care of. He grunts and wipes his hands off with a towel. “Just put a bandage on that and then I’ll take you back to the clinic so you can pick up your car.”

I nod and put a large, flat, white bandage on his shoulder, my mouth watering. I mentally smack the hell out of myself because the man’s not a damn piece of meat and I need to get my raging hormones under control.

He might never forgive me for leaving. And I’m just gonna have to learn to live with that.

SIX

Ricky

“I don’t needto take any more of those damn painkillers. They make me feel fuzzy and I can manage without them.”

My head is killing me and my mouth is so damn dry that it’s not funny. But I would rather keep my wits about me. Because I know that Caro has been back here since that first night and the damn pain made me so loopy that I said stupid shit and passed out. I don’t need loopy drugs too.

I want to know what the hell she’s doing taking a job here. Surely, she’s not thinking that she’s going to stay around here. That’s gonna be awkward as hell for the both of us. I expected her to leave already.

I don’t understand why she felt like she had to come back to tell me about the baby. The shock of that is wearing off along with the anger that helped carry me through the initial shock.

Now, all that’s left is sadness for what we both lost and an insane need to look at Caro. To stare into her cool gray eyes and see if I see the same feelings that I used to see.

I close my eyes and ignore Sebastian’s chattering with his wife. The two of them will be leaving soon to head back to Misty’s place. They’ve been rebuilding her home and I’ve taken over Sebastian’s house. I’m still deciding if I’m gonna buy himout or take it over or what. Or are we going to split the land? That’s a different mess for a different day. All that doesn’t matter. I don’t care about any of that right now.

I don’t know why but since the damn bear attacked me and she was here with the doctor, I’ve been haunted by the scent of her, the feeling of her delicate, cool fingers touching my skin so gently, softly.

If she’s actually staying here, what does that mean? Why is she staying here and what does that mean for me? For us?

Why the hell should I give a damn about any of that? We’re over, right? Right. There is no us. Hell, maybe there never was an us.

There’s a knock at the door and Misty goes to open it. She’s gone for a few minutes and I lie back, closing my eyes. I hear Misty talking to someone but I don’t open my eyes.

At least until I smell her. Soft, floral, intoxicating. Cool fingers touch my brow lightly and when I open my eyes, she pulls her hand back quickly.

My own hand darts out and catches her wrist. She gasps and stills immediately. Warmth coats my skin and oozes through my body at just the slight touch of her soft skin.

“Let me go, Ricky,” she says quietly, her soft gray eyes darting over to Misty and Sebastian. The two of them are, as usual, wrapped up in their own little world.

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