Page 40 of Necessary Roughness

Chapter Six

THAT FRIDAY NIGHT, Tanner grabbed dark gray dress pants, a pressed dress shirt, and a navy blue blazer out of his closet and tossed them on his bed. He’d told Jordan their reservation was at seven PM. A car was picking them up in half an hour. He’d had a shower, put on a little aftershave, and worn the boxer briefs that made his junk look good.

“This is not a date,” he muttered. “Don’t get crazy.” Of course it was a date, but if he started thinking about all the ways this could go wrong, he’d spend the evening hiding out in his room or something.

“What’s that?” His nurse was getting ready to go home for the day. Tanner had improved enough from his second surgery to not need a nurse at any other time than when he took a shower, and Kyan was mostly there to be a spotter. Plus, if the nurse was waiting on him hand and foot, he wasn’t going to be taking care of himself, which was the ultimate goal.

“Talking to myself.”

“Looks like you’re going on a date.”

“Pretty much.”

Kyan sat down in the oversize bedroom chair Tanner typically used while dressing himself. “Do I need to tell you not to kiss on the first date and always carry a condom?” he joked.

“Thanks for the sage words of advice. I’ll try not to get anyone pregnant.”

Kyan moved forward in the chair and rested his forearms on his thighs. “Jordan must be going out tonight too. She’s dressed up and pacing in the entryway.”

“The car is not going to be here for—”

His grin widened. “So you’re spending a little time with the Disney princess.”

Tanner pretended like buttoning his shirt took the concentration of brain surgery.

“When did this start?” Kyan said.

Kyan had made the transition from “employee” to “friend” fairly rapidly. Others would think that Kyan and Tanner had nothing in common. After hours of conversation, though, it was clear to Tanner that they were in the same place: working on what was next for them. Kyan wasn’t recovering from injury, but he wanted to expand his practice by banding together with other rehabilitation nurses to offer a more holistic standard of care. He was still in the planning stages.

Tanner had had months to think about his future. He’d have to work his way up the coaching hierarchy, but he’d like to coach an NFL team. Right now, he couldn’t imagine what it would cost him emotionally to stand on a field in any franchise in the league and know he’d never play again. Luckily, he’d had great financial advice during his career and he could choose his future for fulfillment rather than money, but it was almost a year later and he was still considering the steps forward. Most guys didn’t get a fraction of the time he’d had. His future career occupied his thoughts, but the problem he wrestled with daily was finding a woman who would stick with him while he was getting up to speed with his life. He gave himself a shake mentally and grabbed the rest of the clothes off his bed.

“She isn’t as bad as I thought she was,” Tanner said.

“Famous last words,” Kyan joked. “I said something similar when I met my husband.”

“I’m taking her out to dinner. We’re not heading for Vegas.”

The car was going to be in his driveway in less than fifteen minutes. He’d better move his ass.

“Have a great time. I’ll see you on Monday, okay?” Kyan said as he shoved himself out of the chair.

“Yeah. See you then.”

Tanner shrugged on his navy blue blazer and reached out for the cane he was using as of last week. It was mostly for balance. It had been months, but he still wasn’t used to walking into any public situation with the crutches or, now, a cane. He saw the looks people gave him—some curious, some judgmental. Maybe the judgmental people thought he was faking it to get a better parking place. He could be a real asshole at times, but he never remembered seeing others in public with a disability and staring at them, let alone saying something nasty under his breath to someone who didn’t ask for the limitation they sometimes struggled with.

He jammed his wallet and his house keys into his pocket, pulled his bedroom door open, and headed for the front door. He could dwell on depressing shit later. Right now, he wanted to enjoy the evening.

“Hey, DP,” he called out. “Where are you?” He rounded the corner into the entryway of his house—and stopped in his tracks. He’d seen Jordan every day for the past several weeks. He knew the curve of her face, the sparkle in her eyes, the innocent smile when she was teasing him. He didn’t know the woman who stood in front of him. She’d swept her long red hair into a messy updo and wore subtle makeup. She had on a sleeveless, form-fitting black dress that stopped just above her knees. The fabric clung to every curve. Her high-heeled sandals were black with thin straps around her ankles. He took a deep breath of the pear and flower scent she wore.

He was speechless.

The Disney princess was gone. She would turn heads everywhere she went, and every guy in the place was going to wonder how the hell he’d ended up with her.

“I told you we’re going to Dick’s Drive-In, didn’t I?”

“It seems you’re overdressed, then.” She gave him a snarky grin. “The car’s outside.”

He reached for the doorknob on his front door. “Let’s get out of here.”

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