“Ahem.” Gladys wobbles to her feet and, faster than should be possible, snatches the phone from behind Nat’s back. “I’m old, Doc. Not stupid.” She ends the fake call, presses the device into Nat’s hand, and pats her arm. “Go on, baby girl. Get out of here. And don’t you be coming back here tonight. Bella can take care of me just fine.”
The rideto Nat’s house feels like it takes forever. My dick is so hard, it’s painful, and Nat keeps shifting on the ATV’s seat, which isn’t helping.
She grabs my hand when we stop and practically drags me inside. The house smells like her. Along with hints of coffee. A single light next to the couch provides a gentle glow. Masculine colors, no hints of comfort. Nothing personal. But before I can wonder why, she flips the lock and reaches for me.
We don’t make it to the bedroom. Nat has her legs wrapped around my hips two steps from the door. “Couch. Now,” she says between desperate kisses.
I sink down with her still in my arms. She grinds her hips, and I let out a groan.
My fingers curl around the hem of her tank top, and I tug it up and over her head. A simple, black bra frames her breasts, and it’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.
“Fuck, baby. I’ve wanted you since the first day I met you. I knew you’d feel like this.”
“Like what?” Her hands snake under my t-shirt, and short nails drag along my pecs and down to my belt. She flicks the catch, then the button on my pants.
I lie her down and straddle her. Gently, I nip at the curve of her neck to her collarbone. “Home.”
Her entire body stiffens. With a sharp gasp, she tries to scramble out from under me. “No. Stop.Stop!”
I’m on my feet in a second, hands in the air. “What happened? Did I do something wrong?”
Tears shimmer in her eyes. “N-no. It’s not…you, Doc. God, it’s not you.” Grabbing her tank top off the floor, she backs up slowly. “But I need you to leave. I’m not good with…relationships. There’s a reason my only friend is an eighty-two-year-old woman who doesn’t take no for an answer. This…was a mistake.”
“Nat—” Fuck. I can’t argue with her. I’m too messed up to be good foranyone. “I told Gladys I wasn’t a good bet. I haven’t had a relationship in years—because I’m not good with themeither. But that’s not what this was. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.”
“You didn’t,” she says softly. “But that doesn’t change things. I’ll tell Gladys it didn’t work out. That we just didn’t click. Please,pleasedo the same?”
My heart aches to demand Nat talk to me. That she tell me the real reason she went from jumping me to kicking me out of her house. But instead, I back toward the door.
“Whatever you need, Nat. But…I wish you’d tell me why.”
A single tear glistens on her cheek as I step outside and she hovers at the door. Determination and longing battle in her eyes. “Gladys wants everyone to have what she had once. True love. She doesn’t realize some of us were destined to be alone.”
I gritmy teeth all the way down the hill to my campsite. I can’t get Nat’s last words out of my head.
Some of us were destined to be alone.
She’s not wrong. I had my chance at happiness and let it slip through my fingers. I won’t get another. But dammit if I didn’t think I could have one night where I didn’t feel so alone.
By the time I dump sand on the dying embers in the fire pit, all the lights in her house are off. I’d give almost anything to hear her voice right now. But we’re strangers, and after tonight, I’m certain that’s never going to change.
So I stretch out in my sleeping bag and wonder when I became such a goddamn hypocrite.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Present Day
Doc
The purrof the SUV’s engine soothes me as I accelerate onto Interstate 5. Until flashing detour signs direct me to exit at Industrial Way. Fucking jackknifed tractor trailer is going to send me right past Hidden Agenda’s warehouse.
It’s been almost four months. By now, you’d think I’d be able to forget about the last time I saw Ryker McCabe. And his team. But whenever I leave my home in West Seattle, I have to pass within five minutes of the damn place.
The K&R firm rescues people from the worst of humanity all over the world. And when they’re injured, they count on me to patch them up. Or…they did.
Years ago, McCabe’s job offer pulled me out of a hole so dark and deep, I didn’t think I’d ever see daylight again. Saving people—savinghispeople—gave me purpose. A mission. And enough money, I’m set for the rest of my life. Even if I never work another day.
“Patch up my team. Whatever. Whenever,” he says, staring down at me with ice in his multi-hued eyes.
