She’s lying face down with her head cranked around to the side in a way that cannot be comfortable. I grab a throw blanket off the back of the couch and lay it over her. She doesn’t stir.
I don’t want to disturb her, but I’m unsure what to do. If I do anything in the kitchen, it will wake her. I spot a book on the floor that must have fallen out of her giant-ass tote bag. I’m surprised she’s not the one with back issues. Picking it up, I sit on the couch and thumb the pages until I see a line that catches my eye.
“You’re such a good girl, taking my cock so deep.”
I bite my cheek, shaking with a silent laugh. What is this woman reading? I keep going. I am going to give hersomuch shit about this.
An hour later, Jessie stirs. Her eyes flare wide when she sees me on the couch reading her book. She bolts up—red hair flying—grasping for it, but I hold it out of her reach.
“Morning, Hawkins. Have a nice nap?” I beam.
She scowls. “Give me that. It’s not yours.”
“Shh, I’m reading.I pump in and out of her, as her orgasm builds,” I mock read, “with intense pleasure, and a rush of neurochemicals like dopamine and oxytocin.” I’m making it all up. The page I’m on has the main characters walking through the park.
Jessie fights a laugh. “Spell neurochemicals.”
Now I can’t help but laugh. “Come on, I’ll make breakfast before you go to bed.”
I shut the book and hold it out to her.
She snatches it with a renewed glare, stuffing it back into herMary Poppinsbag. “You better not have broken the spine or lost my spot.”
I push off the couch. “Don’t worry, Hawkins. I took great care of it. Your smut was in good hands.”
“It’s called cliterature, and you skipped everything but smut, didn’t you?”
I throw my head back laughing.Cliterature?“Of course I did. I had to find the good stuff, expand my vocabulary and what not.”
She follows me into the kitchen. “You don’t have to make me breakfast.”
“I know I don’t.”
I’m stirring eggs, ham, and cheese together on the stove when she enters the kitchen. Damp hair falls around her shoulders, smelling of rose and vanilla. She sits at the table with a huff.
“Long night?”
“Long life.”
I snort. “What made you want to be a nurse, anyway?”
She fiddles with the saltshaker, quiet for several seconds. When she speaks, her voice is raw, tired. “I like helping people, especially the people who don’t have anyone to help them. Working in the ER is where you see the worst of it—the terrified, broken, and sometimes even the dying. The days I can reallymake a difference in someone’s life are the best days.” She stops fiddling with the saltshaker, and her gaze drifts to mine.
“There aren’t many people like you anymore. You’re a dying breed, Hawkins. The hospital is lucky to have you. I’ve seen the inside of a few ERs and can say not every nurse has that level of passion for their work.”
Her delicate lips pull into a small smile. “I thought cowboys were the last of a dying breed.”
“Well, yeah. We are, too. I guess people like us are dying out.” I dished some eggs onto a plate for her. “How old were you when you decided to go to nursing school?”
I expect her to say junior year or around that age. When she answers, “Ten,” I almost choke on my sip of coffee. “That young? What prompted that?”
She considers the question for a moment. No doubt weighing how far she’s willing to let me in. “A year after I moved in with Gran, I broke my ankle climbing a tree and had to go to the ER. As I sat in that hospital bed, I watched all the nurses helping everyone, and mine was so nice to me. She brought me snacks and stickers and made a scary situation almost fun. I decided right then that’s what I wanted to do.”
Wow.I don’t know much about Jessie’s past. Knox and Kacey refuse to tell me anything—they say they’re staying out of it. But if she moved in with Dot when she was nine, what were the first nine years of her life like?
“When did you start riding bulls?”
I don’t dispute the topic change. This is the first real conversation we’ve had since I moved in. “I started when I was sixteen, against my parents’ wishes. A friend of mine from school had practice bulls and his own arena. I snuck over to his place and started getting on. I’ve been doing it ever since.”
