9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan (21 page)

“No you
aren’t,
darlin’. You’ll let
them take a look at your back,” he said, holding her as clo
se as he could. He almost lost her and the thought scared
the hell out of him. “She’s been whipped.”

“Let’s see so we can evaluate you, ma’am,” the paramedic
said as she slowly unbuttoned the shirt. “We need to take you in so the doctor
can look at those.
Some are pretty deep.”

She glanced at Jason. “You’ll go with me?”

“Of course.
I’m not leaving your
side if I don’t have to.”

“Thank you for rescuing me.”

“I love you. There is no place I’d rather be.”

“You love me?”

“Yes. This isn’t the time or place for
this conversation, but I do love you and I hope you love me
too.”

“I do, Jason. I love you so much.” She buried her face in
his neck and he felt the warm trickle of tears on his skin.

“Ma’am?”

“All right.”
She wiped the tears
from her eyes as she sat back.

Her tears broke his heart. He never wanted to see them
again on her pretty face.
“There
now.”
He wiped the remaining wetness from her cheeks. “Let’s get
you fixed up.”

“I’ll need your statement, sir,” one of the officers said,
as his partner called the
coroner’s office. “It
appears this is self-defense, but we’ll need to get the detectives involved.”

“No problem.”

“It’ll have to be after he gets checked out,” the paramedic
replied, indicating the small amount of blood on his left side. “It appears
you’ve
been shot, sir.”

“It’s just a flesh wound.”

“What? You were shot? Let me see.” Peyton turned him so she
could inspect the trench dug through his flesh. “Jason, you need to get checked
too. This could be serious.”

“He missed.”

“Not entirely.”

“Fine.
We’ll
go together.”

“We’ll get your statement at the hospital then, sir.”

Mandy stepped forward toward the officer. “I’m a witness to
what happened. I’ll stay and give you a statement too.”

The paramedics ushered the two of them out to the waiting
ambulance and
into the back. Jason insisted they put
Peyton on the stretcher on her side so she could relax and he would sit in the
front.

He called his parents on the way to the hospital to fill
them in on what was happening. “No Mom, I’m fine. It’s a flesh wound, but
I’m going to have the doctor look at it to make sure it
doesn’t need anything besides a bandage. Peyton’s wounds need to be looked at
too. We’ll probably stay here in Austin for a couple of days because the police
will want to talk to us, I’m sure. No, we
’ll be okay.
You don’t need to come. Just do me a favor, call Dan at The Dusty Boot and let
him know what is going on so he doesn’t get more worried than he is. Have
someone check my animals please. Thanks Mom. I love you too and yes, I’ll hug
Peyton for y
ou. Bye.”

Shortly after the sun broke over the horizon, they drove
into the ambulance bay at the hospital, the paramedics ushered them both inside
into separate rooms, but only sectioned off by a curtain. He asked them to
leave it open and even though the
nurse seemed
reluctant, she did what he asked.

Peyton’s wounds weren’t too deep, but the doctor had to
stitch a few closed. The others would heal
on their own
. She would have scars
to match the wounded soul he now knew lie within. Mandy had told him about
the hell she’d went through living with this guy. He knew
he would spend the rest of his life making sure she knew she was the most
beautiful woman inside and out, he’d ever seen.

“You okay over there?” he asked from across the room.

“Yeah,” she replied,
her voice
small and broken.

He got off the gurney so he could move to her side. “Baby,
don’t. Don’t let him win. He was totally wrong about you.”

“I can’t help it, Jason. I spent years listening to him
tell me how worthless I am. How ugly things were betwe
en
us. How I couldn’t satisfy him in bed…”

“Baby, you’re gorgeous. You have a wonderful life. You are
going to school in the fall to help people in situations just like yours. You
are the most amazing woman I’ve ever had in my bed. I’ll hear no more about
all of this. He’s gone. He’s dead. He can’t hurt you
anymore and believe me when I say I will spend the rest of my life making sure
you know how much you mean to me.”

“Did you really mean it when you said you loved me?”

“Of course, I meant it. The minute I
get the chance, we’re going to get married.”

“Married? You want to marry me?”

“Yeah.
I want you with me
forever.”

“Married,” she whispered, tears making her eyes sparkle
like golden topaz. “I never thought I’d hear those words from you again after
you sai
d it before. You aren’t the marrying kind,
remember?”

“I am now—with you.” He leaned in and kissed her. Not a
quick peck, but a full onslaught of desire waiting to explode between them at
the merest touch. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The doctor cleared
his throat as
he came into the room. “You two can leave as soon as I get the nurse to dress
the wounds.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

“You’re welcome. I hope the guy who did this to her won’t
be hurting anyone else?”

“No sir, he won’t.”

“Good and I don’t care who hears
me say it either.”

While they were waiting for their discharge papers, the
police came in and told them they would have to come to the station tomorrow
morning to make their statements.

“That’s fine, officer. We don’t plan to leave town for a
couple of d
ays if you need us to be here.”

“We aren’t going home?”

“No, I told my mom to have the guys keep an eye on my
cattle and horses for me. We’ll stay here a couple of days.”

Mandy came through the
doorway with a smile.
“Everything is good. I’m going to take t
he bus on home to leave you two some time to get
reacquainted.”

“Thanks, Mandy, for everything,” Peyton said as she hugged
her.

“Can you take my truck to the store a few blocks away and
get her something to wear besides my shirt, before you go? We’ll take
you to the bus stop after they release us.”

“Okay.”

Mandy took his keys, whistling happily as she twirled the
key ring around her finger. “I’ll be back.”

“Don’t wreck my truck.”

“I won’t, cowboy. I like big things.” She laughed as she
skipped down the
hallway.

He took the seat next to the gurney to await their
discharge papers. “You can move in with me when we get back.”

“But your house isn’t even finished yet.”

“I know, but you’ll be able to decorate it however you
want. I’d love to have your help on h
ow certain
things should be in the house since it’ll be your house now too.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“You plan to continue your therapy, right? I think you need
to so you can work through what happened last night and yesterday.”

“Yes, I will. This has
all taken
me back a step in my recovery, but with you by my side, I can overcome
anything.”

“That’s right. I’ll be there for you every step of the
way.”

“You know I love you, right?”

“I’m glad to hear you say it because you mean everything to
me, Peyton. Y
ou’ve become someone very important in
my life. I’ll do everything I need to do to help you. You own my heart.”

“Are you two ready to go?” the nurse asked as she came into
the room. “I have your discharge papers here.”

“Good.”

Once the nurse went through t
he
instructions with each of them after she dressed their wounds, she had them
sign the papers and then escorted them out to the waiting room.

“A friend has gone to get her some clothes.”

“Just hand the scrubs back to the receptionist before you
leave.”

“
We will. Thank you.” He shook
the nurse’s hand. “We appreciate everything you’ve done.”

“No problem. That’s what we are here for.”

A few minutes later, Mandy came through the door with a
couple of bags of clothes. “I didn’t get anything fancy.
Just a
shirt, jeans.
I grabbed your shoes
from the house. He didn’t ruin those.”

“Thanks, Mandy. You’re the best.” Peyton hugged her quickly
and then took the clothes into the nearby bathroom while they waited.

“How’s she really doing?” Mandy asked.

“Broken.
She
needs to talk to her therapist right away. That asshole
brought back way too much stuff buried inside her soul.”

“So when’s the wedding?” Mandy asked, rubbing her hands
together in glee.

Jason smiled and shook his head. “Soon, I hope.”

Mandy threw her arms
around his
neck and hugged him tight. “I knew you two were good for each other.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, that’s my fiancé you are hanging all over.” Peyton
stopped at their side with her fresh new tank top, jeans, and tennis shoes.

“I know! I think it’s totally c
ool
you two are planning to get married. Jason won’t tell me when the wedding is,
but I better be a maid of honor.”

“Of course you will be. We can’t give you a date because he
just asked me like ten minutes ago.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone. I’m taking
a cab to the bus station.”

“I told you we’d take you.”

“No problem. You two go on and have fun. Be careful with
her, she’s been through a lot,” Mandy scolded as she shook her finger at him

“I will. No hanky
panky
. I just plan to hold her very tight.”

“Goo
d. I’ll see you two in a
couple of days.”

“Thanks again. For everything,” Peyton said
,
hugging her friend for
a moment as tears sparkled on her eyelashes. Mandy only hugged her shoulders as
she tried not to touch her back. He began to love her even more fo
r her care. “I don’t know what I would have done had you
and Jason not come to find me.”

“Stop.
You’ll make me cry
too.” Mandy stepped back, shooing Peyton into his arms. “I love you both.”
Mandy disappeared out the doors, leaving
he
and Peyton standing al
one.

“Shall we go find a hotel room?”

One eyebrow shot up over Peyton’s eye. “Can we have sex?”

“Baby, I don’t think that’s a good idea with your back.”

“You’re probably right.” She shivered next to him. “We
should probably get something to eat before we f
ind a
hotel. I’m starving.”

“Considering it’s about noon, I’m not surprised. I saw a
burger joint not far from here.”

“Sounds good.”
She grabbed his hand
as they headed outside to his truck.