Lori Foster (10 page)

Rowdy finally let her up for air, kissing her lips once more, her nose and then her forehead.

Avery wavered on her feet. Stupidly, as if that explained his behavior, she said, “I’m, ah, the bartender.”

Rowdy, blast him, grinned. “Yes, you are.”

Amused, the nurses finished cleaning him up and asking their questions, then left when the doctor finally came in.

Avery needed to sit, but Rowdy still held her hand. On the off chance he actually needed her, she locked her knees, did some deep breathing to send oxygen to her muddled brain and reminded herself, over and over again, that regardless of how Rowdy acted, he was injured and needed to keep the lust in check.

His...and her own.

CHAPTER SEVEN

T
HE
FEMALE
DOCTOR
, probably in her early forties, model thin and very attractive, wasn’t amused that Rowdy kept Avery so close. Not as support, Avery soon realized, but so that he could play kissy face and act outrageous in a dozen other ways.

Was it a defense mechanism? Was he in more pain than he let on?

The doctor pulled on rubber gloves and took a seat behind him. For the longest time she was silent, until finally she murmured, “You’ve been in a lot of fights?”

Rowdy toyed with Avery’s hair, twining one long tress around his finger. “A few.”

Somehow, being injured didn’t detract from Rowdy’s devastating good looks, or his ability to seduce. His body... Well, she’d seen plenty of men shirtless, but none of them looked like him. His chest, his shoulders, those incredible abs...

Fortunately, the doctor didn’t seem to notice or care. She, at least, was all business. After accessing the wound, she studied his broad back with a frown. “Some of these scars are pretty old.”

Scars? Avery started to move around so she could see for herself.

Rowdy kept her from doing so. “Old, and unimportant.” He glanced back at the doctor. “How soon can I get out of here?”

The doctor wasn’t put off by his brusque question. “You’ll need quite a few stitches. With luck, I won’t leave you with another scar.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“To me,” the doctor said, “it does.”

In short order, he got a tetanus shot and something to numb the area.

While the doctor put in the stitches, Avery watched Rowdy’s face.

“If you’re waiting for me to faint,” he told her, “you can relax. I don’t feel a thing.” He tried to draw her in for another kiss.

She tried to avoid it, but he didn’t make it easy.

While glaring at Avery as if it were her fault, the doctor said, “This would be a whole lot easier if you’d sit still.”

Freeing herself, Avery said in her sternest voice,
“Behave.”

And wonder of wonders, he did.

As the doctor finished up, she went over his instructions as she wrote them. “I don’t want you to shower for at least twenty-four hours. When you do shower, make it quick so that you don’t soak your stitches. You can remove the bandage and have someone—” here she stared at Avery again “—reapply the antibiotic ointment.”

Rowdy gave Avery a wolfish smile.

The doctor pretended not to see it. “Keep it wrapped for three days, and then, if it’s comfortable for you, you can leave the bandages off.” She looked up. “I don’t suppose you have a desk job?”

“He owns his own bar,” Avery told her, more than willing to brag on him. “He works every part of it. Lots of physical activity.”

She sighed. “Well, I’d tell you to take it easy for at least a week, but somehow I don’t think you’ll listen.” She came to stand in front of them, put her hands on her hips and said with strict insistence, “Three days.”

“Three days of what?” Rowdy asked.

“Three days of you not overdoing it. No running, no heavy lifting.” She tipped her head forward in an “are you listening to me” pose. “
Nothing
that will put stress on your injury. Understand?”

Rowdy didn’t answer, so Avery did. “I’ll see that he’s more careful.”

“Yes, well, I have a feeling he’ll try to talk you around.” The doctor raised a brow. “Don’t let him.”

Good grief, did she mean sex? Avery went hot. “I have no say over
that!
”

With a huff, Rowdy pulled her closer. “You have the most say.”

The unspoken words
at least for right now
rang in her head.

The doctor saved Avery from having to reply. “You’re going to be uncomfortable. I’m giving you a script for pain meds, but they might make you sleepy. No driving, no drinking and no operating heavy machinery when you take them.”

“Not a problem.”

“If you can get by with aspirin during the day, I’d recommend saving the stronger stuff for when you go to bed.” She turned to Avery. “You’ll be helping to care for him?”

Rowdy watched her, saying nothing, so Avery gave a quick nod. “Yes.”
And I’ll do my best not to take advantage of his weakened condition.

“The dressing needs to be changed every day until Friday, and more ointment applied. In about fourteen days, the stitches can come out. Either return here or go to your physician.” She frowned at Rowdy. “Do not try taking them out yourself.”

Deadpan, Rowdy said, “I’d have a little trouble reaching.”

The doctor turned back to Avery again. “Let me know if you see any redness or swelling around the sutures.”

“Thank you.” Avery took her hand in sincere appreciation. “I’ll see to it.”

“Good luck with that.” After one last glance at Rowdy, the doctor smiled. “As she said, behave.”

One of nurses stepped back into the room and handed Rowdy a clean T-shirt. “I wish we had a coat to loan you, but this is the best I could do.”

“Appreciate it.”

The nursed started to help him pull it on, but Avery insinuated herself between them. “I can do it.”

Rowdy smiled, and the disgruntled nurse retreated. When she was gone, Avery gently pulled the shirt over his head. He stuffed his arms through the sleeves without her assistance.

Knowing he was anxious to find out about Marcus, she said, “I’ll call for a cab.”

As they left the hospital, he was so silent, so withdrawn, she didn’t know how to handle him. Not that anyone could ever fully handle Rowdy Yates, but boy, she wanted to try.

“Should we stop on the way to get your prescription filled?”

“I’ll take care of it tomorrow.” He opened the cab door for her, but surprised her by telling the cabbie his address, instead of hers.

She’d been almost certain that he’d insist on seeing her home first. Heart thumping a slow, anxious beat, Avery watched him settle in the seat beside her, this time far more comfortably now that he’d been tended to.

“You don’t mind, do you?” He put an arm around her.

His constitution amazed her. “That we’re going to your apartment first? Of course not. In fact, if it wouldn’t put you in panic mode, I’d like to stay and make sure you’re settled.”

“Great.” He stared out the window.

No signs of panic at all. Was he just too worried? What could she say to help? That Marcus would be okay? She wasn’t sure. She knew nothing about the process of protecting a child from his own parents.

But she had a feeling that Rowdy had far too much knowledge of exactly that.

* * *

H
E
’
D
WAITED
ENDLESSLY
in the cold dark night, but Avery and the blond ruffian hadn’t yet left the bar. Where the hell were they? Little by little he’d thought to learn Avery’s schedule, but this he hadn’t expected.

He was just about to give up when a cab slowed at the curb in front of him. The headlights hit his windshield, momentarily blinding him. Sinking lower in the driver’s seat of his car, heart thumping in excitement, he waited. Sure enough, that was Avery and her swain that exited the cab.

Despite the dead cold of the night, lover boy didn’t wear a coat. A macho show to impress Avery? Idiot. If an abundance of cash and social influence hadn’t done the trick, nothing would. Then again, maybe he’d looked at this wrong. Maybe she went for the brutish type.

But if so, she wouldn’t have run off, right?

Whatever the girl wanted, it no longer mattered. The decision to return or stay gone would no longer be hers to make. He was done playing nice.

* * *

T
HEY
’
D
JUST
GOTTEN
into Rowdy’s apartment when his cell phone rang. He figured it’d be Pepper again, and he was all set to tease her about turning into a mother hen. But when he looked at the number, he saw it was Logan instead, and dread consumed him.

“Where is he?” he asked by way of answering the phone.

“If you mean Marcus, then I maybe have some good news.”

Nausea burned his throat. So often “good news” from the system meant the kid got fucked over again. “Tell me.” He urged Avery down the landing steps and over to the couch, indicating that she should take a seat.

“Well, after pulling a few strings, he’s with Reese and Alice.”

Luckily, the couch was right behind Rowdy because he dropped onto it. “With Reese?” He hadn’t expected that. His thoughts reeled but his tension ebbed. “But...why?”
And how?

“If she survives, the mother is still going to be in the hospital for a while. The dad was not only involved in an assault on you, but we also found a substantial amount of drugs in his truck, along with a small arsenal of unregistered weapons.”

“No shit?”

“The truck door was open,” Logan said with a shrug. “One of the unis spotted an assault rifle and more right there in plain sight. Guess they figured on gutting you and taking off.”

“Didn’t go quite as they planned then, did it?”
Take that, you miserable fucks.
“So how did Reese end up with Marcus?”

“In extreme situations, we—the police—can take a child into protective custody overnight on an emergency basis. After you left for the hospital, Reese called Alice to tell her what was going on. She came to the bar to help out, and...”

Rowdy could guess the rest. “She and Marcus hit it off.” God bless Alice; no one could ever resist her and her gentle but curious way.

Maybe wounded souls recognized each other. Heaven knew, he and Alice had bonded right from the get-go.

“She got him to talk to her,” Logan said. “Not much, but it was more of a connection than with anyone else. When the social worker started to take him away, he...”

Rowdy held his breath during Logan’s five-second, emotional pause.

“...Reese said it was the damnedest thing. In that short time, Marcus had already gotten an attachment to her. He kicked up such a fuss that Alice was on her knees holding him and telling everyone else to back off.”

Sounded like Alice. Eyes burning, throat going scratchy, Rowdy avoided Avery’s astute gaze. “I’d put my money on Alice.”

“Pretty much always, you know?”

“Yeah.” Rowdy found his first smile. And once he had it, the need to touch Avery, to connect with her, nearly overwhelmed him. He put an arm around her and hauled her into his side. “What else?”

“After Reese closed up the bar, he and Alice took Marcus home. Reese told me to tell you not to worry too much. He’s sleeping on the couch to make sure the kid doesn’t try to take off, and Cash is sticking close to him.”

Cash, their crazy-ass rescue dog, had seen his fair share of abuse before living the cushy life with Alice and Reese.

For the moment, it was the best Rowdy could have hoped for. “The kid knows what happened to his dad?”

“That he and one of his thugs attacked you? That we arrested him? No. I don’t think it was uncommon for that bastard to take off.”

But it would be uncommon for a social worker to show up. Marcus probably had a clue, but Rowdy was grateful that it hadn’t been spelled out to him. “Thanks.”

“One of these days,” Logan said, “you’re going to believe that a few bad cops don’t represent the whole of the profession.”

He ignored that to say, “What happens now?”

“The social worker is getting hold of the family court judge. If that goes well, the judge might be able to place Marcus with Reese until we get everything else sorted out.”

Breathing became more difficult. “Reese is up for that?”

“Yeah, you know Reese. He’s muscle-bound, but at heart he’s just a big softie.”

Yeah, that was one truth Rowdy could swear to. Until recently, he wouldn’t have believed they existed, but now... Reese and Logan both were proving to be really good men.

Next they’d have him believing in Santa Claus.

Logan didn’t seem to think that much of Reese taking on a street rat. “There’ll be an emergency custody hearing. Unless we find a suitable family member—”

Rowdy’s heart stalled. “No.” Other family would have to know what went on, and the fact that it continued meant they didn’t care enough to put a stop to it.

And that, as far as Rowdy was concerned, made them unsuitable as guardians.

“Reese could have temporary custody.”

How long that would last, Rowdy didn’t know, but he wouldn’t tip his hand by asking too many questions. Because when it was all said and done, Marcus wasn’t going back there. He wouldn’t let it happen, no matter what the court said.

As the numbness wore off, his back began to ache and his temples throbbed. “Can I see him tomorrow?”

“Sure. Alice would love that. Reese is taking the day off, so he’ll be around, too.”

Rowdy knew he owed Logan and Reese more than he could ever repay. But he’d try all the same.

Usually a debt would have eaten at him, but this time, it didn’t. This time, weird as it seemed...it sort of lightened his burden.

Smiling as if she felt his relief, Avery leaned into him. Her silky hair teased over his skin. The side of her breast pressed against his ribs.

If he’d known being cut would get her to touch him this much, he’d have figured out a way to get sliced sooner. Maybe she thought he was too hurt to take advantage of her affection.

Even at the worst of times, Rowdy couldn’t keep his hands out of her gorgeous red hair. He tunneled his fingers in close to her scalp and kissed her temple.

“Yeah, so, Logan...” What could he say? How did you thank a man for doing what you couldn’t? “I... Damn, man...”

“Get some sleep,” Logan told him. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. But for tonight, know that your bar is fine and Marcus is safe.” He disconnected the call.

Hand shaking, Rowdy put the phone on the coffee table and slowly turned to Avery.

“Marcus is okay?”

It felt like her beautiful blue eyes looked into his soul. “He’s with Reese.” She’d met both Reese and Logan when they came to help with the renovations to the bar. But she couldn’t possibly know the lengths they’d go to to serve and protect.