Sudden Response (14 page)

still super pissed about getting screwed over.

"I brought you a Milky Way milk shake," Nathan said, sounding hopeful and damn him for knowing her weakness.

With an annoyed little sigh she stopped scraping the cracked white paint off the garage door and turned around. She took the

large fast food cup from Nathan and took a long sip and couldn't help but let out a little moan as the delicious mixture of

chocolate, caramel and vanilla hit her tongue.

"So, you forgive me?" Nathan asked, rolling back on his heels as he sent her a puppy dog look that had her rolling her eyes as

she continued to drink the delicious beverage.

A fter taking one last healthy sip she sighed heavily and handed him the scraper. With a frown he took it, sending her a

questioning look.

"Fine. I forgive you," she said, gesturing regally towards the garage, "now you may help me."

Chuckling, he stepped forward and began to work. "You're so generous, Joe."

"I know," she said, nodding in agreement as she turned her attention back to the delicious beverage that required her focus.

"You want to tell me what he did to piss you off this much?" Nathan asked, reaching back and swiping her drink. Before she

could launch an attack to retrieve her drink back he took a long sip and was handing it back to her.

She decided not to hurt him since he was helping her and of course since she'd be sending him out later to get her another one.

Not that he knew that, but he would. Nathan was such a pushover when it came to her and A lice. He could never seem to do

enough for them and she normally wouldn't take advantage of his giving nature, but this was a Milky Way shake, the king of

shakes. Besides, he had no one but himself to blame for getting her addicted to the damn things in the first place.

When they were in high school he got a part time job at a burger joint so that he could earn some money to buy a computer. She

would have loved to work with him, but she'd already taken a job with Eric at a lumber yard. Every day she stopped by on her

way home and he'd make her a Milky Way milkshake before walking her home.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" she asked, enjoying the last sip of her drink. Yeah, he was definitely going to have to go out and get her another

one.

"What did he do?"

"Who?" she asked, playing stupid since she didn't feel like talking about the big jerk that screwed her over. She dropped the

empty cup in one of the trash cans she'd pulled away from the garage, grabbed another scrapper, and went back to work.

"You know who."

"If you're speaking of your brother then you should know that he's dead to me," she said with a sniff as she focused on her

work.

"Uh huh," he said like he didn't quite believe her.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, perhaps scraping a little more forcefully than what was needed.

"Exactly what it sounded like," he said, pausing in his work to use his tee shirt to wipe sweat off his face.

"Meaning........," she prompted, feeling her annoyance with the man renew. If he kept this up she was going to tell him to

leave.......

Right after he got her another shake.

"You've never been able to stay mad at him for more than a few hours, a day at the most. By tomorrow night you'll forgive him

for trying to get you to quit and find another job and the two of you will be back to.....to....to.....oh....shit." Nathan's words

trailed off when he looked up and met her glare.

"What the hell are you talking about, Nathan?" she demanded, gripping the scrapper in her hand tightly as she ran his words

through her head again.

"Um, what are you talking about?" Nathan asked, trying to backtrack as he dropped the scrapper and stepped back.

"He's trying to get me to quit?" she asked, stepping in front of him and blocking his exit. "Why?"

"You'd really have to ask Eric about that," he said, shifting nervously.

"I'm asking you," she said, tossing the scrapper away so that she could cross her arms over her chest to intensify the effect of

the glare.

"I-I don't think I should say," he said, licking his lips as he moved to step around her only to find his exit cut off.

"You can."

"I can't."

"I'll cry," she threatened, knowing she just might have to do the unthinkable and shed a few tears to make the big softie confess.

He narrowed his eyes on her. "You wouldn't."

Oh, but she would. Her bottom lip wasn't quivering ten seconds before Nathan broke down and confessed. A n hour later she

was sitting on the hood of her car, sipping a new milkshake and contemplating manslaughter.

Chapter 15

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this relieved that a shift was over, but he was. When dispatch dismissed him after

holding him over for five hours he damn near kissed the ground in thanks.

Wincing when the muscles in his right shoulder protested in agony, he grabbed the two bags of takeout and shut his truck door.

Thanks to Greg he'd fucked up his shoulder when the little bastard lied about being able to lift a hundred and fifty pounds.

Then again it was possible that he'd been telling the truth and the patient simply startled the hell out of him when he started

seizing on their stretcher. If it hadn't been for Brian, the paramedic that filled in for Joe, the stretcher would have tipped over,

but thankfully the man jumped in and grabbed the stretcher and righted it just in the nick of time. It hadn't saved his shoulder

though. It hurt like hell, but nothing some ice and rest wouldn't fix.

He had the next two days off and planned on spending them with Joe. He had a game plan to not only make her to forgive him,

but one that would get the ball rolling on her starting to think about employment, safe employment, elsewhere. It would take

time and a whole hell of a lot of charm, but he was pretty damn sure that he'd have her thinking it was a great idea before they

started in on dessert. He just had to find the right moment to approach the subject.

"So, you want me to quit working on the ambulance, huh?" Joe asked casually as she stepped out of her house and leaned a hip

against the small porch railing.

A pparently there was no time like the present.

"Do you think we can go inside and discuss this while we eat?" he asked, raising the bags of takeout.

"Sure," she said, shrugging and surprising the hell out of him.

He'd expected a fight, but he wasn't going to complain. He was too tired and hungry at the moment to question it. Without

another word he followed her inside and placed the bags of food on the table.

"I'll be right back," he said around a yawn as he walked down the long hallway towards her bedroom. He could have used the

guest bathroom, but he preferred hers.

On the way to her bathroom he grabbed a pair of his grey boxer briefs out of her bureau. He stripped out of his clothes and

jumped in the shower, wishing he could take a nice long leisurely shower to work the strain out of his muscles, but he was

starving and wanted to take advantage of Joe's receptive mood while he could.

Five minutes later he walked into Joe's kitchen, feeling slightly better. He just wanted to eat and get this conversation out of the

way so that they could focus on her future. Joe was just starting to fill their plates when he walked past her on his way to the

refrigerator.

He grabbed an ice pack for his shoulder and thought about grabbing a couple of beers, but he didn't want her to drink in case

she took a painkiller. So instead he grabbed a couple of Cokes. He placed one by her plate and sat down across from her at the

small round table.

Other than a murmured "Thank you" she didn't say much to him as they ate for which he was immensely relieved. He was so

damn hungry.

They had back to back calls all night and the only thing he'd eaten was a stale packet of peanuts he managed to wrestle from a

vending machine.

"You want to tell me why you want to get rid of me?" Joe asked when he finished his third helping.

"I'm not trying to get rid of you, Joe," he said, feeling exhaustion threaten to knock him on his ass.

"That's what it sounded like to me," she said, leaning back in chair as she crossed her arms over her chest. "From what I hear

you tried to unload me on Nathan." Her tone was friendly, but the look she was giving him was anything but.

Shit.

"This isn't the way I planned on doing this, but I've been thinking that maybe it was time for you to move on and do something

else with the rest of your life," he explained. When she only sat there glaring at him he decided that perhaps he needed to

explain the situation a little better before she decided to go for his balls.

"Well," he said, clearing his throat and feeling a little uncomfortable under her glare, "you know you couldn't do this forever."

She cocked a brow at that little announcement so he added, "Could you really see yourself doing this job when you were fifty?"

"Yes," she said with absolutely no hesitation and made his job of convincing her to do something else more difficult. He

decided to get rid of the bullshit pleasantries and get to the point.

"There's no way you'll be able to lift a grown man when you're fifty, Joe, and if you think so then you're crazy. Hell, you'll

probably have problems doing it when you're forty. Besides that, Joe, you shouldn't have to do a job like this where you have

to put your neck on the line and never really able to have a life because you never know if you're going to get out on time or

have to pick up a shift," he said, noting the way her eyes narrowed dangerously on him.

"I have a life," she shot back defensively.

"Oh, really?" he asked, cocking a brow. "When's the last time you had a date?"

"I don't know," she said, shrugging it off like it was nothing, "it doesn't mean anything."

"Uh huh, and when's the last time you got laid?" he asked, silently daring her to lie to him. He knew it had been at least a year

and a half for her.

"It's none of your business!" she snapped as she visibly tensed in her seat.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, Joe," he said, pushing his plate away. "You don't date. You don't have much of a life outside of

work. Hell, I can't remember the last time you turned down overtime. You're thirty, Joe, and if you keep this job you're going to

be forty and lonely and wondering how the hell life passed you by. You need to find something else that's safe and will allow

you to have a life. I was thinking that I could help with-"

"What about you?" she suddenly demanded, interrupting him and sounding pissed.

"What about me?"

"You don't have a life. You don't date and I doubt you've gotten laid in the last year," she announced and he had to grind his

teeth as he forced away the memory of why he hadn't gotten laid in too damn long to be normal. "A re you going to be looking

for another line of work?"

He frowned. "No, why the hell would I?"

"Exactly," she said, placing her hands flat on the table and standing up. She leaned forward. "So it's okay for you to still be

doing a job you love at forty, but not for me?" she demanded.

He got to his feet and leaned forward, closing the space between them until their noses were only a few inches apart. "Damn

straight."

"Why exactly is that?"

"Honestly?" he asked, not really sure if she wanted to hear the truth.

"Of course," she said tightly and if it had been any other woman he wouldn't have laid into her, but this was Joe and he wanted

her safe and if that meant pissing her off then so be it.

"While you think that you're one of the guys, Joe, you're not," he said, ignoring the flash of hurt in her eyes. "You're a woman

and while that comes in handy when we have a patient that needs a reassuring word or two and a little handholding it's also a

huge problem. You're smaller and weaker and when the shit hits the fan it means that not only does your partner have to handle

whatever's going down, but he also has to make sure that you're safe and out of the way. It's a huge fucking liability that no one

needs and it's only going to get worse as you get older and you know it."

For a moment she didn't say anything as she looked at him and he thought that maybe he needed to push the point a little more,

but thankfully she seemed to understand. "I see. So, it's distracting to work with me," she summed it up.

"Yes."

She shrugged as she stepped away. "Then I guess I don't have any choice but to call up Bill and have him reassign me to

another shift since I'm such a distraction for you."

Everything in him went still as her words hit home. She was going to work with someone else? Not fucking happening. A s

long as she was working on the truck, and if he had his way it wouldn't be much longer, she was going to work with him. He

didn't trust some other asshole to keep an eye on her and keep her safe.

That was his job.

"No," he said evenly.

"No, what?" she demanded.

"You're not switching off of our shift."

"That's not your decision, Eric. In fact, I believe you just made it painfully clear that it's a problem to work with me. Well, I

found a solution so you should be happy that I'm going to be out of your hair soon," she bit out angrily as she moved to walk

passed him.

He stepped in front of her. "You're not fucking switching off our shift, Joe. A s long as you're determined to be pigheaded about