Page 6 of Attraction & Repulsion

Then Jax did something she would have never imagined a stranger to do. He brushed the tops of her fingers. From his touch, the tension released, and Carson grasped his offered hand. Closing her eyes, she squeezed tighter as the thread tugged on her skin. Instead of listening to the physician, she focused on the warm hand that held hers.

Touch. Skin. Solace. How long had it been since she had held a hand? She couldn’t remember.

Carson released a raspy exhale. The physician was going to chastise her if she didn’t get her breathing under control. She tried to breathe in through her nose and release it through her mouth. The snip of the scissors announced that the physician had finished sewing her skin back together. It was almost over. She could suffer through a little more, especially now that someone was holding her hand.

“All done,” the old physician announced, standing up to dispose of his gloves.

Cindy quickly gathered the soiled gauze and drapes and helped her sit back up. Carson noticed she was still squeezing Jax’s hand. When she released him, the tips of his fingers were slightly purple. How hard had her grip been?

“You did great,” the physician said before bidding farewell and slipping out the door.

How observant, Carson thought.

Cindy shoved the remaining medical waste into a hole carved out of the counter. “I’ll get you some ice, then you’ll be free to go.”

As Cindy stepped out Carson turned to Jax, catching him mid-yawn while he ran a hand through his shaggy hair and readjusted his baseball cap. A twinge of guilt hit her stomach as she wondered how late it was.

“Thank you again for bringing me and for . . . holding my hand.” Carson’s face pinched, a little embarrassed that she needed her hand held like a child in the first place. She wondered what he thought of it, of her.

Jax grinned. “I didn’t mind.”

Carson pressed her lips together but didn’t say anything further because whether he minded or not, she did.

Then his face shifted, looking upset. “I still can’t believe I smacked you with a door,” he said. “I feel really bad. You’re going to have to let me make it up to you somehow.”

“How ‘bout you promise to never hit me on the head again?” Carson offered, hoping to show him it wasn’t that big of a deal.

He barked out a laugh, making Carson happy that he was no longer frowning. That was when Cindy came back with an icepack and post-procedure instructions, giving Carson the okay to go home.

It was late into the night, which left old Highway 89, connecting Prescott and Chino Valley, dark and barren. Carson directed Jax with simple instructions to her home as she kept the icepack in place. By now the adrenaline of the night had worn off, and she was ready to crawl into bed.

When they turned off the dirt road and drove through her front gate, Carson instructed Jax to take the gravel driveway that looped around her home where she could access a side entrance. After parking the truck, their footsteps crunched against the rocks as they walked, using the headlights and porchlight to illuminate their path.

“Do you have everything?” Jax asked when they reached the door.

Carson patted all her pockets with one hand. “Phone, key”—she lowered the icepack from her head and wiggled it—“ice. It’s all here.”

Jax glanced at her forehead and frowned. Then he reached up as if to touch the bandage but stopped half-way and let his arm fall back to his side.

“I’m fine, really,” she said, pretending like she didn’t want him to touch her.

Jax opened his mouth as if to argue but must have decided against it because, instead, he gave her a soft smile.

“Get some rest. You need it,” he said before turning.

She watched as Jax retreated to his truck and drove away. And while she was excited for the day to be over, Carson knew she would be lying in bed awake reliving her evening with the blue-eyed firefighter.

Chapter four

It took Carson a moment to realize the vibration that had awoken her wasn’t coming from the throbbing pain in her forehead but from her phone.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she reached across her bed to answer the incoming call.

“Are you alive?” Raegan screeched.

Carson pulled the phone away from her ear to deflect Raegan’s shriek on the other end, which only intensified her headache.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m alive,” Carson promised.

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