Page 37 of A Sudden Response

He frowned at that. “No, why the hell would I?”

“Exactly,” Joe said, placing her hands flat on the table as she stood up. “So, it’s okay for you to still be doing a job you love at forty, but not for me?”

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?” Eric asked, not really sure if she wanted to hear the truth.

“Of course,” Joe 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,” Eric said, ignoring the flash of hurt in her eyes. “While a lot of women are perfect for this job, you’re not. You’re too fucking kind, which comes in handy when we have a patient that needs a reassuring word and a little handholding, but it’s also a huge problem. Every fucking time you get into that ambulance, I have to worry about you and I’m fucking sick of 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 it off as she pushed away from the table. “Then, I guess I don’t have any choice but to call 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. As 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 washisjob.

“No,” Eric said evenly.

“No, what?” Joe demanded.

“You’re not switching off 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,” Joe bit out angrily as she moved to walk past him.

He stepped in front of her. “You’re not fucking switching off our shift, Joe. As long as you’re determined to be pigheaded about this, you’re going to work with me so that I can keep you safe.”

She shoved him back. “Who the hell do you think you are?” Joe demanded, stepping forward to shove him back again. “You’re not my boss or my keeper! If I want to switch my shift, then I’ll switch my damn shift! And if I want to keep working on the truck until I’m old and gray, then that’s my goddamn business!”

“Bullshit!” Eric snapped, grabbing her hands when she went to push him again and shoved them behind her back. The movement forced her to arch into him until her breasts were plastered against his bare chest and she was forced to glare up at him. “Anything that concerns you is my business.”

“No, it’s not!” Joe said, struggling against his hold. “I can take care of myself!”

“You don’t have to!”

“Yes, I do!” she yelled.

“Why?” Eric demanded, yanking her back against him when she managed to put some space between them.

“Because I don’t have anyone, you asshole! Now, let me go!”

He glared down at her. “That’s bullshit, Joe.”

“No, it’s not,” she snapped, renewing her struggles, but he didn’t let her gain so much as an inch this time.

“You have me, Joe! You’ve always had me,” Eric bit out evenly.

How the hell could she even think that she was alone?

She’d always had him. Always. They’d been inseparable since they were eight years old and that hadn’t changed, never would. She was just too damn stubborn to realize that she wasn’t alone in this world. She was so hung up on that bitch that abandoned her that she refused to see that she did her a favor. She was themost important person in his life and he’d thought that he was the same for her. It killed him to know that she thought she was alone. She wasn’t. Not as long as he was around.

“No, I-”

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