Page 4 of Ash

“Good,” she replied with a smile. “I’d prefer to take you to the hospital to be checked out and just make sure she didn’t crack your sternum. But…” She scowled at me. “With how freaking stubborn your friend is after beingshot, I’m guessing a little pain in the chest is nothing compared to dealing with that…pain in the butt.”

He chuckled and nodded, earning himself a high spot on my shit list—he’d made it on the list for making her laugh. “You’re right on all accounts…” He looked at her expectantly.

I didn’t want him to know her name, but that was illogical.

“Oh, my name is Nora,” she told him with another smile, making my chest burn with jealousy.

“Well, Nora. You’re doubly right. Ash is a pain in the ass, and it’s unlikely you’ll talk me into going to the hospital.”

She sighed and shook her head.

“I promise to get checked out, though, okay?” he offered.

She crooked up one corner of her mouth and gave him a small wave. “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and believe you. It will help me sleep better at night.”

He laughed and turned away, only to see me glaring at him.

“What?” he asked, his head tilting to the side as he observed me curiously.

“Nothing,” I gritted out. My jaw was so tight, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I broke a few teeth.

My attention was stolen by Nora as she walked past me. My hand shot out, but my grip was gentle when I pulled her to a stop. “Only one you should be dreaming about tonight is me, baby girl.”

She stiffened and raised her chin to a stubborn angle. “Dream on,” she snapped.

“Oh, I will,” I murmured before releasing her.

I watched her walk away, my mind swirling with conflicting feelings and trying to figure out where to go from here.

But all it took was seeing her disappear out the door to make up my mind.

Nothing was gonna stop me from making Nora mine.

1

NORA

“On our way,” my partner replied to the dispatcher as I changed lanes to make a quick left turn.

I was normally up for just about any call from dispatch for our ambulance, but the moment I heard the address of the one we just got, I cringed.

“Can’t we fob the call off to another rig?” I asked, blinking my eyes innocently at him.

Mark shook his head with a sigh. “You’re gonna run into the guy at some point. Wouldn’t you rather it was when you knew it was gonna happen? That’s better than being surprised.”

I wasn’t happy with his reply, but I knew he was right. “I suppose.“

“Are you ever gonna forgive him for standing you up?”

The topic of our conversation was Elias Prescott III, known as Ash to most people—the road name he’d been given by his motorcycle club. Although we didn’t know each other well, the first time he called me, I was one of the few he’d given permission to call him Eli instead. But only after he’d apologized for asking me out while I was at work. It’d been effective, too, helping to sway me into believing he was sincere when heapologized because I knew it was a big deal in his world. I had no clue how he got my number. He just said he had his ways.

Shrugging, I murmured, “I don’t know. It’s not easy when I already had to forgive him for being a butthead when we met.”

Mark chuckled. “You gotta give him a little credit for that one. He’d just been shot, and he apologized for asking you out at an inappropriate time.”

“I know, which was why I took your advice and forgave him for that.” I cast an accusing glance at him. “And look where that got me.”

“It’s not as though the guy didn’t call you to let you know he wasn’t gonna make your date,” Mark pointed out.

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