Page 29 of Hot Winter Nights (Bear Mountain Rescue 1)

Allie wiped at her red, wet eyes as she searched for Hunter, trying to avoid every gaze that followed her as she passed. It had only been ten minutes, but she knew people were gossiping, speculating about her and what she’d done to cause two grown men to fight over her in front of her hospital.

Seems like she’d figured out a new way to screw up her life. She had been in town for barely three weeks and she’d managed not only to pit two best friends against each other but to discredit herself in front of her staff.

She’d tried to fight the tears, but what Dex had been about to say hurt. She’d known, deep down, that she didn’t mean anything to him. That what happened had been a mistake, but having him announce it in front of everyone…

It had been hard to hide the effect that’d had on her.

Allie opened the door to one of the on-call rooms and found Hunter lying back on one of the bunks.

He glanced her way as she came inside and locked the door. “What are you doing?”

Allie held up the first aid kit she was carrying. “I thought you could use some patching up.”

“I’m fine.”

Allie ignored him and sat down on the bunk next to him. Opening up the kit, she pulled out an alcohol pad and ripped it open. She picked up his right knuckle, cracked and bruised, and gently wiped at the blood crusting. When he hissed in pain, she blew on it softly until he relaxed.

“You don’t have to do this.”

She smoothed the antiseptic ointment over his knuckle and wrapped a layer of gauze around it. “I want to.” Once it was secured with tape, she set it back down along his side. “I’m really sorry. I never wanted to cause problems between the two of you.”

“The problem is that he lied to me. It has nothing to do with you.” He turned to look at her, piercing her with those blue eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you…do you have feelings for me? Or was that all in my head?”

“Yes, I do, it’s just—”

“You have feelings for him, too? Be honest.”

Allie didn’t want to answer, but he deserved the truth. “I don’t know exactly what I feel for him. Right now, I’m disgusted with him and myself, but—”

“Look, I’m not giving you some ultimatum. I’m not that guy, and despite how things are between us right now, Dex is a friend of mine. I’m not taking myself out of the running, but you don’t owe me anything, either.”

Then, to her surprise, he leaned up and cupped the back of her head, bringing her down for a hard, fast kiss that caused another stir inside her. When he released her, she was a little dazed by it.

“What was that?” she whispered.

“That? That was something to think about.”

Chapter 18

Dex was sitting on the front porch of the cabin when Allie got home from work. When Allie saw him, her hands tightened on the steering wheel before she turned the car off and stepped out. Her stomach twisted and churned, tying her insides up in knots as she approached.

Dex stood up. “Allie—”

“Don’t. Just don’t.”

His full lips compressed into a hard line, and she could tell his green eyes were blazing in the porch light.

“Fine, I just came by to apologize for earlier. What I said was out of line, and I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” Allie wished her voice hadn’t trembled on the word as she tried to pass him. When he reached out to try to stop her, she said, “Don’t you dare touch me.”

Dex threw his hands up in the air. “All right, I won’t, but we still need to talk.”

“About what?”

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