Page 75 of The Hard Hitter

Cole stiffened. “He has to stay the night?”

“He needs to be monitored for at least twenty-four hours.”

“Then I’m staying.”

“It’s not necessary. My night assistant will be here shortly, and I’m on call twenty-four seven. He’s resting soundly and by the looks of you, you should be doing the same.”

After a long moment, he gave a nod of agreement and Victoria slipped into the back, leaving them alone once again. Cole turned his full attention to Gemma and stretched his neck, working the night’s tension from his shoulders.

Moving with an innocent sensuality, she walked around the counter to grab her purse from the drawer. Cole became fully aware of the woman standing before him and exactly what she meant to him. He shifted on his feet and tore his gaze away, looking for a distraction before his mind took him back to that hot summer night when she’d lured him into the barn nestled at the back of her old homestead. Christ, it had taken all his effort not to lay her onto the soft bed of hay and take what he wanted.

But at seventeen she was a kid, as well as the younger sister of his closest friend. Of course, those weren’t the only things stopping him from acting on his urges. No, when his own parents had been emotionally absent—too busy looking for happiness in the bottom of a bottle—her folks had practically taken him in. Cole would never be disloyal to the family who’d treated him like a son by sleeping with their only daughter.

“It’s late and it’s dark. Why don’t you let me walk you home,” Cole said, breaking the uncomfortable silence hovering like the sharp blade of a guillotine.

In typical Gemma fashion, she straightened her shoulders in that old, familiar way that let him know he’d hit a soft spot. “I’m capable of walking home by myself.” She lifted her head a little higher. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m all grown up.”

Oh, he’d noticed all right.

She opened her mouth to say something else, but he countered with, “It’s on my way, Gems.”

That gave her pause. Her head jerked back with a start and he didn’t miss the accusation in her tone when she said, “Let me get this straight, you know where I work and where I live?”

“Yeah,” he said, for lack of anything else.

Her big blue eyes narrowed. “Why is it you know so much about me yet I know nothing about you?”

“What do you want to know?”

Without hesitating she asked, “If walking me home is on your way, where do you live?”

He gestured to the motorcycle parked at the curb outside. “For now I’ve got a cot in the back of Freedom Cycle.”

Perfectly manicured brows knit together as she angled her head curiously. “You’re staying with Jack?”

“You remember Jack?”

She nodded. “Ex-sniper. Brandon always liked him.” At the mention of her brother she rubbed the back of her neck and a contemplative look came over her face before she began again. “When I moved into one of my parents’ downtown apartments during college Brandon told me—” she paused to do air quotes before saying, “—Jack of all trades was my go-to guy if I ever needed anything. I’ve run into him a couple of times since the funeral.”

Cole paused for a moment before saying, “He takes in ex-soldiers and gives them work until they get back on their feet again.”

“What I heard…” Her voice fell off and her eyes widened. “Wait… Are you saying…?”

“Yeah. I’m getting out, Gems. My days serving overseas will soon be behind me.”

“Oh,” she said, a mixture of surprise and relief swimming in her big blue eyes. Then she frowned. “So you’re sleeping in the back of his shop?”

“Just until my new place is ready.”

“And when will that be?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Where will you be moving?”

Gemma stifled a yawn, and Co

le could see exhaustion pulling at her. Instead of answering, he said, “Come on, I’m taking you home.” He tossed her a lopsided grin, one that always pulled a smile from her when they were younger. “You know, for old time’s sake.”

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