The fact that he might ever hurt anyone never sat well with him, but more so when it was someone he couldn’t get out of his mind.

  Last weekend, he’d gone to Boston with Egan to push Jennie from his brain. He’d wanted to talk to her at the wedding. Get her number, find out more about her. Until he realized who she was and figured she was off limits and moved on.

  Though he couldn’t stop thinking of her brown hair flowing down her back in the sexy little black dress she’d been wearing.

  Not even the hot chicks he and Egan brought back to Egan’s condo days ago helped free Jennie from his mind.

  And now he was in the ER with her and wondering how he could lose the temper he’d never had before and why.

  “Why are you in here?” Hudson asked Alex. “I said a free bed. This isn’t free and you’re in a chair.”

  “He wouldn’t go on a bed,” the nurse said, moving the curtain aside. “I didn’t feel like arguing with him. I just brought him in the oxygen. Is that okay?”

  “Sure,” Hudson said. “Stay put.” He turned to Jennie. “I hear you ran into a fire and pulled out Mrs. Wilkins? She is very thankful for that.”

  “The fire department was on the way. It was stupid,” Alex said. “We pulled up right as Jennie was placing the woman on the sidewalk, then she ran back in!”

  He started to cough with the rise of his voice.

  “Enough,” Hudson said. “Everyone is safe and will be fine most likely. Inhale slowly and I’ll get to you next. Can you tell me what happened?”

  Hudson had his penlight out and was flashing it in Jennie’s eyes. She was following it no problem from what he could see.

  “I was driving into work. Right before the development I saw smoke and thought maybe it was a chimney, but the closer I got I saw it was seeping out the side window. I parked and went to the door and started ringing the bell and banging on it.”

  “Smart,” Hudson said. “Did you call nine-one-one first?” Hudson was listening to her heart now with his hand under Jennie’s shirt. Alex knew he probably shouldn’t be here but didn’t care. It’s not like Jennie told him to leave. She’d just sat on the bed and stewed like he was. “Breathe in for me.”

  She started to cough and Hudson waited until she stopped, putting the mask back on her to get some oxygen.

  “Yes, I did,” she said. “That’s how they got there so fast.”

  “The security system was tripped,” he said. “We were on the way. She didn’t need to break the door down and dislocate her shoulder.”

  Hudson lifted his eyebrow up at that. “Is that how you hurt your shoulder?” his cousin asked.

  “Yes,” Jennie said. “And this idiot snapped it back in.”

  “You were in pain. Of course I’m not sure how you got Wilkins out with it like that,” Alex said.

  “One arm,” she said. “The woman barely weighs a hundred pounds.”

  “Alex, quiet,” Hudson said. “You pulled Mrs. Wilkins out with one arm?”

  “Yes,” Jennie said. “She was on the couch and not responding. I didn’t know how long it was going to take them to get there. I didn’t see a fire. Just a lot of smoke. I’m not that stupid.”

  Hudson looked at Alex for the response. “The chimney backed up, filling the house with smoke. No fire yet. It would have happened at some point though.”

  “And it didn’t,” she said. “So all is good.”

  “Let me look at your shoulder,” Hudson said. He examined her and concluded Alex did a good job. “Where do you have burns if there wasn’t a fire?”

  She turned her palm over. “I tried to see if I could open up the vent in the chimney and it was hot.”

  Alex scowled even more. “I’ve never heard of anything more ridiculous in my life. You’re not a trained fireman. You shouldn’t have been in there to begin with and then you think you can fix it? Not only that, run back in for a fucking cat.”

  “Alex,” Hudson snapped. “It’s done with.” He turned to Jennie. “I’m going to agree with Alex that it wasn’t wise, but it sounds as if you did everything you could to make sure you weren’t running into a burning house to bring someone out. Mrs. Wilkins is going to be fine. She’d fallen asleep on the couch after starting the fire in the fireplace and admitted that it was the first one of the year and she didn’t remember if she opened the grate or not.”

  “She didn’t,” Alex said. “She’s got a lot of smoke damage in the house but nothing more.”

  “Did you call Griffin?” Hudson asked Jennie.

  She looked down. “No. He’s going to freak out worse than this one over here.”

  “Alex Bond,” Hudson said.

  “Shit,” Jennie mumbled. “I had no idea. I’m going to guess you’re related to Eli? I’m surprised they don’t know already.”

  “Distant cousin to Eli,” he said, getting calmer now. Griffin would be here soon and he was sure he’d have some explaining to do if Jennie said he’d hurt her.

  “We are both related to Eli about the same,” Hudson said. “And since he knew who you were, that means he recognized you at Eli’s wedding last month.”

  “I guess me being the outsider stood out more than me trying to figure out who everyone is here. Don’t call Griffin. It’s fine.”

  “What the fuck, Jennie?” Griffin roared, throwing the curtain back.

  She inhaled and started to cough some more and Hudson gave her the mask to put back on while he dealt with a protective brother.

  “My words exactly,” Alex said to Griffin. “Give her hell because she’s not listening to me.”

  “Alex,” Hudson said. “Out. Go to another bed.” Alex got up and moved to the bed next door while Hudson turned to talk to Griffin. They weren’t closed off rooms so he could hear everything being said. “She’s fine. Just a little smoke inhalation. She got a dislocated shoulder being a hero and breaking a door down to get an elderly woman out of a house. Sounds like something you might do.”

  “Do you know how scared I was when I got the call you were in the ER and there had been a fire?” Griffin asked. “Then as I’m driving here and talking to the fire chief he tells me what happened? That you went back in for a cat?”

  He wasn’t surprised that Griffin had gotten the information so fast on his way over here.

  “Not my brightest moment,” she said. “I’ll admit it. But I wasn’t thinking of anything other than I knew there wasn’t a fire. I knew it was just smoke. I’d seen the cat hiding by the door and thought I could grab it. I didn’t expect to have someone come in after me and yank me out. He’s lucky he didn’t dislocate my other shoulder.”

  “I thought I dislocated her shoulder when I yanked her out,” Alex said from the other room.

  “Alex snapped her shoulder back in before the EMT’s got to her. He did a good job,” Hudson said. “I’m going to treat the burn on her hand, but it’s not bad. She’ll have a cough for a few days but should be fine with her arm in a sling for two to three weeks. She should follow up with an orthopedist on that. You might have been a hero, but you’re going to pay the price. It can take a few months to heal completely.”

  “Good thing I was smart enough to use my left shoulder then, isn’t it?”

  Alex heard Griffin snort. “A nurse will be in to wrap this up and give you instructions and set a sling in place. I’ll be back before you’re discharged.”

  “Don’t you have other patients?” Jennie asked.

  Alex wasn’t even bothering to hold his grin in place, hearing her give his cousin shit this time. Guess she was a lot like her brother after all.

  “My shift ended an hour ago. You and Alex are my last patients. I’m going to deal with my ornery cousin and then come back to see you.”

  “Thanks,” Griffin said.

  “No problem,” Hudson said. The curtain moved back and Hudson was standing there. At this point he was sitting on the bed with his feet up and the mask on listening to the show next to him. He tipped his head in to check on Jennie and saw her and Griffin scowling at each other. “And how is it you got smoke inhalation when you were in full gear?”

  “She knocked my helmet loose and I didn’t know it,” he said quietly. “After I got her out I went in with the guys to see what was going on.”

  “Was she fighting you?” Hudson asked.

  “No. I think I scared her and she swung around, her arm getting me. She’s scrappy.”

  “It is Griffin’s sister,” Hudson said.

  “Yeah, I know,” he said, lower now. Just because he was listening to them next door, he wasn’t sure he wanted them listening in on him. “I’m fine. Can I go? It’s not exactly comfortable sitting around in gear.”

  “In a minute,” Hudson said. “Let me look you over.”

  Twenty minutes later, Hudson had done a thorough exam and Alex was standing up to leave.

  “I’m out of here,” he said. “My shift was supposed to end an hour ago too. I need a shower and my bed.”

  “Is your rotation done or starting?” Hudson asked.

  “Done,” Alex said.

  “Good. Otherwise I would have pulled you from work a few days.”

  “I’m fine,” he said. “Thanks for everything. She’s really going to be okay?” His heart was finally slowing down. The day was over, but that didn’t change the fact he’d be thinking of this now. Not just the sexy woman he’d had his eye on but the one that was trying to be a hero, then in pain and hurt. The dirt on her face, her burned palm, her pale skin.

  “She’ll be fine physically. Mentally, well, she’ll have to deal with Griffin. So tell me, what do you think is worse?”

  “Better her than me,” he said, grinning for the first time.

  5

  Got His Way

  A month later, Jennie was walking around the house she’d be living in. The movers were on the way and there was no talking Griffin out of taking care of that for her.

  More so since she’d gotten hurt.

  Her arm was out of the sling a week ago and she felt fine, but no heavy lifting, nothing more than her laundry. Which she had to admit was going to be nice to not have to put in a bag to carry over her right shoulder to bring back and forth to the laundry room in the basement of her apartment complex anymore.

  Now she had it right on the first floor not far from her bedroom.

  “It’s nicer in person,” she said. Griffin had closed on the house two days ago. She wanted to come over before, but had been busy with work and he had the keys. His schedule was nights when she was home doing nothing.

  She knew he was going in later this afternoon but would be here to help her move in. He and Penelope, the baby with Emily this morning.

  “I’m glad you like it,” he said. “Feel free to change anything you want.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. At least he wasn’t saying to let him know what she wanted to be changed so that he could pay for it. Not that anything needed to be changed other than paint colors. Penelope was right: they weren’t that great. Not horrible, but not her style.

  The kitchen and baths were modern and since it was nicer than anything else she’d lived in before, she was in heaven in more ways than one. She even had a garage to put her car. Having to clean her car off for the last two snowfalls with one arm had sucked, but she didn’t complain to anyone.

  Nope, there had been much worse things in her life she’d had to overcome than only having the use of one arm for a short period of time.

  “It’s fine, Griffin. More than fine and you know it. It’s not as posh as your living quarters have been at the casino for years or as cozy at Penelope’s place, but I can make this mine easy enough.”

  Penelope moved closer to her. “I can help you decorate if you want.”

  “I’m good for now,” she said. She knew if she took Penelope up on that Griffin would make sure they paid for it all. No way. Not happening. “I’ve got things and I’m not used to having a lot anyway. It’s all going to take getting used to. Though it is nice it’s furnished.”

  She knew beyond a doubt the house was staged and her brother made sure he bought it as is. She was already pissed off at that too, as she had no idea until he told her right before the door was unlocked. The only good thing was not every room had furniture in it, just the main ones.

  Which also told her the reason he wouldn’t give her the key and let her come here alone.

  It’s not like she had a lot of furniture anyway. Her bed that she’d bought when she moved here would go in her room. The one in there now could go in a spare room. They were both the same size, but she was used to hers.

  The sectional in the living room looked nicer than her couch and chair, even though hers were only a few months old. She walked over and sat down on it and sighed. Yep, much nicer. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d seen the pictures of the house when it was listed, she might have thought Griffin paid for what was here after the fact.

  “And you’re not happy about that?” Griffin asked, lifting an eyebrow.

  “Let’s say I’m not surprised. Thank you again. I have to figure out where to put my couch and chair. They aren’t big, but I don’t need them in here. I guess my chair could fit over in that nook to read if I want by the window.”

  “That would be a nice place,” Penelope said. “And it’d match well with what is here. Your couch might be nice in the sunroom.”

  “What? I don’t remember seeing that in the pictures.”

  She moved past the living room, into the dining room that she was positive she wouldn’t use. No need to, but there was a nice table and chairs in there. The kitchen was more a galley style and had room for a two-person table at the end that she was thankful she had and would put in there and use.

  “It’s laid out funny,” Penelope said. “My guess is it was an addition. It’s still attached to the house, but maybe they didn’t want to show it in the pictures or they forgot. There is no access directly from the house so that could be it.”

  She followed Penelope out the side door where she’d be entering the house from the driveway. It was a little screened-in porch, but to the right it turned with another door so that behind the house where the cabinets were in the kitchen on the other side of the wall, there was a nice good-sized sunroom with lots of windows looking out into the backyard.

  “It’s seasonal,” she said, rubbing her hands on her arms. “Cold here now.”

  “Yeah,” Griffin said. “But in the spring, summer and fall it might be nice. Penelope is right, your couch would be nice out there.”

  It just had some patio furniture in it and she supposed that would go outside on the deck in the summer, but they staged it in here for now.

  “I might put my chair in there too. This would be great to chill in most of the year.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” Griffin said.

  They moved back into the house and checked out the two spare rooms. The smallest room had a desk in it to stage as an office. It would come in handy to have that so she didn’t have to sit at the table to do work now. The other spare was empty.

  The damn mustard yellow color on the walls was everywhere and getting to her though. She’d try to live with it if she could.

  “Okay,” she said. “This bedroom is bigger than I thought and I didn’t know this was a king sized bed. I thought it was a queen.” She moved over and sat on it and sighed again. Guess this was staying and hers was going in the spare. Damn her brother for spoiling her.

  “Is it all right?” Griffin asked.

  She looked at her brother’s unsure face. He never seemed to be unsure of much in his life and she had to reel it back. He was trying. He got his way, but he was still trying to be gentle about not pushing too much.

  “It’s perfect,” she said, moving closer to him and hugging him. He returned it and she remembered what it was like to be in his strong arms when she was a kid and he was shielding her from her father’s words and temper.

  She stepped back before she felt anything else though. She’d been trying to push so much of that from her mind her entire life.

  Hell, she’d even scared herself when Alex grabbed her arm and she turned and swung. It was a reflex and she had to stop it. She wasn’t the little girl hiding from her father and being found and dragged out anymore when she’d thought she’d gotten away.

  She didn’t want to think she had it in her to hit someone like that, but there were times anger got the better of her and she reacted. More times in her life than she cared to remember.

  There were points in her past when she thought she had an anger problem. That she fought back in foster care, she yelled, she was sarcastic. She wanted her brother and no one would help her.

  She learned to control those feelings. To channel them.

  It was easier to write them down in notebooks, feel herself get worked up and then spun out, then she could breathe again. It was almost as if writing it helped her feel as if she was talking to someone.

  Only no one ever replied back. No one ever saw her words either.

  Now she was more determined to not let anyone take advantage of her or control her ever again. And that meant breaking the mold she’d built around her body for years.

  Some men felt like she was a bitch because of that, but they hadn’t lived her life.

  “That’s the truck,” Griffin said. “You want your bedroom stuff in the spare and living room furniture in the back?”

  “That works,” she said. No use saying she would help since he paid to have movers bring it all in and place it down. It was better to stay out of the way.

  “You’re making your brother very happy right now,” Penelope said.

  “Really? He hasn’t seemed it for the past few weeks.”

  Penelope grinned and ran her hand up and down her arm. “You scared him. You scared me too. You haven’t gotten nearly the lectures that he wanted to give you. Trust me. It’s hard to keep a charging bull back.”

  She laughed. “I can only imagine and I appreciate it. We are getting there, but he needs to let me live my life.”

  “He’s trying,” Penelope said. “I don’t say this to make you feel bad, but the brother you see now isn’t the same person that I knew for years. I was positive he could be this way deep down. Or I hoped. But it took a lot of work.”