He groans, his knees hitting the floor with a loud thud. “What was that for?” he asks me in a breathy, high-pitched voice, holding his junk.

“That was for asking an inappropriate question. Weren’t you raised better than that?”

“What the f**k is going on?”

I turn at the sound of Kenton’s words. He’s standing on the stairs, wearing nothing but a towel. His eyes come to me then lower down my body. I make a mental note that, from now on, I will wear pants at all times. When his eyes stop on my hip, where I have a nice-size bruise from last night’s run-in with the lunatic, they narrow.

“How did you get that?” He looks at the guy on the floor then back at me. His jaw goes hard, and I put my hands up in front of me.

“That’s from your girlfriend last night.”

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” the guy I kneed says, whimpering as he stands.

“Why’d you knee Justin in the nuts?” he asks, walking the rest of the way down the stairs.

I try to take my eyes off him, but they feel glued. His wet hair is dripping onto his body. His abdominal muscles flex with each step. The deep V of his h*ps disappears beneath the small towel that is also showing off his well-endowed package. He walks past me and goes to the couch in the next room, coming back with a blanket in his hand. I don’t even have a chance to think as he wraps the blanket around my waist. I slap his hands away from me, taking a step back to glare at him.

“Oh shit. I’m in love,” the guy named Justin declares, smiling at me.

“Why are you here, Justin? I told you I would be at the office late,” Kenton growls, taking a step in my direction. I take another step away from him.

“I know, but I needed to talk to you and it couldn’t wait.”

“You should have called,” he scolds.

“I did. You didn’t answer.”

“Fuck me.” Kenton looks at me like he wants to say something, but I shake my head no and take another step towards the stairs.

“You’re leaving already?” Justin asks, looking at me with a big, cheesy smile on his face. “We’re basically past second base. You touched my junk. It’s only fair I get to touch yours.”

I can’t help but smile at the guy. I see it now. He’s not pervy, just strange and kinda cute in a brotherly kind of way. “Sorry. No, I need my beauty sleep, and I work tonight.” I shrug, smirking.

“You don’t need sleep, my love. You’re alread—”

Kenton smacks him in the back of his head before he can finish, and I can’t help but smile at him again.

“Nice to meet you, Justin,” I tell him, really meaning it.

“You too, Copper.” He grins back.

“You know you’re still not safe, Autumn. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be working,” Kenton says.

I look at him, my eyes narrow, and I growl. “I’m safe and going to work, ass, so get over it.”

His jaw starts to tick a little faster and his hands ball into fists. “Tell me the name of the place so I can check on you.”

“I don’t need you to check on me.”

“Tell me or I’ll have Justin do a run on you and I’ll know everything about you down to your last f**king period,” he growls, taking a step towards me.

“Ass!” I yell, glaring at him.

“Tell me,” he roars, leaning forward, and I can feel the anger rolling off him.

“Vanderbilt,” I say, but I pronounce it ‘Vander’s Belt,’ hoping he doesn’t catch on that it’s the hospital. I don’t know why I don’t what him to know what I’m really doing. I almost feel like he hasn’t earned the right to know.

“We need to talk,” he says, his tone softer, but the growl is still there.

“We don’t,” I assure him, pulling off the blanket and tossing it at him as I walk up the stairs. I hear Justin laugh and Kenton growl something about spankings under his breath before I close the door to my bedroom, smiling.

Chapter 3

One Tequila, Two Tequila…Floor

“So why the hell did you want to move to Tennessee?” Tara asks.

I’ve been working at the hospital for about two weeks now, and I’ve been Tara’s shadow since the day I started in the ER. Tennessee is nothing like Vegas. Not only are the people different, but the ER here is much calmer. I look at Tara and smile when she raises an eyebrow at me. One thing I learned quickly is that people here have no problem getting in your business or asking personal questions.

“I just needed a change.” I shrug, putting away another patient folder.

“I can understand that. I need a change, like a nice sandy beach and a hot guy to wait on me hand and foot.” She smiles, her head tilting back like she’s imagining herself on a beach right now.

“Autumn, Tara,” a deep voice says.

Tara and I look up and smile at the same time.

“How are you ladies this evening?” Dr. D, or Derik, asks. He’s a very, very attractive black man; sadly, he is also very, very g*y and has an even hotter boyfriend.

“Good,” Tara and I say in unison. We laugh, pointing at each other and calling out, “Jinx!”

I’ve found myself laughing a lot more often since I started working here. In general, I find myself a lot happier period. All of my coworkers are very nice and easy to get along with. So far, I haven’t met anyone who is petty or mean.

The one thing that hasn’t changed is my relationship with Kenton. I can’t get over the amount of anger I feel towards him. Maybe it’s stupid and immature on my part, but he hurt my feelings when he said all that to whomever he was talking to on the phone. Worse, I’d thought he’d been starting to like me.

“What are you girls doing this weekend?”

“I need to sleep,” I say, closing my eyes for a second. “My body hasn’t adjusted to this schedule yet. I swear, if it weren’t for coffee, I would be lying facedown on this desk right now.” Plus, if I slept, I could continue to avoid Kenton.

He’s left me a note daily and somehow got my cell number, so he’s started texting me. He never says much. Mostly, he asks how I am, if I need anything, and if I am settling in at my job. I never answer him. I can tell that he is becoming frustrated. I have no idea how to face him, so I do the easiest thing and avoid him like the plague.

“Sleep is overrated. You two should come out with me and Stan this weekend. There’s a club that just opened up downtown. We could go out, have a couple drinks, and dance. Wouldn’t that be fun?” Derik asks.

I look at Tara, who nods her head, and I quickly agree. I need to start acting my age. I should be having fun and going out, and now that I have a few people I trust, I have a reason to do that.

“Sure, but I won’t be staying out late. I have dinner plans with a friend on Sunday in the early afternoon,” I tell them. I’ve had dinner with Viv and her family the last two Sundays, and now, she expects me to be there. Her daughter is really sweet. Plus, her niece is supposed to be coming this weekend and Viv really wants me to meet her.

“That’s fine. Two drinks tops.” Derik smiles and the desk phone rings.

Tara picks it up and stands suddenly. “Got it,” she says, looking at Derik. “When?” she asks and listens for a few more seconds before hanging up the phone. She leaves from behind the desk and I follow her. “The ambulance is in route. Male, thirty-four, gunshot wound to the right shoulder. He’s conscious and may need a transfusion. We need to get everything set up. The ambulance is five minutes out,” Tara says, and all three of us run down the hall to prepare the trauma bay before the patient arrives.

The ambulance pulls in and what I least expect happens. The guy is conscious, laughing, and joking with the EMTs like this is a routine occurrence for him. He hasn’t lost enough blood to need a transfusion, and it doesn’t appear that the bullet hit any arteries; it was a clean in-and-out shot. All he’ll require is a few stitches and an overnight stay in the hospital.

“Are you sure you two don’t want to give me a sponge bath?” Finn, our bullet wound patient asks.

I laugh, shaking my head at him, but Tara doesn’t seem so sure about turning him down. His tall, lean body, boy-next-door good looks, and easy smile definitely make him swoon-worthy.

“Not tonight, handsome,” Tara tells him, batting her lashes.

His hand goes over his heart as he flops back down in the bed and winces. “You wound me, Blondie.”

“I’m sure your ego will be okay.” She smiles.

Tara is really beautiful. She has that whole Southern belle look going for her—long, blond hair, big, blue eyes, and a cute personality. Actually, looking between the two of them, I see Ken and Barbie.

“You need to be careful with that shoulder,” I scold Finn as he winces again when he sits up.

“I could go home with you and you could look after me.” He grins, making me roll my eyes.

“Sorry, but I promised my roommate I wouldn’t take my work home with me.” I start laughing, thinking about Kenton and what he would do if I showed up with a guy who had a gunshot wound.

“Your roommate sucks,” Finn mutters.

“Tell me about it,” I reply with a smile.

A second later, my body goes solid when the voice behind me hits my ears. “What the f**k is going on, Autumn?”

I close my eyes slowly, hoping that I’m wrong. When I turn my head, four large guys are standing near the door and none other than Kenton is standing in the middle of them.

“Autumn?” one of the guys says. My eyes go to him and he smiles. “Shit, boss. This is the Autumn who works at ‘Vander’s Belt’?” He laughs loudly, his eyes going back and forth between Kenton and me.

My eyes shift back to Kenton, seeing his jaw tick. “Um…” I mumble, taking a step back.

“Vanderbilt,” Kenton pronounces, his voice a low rumble. The anger in the one spoken word rolls against my skin, creating goose bumps. “Do not f**king move,” he demands when I start to take another step back.

My body freezes in place as I watch him move towards me, his eyes locked on mine. I feel stuck in place under his glare.

When he’s within touching distance, his hand wraps around my bicep and his mouth comes to my ear. “No more f**king ignoring me,” he growls.

If the wetness in my panties is anything to go by, I like his aggression. I look at Dr. D, who is looking at Kenton with his mouth hanging open, and when his eyes come to mine, he bites his lip. Apparently, he is not going to be any help.

Kenton drags me out of the room and down the hall. He stops at the first door we pass, and his hand that’s not holding me goes to the handle. Finding it unlocked, he leans into the room before tugging me in with him.

“What are you doing?” I ask when I get over the shock of seeing him here.

“You said you worked at a f**king strip club,” he says, letting me go.

“I never said that.” I shake my head, crossing my arms over my chest, watching him pace back and forth in front of me like a caged beast.

“You’re a nurse?” He stops across the room, watching me. His eyes travel from the top of my head to my sneaker-covered feet.

“I am, but it changes nothing,” I hiss, leaning forward.

He storms towards me and I retreat until my back hits the wall. Before I can register the move, his mouth is on mine, his hand twists in the hair at the back of my head, and I gasp. He takes the opportunity to lick into my mouth. I try to fight him; I try to pull my mouth away, but his grip on my hair tightens. When he bites my tongue, I lose it.

I kiss him back, and all the anger I feel towards him goes into that kiss. I bite his lips, bottom then top, and claw my nails through his hair. He growls down my throat, his big body pressing me harder into the wall. We each fight for dominance, but he wins, pinning me in place, his body overtaking mine.

When he pulls his mouth from mine we’re breathing heavily, both still holding each other close. I can feel every hard inch of him pressed to every soft inch of me. He places his forehead to mine and it takes a few seconds to come back to myself. My eyes open, meeting his.

“This changes nothing,” I tell him quietly, my lips still tingling from his kiss.

“You’re right.” He takes a breath, his lips moving closer to mine. “You f**king changed everything.”

“Back up.” I push against his chest only to have him press harder into me.

“You don’t get to push me away. You don’t get to lie to me, even if it’s by omission.”

“I never lied to you,” I mumble, looking away from him.

“‘Vander’s Belt’—that’s not a f**king lie?” His hand comes up to my cheek, forcing my eyes back to him.

Okay, so I might have fibbed, but it wasn’t a lie. “You’re an asshole,” I tell him, still pushing against his chest.

“Call me what you want, but I know you feel this thing between us too. Don’t f**king lie to yourself.”

“The only thing I feel towards you is anger,” I growl.

Then his mouth comes back down on mine, stealing my breath. This kiss is more punishing than the previous one; and I whimper when he pulls away. My hands, which were trying to push him away, are now wrapped into his T-shirt.

His mouth goes to my ear. “If I stuck my hand between your legs, your pu**y would be wet and wanting.”

I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to get rid of that image. My eyes fly open when his hand cups me over the thin material of my scrubs.