Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Before I can move, though, there’s a big paw pushing me back. I look down at Frank’s hand and then up to his face. “What’s going on?”
“You looking at my sister?” he asks, and his tone isn’t questioning. It’s belligerent.
“Your…sister?” I think back to all of Frank’s photos, and not one of them had a redhead in it.
“Remember when I was bleeding from taking that bullet that was meant for you and I made you promise that if anything happened to me, you’d come to my home and take care of my sister for the rest of her life, and that you’d make sure that no asshole would touch her or hurt her?”
“Yeah, I remember.” The dragon inside me paces. He doesn’t like what he’s hearing.
“You reneging on that promise?” Frank’s square chin juts out.
“No.”
“Then sit your ass back down on the stool and never look at her again because that’s my baby sister, and she’s off-limits.”
CHAPTER 2
EMMA
The second I spotted an angry Melody rush past me, I knew my brother was back in town. He was due back at any time, but details are always so vague when he gives them to me, which I understand. I’ve gotten used to it when it comes to him.
He’s not hard to spot inside the bar as I try and make my way over to him. He and the man with him tower over everyone else. Whoever the man is, he has taken my brother's title of being the biggest man in town. He’s pretty easy on the eyes as well.
“Emma, can you look at this?”
Pratt steps in front of me, blocking my line of sight to my brother. Unfortunately, I’m nowhere near as tall as my brother. He stole all the tall genes and left none for me.
“Don’t do it,” I say as Pratt starts to pull back a bandage on his arm to show me a clearly infected wound. It never fails. Every time I’m out, there’s always someone that wants to ask me about an ailment or show me something that I don’t necessarily want to see. But I guess that comes with being an EMT and living in a small town. “The hell? You need to get over to Doc. That’s infected, dummy.”
“You don’t have to call me names,” he huffs. I reach up and place the back of my hand to his forehead, and sure enough he has a temp.
“Then don’t be a dumbass, and I won’t have to call you one. Get over to Doc’s office now. Looks like you may have cellulitis, and it appears to be spreading. He might be able to give you an antibiotic or he might send you to the hospital for an IV—”
“An IV!?” The eyes of the six-foot cowboy that I’ve seen wrestle steers before widen in fear. I always find it funny how many men are afraid of tiny needles. It’s usually the biggest and baddest of them that are the most fearful. Pratt is good at running his family farm, which is only him and his mom now, but he is not always the brightest when it comes to other things.
“He might try oral antibiotics first. But I’m guessing with the way that looks and the low-grade fever you have, you might be heading into the city hospital.”
“Maybe it’s fine. It’ll probably heal up on its own.” He starts to cover the wound back up.
“It’s not fine. Your mama is going to be calling me at three in the morning because you’re unconscious with a fever, and then I’ll have to haul your ass to the city where you’ll be getting more than an IV if you don’t get that under control. Like an amputation.” That should do it. Usually I don’t like to alarm people, but with Pratt I know that I need to go with the worst case scenario just so he’ll go see Doc Harlow.
“Go!” I shout at him. He jumps and takes off out of the bar. I pull out my phone and text Doc Harlow to let him know to see Pratt now. I’m a freaking EMT, not a doctor, but you’d think otherwise with the crap people around town will stop and ask me.
I slip my way through the crowd, finally making it to my brother, who is now in the face of the man I was sure he’d brought home with him. He alluded that he might have company with him. I’d made up the guest room, but now I’m not so sure that was a good idea since the two of them look like they’re about to brawl.
“Can we not do whatever this is? Cause I’m on call today, and if you rough each other up, it will be me carting your asses to the hospital,” I say, not wanting to see these two come to blows. I’ve never met a man I didn’t think my brother could easily take down. This man is different. I can sense it. It would be a bloodbath.