Chase 'n' Ana (3 page)

“Watch me.” Ana threw back the sheet and went to hop off the bed. Only her ribs

made her gasp and hang onto the bed for support. “Where are my clothes?” She looked

around the room. “And my purse? And you still haven’t told me what happened to

Fergi.”

Chase looked around as well. “I don’t know. I guess they put your clothes

somewhere. I don’t know anything about a purse. And who the hell is Fergi?”

“Well, find out!” Ana was starting to panic. Every cent to her name was in that

purse. Without it, she was completely sunk. No way to get her car fixed, get a place to

stay or feed herself.

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Chase hurried out of the room. Ana searched the room and found a plastic bag in a

small closet containing her clothes. She hurriedly dressed and was putting on her shoes

when Chase returned with a doctor.

“Miss?” the doctor addressed her.

“What?” She looked up at him.

“I don’t think it would be wise for you to leave just yet.”

“Nonsense,” she argued. “A few broken ribs aren’t that serious. So, if you’ll just

give me my purse and my discharge papers I’ll be leaving.”

The doctor looked at Chase and Chase shrugged. “Miss…?”

“Stillwater,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yes, Miss Stillwater. There was no purse brought in with you. All of your personal

belongings—”

“No, no, no, no, no!” She put her hands up to her face, the heels pressing into her

eyes. “This cannot be happening!”

“Miss Stillwater, if you would just—”

Ana cut the doctor off. “Get out! I mean it. Get out of here and leave me alone.”

The doctor gave Chase a look and left the room. Ana turned on Chase. “You too.

You’ve screwed up my life enough for one day, so get out.”

“Look, Miss Stillwater, I know it’s an inconvenience losing your purse but—”

“An inconvenience?” She turned on him with eyes flashing. “An inconvenience is

having to detour a block to get where you’re going. An inconvenience is having no

cream for your coffee. This…” she gestured around the room. “This is not an

inconvenience. Losing every last red cent to my name is not an inconvenience. Having

my car break down in Bumfuck, Arizona, is not an inconvenience. Having my noaccount husband shoot at my familiar is not an inconvenience. Getting beat all to shit

and having to hide out for two months, getting sued for contributing to the delinquency

of a peeping-tom minor, watching your rabbit get eaten by a Doberman, losing your job

because your stupid boss couldn’t grow his stupid pot at home—none of that is an

inconvenience
! It’s life saying, ‘Fuck you, Ana Stillwater—fuck you up the ass and to hell

with the jelly.’”

At a loss for more words, yet still filled with rage and anxiety, Ana plunked down

on the bed and buried her face in the pillow, screaming her head off. All of the events of

the last few months finally burst through the emotional barrier she’d created and she

could no more stop the flood of emotion than she could prevent the sun from rising.

The monitor beside the bed started beeping madly and the door to the small closet flew

open and banged against the wall.

Chase stood there dumbfounded. The damn machine beside the bed was beeping

enough to pierce his eardrums, and the woman was screaming at the top of her lungs

into the pillow, kicking her legs like she was swimming and bouncing the bed around.

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Part of him wanted to laugh at the dramatics and all the crazy things she’d said.

Another part was extremely aroused by her energy, anger and fire, and yet another part

wondered why, of all the people in the world he could have run over, did it have to be a

beautiful lunatic.

“You’ve got to stop that!” He walked over to the bed and grabbed her shoulder to

roll her over. “You’re gonna have people thinking you’re dying in here.”

“Ouch!” she yelled as he rolled her face-up on the bed. “Get off me, you

Neanderthal! That’s hurts!”

Chase released her and stepped back. “Sorry. But you’ve got to calm down.”

“Do I?” she spat at him. “Why? Because it keeps from upsetting other people?

Because it makes you uncomfortable? Well, guess what? I don’t care. I’m sick and tired

of being everyone’s doormat and getting shit on every time I turn around and if I feel

like screaming then I’m going to scream.”

“Fine.” Chase tossed her the pillow and turned to close the door. “So ahead.

Scream. Act like a hysterical, irrational woman but it’s not going to change anything

and it sure as hell isn’t going to make things any different.”

“Well, what difference does it make to you?” She came off the bed at him. “You’re

going to leave and go on with your nice life, just a little inconvenienced by the fact that

you ran over me. Not so easy for me. I’m stuck in this…place with no money, no job, no

car and no one to turn to. So don’t preach to me about irrationality, buster.”

With that last word she poked him in the chest with her index finger. Chase looked

down at her, trying to keep a lid on the anger simmering just beneath the surface.

“Don’t do that,” he warned her in a low voice.

“Or what?” She poked him again. “You’ll run over me again?”

She went to poke him again but he grabbed her wrist and jerked her up close to

him. Ana froze and turned white as a ghost. All of a sudden she wasn’t in a hospital

room railing at a cowboy she didn’t know. She was back at home, staring into the face

of her infuriated husband as he rained blows on her. The pain she felt in her ribs was

real but at the moment she didn’t see it as due to the truck that hit her but that caused

by her husband’s fists and feet.

Chase saw the color drain out of her face and fear rise in her golden eyes. He tried

to pull her to him, to comfort her, but that was the wrong move. She went wild, hitting

and kicking at him, wild-eyed and panting.

It was all Chase could do to keep her from hurting herself as he fended off her

blows. It took longer than he anticipated for her to run out of steam. By the time she

literally collapsed in his arms, they were both red-faced and sweaty.

He carried her to the bed and propped her against the pillows. Ana stared at him

blankly for a long time then jerked and blinked several times. “Oh my god.” Color

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flooded her face. “I…I’m…forgive me. I…” She covered her face with her hands,

horrified at what she had done.

Chase waited for her to lower her hands. “Look, Miss Stillwater, it’s obvious that

you’ve had some trouble in your life, and I’ve just added to it. For my part, I am sorry.

And if you’ll let me, I’ll help you get your car back and a place to stay until you can get

on your feet and get home.”

Ana laughed hollowly. “That’s kind of you, Mr. Hawks, but that’s kind of the

reason I ended up here—trying to get as far away from home as possible.”

Chase considered it for a few moments. The doctor had said that the breaks in her

ribs looked to be more of a reopening of unhealed fractures than new breaks. And with

what she’d screamed at him, it was a pretty solid bet that she was on the run from an

abusive husband. Which made her trouble with a capital T. He could be making a huge

mistake, but at this point he didn’t see where he had a choice. “Fine, then don’t go

home. Stay here, find another place, do what you want. But until it’s time for you to

make that decision, I’m going to help.”

Ana was touched that a complete stranger would be so kind, particularly

considering her actions the last hour. “Thank you, but that’s asking too much. When I

said I was broke, I really meant it. I had three hundred dollars in my purse and that’s all

the money I have in the world. Everything I own is in the back of my car on Highway

70, and I don’t have any family. They’re all dead and now it’s just me. But that’s okay.

I’ve been on my own a long time and I’ll figure out a way. I always do. I can’t take

anything from you, Mr. Hawks. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Actually it would,” he argued. “See, the facts are, I ran over you. Now, by rights,

you could sue me for that. But I’m hoping you won’t because it really was an accident. I

was wrestling my cell phone out of my dog’s mouth and just didn’t see you. But that

doesn’t change the fact that I hit you. So, as I see it, the least I can do is help you until

you’re able to help yourself. That way we can call it even.”

Ana studied his face and searched his eyes. Was he really as genuine and sincere as

he seemed, or was he just another person trying to pull the wool over her eyes and get

his butt out of a legal sling into the bargain? She did not want to think so, but she had a

habit of thinking the best of people and it often got her into trouble.

But what choice did she really have? “What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Well, I guess you can stay with me ‘til you’re healed up. After that we’ll figure out

what to do next.”

“Stay with you?” Ugly doubt rose and she tried to push it aside. “I can’t do that. I

don’t even know you.”

“Well, I’m not exactly a serial killer,” he snapped then immediately apologized.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to bite. Look, I’m not suggesting that I take you to bed. Just that I

give you a place to stay. I have extra room and I’m gone a lot, so you probably wouldn’t

see much of me anyway.”

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“What do you do?” Ana’s natural curiosity was piqued.

“I run a ranch, and I rope.”

“A ranch? As in cows?”

“A few. Mostly horses.”

Ana opened her mouth to say no, but an image flashed in her mind from Fergi,

along with a bit of advice. She would not have acted on the advice it come from another

source, but Fergi was the one dependable being in her life.

“Oh, well… Okay, Mr. Hawks, you have a deal. On one condition. I’ll work for you

in exchange for room and board until I can get a job and get enough money together to

get my car fixed.”

“You want to work for me?” He couldn’t help but smile at the idea. “And just how

much experience do you have with ranching?”

Ana returned his smile. “Not much, but I’m a fast learner. So, do we have a deal?”

She stuck out her hand.

Chance grinned and took her small hand in his. “We do, Miss Stillwater. We

certainly do.”

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Chapter Three

Ana felt like someone being released from prison when Chase picked her up from

the hospital the next morning. As part of their bargain, she’d agreed to spend the night

in the hospital. He’d reciprocated by promising to see about getting her car towed to a

local mechanic he trusted and getting her things from the car.

It had been a long night. Ana had alternated between second-guessing the deal she

made with Chase, and reprimanding herself for turning into a mistrustful person who

didn’t deserve help. It wasn’t until yesterday that she’d realized what a dramatic

change had come over her since the day Giovanni turned on her and beat her to a

bloody pulp.

She told herself time and again that she could not measure anyone else against him,

then immediately questioned whether her judgment had ever been sound. After all, in

the initial phases of the relationship she had believed in and trusted Giovanni. And look

how that had turned out.

Several mental messages from Fergi convinced her that she needed to fall back on

standard operating procedures. Namely, let it go. The past was the past and could not

be changed. It was the here and now that needed her attention, and right now her path

had led her to Chase Hawks.

Trusting that Fergi was right, she drifted off into a troubled sleep dreaming of a tall,

dark-haired cowboy who made her want to remember what it felt like to be in the arms

of a passionate lover.

Now here she was, climbing into his truck to be met by one of the biggest dogs

she’d ever seen. “Ana, this is Cody.” Chase reached over and gave Cody a shove to

move him over on the seat. “He’s a mixed breed, like me. Harmless.”

Ana raised one eyebrow and cut her eyes at him. Somehow she didn’t believe that

either of them was harmless. “Hi, Cody, I’m Ana.” She extended her hand for Cody to

sniff. He took one whiff and wiggled all over. By the time she was seated beside him, he

was licking her face and doing everything he could to climb into her lap.

Chase climbed in behind the wheel and grabbed Cody by the collar to drag him off

Ana. “Don’t know what’s gotten into him. He’s never like this.”

“It’s chemistry,” Ana said as she rubbed Cody’s big face with both hands. “Right,

Cody?”

Cody barked in reply and lay his head down on her lap. She looked up at Chase

and shrugged. “Animals like me.”

“Apparently,” Chase commented as he started the truck and pulled out. He had to

admit that he couldn’t blame Cody. He wouldn’t mind putting his head in Ana’s lap. Of

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course, if he did he’d never be content to just having his head rubbed. Nope. He had

entirely different ideas about having his head in her lap.

“So…” He looked for a way to divert his attention. “You introduced yourself to

Cody here as Ana. Thought that was reserved just for friends.”