My Tye (13 page)

A nice, hot shower.

She figured Tye wouldn’t mind if she snuck into his bathroom, even if at the same time she was pretty sure he’d try talking her out of doing anything too strenuous just yet. But her mother had never been wrong when it came to that little miraculous cure, and she was more than ready to wash all the shit she’d gone through down the drain, both literally and figuratively.

She gingerly sat upright, testing out her body by lifting first one shoulder and then the other. She rolled her head from side to side, dealing with the pain from the stiffness and the resulting ache that shot down her arms and back when she did it again. Standing wasn’t so hard, and she accomplished the twenty-step walk to the bathroom without feeling too much like she’d heave whatever might be lingering in her stomach.

She thought about avoiding the mirror, she even consciously turned away from it as she cranked on the faucet in the tub to start the shower running. But then something inside her made her turn around. The creature staring back at her instantly struck her, and she wondered for a second who the person wearing the wrinkled blue scrubs really was.

God, she looked like hell—or death warmed over, she couldn’t readily decide. She sported a two-by-two gauze bandage taped to the side of her head, her one eye was puffy and overly reminiscent of the violet side of the rainbow, and her skin had taken on an uncharacteristic ghostly hue. Her hair was dirty and stringy, and even though it hadn’t been that long, she looked as though it’d been days since she’d last eaten.

So lovely.

Not.

A deep, I’m-not-sure-whether-to-cry-or-be-enraged sigh led to her slowly stripping off the scrubs. What she was left with were the bandages taped around her wrists and ankles and the one on her head. She removed those as well, hissing a little from the friction of the gauze on her red and inflamed skin, all while trying not to think too hard on how it became that way in the first place. Cautiously she stepped into the shower, cringing some as the hot water stabbed at her skin. It felt as though hundreds of tiny, stinging needles pierced her all at once. But then, after another minute, the prickles began to subside and she couldn’t help but sigh once again, this time from the warmth of the water flowing over her and the relief running through her as her tight muscles finally started to loosen a little.

But
damn
, it still hurt to move. Her arms screamed in protest as she went through the motions of cautiously washing and rinsing her hair. Not even the spicy scent of Tye’s shampoo could distract her from the pain. Cringing, she pushed on, quickly yet carefully running a bar of soap over every inch of her body before standing stock-still under the spray to clean it all away.

And with every breath she took as she stood there, with every ache easing as she forced herself to hold still, she got angrier. Angry with the man who did this to her, angry at his fucked-up intolerance and his unjustified hatred of her.

So this is what you like. You know, I always thought it was just whores who wanted to be tied up. Who knew dumb bitches liked it, too. You want to be a whore as well, you stupid bitch? I’ll make you a whore…

Where did this asshole get off judging her, or anyone for that matter? Who graced him with the title of judge, jury and executioner all in one for something that was absolutely none of his business?

Laine tilted her head back and let the water run over her face. Images of Tye standing on the porch and then kneeling in front of her as she recounted the attack flashed behind her closed eyes, which had her considering that maybe she was being just as judgmental. She’d been so leery of telling him where she’d been, of what he might think of her if he knew the truth.

Damn it, he never had a chance. She spent so much time worrying over what his reaction might be to not only the location of the assault, but to what that ultimately spun around and said about her to stop for even a second and give him the benefit of the doubt.

And that simply wasn’t right. It was time he knew the truth.

She shut the water off and grabbed a towel from the rod by the door. It took what seemed like forever to dry off, but she finally managed to finish and get her hair wrapped up in the towel. Looking at the scrubs lying in a pile on the floor, she knew she couldn’t bring herself to put them back on, which sent her on a search for something of Tye’s she could wear, something that wouldn’t swallow her whole. She found a t-shirt and a pair of too-big basketball shorts folded in a laundry basket next to the dresser in his room. As she knotted the string in the shorts around her hips to keep them from falling down, she again hoped he wouldn’t mind that she borrowed a few of his things.

After gently running a comb through her hair, she slipped her feet back into the blue hospital socks and made her way out of Tye’s bedroom to go look for him. Hearing the front door closing after he’d checked on her told her that she’d find him outside. The screen door creaked a little as she opened it, and she closed it slowly behind her to keep the bang of it slamming from ricocheting through her head.

Now, where to look for him.

The stables sat just across the driveway, and she figured that would be as good a place to start as any. The door stood open, and as she stepped through she had to hold her breath at the sight she found inside the small barn.

Tye stood in one of the stalls with his eyes closed as two horses cuddled up to him with their muzzles. His eyebrows were drawn together, and his breaths were heavy but even. She didn’t know why, but the tightness with which he held his jaw had butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

He looked so intent, so deep in thought, that she hated to disturb him. But what she had to tell him couldn’t wait any longer. Shoving her nerves aside, she stepped farther into the stables and cleared her throat.

She expected him to be caught off guard when he saw her, but those expectations quickly fell away when his eyes shot open. Instead of surprise, a barely controlled heat poured from his gaze when he looked at her. He seared her with that one sultry stare. The burn traveled through her body, sizzling her here, scorching her there. It was all she could do to force a breath before she ended up passing out.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you,” she managed to say.

“You didn’t.”

After another tentative step, she glanced down at the clothes she borrowed before meeting his stare once again. “I hope you don’t mind.” She stopped and swallowed, gripping the hem of the t-shirt. “I, um, showered,” she said by way of explanation.

His expression softened then, which was both a shame and a relief. “I don’t mind. I could’ve helped, though. I don’t like the idea of you doing too much too soon.”

She’d been right in thinking he’d feel that way, even if at the same time she had to skip over what that
I could’ve helped
part had her imagining. That was a little too much for her to deal with just yet. “I’m okay. Sore but okay.”

Tye patted the neck of the brown and white horse in the next stall. “You’ll probably be that way for a few days.”

“I’m sure.” She moved into the stall with him and came up alongside the black and white horse. “What’s his name?”

Tye never took his eyes off her. And when he leaned back against the stall and crossed his arms over his chest, she had to look away.

“That one there is Flash. This guy hanging over my shoulder is Rocky.”

She stroked Flash’s shoulder and side—back and again, back and again—until the stillness hanging between her and Tye became too much.

“I was leaving Club Euphoria when I was attacked.”

With those words, all the air whooshed out of her lungs. She didn’t look over at Tye, she didn’t dare, not with how quiet he was being. But she felt him. Felt his stance shift from one foot to the other, felt the warmth of his stare intensify along her back.

“I know.”

She stopped mid-stroke and peered over her shoulder at him. “You do? How?”

“I know Jack McKay.”

Was that the same Jack from last night? Marshall Mac? It had to be. Oh God.

When she didn’t say anything more, Tye went on.

“He works at Euphoria a couple nights a week. He was the manager on duty last night.”

But… “How…”

Tye unfolded his arms and shoved his hands in his jean pockets. “He’s also the sheriff of Samson County, Laine.”

Her stomach froze into a hard, hollow ball and just hung there, heavy inside her body. “Wait a minute. He’s the sheriff? How did I not know—”

“Why would you? There are fifty miles and another county separating us. We take care of our jurisdiction and he takes care of his. Nothing’s popped up in the last year and a half since you moved here to bring any of us together.”

“Until now,” she whispered, turning her attention back to the horse.

“Right,” he said just as quietly, pushing away from the stall’s wall. “Still, he doesn’t go around the club advertising he’s the county sheriff. Some know, sure. But for a guy who’s in the public eye professionally, he’s done a hell of a job keeping a very low profile when it comes to his personal life.”

Laine only nodded, trying to absorb what Tye was telling her. He must’ve picked up on that, since he kept his distance and remained just as quiet as she was.

After a moment, she said, “I suppose he filled you in on last night, then.”

Tye sighed from behind her before coming up next to her. He tucked his shoulder under Flash’s head and petted the horse’s neck. “No. He wouldn’t even confirm that you were there. And it was because he wouldn’t, along with the location where you said you’d parked, that helped me figure out for sure that you were.”

That got her to wonder what made him contact Jack in the first place. “What made you think to call him?”

He looked at her neck and wrists, clenched his jaw and then met her eyes. “Your injuries. There was a series of attacks about five years ago, all taking place in close proximity to that club. Let me guess, you were parked about a block away, right?”

A fresh bout of panic threatened to grab her. She nodded again and tried not to let it consume her, even though she knew she was fighting a losing battle.

“Those women before parked around there too. They were also hurt in much the same way as you were, only worse. None of them were able to get away the way you did, though. Not before it got really bad.”

A chill spread over Laine’s skin, and for a moment she thought her knees might give out. Tye caught her mid-sway and helped her out of the stall, leading her over to a bench near the doorway.

“Hold on,” he said, steadying her so she could sit. He crouched in front of her just as he’d done before on the porch, while stroking his hands up and down her calves. “Take deep breaths. Easy now.”

The cold attacking her skin melded with the frozen pit her stomach had become. Despite the heat inside the stable, she started to shiver, slowly at first, until the quiet shudders morphed into full-blown tremors.

That was when Tye squeezed next to her on the bench and pulled her into his arms. He wrapped his warmth around her, and she had to bite back a sob. “I had no idea,” she groaned. “Why… Is it the same person?”

Tye shook his head, gripping her tighter. “Jack doesn’t think so. He’s checking into it, but in the meantime we’re pretty sure we have a new perp on the loose.”

She burrowed further into his arms, seeking both his heat and the power he naturally exuded. She felt safe here with him, taken care of. As much as she’d been in an uproar about coming to Tye’s ranch, now she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

“I can’t believe this,” she said. “Not any of it.”

He didn’t say anything, not that there was anything for him
to
say. He only pressed his lips against her forehead and held them there. After another minute, he said, “Want to talk about it?”

She did. She wanted it all out in the open, wanted to look head-on into the eyes of everything she had to deal with.

When she tilted her head to look up at him, her lips were mere inches away from his. The memory of his kiss in the hospital tingled along her lips now. “Inside?”

He stared into her eyes, and she wondered for a split-second if he might kiss her again. But his hesitation was over before it really began. “Sure,” he said. “Let’s go.” He stood, bringing her to her feet along with him.

They walked arm in arm across the dirt driveway and back into the house. Once they were inside, he led her to a barstool at the breakfast counter separating the kitchen from the living room.

Tossing his hat on top of his keys sitting on the end table, he said, “Let me make you something to eat. You need to work on building up your strength.”

There he went again, taking care of her. And there she went, too, letting him. “I don’t want to be any trouble.”

He shot her a look that said he thought she was nuts for thinking such a thing. “You’re no trouble, believe me. Besides, I need to eat too.”

He went to the fridge and pulled out some eggs, then opened the freezer where he found an ice pack. He held it out to her from over the counter. “For your eye.”

She took the pack, leaned her elbow on the counter and tenderly held the ice against her eye.

“Scrambled okay?”