Nothing But Trouble (22 page)

He shook his head. "Danielle's not a
vindictive kind of person. You don't know her."

There were those words again. They didn't go
over well the first time he'd said them, and she liked them even
less now. They only reminded her of his intimate relationship with
the other woman, and the whole jealousy thing came back, which she
was sick of. But more, his words sparked the tapped down emotion
from earlier in the day.

She bolted from the bed, yanked the sheet and
wrapped it around her. "I don't understand you. You've known me a
hell of a lot longer than her. Why do you always defend her?"

"I wasn't defending her," he said casually
from his relaxed position on the bed.

Fury had her nostrils flaring and a scream of
frustration bubbling in her throat. She wanted to pound on him and
make him understand the severity of the situation. One would think,
that after admitting Danielle had a problem and firing her, he'd be
more inclined to believe Rebecca.

"You are," she argued. The familiar heat
flooded her cheeks again. "And don't say it's because I'm jealous.
That has nothing to do with this." Lie, lie, lie. "My career and
future are on the line here and I don't think you get that."

By the time she'd finished her rant, tears of
helplessness pooled in her eyes and threatened to spill over.
Dammit, she did not want to cry in front of him. Seeing her weak
was one thing she never allowed in front of R.J.

And what's worse, she'd thought he would
understand. After going through what he went through with Danielle,
she was sure he'd be more sympathetic.

He held up a hand as though to calm her
down.

It didn't work.

"Honestly, I'm not trying to defend Danielle.
She's obviously a touchy subject for you. But the woman I know
wouldn't do anything like that."

A traitorous tear leaked out, and Rebecca
furiously swiped it away with the back of her hand. "Drugs have a
way of changing a person, R.J." She paused as a horrific thought
occurred to her. "Do you still have feelings for her?"

He shook his head. "It was just sex. There
were never any feelings."

Rebecca lifted a shoulder and clutched the
sheet tighter to her. Now, she wished she'd gotten dressed while
he'd been in the shower. Even with a sheet, she felt horribly
exposed and vulnerable. "Maybe not on your part."

"I can't help the way she feels about
me."

He tossed the words out so casually, as
though he dealt with this kind of thing all the time. Come to think
of it, he probably did.

The thought caused another tear to leak out.
The emotion was a combination of who R.J. really was and the
nightmare that started at lunch today.

"Hey," he said softly, coming off the bed and
walking toward her.

She turned from him, ashamed of her display
of emotion and hating herself for it. His strong, warm hands
gripped her shoulders and tried to turn her toward him.

"No," she protested.

"Rebecca, come on," he prodded gently.

"No," she tried again with more conviction.
Somehow she managed to disengage herself form R.J.'s strong hold.
She stalked toward the bathroom. "Just leave me alone."

He called out her name one more time, but
Rebecca had already slammed the door. Nothing he had to say at the
moment interested her. Nor did the lavish bathroom with its dark
marble shower and jetted tub. The room looked like something out of
a five-star hotel. Normally she would have ogled the dual shower
head and spacious interior.

All she could think about was losing her
license for something she didn't do, and the mind blowing sex she'd
just had. Which had given her the misconception that R.J. actually
cared.

How could he still defend that woman?

Rebecca paced from one side of the bathroom
to the other, while dragging the stupid sheet behind her. Why
hadn't she put her clothes on?

With an exhausted sigh, she lowered herself
to the toilet and stared at the tiled floor. What was she supposed
to do now? She had no one. No one to confide in, no one to help
her. There was no way she could tell her parents, though she
figured they'd find out soon enough. Her sister was all the way in
Utah and had enough going on with her two kids and running a
business. Courtney only came around when she wanted to be
found.

R.J. was the only one who'd been affected by
this, and he seemed so nonchalant about it.

That's because he still has a job. Agent
Reinhold hadn't shut his business down
.

She lowered her head to her hands as another
tear leaked out.

The only person she could rely on was
herself. Hadn't she learned that a long time ago when she'd applied
for her own student loans, paid for her own books and bought her
own house?

Her parents were wonderful parents, but
they'd raised her to be independent. They'd always taught her to
never rely on anyone.

The only person you can depend on is
yourself, Rebecca
, her mother used to always say.

For Pete's sake she'd gone through medical
school, residencies, internships, and all night studying. She'd
thought for sure medical school would have killed her, but she'd
lived to tell the tale. She'd always claimed to be a resourceful
woman who could make her own way, and here she was, in R.J.'s
bathroom whining and sniveling because she didn't have anyone to
lean on.

It wasn't R.J.'s fault. And what could he
possibly do anyway?

He hadn't patted her shoulder and told her
everything would be okay. That had pissed her off. But R.J. had
never sugar-coated anything. It was one of the qualities she'd
admired most about him. So why had she expected anything
different?

Agent Reinhold didn't have anything solid on
her, because she hadn't done anything wrong. The authorities would
eventually see that, and she could go back to practicing
medicine.

She inhaled one cleansing breath and stood
from the toilet. The bathroom sink was one of those clear
contemporary things that sat above the counter. It wasn't really
Rebecca's style, but it suited R.J. She turned the faucet to warm
and splashed water over her face.

Thinking about R.J. out in his bedroom caused
a twinge of guilt to twist in her stomach.

He'd only been honest with her and she'd gone
all bipolar on him. As though it were his fault. He'd been an
innocent bystander just like herself.

She patted her face dry and knotted the sheet
in between her breasts. The damn thing kept falling down.

When she opened the door, she was mildly
composed, meaning she didn't want to take R.J.'s head off, which
was progress. However the blasted lump in her throat was still
there, and if the man so much as looked at her the wrong way she'd
lose it.

He was leaning against the wall, staring at
the television when Rebecca came back into the room. When he
spotted her he pushed away from the wall and came toward her. She
clutched the sheet as he stopped in front of her.

His warm, comforting palm cupped her cheek
and tilted her face to his. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't
mean to upset you."

The lump in her throat grew until it was
almost impossible to swallow. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm
just…" She leaned her forehead against his smooth, solid chest.
"I'm really scared."

Rebecca practically melted when R.J. folded
her into his arms. His presence was so reassuring and strong, like
a sentinel who would beat away any bad guy. Realistically she knew
there was nothing he could do, but just being with him, having his
arms around her made her feel like she could fight any fight. And
win.

He tilted her face up and swiped away the
stray tears with his thumbs. "Let me take you back to bed."

Hadn't she just told herself not to be
intimate with him again? That voice in the back of her mind told
her to get dressed and go home. But looking into his very green
eyes and seeing the promise of pleasure they held, she gave in.
Only R.J. could make her feel better. Only he had the ability
remove her twisted reality; if only for a few hours.

He took her hand in his and led her back to
the bed. She undid the knot in the sheet and allowed the material
to fall to the floor. Surprisingly, her nudity didn't make her
blush. Probably because there was nothing but raw hunger in R.J.'s
gaze as he took in every inch of nude flesh. Her teeth sank into
her lower lip when he hooked his thumbs into the elastic band of
his briefs. The glorious muscle beneath the cotton sprang free,
reminding her of how he'd made her feel a short time ago.

R.J. lowered her to the bed and blanketed his
body over hers. He was so much bigger than her, so much harder. Yet
this time, when they made love, he showcased a gentleness she never
expected him to have. As promised, he brought her to another planet
then held her trembling body close to his.

And for a few blissful hours, Rebecca forgot
the trouble that awaited her tomorrow.

If Danielle had
been
a man, R.J. would have beat the shit out of her.

And enjoyed it.

Anyone who put tears in Rebecca Underwood's
eyes deserved to have their ass handed to them.

Her tears had just about been the undoing of
him. And seeing the hopelessness cloud the usual vibrancy of her
eyes made him realize how serious the situation was. Admittedly, at
first, R.J. hadn't believed Danielle was the crux of the problem.
Or rather, he didn't want to believe the woman he knew would have
such a hateful streak inside her.

Drugs have a way of changing
people
.

Rebecca's words floated through his mind the
morning after she'd said them to him.

Hell, he'd seen the evidence of that change
at his own expense. But if Danielle was going to seek retribution,
why go after Rebecca? Why ruin her future? R.J. was the one who
fired her. If she wanted revenge against anyone it ought to be
him.

Unless she really was that jealous…

What the hell would she have to be jealous
of? He and Rebecca were just friends.

Weren't they?

Before last night his answer would have been
an unequivocal yes.

A big fat
hell yes
without a smidgen
of doubt.

After spending the better part of the night
buried inside her tight body, R.J. wasn't as confident. How many
times could he sleep with her and still call her a friend?

And if she wasn't, what was she to him?

You've known the answer to that for a long
time
.

Dammit all to hell.

R.J. had always hated liars. His father could
take the credit for that one. As a result, he'd always been honest
to a fault. Some people would say he was almost too truthful for
his own good. At least that's what Court always said to him.

So why was Rebecca the one thing he always
lied to himself about?

Why could he never admit how he really felt
about her?

Because she's too damn good for you
.
Because she deserves better than some horn dog who doesn't know
the meaning of the word
commit.

Damn it all to hell and back.

Even though he was no good for her, he loved
her anyway.

That morning, Rebecca had slipped out just as
the sun had edged its way above the Wyoming foothills. She had
patients to see. Even if her days were numbered, the woman still
took her job stone-cold seriously. She had every intention of
seeing every last patient until they dragged her away kicking and
screaming.

That was his Rebecca.

He admired the hell out of her.

After her departure, R.J. showered and went
to the shop so he could continue another day of cleaning up
Danielle's mess. The day before he'd delegated Sam to checking and
double checking all the recent orders to make sure Danielle hadn't
made any more boo-boos.

As R.J. had suspected, Sam had found a few
blips in the radar. And he'd only gone through half the
workload.

They'd gone back to the grind today, while
finding time to restore all the cars on his lineup.
And
finding a replacement for Danielle.

Yeah, he really had his work cut out for
him.

If it hadn't been for his crew, R.J. would
have thrown himself in front of a Mack truck.

Hell, it was barely noon and he was halfway
there already.

"Not one call this week?" R.J. asked Alex,
who'd been answering the phones. The kid was a damn saint, doing
the grunt work no one else wanted to do, when he'd much rather be
buried in a car.

"Not one," he answered.

R.J. rubbed a hand through his hair. "Shit."
There had to be at least one woman in this town who was desperate
for a job. Maybe he could convince Courtney to fill in for a few
weeks.

And she'd drive you insane in the
process
.

"Keep at it," R.J. said with a nod of his
head toward the back log of work.

Alex muttered something under his breath.
What, R.J. had no clue, but he'd bet it had something to do with
his disdain for the tedious task.

Yes, technically it wasn't the tech's job,
but they were a team. And until a new manager could be found,
they'd all have to pitch in. Tomorrow it would be Sam's job.

In the meantime, the cars on the bays weren't
going to build themselves. Two of them had gone for their paint
jobs this morning and would return tomorrow. In their absence three
more cars had been brought in for rebuilds.

Lately the workload of this place had felt
like more than he could handle. His five man staff was stretched
thin and busted their asses every day to deliver. Two engine guys
were hardly enough, and Mitch was the only electrical technician
R.J. had. The forty-two year old was already working extra-long
hours just to keep up. They were coming down to the wire to have
Donald Underwood's car ready, not to mention Charlie's two
babies.