Sniper Fire (Love in the Crosshairs) (19 page)

When he got home and got the groceries inside, Kyle set about putting them away, starting with the cold stuff. The first frozen dinner he pulled out had a paper stuck to it from the condensation. Kyle thought it was a food advertisement until he peeled it off and stared. Another damn knee replacement pamphlet!

Growling, he wadded the thing up and tossed it in the trash. This was getting ridiculous. How many more of the damn things had Farrah handed out to people to give to him?

Turned out it was at least seven more. He pulled one from each grocery bag except the last, which held two. Apparently, the helpful young man bagging groceries had gotten carried away with his slight-of-hand at one point.

Kyle stared at the papers lined up on the counter. Three popliteals and four knees. He had to hand it to Farrah, she was persistent. Shaking his head, he swept the pamphlets into a stack and tossed them into the trash with the first one. If this kept up, he could fuel his own bonfire in the back yard.

An hour later, Kyle sat down at his small dining table, determined to go through his mail. Loosening the cords, he pulled the mouth of the mail bag open, reached inside, and pulled out a handful of magazines, a few envelopes, and—

“What the…!”

He slammed the mail on the table, scattering the legitimate post along with more of Farrah’s quiet ammunition. Six, seven…there had to be at least ten pamphlets total in that one handful alone. Kyle stood up fast, knocking his chair over in the process. He grabbed the mail bag off the floor and turned it upside down, spilling its contents on the table. Magazines, circulars, envelopes, and yes, more pamphlets. A lot more.

Kyle stared. Holy shit. At least a third of the bag’s contents were those damned medical leaflets. How the hell had Farrah talked Kay into putting those in his bag? Didn’t the woman know she could get in trouble for tampering with the US mail? Hell, she was already in trouble. Way past in trouble. Badgering him herself was one thing. Enlisting the whole damned town was quite another.

He snatched up several pamphlets and headed for the door. It was time to put a stop to this nonsense right now.

****

Farrah came out of her office just as the clinic’s front door slammed.

“Can I help you?” she heard Mary say.

“Where is she?”

Farrah stopped. Kyle was here. And from the sound of his voice, he wasn’t a happy camper. Even knowing she was about to be confronted by an angry Kyle, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling just a little. Operation Information Bomb must be working.

“Farrah! Get your butt out here!”

She glanced at her reflection in the glass of a picture hanging on the wall and smoothed every ounce of humor out of her expression. This was serious. In order to get him to agree to the new procedures, she had to, first, get him thinking about them. Hence, the information overload.

“There you are, you conniving wench.”

Wench? She looked down the hall. Kyle stalked toward her as only he could, jaw tight, lips pressed into a hard line, brows lowered over eyes the color of dark fire. That cane of his stabbed into the floor so hard with each step she was surprised it didn’t crack the tile. Despite the whole grim thing he had going, a thrill shot through her at just seeing him again. Goodness, if he ever discovered how much he affected her, she wouldn’t stand a chance at getting him to agree to anything.

She raised an eyebrow and pulled out her most professional doctor’s voice. No sense waiting for him to start ranting at her. “Good afternoon. Shall we take this into my office?”

She didn’t wait for him to agree, but spun around and headed down the hall, glad he couldn’t hear how fast her heart was pounding. He didn’t scare her, not exactly. But the knowledge that so much pent up energy and reined-in emotion followed hot on her heels sent her pulse racing.

He shoved the office door closed and slammed a handful of pamphlets on her desk before she even made it to her chair.

“I want you to stop this right now.”

She sat carefully, getting completely comfortable before propping her elbows on the chair’s arms and weaving her fingers together. “No.”

He evidently didn’t expect her calm, one-word reply, because he actually stared at her for a whole two seconds before leaning over her desk. “Yes, you will. Damn it, Farrah, I don’t need the whole fucking town on my back. All I want is to be left alone. Is that too damn much to ask?”

Farrah made sure to keep her voice even and professional. “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. And cussing at me isn’t going to get me to change my mind. I care about you, Kyle. We all do. You can’t expect us to just sit back and watch you ruin your life.”

He straightened sharply and slammed the cane on the top of her desk. The sharp report made her blink and jump in her seat. Reaching down, he grabbed one of the brace’s straps and lifted his leg until his foot was propped on the corner of the desk. “In case you haven’t noticed, my life is already ruined.”

Anger bubbled up. She was tired of his sad sack routine. “Exactly why do you think your life is ruined, Kyle? Because you can’t run with the big dogs anymore? Because you can’t follow in Joshua’s footsteps?”

The anger spilled over, forcing her to her feet. She reached out and shoved Kyle’s foot off her desk, refusing to let his small wince of pain and the way he had to steady himself against her desk stall her. Somehow, she had to break through that blasted wall of his.

“Come on, Kyle,” she said, putting as much derision into her tone as possible, “grow up. There’s nothing that says you can’t start over and do something else with your life besides killing the bad guys.”

The line of his jaw turned white. “It’s what I do—”

“Correction. It’s what you did. It’s time for you to suck it up and do something else.”

“No, it’s time for you to face facts, Farrah. This stupid campaign you’ve started isn’t going to work. I told you, I’m not having any more surgeries. I’m done. Finished! Why can’t you just accept that?”

“Why?” She rounded the desk, stopping just shy of his personal space. “You really want to know why I’m not standing back and doing nothing? Then let me put it into perspective for you. You still know how to use your imagination, right? Of course you do, men fantasize all the time. So let’s imagine, shall we, I’m you and you’re me.”

His brows lowered. “What are you—”

“Come on, Kyle, work with me here. I’m the one with the busted leg that’s eventually going to turn gangrenous and have to be amputated so it doesn’t kill me, and you’re the one with the medical knowledge that can not only prevent it, but make it better. Tell me, are you going to just walk away whistling a tune while I risk my life because I’m too busy wallowing in self-pity to do anything about it? Or are you going to shake me up by getting in my face until I see reason? Don’t lie, now, I want the truth.”

Farrah let him have a couple seconds of silence. When she could almost hear his teeth grind together, she figured it was enough. She put a hand flat on his chest, over his heart.

“You’d save me, wouldn’t you? You couldn’t walk away from me any more than I can walk away from you.”

She could tell he didn’t want to admit it. Because if he did, he’d have to admit to it all—that his self-pity and bitterness was what was holding him back.

“Farrah…”

“Shhh,” she said, putting a finger over his lips. She knew if she tried to force an admission from him now he could back up and shut down again. She had his brain pointed in the right direction, she just had to let him stew on it a while. Kyle wasn’t a dense man, just stubborn. Once he admitted to himself that she was right, he’d admit it to her. Then they could move forward. She just needed to give him time to think things through.

“It’s all right,” she said, the torment and pain in his eyes made her want to hold him. So she did. She slipped her arms around his waist and put her cheek where her hand had been. The tightness of his muscles worried her. So did the pace of his heartbeat pounding away under her ear. “It’s going to be all right,” she repeated.

The tension didn’t leave him. Farrah raised her head to look at him. If anything, the torment in his gaze was worse. One large hand slid around her waist while the other captured her chin. She met his stare, could tell he was searching her face for something.

“I thought you said you couldn’t do this?”

His question confused her. Couldn’t do what? Couldn’t fight for him? Couldn’t feel for him? Silly man. Farrah rose on her toes to show him how wrong he was. She pressed her lips to his. At first, she thought he wouldn’t respond, that he’d reject her. But then he let out a soft groan of what she knew was surrender because his mouth opened. She licked inside. Kyle’s arms locked around her, pulling her closer. She could feel his reaction as his body hardened against her, the ridge of his erection pressing into her lower belly with sudden urgency. Fire ignited inside her, low and hot, and spreading fast. His tongue stroked hers repeatedly, luring her in, inviting her to taste him, play with him. She indulged them both.

Farrah finally had to pull back to grab some air. Kyle was panting right along with her. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his.

“I need you to trust me, Kyle. I’m not promising you everything will be rainbows and daisies. But I will promise to stand by you and help you get through this.”

She felt him go still. Even his breathing stopped on a sharp inhale. His voice rough, he said, “Are you doing this just so I’ll agree to the new surgeries?”

Not sure what he meant, Farrah leaned back so she could see his face. “You mean the pamphlets? Of course—”

“No,” he said, his face almost void of expression as he made a back-and-forth motion between them. “This. Us. Are you trying to seduce me just so I’ll fall in with your surgery plans?”

“What?” Surprise and hurt had her pushing out of his arms. Oh, the idiot. Did he think so little of her that he thought she would play with his emotions? “Of course not! My gosh, how could you even think—”

A sharp knock preceded the door opening. Sheriff Penwell stuck his head inside.

“Kyle. Farrah.” His eyes widened slightly as he noticed how close they were standing to one another. “Um, sorry to interrupt, but we need the doc.”

Farrah straightened her white medical coat, grateful beyond words for the interruption. “What is it? Another injury?”

“Several,” Pen said. “There was a backdraft that forced a group of firemen off a cliff. We got broken bones, concussions, and God only knows what else. County’s asking for medical volunteers. I volunteered you.”

Farrah nodded. “Give me a minute to grab supplies.” She stopped mid-step when Kyle’s hand shot out in front of her, barring her way. “Kyle—”

“Just a second.” He turned to look at the sheriff. “What cliff are we talking about here?”

“The one on the east face of Breakers Ridge, about fifteen miles north of Fontana Lake. Don’t worry, we’ve got a trained rescue crew extracting the victims. Paramedics are on scene, but county big-wigs want some MDs if they can get them. This fire has already generated more injuries than normal. They don’t want to compound the problem by adding fatalities.

“Fine,” Kyle said, nodding slowly. “As long as she’s not expected to climb down into that canyon, she can go.”

Farrah shoved Kyle’s arm out of her way, unable to believe her ears. Less than a minute ago, he was accusing her of seducing him. Now he was treating her like a child?

“Hold on. First of all,
she
is standing right here. I can darn well speak for myself, thank you. Secondly,” she poked him in the chest, “I don’t need your permission to do anything. You aren’t my boss.”

“Well, someone should take charge of you,” Kyle said, his movements sharp with anger as he pushed past her and the sheriff and into the hall. “Considering your decisions lately, you’re obviously having difficulty making the right ones by yourself,” he called over his shoulder.

Farrah narrowed her eyes, his words sparking her own anger. She stalked after him, Pen wisely stepping aside to give her an open path. “My decisions are just fine. I’ve been making my own for years.”

Kyle swung around in the thankfully empty lobby. It was bad enough that Mary and the sheriff were witness to this argument.

“So have I, honey,” Kyle snapped. “But that’s something else you seem to have trouble with.”

“That’s different, and you know it. I’m trying to help you.”

“I. Don’t. Need. Your. Help.”

The slow, quiet way he said the words struck Farrah harder than if he’d shouted them. She fought back sudden tears. No crying. She didn’t have time for a bunch of useless wet works. She had patients waiting. Darn Kyle for being so stubborn!

Farrah propped her hands on her hips. “Well, know what? You’re in luck. I’m too busy right now to bother with you.” She waved a hand in his direction. “Go! Hide in your house. Or Joshua’s house or Harley’s bar, or whatever hole you feel the need to crawl into. But trust me, we will finish this discussion when I get back.”

She spun around, already going over the list in her head of things she’d need to take with her. Kyle’s voice followed her down the hall.

“No, Farrah, that’s where you’re wrong. This discussion is already over. I’m telling you for the last time, stop meddling in my life!”

She made another shooing motion in his direction as she opened the door to the supply room, not bothering to reply. The man made her furious, simply furious. No matter how loud he yelled or how much he cursed, she would not let him accept things as they were. She couldn’t, even if she weren’t a doctor. She cared about him too damn much.

Darn
much!

Good grief, now he had her doing it!

****

Kyle slammed out of the clinic. The woman was too stubborn for her own good. And what did Penwell mean by dragging her into a fire zone? It was too dangerous. She had no business up there with no one to keep an eye on her. Farrah didn’t think things through, that was her problem. When a situation cropped up, she jumped on the first thought that popped into her head and ran with it. Shit, what if she got caught in a backdraft like those men she was going up to help? An image of her broken body, bloody and motionless at the base of a cliff, flashed into his mind.