War Wounded (The War Trilogy #2.5) (8 page)

“She wants you to go with her to the hospital,” he says to me.

“Absolutely,” I reply without hesitation and climb into the back of the ambulance.

I sit on the bench up by her head. She’s still silently crying, the tears running in a continuous stream down her rosy cheeks. I lean toward her and smooth her hair back from her forehead before giving said forehead a kiss.

“What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how badly that could have gone?” I scold half-heartedly.

More than anything, I’m just glad that she’s okay. My heart is still pounding, though. And my stomach is churning.

“I thought I could save it,” she whispers brokenly behind the oxygen mask.

“Why water? Didn’t you have a fire extinguisher?” I ask.

She closes her eyes, forcing more tears to fall. “I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“No, you most certainly were not,” I scoff.

“What…what were you doing there?” she asks, her voice gravelly, most likely from coughing and throwing up.

“I came to talk to you,” I tell her.

She frowns. “About what?”

“Us. But now’s not the time to talk about that,” I murmur.

Lucky for me, one of the EMTs picks that moment to climb into the back and shut the doors. Now is not the time to have a conversation about my feelings for her. He goes about doing what he’s gotta do for Arianna and our conversation is forgotten, for now.

~ Chapter Eight ~

~ Arianna ~

I got word from Jules that a firefighter found remnants of some kind of fabric in the oven and that’s what most likely started the fire. I have no one to blame but myself. It was my fault. My mind was elsewhere and when I put the last batch in the oven, I must have just let go of the oven mitt when I let go of the cupcake tray. She said that the kitchen and my office have been destroyed, and the shop side has pretty heavy smoke damage.

I’m sitting in a hospital bed with Duke lounging in a chair next to me. The doctor already checked me out. He said that I’m okay, and since the smoke inhalation was minimal, he doesn’t think that I did any permanent damage to my lungs. He’s sending me home with an inhaler and antibiotics just in case. Duke called my brother and told him what happened. Keith is on his way over even though I’m just waiting to be discharged now. Neither of us have a car, so we need the ride back to my shop anyway. I’m really glad that Duke is here with me. The guy has really come to mean a lot to me. Whether I want to admit it or not, I’m really starting to fall for him. Dammit.

I glance over at Duke who looks lost in thought. His right ankle is resting on his left knee and he’s got his fingers pressed to his mouth as he leans against the arm of the chair with his left elbow. His eyes are staring at nothing in particular and he’s been exceptionally quiet the whole time we’ve been here.

“Duke?”

Duke’s eyes slowly lift to meet mine. “Yeah?” he asks from behind his fingers.

“Are you okay?” I ask softly.

He gives a soft humorless laugh. “Not even close.”

His hazel eyes are swirling with so many emotions that I can’t even pinpoint just one. His square jaw is locked tight and his normally full lips are a thin straight line.

“Want to talk about it?”

He shakes his head. “Not right now, no,” he says, his tone clipped.

“Are you mad at me?” I frown, not understanding what his attitude is about.

“No, I’m not mad.”

“Then what?”

He sighs heavily and closes his eyes for a minute before turning his gaze toward me. “You scared the shit out of me, Arianna. I’ve never felt the kind of terror I felt when I saw you in that kitchen, not even when I was overseas and being shot at.”

“Oh,” I squeak.

“I’m probably going to have nightmares about it,” he mutters and rakes his hand down his face.

“Why? It’s not like I mean anything to you, we only slept together once,” I blurt before I can think better of it.

The look he gives me lets me know that I’ve got it all wrong.

“I know I didn’t call you after that night, but if you truly think that I don’t care about you, then you are outta your goddamn mind. Do you really think I would dance around in the snow with some chick that doesn’t mean anything to me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Believe me, I wouldn’t. And I didn’t call you because I’m freaking terrified of how strong my feelings for you are. I’m so afraid to get hurt again,” he says, his tortured gaze meeting mine. “So afraid that I still don’t know if I can bring myself to start something with you, even though I hate the thought of not seeing you or spending time with you.”

My heart aches for him. I wish there was something that I could do or say to let him know that I would never hurt him. But I think that’s something that he’s going to have to figure out for himself. I’m sure I can say it a million times and he still won’t believe me. Before I can say anything else, Keith walks in.

“Shit, Arianna, are you okay?” he asks in concern as he comes to my side and gives me a hug.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I mutter.

He turns to Duke. “Thanks for being here, man. I really appreciate you taking care of my sister.”

Duke stands and shakes his hand. “It’s not a problem at all. I’m glad I got there when I did,” he says, giving me a pointed look.

I roll my eyes at him, which makes the corner of his mouth lift.

Once I’m discharged, Keith drives Duke and me back to the shop so we can pick up our cars. Well, I won’t be able to drive my car since my keys were in the shop. I’ll have to grab my spare set. When we get there, I walk up to the door and peek through the window. Tears immediately fill my eyes and spill over when I see the black soot marring my once pretty baby pink walls.

A strong hand slides across my shoulders and pulls me up against a hard body. I turn and wrap my arms around the waist of who’s holding me, burying my face in his chest. When I take a deep breath and pull in his scent, I realize that it’s Duke, not my brother as I expected. I’m grateful for his comfort and that he’s man enough to give it without hesitation.

“My shop,” I whisper, my heart breaking.

Duke pets my hair and drops a kiss to the top of my head. “Everything will be okay. It can be fixed.”

“My purse was in there, my phone, too. It’s all gone!”

“It can all be replaced,” he murmurs into my hair. “Unlike you, if something had happened to you…”

His voice cracks a little as his words drift off. I lift my head from his chest and look up at him. The raw emotion swirling in his hazel eyes shocks me. His hand comes up to cup my face and his thumb strokes my cheek. In an instant, his lips capture mine and I feel like the world is right again. All my worries slip away as Duke’s lips move over mine.

“Oh, what the hell?! My sister lands the dude that I wanted? So not cool!” I hear my brother huff.

Both Duke and I smile and pull back from the kiss to look over at my brother, who is standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest and a disgusted look on his face.

“I told you I’m not gay.” Duke chuckles.

“Oh my god, did Keith hit on you?” I giggle.

Duke looks down at me, a dry look on his face. “Uh, yeah. At the party at his house, he attacked me in the upstairs hallway and kissed me,” Duke says, a shudder racking his body.

I throw my head back and laugh before turning to stare at Keith with wide eyes. “Keith!”

He shrugs non-apologetically. “I regret nothing.”

Duke and I laugh. I’m thankful for the distraction from my damaged shop, but I know it’s only temporary. I’m going to have a lot of work to do to get my place back to where it had been.

“Let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving,” Duke says to me.

“Okay,” I agree.

“I’ll let you two have some alone time,” Keith says with a begrudging smirk before giving me a hug and kiss.

Keith shakes Duke’s hand and says goodbye before getting into his car and driving off.

“Can you take me to Jade’s first? I would like to take a quick shower and get changed. My car keys were in my purse so I have to get the spare set,” I say to Duke.

“Sure,” he replies softly.

“Can I also borrow your phone to call Jade?”

Duke pulls his phone out of his pocket and hands it to me without hesitation. “0522 is the code,” he says, his eyes burning into mine.

He just gave me the code to his phone. Of course, he can always change it, but I don’t think he will. He’s showing me that I can trust him, and that he has nothing to hide. I do trust him, more than I trust anyone else, and this just solidifies that.

“Thanks,” I say with a smile.

I dial Jade’s number as we walk down the block to Duke’s car. I tell her what happened and let her know that we’re stopping by so I can get changed. She says that she’ll be home to let us in since I don’t have my key anymore. After I hang up with Jade, I give Duke directions to her house.

~ Duke ~

The door swings open and Jade is standing there, her face a mask of concern. She pulls Arianna through the door and into a tight hug. After a little bit of fussing, Arianna finally gets away and goes to take a shower. Jade ushers me into the kitchen where she grabs me a glass of water and demands that I sit at the table. I’m not in the mood to argue, so I do as she says.

“Is she really okay?” Jade asks.

I sigh. “Physically? Yes. Emotionally, not so much.”

Jade frowns. “That shop was everything to her.”

I nod. There’s really nothing to say to that. I know how much that shop meant to her. She wouldn’t have risked her life to save it if it weren’t important to her.

I take a sip of water. I can feel Jade looking at me, so I glance over at her. “What?”

“She really likes you, you know,” she says.

I shift uncomfortably in my chair. “Did, uh…did she say that?” I ask quietly.

Jade gives me a quizzical smile. “Is a big tough guy like you actually self-conscious about a girl?”

I give her a dirty look. “I’ve had many issues with women, so I have a hard time with this shit, fuck you very much.”

Jade chuckles. “Well that explains a lot. And no, she hasn’t come right out and said it, but I can tell. She’s been moping around for the past few days because you haven’t called. She might say she doesn’t care, that she knew it was most likely a one-time thing, but I know her too well. She wants more with you.”

“I’m not going to lie, I really like Arianna. I mean a lot. More that I should for only knowing her a few weeks, but I can’t offer her what she wants. She still wants to get married eventually. She wants that white picket fence and the happily ever after. I’m not that guy.”

Jade’s stare is all too knowing and it’s making me fidget. “Aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not. I’ve done the whole marriage thing, twice. I’m not doing it again. The most I can give her is a long term relationship…maybe…I don’t even know if I can handle that.” I sigh.

“You will if someone’s worth it,” Jade says with a confidence that I don’t have.

“I’m too messed up in the love department. She deserves better than me,” I reply dejectedly.

“That’s not true. Can you not see how great of a guy you are? You found out the truth and saved Arianna for marrying that dick, Kyle. She told me how you took her on a carriage ride. You also ice skated with her, and danced in the snow, just to make her happy because she was upset about the break up. You saved her from a fire and stayed with her at the hospital. Now you’re going to take her out - again - to make her feel better. Come on, Duke, give yourself some credit. You’re a better man than you think you are.”

I can feel the heat rise up my face and I don’t blush easily. I shrug, unwilling to admit that any of that stuff makes me worthy of someone as great as Arianna. “Either way, she needs someone who can give her what she wants. That’s not me.”

Jade shakes her head. “You’re so stubborn,” she huffs.

I snort. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“So you’re okay with just being her friend and letting her date other people?” Jade says, raising her eyebrows at me.

Jealousy shoots through me hard and fast. In no way do I want some other douchebag’s hands all over her. I clench my jaw to stop myself from barking out a “Hell no!” Jade sees it, though. There was no way I could hide it fast enough.

Jade smirks. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Bitch,” I sneer.

She laughs. “Tell me something I don’t know,” she says, repeating my words back to me.

Arianna chooses that moment to walk into the kitchen. Her hair is still damp and pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head. She is make-up free and looking absolutely breathtaking. She’s wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a pull over baggy gray sweatshirt. She sends me an apologetic look.

“Sorry, I really didn’t feel like getting dressed up,” Arianna murmurs.

“I couldn’t care less what you wear,” I tell her, dismissing her apology.

She gives me a soft grateful smile.

“How about we just go back to my apartment, order in some food, and watch a movie?” I suggest. She doesn’t seem like she’s really in the mood to go out.

“Really? You wouldn’t mind?” she asks hopefully.

“Not at all.” I shake my head.

Jade gives me a see-you-are-a-good-guy look over Arianna’s shoulder. I pretend to scratch my nose, using my middle finger. Jade stifles a laugh because Arianna is completely oblivious.

“Thanks, Duke. I really wasn’t in the mood to go out.” Arianna sighs in relief.

“It’s fine, I understand,” I assure her. 

“Here’s an extra key,” Jade says to Arianna and hands her a small keychain with a single key on it.

“Thanks,” Arianna says and takes the key before turning to me. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Let’s go,” I say and hold out my hand.

Arianna takes it and lets me tuck her under my arm. She fits so perfectly there. We walk like that out to my car where I then open the passenger door for her. She slides into the seat and I shut the door. I make my way around to the driver’s side, thinking the entire time about how fucking screwed I am.