Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males (118 page)

And then, just as Nicole was about to
reach the driver’s side door, she tripped over a huge tree root sticking up out
of the dirt driveway, and fell forward.
 
Her arms instantly shot out to break her fall, especially making sure
she didn’t hit her stomach when she smashed into the ground.

But in trying to protect her unborn
child—Nicole twisted strangely on the way down and felt a sharp pain in
her right ankle.

She shrieked and rolled onto her back.

Red was just reaching her side.
 
He didn’t have his axe after all, and he
looked absolutely stricken.
 
“Nicole, what happened?
 
Are
you okay?”

She was sobbing, as much from pain as
rejection.
 
“Just…just...leave me
alone, okay?”
 
More hysterical
crying.
 
“Are you…huh…huh..happy
now?”

He knelt down, his face a mask of
concern, and shook his head.
 
“No,
I’m not happy.
 
Not at all.”
 
He laid his hand gently on her shoulder,
and she hated that it felt so good—so right.

Why was he torturing her?
 
Why had he made everything between them
into something awful and sad?
   

“Tell me where you’re hurt,” he said.

“My—my ankle.
 
I twisted it just now when I fell.”

“Okay, let me see it.”
 
He moved down, slowly removed the sandal
on her right foot, and examined her leg.
 

His hands felt warm and soothing, healing
even.
 
But the pain in her ankle was
still throbbing.
 
She craned her
head to look and saw that the ankle was already swelling and slightly
discolored.

“Move your toes and foot a bit for me,”
he said.

She winced as she did so.
 
“It hurts.”

“I think you’ve sprained it pretty good,”
he told her.
  

“It doesn’t matter,” she said.
 
“I need to go.
 
I need to get out of here.
 
Can you find me transportation back to
the city?”

Red shook his head.
 
“I’m not letting you out of my sight
while you’re in this condition.
 
You
need to be taken care of, Nicole.”

Hearing him say those very words brought
more tears to her eyes, tears of relief.
 
But then she thought, how long would it be before he changed his mind
once again and told her to leave?
 
She couldn’t depend on him, and she didn’t want to risk being rejected
yet again.
 
It was all too much.

“I should go, Red.
 
I don’t need you to take care of me
anymore.”

His face blanched at her cold words.
 
“That’s not true.”

“Yes it is,” she lied, staring into his
eyes.
 

“Well,” he said, eventually, “I don’t
know about that.
 
But right now, I’m
bringing you inside the cabin and getting some ice on that ankle.”

As much as Nicole wanted to fight him on
it—another part of her was reveling in his attention.

I know he loves me, she thought.
 

The way he looked at her, the care and
attentiveness he was giving her right now—it screamed out love.
 
He’d looked so panic-stricken when she’d
first fallen, and she knew that was no act.

Red lifted her in his arms and carried
her into the cabin.

“I’m going to lay you on the couch now,”
he told her.
 
“Sorry about the
scenery—I wish I could put you up at The Four Seasons or something.
 
But they don’t have those around here.”

He laid her down gently on a soft, worn
couch that actually felt like something her parents would have had in their
home.
 
Nicole didn’t really mind it
at all—in fact, she rather liked it.

The inside of the cabin was very quaint
and sparse—but still very nice, Nicole thought—and homey in its own
way.

In the middle of the room was a
wood-burning stove—currently not in use.
 
Against the far wall, a small range, an
old white refrigerator, and a tiny sink.
 
Above the appliances were rows of wooden shelves filled with glasses,
plates, a couple of pots and cooking utensils.
 
And next to the sink was a large
cabinet.

A bookcase filled with books was located
against the opposing wall, and beside it, a tiny single bed with a simple metal
frame. The couch she was laying on and a small two-person table with a couple
of chairs nearby seemed to tie the room together.
 
There was also a recliner that had seen
better days, not far from that bookcase.
 
She imagined Red sitting on his recliner at night, reading a book in the
stillness of this little cabin, away from all his cares and worries.

Right now, Red was kneeling down in front
of the large cabinet by the sink, digging around for god only knew what.

She sat up a little on the couch and
looked at her ankle.
 
It was pretty
bad already, somewhat discolored with deep purple bruises and swollen to about
twice the size of her good ankle.
 

Red stood up and saw her examining her
injury.
 
“You lay back down and
elevate that ankle,” he said, forcefully but also with concern.
 
He was carrying an Ace bandage and tape
in his hands, coming back to the couch to tend to her.

“You really don’t need to do this,” she
told him.

Now that she was recovering her senses
and the pain in her ankle had lessened slightly, she could really take in Red’s
unshaven face, the dark circles under his eyes.
 
He even looked thinner.

“Let me see that ankle,” he said, taking
her foot in one hand and then beginning to wrap the bandage around it.
 
“This will help stabilize things a
bit.
 
And then we’re going to get
some ice on it for the swelling.”

“How do you know so much about treating
ankle sprains?” she asked.

Red just shrugged.
 
“My brother’s a doctor.
 
I could probably remove your appendix
too, if we were in a pinch.”
 
He
looked up and grinned at her—the old Red grin that she loved so much.

Nicole felt her heart flutter, and then
her stomach.
 
That reminded her of
why she’d come here.
 
How was she
going to tell him?
 
She swallowed
and remembered how thirsty she was.
 
“Can I have a cup of water?” she said.

“Of course,” he replied, finishing with
the Ace bandage, and laying her foot on the top of the armrest of the
couch.
 
“One second.”
 
He walked back to the sink and grabbed a
cup from one of the shelves, then poured her water straight from the tap.
 
“This is much better than the crap in
New York City.
 
Fresh as can be.”

He came back and she took the cup
gratefully from his hands, drinking it all at once.
 
“Thanks,” she said, after she’d gulped
it all down.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about being
thirsty.”
 
He went to the
refrigerator and opened the freezer door.
 
“Let’s see now.
 
Here we
go.”
 
He came back with a couple of
packages of frozen peas.

“I’m not a big fan of peas,” Nicole said.

“Well that’s fine.
 
You’re not going to be eating
them.”
 
He pressed the peas against
her ankle on both sides.
 
“Don’t
move around too much.
 
We do this
for twenty minutes, every three hours.
 
Got it?”

She shrugged.

He put his hands on his hips and looked
her over.
 
“Are you hungry,
Nicole?
 
I figured I’d fix us
something to eat in the next hour or so.”

“I don’t know if I should stay that
long,” she said, barely able to look at him.
 
She was still scared of him, she
realized.
 
Who knew when he’d get
angry again or decide she needed to be sent away?
 
Especially when he found out she was
pregnant.

“Of course you’ll stay,” he said.
 
“Don’t be silly.
 
Now that you’re here…” Red trailed
off.
 
Then he started to smile
again.
 
“I’m glad you’re here,
Nicole.
 
Not glad you hurt your
ankle, but still.
 
You’re here now
and I’m not letting you get away so fast.”

“If you’re glad I’m here, then why did
you act so angry when you first saw me?” she asked, finally allowing the hurt
she felt from his reaction to show on her face.
 
“You looked like you wished I’d just
disappear in a puff of smoke.”

Red shook his head and came towards
her.
 
“No.
 
Hell no, I didn’t want you to
disappear.
 
You’re all I think
about.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

“Well it’s true.”

“You made sure I couldn’t find you,” she
said.
 
“That doesn’t sound like
someone you think about all the time.
 
Unless you think about how much you want to forget about me.”

“Is that why you think I did all of
this?
 
Because I don’t care about
you?”

“Yes, Red.
 
That’s what any normal person would
assume.”

He nodded.
 
“I can see why you’d assume that.
 
But the fact is, I came to the cabin to
protect you from me—not to protect myself from you.
 
I told you before.
 
I’m not good enough for you, I’m just a
bad guy.”

“That’s not true.”
 

“It is true,” he snapped, color blazing
in his cheeks.
 
“I’m a mess, Nicole
and it’s better for you to stay away from me.
 
I knew that I had to protect you, to
make it impossible for us to see each other.”

Nicole could feel her eyes welling up and
she blinked back her tears.
 
“I hate
what you’re saying to me right now.
 
I hate it.”

Red quieted and looked at the floor.
 
“And then when you appeared in front of
me just then like some vision, like a dream come to life—I panicked.
 
I panicked because there hasn’t been a
single second, not a single second since you left that I haven’t thought about
you.”

“Then you should have been happy to see
me.”

“I was.
 
But I was also terrified, because I knew
that I’d never have the strength to send you away again.” Red’s eyes were
boring into hers as he continued.
 
“It took every ounce of strength I had to make you leave last time.
 
And now I don’t have it in me—I’m
too weak and selfish to do what’s right for you.
 
I need to keep you close to me for the
rest of my life.”

“That’s all I ever wanted in the first
place,” she told him.
 
“But you
found a way to make me doubt us—to make me doubt your feelings for me.”

“I know you didn’t understand why I did
what I did,” he said.
 
“I know that
it seems to you like I don’t care.
 
But really, the very opposite is true.
 
I care about you so much, Nicole—I
love you so much—that it was more important to me that you move on with
your life.
 
Be happy with someone
else.
 
Meet a really nice, normal
guy who doesn’t have all this darkness inside of him ruining everything.”

“I don’t care about your darkness,” she
said.
 

Red blinked at her.
 
“What?”

“I said, I don’t care about your
darkness.
 
In fact, I love your
darkness.
 
I love your moods.
 
Because I love you, Red.
 
That’s all a part of who you are and I
love
you
.”

Red put a hand on his face and rubbed his
beard.
 
“My god.
 
I’m a fool.
 
What did I do?
 
What did I do to you?”
 
He came over and leaned down and kissed
her.
 

She kissed him back, and his lips were
just as she remembered—everything was right—as if they’d only just
kissed a moment ago.
 
He was hungry
for her, as always, maybe even more so.
 
His hands caressed her face, as if he was a blind man relishing every
curve of her jaw, the sensation of her skin against his.