Off Base (26 page)

“It’s her decision. I can’t make her stay here if she doesn’t want—”

Beck threw back his head and laughed. “Are you really that stupid? You have to give her a reason to stay. Same way I gave Kenna a reason to go. Have you asked Hunt to stay at Black Rock?”

Cullen’s hands opened and closed into fists. Was it that easy? He simply had to ask? “Maybe it’s best if she goes.” He dragged a hand over his head. “I only know that I can’t let her down.” He failed his father. He failed Xander. He couldn’t fail Huntley, too.

“Maybe you don’t want her to stay,” Beck challenged. “Maybe you had your fun with her and now you’re done.”

“
Hey
.” Cullen surged to his feet, forgetting for a moment that this was Huntley’s brother. He grabbed Beck by the front of his shirt and shook once. “It’s not like that.”

“No? Then what is it like?” At Cullen’s silence, Beck nodded. “Maybe you need to figure that out before she’s gone. Because my sister is strong and she’ll move on, while you’re sitting here, wondering how the hell you let her get away.” He moved for the door and pulled it open. “Think about that.”

Thinking about that was all he did for the rest of the night.

He didn’t sleep a wink, staring into the dark, wondering when he had become so thoroughly fucked. He’d fallen in love with his best friend and had done everything wrong … everything to send her packing and walking out of his life forever.

It dawned on him then.

The exact thing he didn’t want to happen—failing Huntley, losing her—was happening.

Shit
. If he didn’t fix things with Huntley now, it would be too late.

Maybe it already was.

* * *

“There’s a patient complaining of chest pains in exam room five,” Nancy, the senior nurse on duty, said as Huntley walked up to the nurse’s station after assisting one of the doctors with a broken arm in exam room three. She’d seen it time and time again. Alcohol and foosball did not mix.

Huntley eyed the clock, eager for when she could take her break and grab a latte from the food truck outside. “And I’m guessing you want me to take the patient?”

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“Course not.” Busy was good. Busy stopped her from thinking too much about Cullen. When she returned to her empty house tonight, she would have plenty of time for that.

Huntley took the chart and started down the hall, stopping when something occurred to her. She looked over her shoulder. “Exam room five?”

The other nurse shrugged, smiling mysteriously as she drifted in the opposite direction down the hall. Chest pain was usually prioritized into exam rooms one or two. Unless triage had deemed the patient low priority for some reason.

She continued, pushing open the door, a greeting on her lips as she flipped open the chart, ready to glance over the patient’s basic information—and found it blank.

Huntley looked up, her heart stopping at the sight of Cullen sitting on the exam table. Her chest squeezed at the sight of him. Those molten chocolate eyes. The hard body unmistakable beneath his fatigues. He braced his hands on each of his thighs in an anxious manner.

“Cullen? What are you doing here?”

Cullen was here. In front of her.

She snapped shut the chart, knowing she had been sabotaged. A quick glance up and down his lean body confirmed that he looked as hale and hearty as ever. He had to get Nancy’s help for this. “Shouldn’t you be at work?” she demanded.

He placed a hand over his heart. “I hurt. Right here.”

Her lips twitched at the utter seriousness of his expression. “That so?”

Pulse racing, she set the chart down on the counter and walked forward. Clearing her throat and ignoring the sudden constricting of her own heart, she feigned seriousness. “When did this pain start?”

“A few nights ago.”

“I see.” She swallowed against the sudden dryness of her throat and resisted the urge to fling her arms around his neck. “Can you describe the pain?”

He nodded solemnly. “Yeah, at first my pulse raced and it felt like my heart might explode.”

“Hm. Interesting.”

“And then last night, the pain changed.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” His hands closed around her hips, hauling her between his thighs. She suddenly didn’t think she was the only one whose heart might explode. “When you started talking about moving back home, leaving Black Rock, leaving me … it felt like a knife was stabbing me right here.” He took her hand and placed it over his heart. His eyes crawled over every inch of her face, his gaze penetrating past skin and bone, burrowing deep into her soul. “It still does.”

“Oh,” she breathed, her too-tight chest lifting, trying to pull in air. She supposed she could tell him she had no intention of moving. Maybe later. After he said everything he came here to say.

“Oh,” he echoed. “There’s only one way to make it stop. Only one way to fix me.”

She moistened her lips. “Well, then tell me. I’m a nurse. It’s my responsibility to—”

He silenced her with a kiss, his mouth slanting and moving on hers until she forgot whatever it was she was meant to say. He pulled back, leaving her gasping, his hand cupping her cheek. “Stay.”

“W-what?” Her voice trembled from her lips, but it was nothing compared to the way her heart shuddered inside her chest.

“I need you to stay. To live here. With me.” His fingers tightened over hers. “I need you to love me back.”

Her heart overflowed at those words. “Cullen,” she choked. “You love me?”

“I love you. I always have. I just didn’t know. You’re in my blood, Huntley. If you go, I’m lost.”

She nodded jerkily, blinking, trying not to cry. “I’m not going anywhere. I never intended to. This is my home.”

Relief flashed across his face. “Well, that’s good to know.”

“As far as loving you,” she continued. “I do. I have. For a long time.”

He brought his other hand up, framing her face in both hands. “So. Are you moving into my place, or am I moving into yours?”

She laughed. “Isn’t that a little sudden? A little bit—”

“Sweetheart, we’ve been dating for years. We just didn’t realize it.” He smiled, but his eyes drilled into her—intense, solemn. “And I don’t want to spend another night without you.”

“Wow,” she breathed. “You don’t waste time.”

“I know what I want.” His thumb traced her mouth. “And all this time we could have been having sex.”

“We have a lot of catching up to do,” she agreed, bringing her other hand up to his chest, reveling in the hardness of his flesh beneath her palm and hating the clothes barring her from complete access.

“Why don’t we get a new place together?” he suggested, kissing her jaw, her throat, inching toward the collar of her scrubs. “A fresh start for both us?”

“We might as well.” She nodded in approval.

“Some place big enough for all the kids we’re going to have.”

“Kids?” Her heart jumped wildly in her chest. She tugged his face back up.

“Well, yeah, we’ll get married first, of course. But there will be babies, Huntley.”

Tears burned in her eyes; there was no stopping them. She wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. She tried to speak, but a broken sob escaped instead.

“This isn’t very romantic, is it?” He frowned as if the idea just occurred to him. “Proposing this way. I should have—”

“It’s perfect.” She sniffed, her fingers curling into his shirt, gripping hard. “It’s beautiful. It’s you. I wouldn’t want anything different.”

“I won’t fail you.” He smoothed a hand over her hair.

“I know you won’t.”

“I’ll try to give you everything, Huntley.”

“Just love me.”

“Done.” He kissed her again, slow and deep and forever.

About the Authors

Tessa lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and young daughter. When she isn’t writing or reading romance, Tessa enjoys a good argument and thirty-minute recipes. Find out about new releases from Tessa at
www.tessabailey.com
.

Other titles by Tessa Bailey:

Line of Duty Series

PROTECTING WHAT’S HIS

PROTECTING WHAT’S THEIRS

HIS RISK TO TAKE

OFFICER OFF LIMITS

ASKING FOR TROUBLE

STAKING HIS CLAIM

Crossing the Line Series

RISKIER BUSINESS

RISKING IT ALL

Serve Series

OWNED BY FATE

EXPOSED BY FATE

DRIVEN BY FATE

Broke and Beautiful Series

CHASE ME

NEED ME

Standalone Titles

UNFIXABLE

BAITING THE MAID OF HONOR

Sophie lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and children. When she isn’t writing or reading romance, Sophie enjoys lattes and cramming her DVR with shows she watches after her kids go to bed. Find out about new releases from Sophie at
www.sophiejordan.net
.

Other titles by Sophie Jordan:

The Ivy Chronicles

FOREPLAY

TEASE

WILD

Historical Romances

ONCE UPON A WEDDING NIGHT

TOO WICKED TO TAME

ONE NIGHT WITH YOU

SURRENDER TO YOU

SINS OF A WICKED DUKE

IN SCANDAL THEY WED

WICKED NIGHTS WITH A LOVER

HOW TO LOSE A BRIDE IN ONE NIGHT

LESSONS FROM A SCANDALOUS BRIDE

WICKED IN YOUR ARMS

A GOOD DEBUTANTE’S GUIDE TO RUIN

Young Adult Romance

The
Firelight
Trilogy (
FIRELIGHT
,
VANISH
, and
HIDDEN
)

UNINVITED

UNLEASHED