Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(109)
“But I need it to buy new ones.”
“Erin.” This day had stressed the limits of my patience, and if she thought I’d allow her to pay for the damage, she was crazy.
Her mouth popped open slightly, no doubt to dispute my intentions, but the glare I gave her needed no explanation. “I know you’re independent and self-reliant but this here,” I waved my hand between us, “changes that.”
Erin leaned back into her seat and sighed, resigning only so far. “I don’t expect you to pay for the tires, Adam. It’s my car. They’re probably going to be expensive.”
I took a calming breath, not wanting to argue and needing to choose my words carefully so I didn’t come off as an *. “You’re missing the point. You get a flat while going to work, I’ll take you for a new tire or I’ll plug it myself. You have shit damaged on my watch and at my house, that is not yours to fix, it’s mine.”
“I appreciate that but I’ve never been a user, Adam. I don’t expect you to pay for everything. That’s not how this works. The tires… What happened—it’s not your fault. You’re not responsible. I’m not—”
I cut her off. “I get that, Doc. It’s easy to see you aren’t a taker and I respect the hell out of that. If you were, believe me, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. But it’s my job to make sure you’re safe and protected and that is my responsibility. And I hear ya, but it still doesn’t change things between us or that I want you to put your credit card away.”
Her eyes widened briefly and then narrowed, assessing her options. “Is that your final answer, Cop?”
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her bend to my will. That and her tease amused me to no end. “Yes.”
“I take it you usually get your way once you flash that smile.”
Usually. “Don’t know. Why, is it working?”
Her answering smile was quite seductive. “Like you have to ask.”
No, I didn’t. I’d learned a long time ago how to sway life with a bit of charm. All the Trent boys knew the tricks, born with smiles that worked like magic. Where Michael’s techniques were slow and stealthy, Jason’s sway tactics were almost lethal. My little brother could bend the toughest of nails with little effort. Kyle used his charm to separate hundreds of girls from their underwear. I turned mine Erin’s way. “Not really, but it’s still nice to hear. And now that I know it works on you, I’ll be unleashing it quite often.”
“That’s not fair.”
Her pout was adorable. “All’s fair in love and war, sweetheart.”
The moment the “L” word slipped out of my mouth, I froze. I caught Erin shifting slightly in her seat, undoubtedly drawing her own conclusions.
Shit. Should I do damage control? What would I say? Asshole. Say nothing or you’ll just dig a deeper hole. I shoved the gear shift into park. “Your smile is pretty potent too, you know.”
My cell started to ring over the system on my dash. Once again, no number was showing.
“You need to take that?” Erin asked.
I shut my ringer off and shoved it in my pocket. “They can leave me a message.”
Squaring Erin away was the only thing on my mind.
I WAS STILL furiously pissed off by the time I pulled onto my street. I parked at the very edge of my driveway, held the wheel with both hands, and cursed the mounds of snow blocking my way.
I closed my eyes and turned the stereo up. Every word, every note playing through the speakers wrapped perfectly around renewed thoughts of Adam and the two amazing days we’d spent together this weekend. It was as if I could find bits and pieces of him in each song, but it still wasn’t enough to calm my raging anger.
Knowing someone was out there with so much contempt in their heart to commit such a violent act as flattening my tires became secondary to the conversation I’d just had with Doctor Sam Wilson in his office.
I’d waited for him to finish his Monday morning staff meeting before asking to speak with him privately. The second I posed my question about the fellowship, I felt foolish for even asking. I knew the committee wouldn’t be meeting for a few more weeks and yet I allowed that bitch Mandy to poison my mind with her false bravado. Randy had apparently gotten his information from an unreliable source.
Sam confirmed my suspicions that no decisions had been made and that the likelihood of both of us getting denied for the program was unlikely, though he again did his best to convince me that emergency medicine was where I belonged. This information was the driving force that had me storming down to Radiology. I knew I shouldn’t be reacting emotionally as nothing good ever came from that approach, but the scorned part of me demanded instant retribution.
Fortunately for one of us, Mandy wasn’t in. Neither was my ex, Randy. The bastard who’d said he’d cover shifts for me so I could attend to my family’s double tragedy decided to take several days of vacation. How convenient. Proof once again that his words weren’t even worth the air that he wasted expelling them.
All of this emotional upheaval was exhausting. So was the eight inches of crusty snow waiting to be shoveled out of my driveway.
I retrieved my shovel and started clearing a path, finding the task and chilled air mind-numbing. Each heavy load had me wishing for a snow blower or a strong boyfriend willing to dig me out of this snow-covered world.