Alexander by Kathi S. Barton Read Free Book Online Page B

looked at him.
    “ Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital. Lisa is calling her mom to have her come and finish what you have going.” He held out her coat for her to slip on. “Come on, miss, that needs to be looked at.”
    “ I’m not going anywhere with you. And I’m certainly not going to the hospital. You need to go back up front and leave me to my job.” She walked past him to the paper towel rack and pulled off several sheets. “It’s just a burn. It’s part and parcel of the job. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
    He watched her wrap the sheets gently around her arm, not looking at the area until she had it covered. He still held her coat as he walked toward her.
    “ Maybe you didn’t hear me say we were going. I didn’t ask. Put on your coat and let’s go. I have things I have to do today and they don’t—”
    “ Then go do them. I’m not stopping you. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a big girl and can take care of myself. Been doing it awhile now.”
    He’d noticed she was a big girl. It would be hard not to. And a beautiful one at that. He couldn’t decide if it was the blue eyes or the sadness in them that had him wanting to pull her into his arms. And he wasn’t even sure he’d live to talk about it if he tried. She was a prickly thing.
    “ I want you to put this damn coat on and let me take you to get that wound looked at. I’m not kidding, Heather. Either we do this easy or we do this hard. Understand me?”
    She looked at him for several seconds, studying him, he supposed, when she threw back her head and laughed. She walked to the oven when the timer went off and opened it. Testing whatever was in there, she closed it up and put another five minutes on the timer.
    “ I spoke to you on the phone once. About a month ago. You were demanding then too. Called me a liar. Twice. I didn’t like you then and I don’t like you any better now that we meet face to face.”
    The girl on the phone. The one he’d come by to apologize to. He’d never seen her before today, but he’d heard a great deal about her. He walked to her, holding out her coat again. “Well, you’re really going to hate me now. As of yesterday, I’m part owner of this place and as such, I’m taking you to the hospital. Now put the fucking coat on or so help me I will bend you over my knee, blister your ass good, and take you anyway.”
    He watched with fascination as her face went from happy that she’d remembered him to violent in a heartbeat or two. He had never seen anything so beautiful and sexy in his life and wondered fleetingly if she put that much passion in making love. He felt his cock twitch thinking about it. But when she stepped toward him with a look in her eye that he’d seen his sister have, he backed up.
    “ Why you overbearing, pigheaded swine. You think you can just waltz your ass back here and order me around like I’m…like I’m a child? Well I’m not going anywhere with you. I quit.” She tore off her apron and threw it at him. “You can take this job and shove it up your bottom. I won’t work for you.”
    She was nearly to the door when he grabbed for her. He didn’t mean to grab her arm, but when she snatched the coat out of his hand and moved, he saw red. When she screamed, he let her go immediately. She crumpled to the floor and would have hit her head on the sink, but he caught her before she did. Caroline came in just as he was lifting her up.
    It took him five minutes to explain what had happened. He felt like shit and hated himself more in that moment than he’d ever had in his life. He was putting her in the back of his car, talking to Caroline as he strapped her in.
    “ I’m so sorry. I hurt her arm and when she started to leave…she quit. I’ll take care of that. I’ll give her a raise or whatever. I’m so sorry, Caroline.”
    “ Just call me when you get her there. And Alex, you’d better make her stay or our deal is off. I love this girl and I don’t think she