Harmonie Kennels’ state-of-the-art facilities included, among other things, a fully stocked veterinary clinic where the needs of their K-9s could be taken care of. The small space was equipped with everything a small-animal vet might need, including an examination table, bandages, and a small fridge full of medications.
Yardley began grabbing bandages and surgical tape off the shelves.
Kye reached up to block her with his body when she reached for more. “It’s an arm wound, Yard. You’ve got enough stuff to make a mummy out of him.”
She looked up, her face flushed. Something had changed; this was no longer only about them.
The truth was there in her eyes. So alive in a face she too seldom allowed its full range of emotion. She wasn’t an enigma. She was just very careful. Too careful for her own good. But now her expression was revealing every emotion running through her thoughts. There was fear. And the fierce need to protect. And affection. It just ate him up inside that it was caused by a man that wasn’t him.
“What do you really know about this guy?”
She didn’t answer, just started raiding drawers for tubes of ointment.
He hip-checked her reach for the stethoscope hanging on the wall. She turned a blazing glance on him that nearly set his short hairs on fire. But at least he had her attention.
“You two had a thing. I got that. But you know nothing about him but what he’s told you. He disappeared for months without any explanation. Believe me, you don’t know who he really is or what he really does.”
“I know enough.”
The reverberations of those three words made Kye sway on his feet. Law had warned him. This was the man Yard thought she wanted to marry.
He and Yard had always had a volatile history. They were like oil and vinegar. Shake them up and they became a delicious blend of emotions to satisfy their sexual appetites. But when things settled out, they were once again divided in every way that mattered. To argue otherwise would be stupid, pointless, insane.
Still, he wasn’t going down without a fight.
He went toe-to-toe with her, bringing his body against hers without laying a finger on her. She didn’t back away. “Then add this into your calculation. Men don’t get shot at without reason. Someone wants him dead. Do you understand what that means?”
Yard’s eyes grew wider but she came back at him like a tiger. “It means David needs my help.”
“And you need mine.” He could feel the warmth of her breath on his cheek. It was killing him not to touch her. He reached out and pushed a lock of hair from her cheek. “The doc’s in no position to argue. I’m calling the sheriff or the FBI. Take your pick.”
Outrage had never had a more beautiful canvas than her face. “You’d do that to me?”
“To save your sweet ass? In a heartbeat.”
She stared at him as if he had morphed into a troll. Then she shoved her armload of supplies against his chest. “First you need to finish what you started. Don’t drop anything. And try to keep up.”
“I like the way you say Please, oh please, don’t abandon me, Kye. Yep, when you plead for help, it just goes all over a guy in a warm and fuzzy way.”
She tossed the middle finger over her shoulder at him as she moved on to the next room to get antibiotics. But he would swear he caught the edge of a smile on her face as she turned the corner.
*
“I can do that.” Yard was watching Kye slit the rest of the sleeve of the doctor’s flannel shirt in order to get to the rear wound.
“You’re emotionally involved.” Kye didn’t look up from what he was doing. “Don’t-give-a-damn trumps emotionally involved. If you want to help you can boil water.”
“Screw you. I’m staying.”
David looked back and forth between the pair. “You sound like an old married couple.”
“Do not,” they replied in unison.
Kye scowled at his patient. “If you can’t take the pain, let me know.”
He levered the doctor’s arm high to check the back of his biceps. Then he pulled out a penlight and bent close for a better look at the injury.
By the time the examination was done, Gunnar was sweating, and it wasn’t from the temperature. But his voice was steady and his gaze direct. “How bad is it?”
“You know more than I do, of course. But I’d say it’s an ice-pick injury.”
“Ice pick?” Yardley looked confused. “I thought he’d been shot.”
“It means the bullet passed through my arm.” David reached out his good hand to her. “I agree. I did a preliminary examination first chance I could. I could tell by the blood flow that the bullet didn’t sever an artery. And the bone’s not broken.”
“Still, it did damage, Doc.” Kye tried not to stare at the way Yardley was smoothing the hair back from the man’s face. But he was jealous. So green he made the Hulk look jaundiced. “You’ve got a lot of swelling, and judging by the heat around the wound, infection could be an issue really soon.”