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“ME’s gonna be fishing for a while,” he said coldly. His eye suddenly dropped down to Dane’s lips and Dane felt a rush of heat go through him.What the fuck?
“Jaxon-” Callan began in warning.
“It’s Jax,” the man responded, his eyes still on Dane’s mouth. He finally raised his gaze and said, “Think what you want, Doc. But you and I both know those fuckers wouldn’t have thought twice about throwing your kid into a ditch somewhere if they’d gotten away…or worse.”
Dane took Emma back from Callan as Jax holstered the gun Dane hadn’t even realized he was still holding. The man gave him one last cold look, then turned and went to talk to the cops who were mulling around the crime scene that used to be his SUV.
* * *
Jaxon Reid ignored the ache in his jaw as he went to the trunk of his car and began reloading his guns. The doctor packed one hell of a punch though he supposed that any man faced with the prospect of losing his child wouldn’t react much different. He couldn’t even remember the last time someone had taken a swing at him and had actually gotten him on the ground. It was his own fault for being more focused on the guy’s full lips than the fury in his dark brown eyes. Not to mention the kid.
God, what a sweetheart. He’d never been much for babies but when that little girl had looked up at him with her watery blue eyes as he plucked her from her car seat, a little piece of him had melted. She’d been screaming bloody murder but had settled with a few soft words and then watched him in mute fascination as he explained what was going to happen to the scumbag who’d dared to steal her away from her father. Shit, Doc would have had a coronary if he’d heard just a fraction of the things he’d said to little Emma.
Heat burned his back as he marveled at how two hours ago he’d been standing in nearly this exact spot telling Rhys Tellar that he was a free man. And now a man was dead and he was stuck in this place until he gave his official statement to the local sheriff tomorrow. On top of it all, he was sporting a sore jaw and a burgeoning erection – all courtesy of the down home, country doctor with the stick up his ass.
“Mr. Reid?”
Jax swung around, ignoring the tightening in his gut at the sound of that husky, deep voice. The good doctor stood just behind him, his kid in her car seat in one hand, a diaper bag strung over his shoulder, and a strange looking piece of plastic in the other hand. And from the expression on his face, it was clear the man really didn’t want to be talking to him. Jax shoved the last bullet into the chamber of his gun and holstered the weapon before leaning back against his car.
“I was wondering if you could give us a ride home,” the man managed to get out as he cast a look over his shoulder at his SUV being towed down the driveway. “It’s not far, but it’s too hot for Emma…” the man trailed off. Jax had no doubt that if the guy was by himself, he wouldn’t have reduced himself to asking for a favor.
Jax crossed his arms and enjoyed the sight of the other man actually fidgeting. He guessed the guy to be in his late thirties. Broad shoulders, round ass – it was all working for him. He might not have been as cut as the men Jax usually favored, but his cock didn’t seem to mind and he actually needed to turn back to the car and pretend to rearrange things in his trunk while he got control of himself. His slacks weren’t cutting it when it came to hiding the desire that was suddenly coursing through him again.
“Callan is out looking for the rest of the horses and Rhys went with Finn to the hospital,” the doctor said lamely.
“Get in, Doc,” Jax said stiffly.
“It’s Dane,” came the quiet reply and he could hear the weariness in the other man’s voice. A shard of pity went through him, but he pushed it back and slammed the trunk shut.
Dane went around to the passenger side of the car and opened the back door and began fiddling with the seat. He realized the man was installing the base for Emma’s car seat. A snort went through him. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined his luxury car being turned into a glorified mommy mobile.
He dropped into the seat and got the car going and turned the air conditioning on full blast. It took several minutes for Dane to get the base secured and Emma settled. By the time he was sliding in the passenger seat, Jax was enjoying the first blast of cold air snaking over his heated skin. He got the car in gear and started down the dirt road that led to the main highway. A glance in his rearview mirror showed that Emma was out cold.
“Tough day for her,” he mused as he glanced at Dane. God, even now the man was stiff as a board. “Tough day all around, I suppose,” he corrected as he leaned back in his seat and enjoyed the cool feel of the ventilated, leather seats. Dane didn’t respond to him or acknowledge him in any way. His initial response was to lay into the doctor about being wound so tight, but then he noticed Dane was staring out the window, the knuckles of one hand fisted against his mouth as if he was trying to hold something in.
Jax knew he should just ignore the man, get him dropped off at his house as soon as possible and get his ass to a hotel. The sooner he put this day behind him, the sooner he could wake up, give the sheriff his statement and get the hell out of this hotter than Hades little town.
So he had no idea what had gotten into him when he said, “Hey, she’s okay, Doc” and reached out to brush his fingers over Dane’s left hand. Dane closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest.
“It was just supposed to be a fucking ride,” he said softly. Jax felt a punch in his gut when Dane’s tortured gaze landed on him. “I shouldn’t have left her in the car.”
“She’s here, Doc. She’s fine.”
“Don’t call me that,” he said in a clipped tone.
“Look, Dane, I don’t know shit about you, but even I can tell you love that kid more than anything. There was no way you could have known what would happen.”
“That’s just it. I’m supposed to know. I’m her father.”
Jax laughed softly. “Unless you have some plan to get yourself a crystal ball, I wouldn’t pin all your hopes on that thought. Sometimes you’re just gonna fuck up.” Dane didn’t respond and Jax felt himself weirdly missing the sound of the man’s voice. “So Finn is with Callan and Rhys?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Dane said with a smile. “They had some kind of a falling out and he was staying with me ‘till he figured out what to do next. Callan showed up at my place a few days ago and told Finn he loved him and Rhys both and wanted him to come home.”
“And just when I was thinking this little town would be boring. A ménage – I bet they’re gonna be the talk of the town.”
A dark expression came over Dane. “Be fine if talking was all they did.”
“What do you mean?” Jax asked.
