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“Taylor?” Kayleigh groaned. Ben’s stomach dipped. He’d forgotten all about his competition.Of course she’s asking for Taylor, she’s in love with the guy!
“I’m here Kayleigh,” the redhead replied, taking Kayleigh’s hand.
Ben frowned, then his eyebrows lifted as realization settled in. Taylor was awoman? He’d thought that Taylor was this sexy buff guy with… red hair in adorable curls… tattoos and piercings… Ben ran his eyes over the woman next to him and everything clicked.
Kayleigh had never said that Taylor was a man, he’d justassumedthat. Then another thought slid into place: not only was she not in love with Ben, he’d assumed Kayleigh was straight, but the evidence that that wasn’t the case was sitting right next to him. Now he knew, Kayleigh would never be his. Another lump filled his throat.This is why you don’t do stupid things, like move hundreds of miles for a woman you’ve never met and clearly didn’t know as well as you thought.His romantic dreams of walking into the sunset hand in hand with Kayleigh crumbled to dust, the disappointment choking him.
Kayleigh groaned again in his arms and Ben cleared his throat. “I’m not a doctor but I think she’s concussed.”
Kayleigh’s eyes fluttered open again and she sighed, beaming at Taylor. “I love you!”
The phantom knife currently protruding from Ben’s heart twisted sharply.
“Aw, I love you too, Kay,” Taylor patted her hand affectionately, but Kayleigh moaned.
“No, you beautiful dummy. Iloveyou,” Kayleigh said again.
Taylor’s eyes flicked to Ben, and he gave her a tight smile. He knew Kayleigh would be mortified if Taylor found out how in love with her she truly was. “Yeah, she doesn’t know what she’s saying, I’d ignore that,” he said casually.
Taylor nodded and Ben turned his attention back to Kayleigh whose eyes were closing again.
Then the ambulance arrived, and two paramedics ran in, pushing Ben and Taylor to the side as they got to work checking Kayleigh’s vital signs. Ben continued to hover, watching them work and checking that they did all the things he would have done, that they weren’t skipping any steps. He turned away, reminding himself that he wasn’t a fully qualified paramedic. He had walked out on his training, so he shouldn’t be judging anyone right now.
“So, um shall we reschedule my interview. I’m free anytime?” Ben said, tucking his hands in the pockets of his jeans and trying to distract himself from what was happening with his most favorite person in the world. His stomach twisted; it was torture to see her like this.
Taylor turned to him. “Fuck your interview, you’re hired. When can you start?”
His eyes flicked to Kayleigh, and he worried a hand over his stubbly jaw, suddenly doubting that this was the best idea he ever had. Maybe he needed to think about it, maybe he’d been too impulsive. He had made a rash decision and now he had information that he didn’t have before.
“Really?”
Taylor nodded eagerly.
“I guess I can start next week?” he said. That way he could have a week to think about if he really wanted to do this. At least if he decided it wasn’t the best thing for him then he hadn’t wasted too much of her time.
“Perfect! Wait, how old are you?” she asked.
“I’m twenty-six and a non-smoking Sagittarius who likes long walks on the beach and quiet nights in,” he quipped, then his smile fell as he mentally checked himself. “Ah, sorry about that, my mouth runs away with me sometimes.”
Her grin quirked up. “Then we’re gonna get along just fine. And with Kayleigh too, you’re the same age so you’ll probably have a lot in common.”
He looked over at Kayleigh again, watching as the paramedics put her on a stretcher and concern gripped him tight. “Yeah, we probably do.”
As Ben was deep in thought, two men rushed into the bar, one of them heading straight for Taylor and hugging her tightly. The other one, dressed all in black and sporting an extremely intense stare, ran suspicious eyes over Ben.
As Taylor explained what happened, Ben realized he’d come in at the end of the ordeal. If only he’d gone inside the bar sooner, he could have prevented Kayleigh from getting hurt. But no, he was busy having an existential crisis outside.
“Who are you?” Intense Stare Guy demanded. Ben was pretty tall and kinda on the lean side but this guy, in fact both of these men, were fucking huge.
“I’m Ben Morgan, I’m new in town. I came here for an interview and saw a guy rushing out of the bar and then I heard someone calling for help and I came inside. I helped as best I could and called the ambulance.”
“Are you prepared to give a witness statement?” he asked. Well, not really asked, more like growled his demand.
“Anything for my new boss,” Ben smiled, trying to win over whoever this guy was.
“Right, let’s head to the station then. I’ll get a man posted in the area to keep an eye on the bar and your cabin, see if this asshole shows his face again,” he told Taylor then ushered Ben out of the bar and gestured towards a vehicle which hadCitrus PinesSheriffscrawled along the side.
“Man, if I had to pick anyone to be sheriff of a town I was living in, it would be you any day of the week,” Ben said. The sheriff frowned at him but said nothing and Ben cringed at his lack of a filter.
