Instant Gratification

Chapter 6

That night, Emma risked driving the roads out to her father’s cabin again under the guise of bringing him another casserole, hoping for a sign that her torture would be coming to an end.

He accepted the casserole, but still couldn’t produce his medical records-shocker.

On the way home, there was a wind that knocked the truck around some, and she found herself holding her breath all the way back. By the time she got into town, she needed chocolate.

Lots of chocolate.

She parked at Wishful’s one and only grocery store in desperate search of a sugar rush. She ran into Missy in the dairy aisle and Annie in the cereal aisle.

Small town living.

She was deciding between Time and Scientific Weekly when she felt the odd tingle of awareness race down her back and settle into her good spots.

Oh, boy.

Even without looking, she knew what that meant. Turning, she locked gazes with Stone, trying to reconcile the laid-back guy she thought she’d figured out with the guy Missy had talked about.

He was propping up a vitamin display with his shoulder-which he did quite nicely, she noted, in his loose cargoes and plain T-shirt, iPod ear-pieces hanging around his neck. He didn’t move, doing his best to perpetuate that lazy guy image he seemed to enjoy so much.

“Doc.”

“Stone.”

He smiled, slow as a Cheshire cat, and lifted his hand, revealing the bottle of Advil he held. “Getting some more of that good vitamin A.”

“You’re still hurting?” she asked while trying to decide who he was-mountain bum, or saint. Neither, she decided, but the jury was still out on who he might really be.

Strangely enough, her heart was suddenly racing as if she’d run down the aisles. An odd physical reaction to a patient.

Except not just a patient.

Funny how her mother’s voice turned up in her head at the least expected times. Like now.

He’s a mountain hottie, darling. Ignore mountain hotties. They’ll snag your heart, and then stomp on it.

Oh, for God’s sake. She focused on Stone. Not exactly a hardship. “How are you feeling?” she asked since he hadn’t answered her question.

“Better. I’ve been wanting to thank you.”

“For?”

“First for the medical care.”

“No problem.”

“And second for helping out with Lilah.”

“Again, no problem.”

“And third-and possibly most importantly, for not beating me with your bat.”

She felt a smile tug at her mouth. “You got lucky.” She moved toward the next aisle-fruits and veggies, dammit, but she couldn’t just grab a fistful of candy bars right in front of him. So she grabbed some grapes even though she didn’t like grapes, and dropped them in her cart.

Shifting a little closer, he reached for the bag dispenser, just over her head, making her hyperaware of his big body and the fact that he smelled amazing.

A woman came down the aisle with four young kids, each of them screaming and yelling and beating each other with light sabers from the toy aisle. The woman started to pass by them with an apologetic smile, but stopped at the sight of Stone. “Hey, you,” she said with familiarity. “I’ve been wanting to thank you for the bag of t-shirts, the kids loved them.”

Stone smiled easily, picking up one of the boys before he could climb the banana display, setting him down by his mother. “No problem, glad you could use them. Alice, this is-”

“Doctor Sinclair,” Alice said with a much more formal tone than she’d used with Stone. “I’ve heard about you. How’s your wonderful father doing?”

“Better, thank you,” Emma said, hoping to God that was actually true.

“Good.” With one last sweet smile for Stone, Alice moved on, surrounded by chaos.

“We went to school together,” Stone told Emma, once again following her as she turned into the next aisle. The woman shelving soups sent Stone a hopeful smile combining a sultry invitation and a knowing satisfaction. “Hi there, Stone.”

“Hey, Tina,” Stone said with more easy familiarity. “How’s Danny?”

“Oh, I’m not seeing him anymore.” Cocking her head, she eyeballed Stone up and down, as if maybe he was a twelve course meal and she was starving. “I signed up for another rock climbing class. Requested you.”

He laughed softly and shook his head. “Cam takes those now.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe you could make an exception?”

“The schedule’s pretty set.”

“Well damn then.”

“An ex?” Emma asked dryly in the next aisle.

He slipped his hands into his pockets. “Sort of. We went out once.”

Uh huh. Telling herself she didn’t care, she headed up the frozen aisle toward the checkout. A beautiful dark brunette in a white tank top and a black skirt was in the middle of the aisle inspecting two different bags of frozen peas. Surprise, surprise, she nodded at Stone, though without a smile. “Hey, Wilder.”

“Serena.”

“Tell Annie her pies are ready.”

“Will do.”

“And tell your brother I hope Katie-the-new-girlfriend has dumped his sorry ass.”

“She’s the fiancé now,” Stone told her.

“Yeah, I know. With any luck, she’ll wise up in time.” The woman gave Emma a long, speculative look, then strode off.

Stone turned to Emma who shook her head. “Are you three the only guys in town or something?” she asked.

“Nah.” He smiled a little wryly. “But somehow we have this reputation.”

“Somehow, huh?”

“It goes back several generations.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. My great, great, great, great grandfather hung out with Jesse James. He ended up six feet under after a bar fight. That was the beginning of the legend. Or so they say.”

“The legend?”

“That the Wilder men will never amount to much.”

She watched him lift a broad shoulder as if that didn’t hurt in the least, but something in his eyes gave him away, and her amusement faded. “That’s quite a legacy to have to live with.”

“We’ve managed to do just that for generations.”

“How about this generation?”

He slanted her a glance, as if surprised she’d even bothered to ask, but she knew a little bit about living up to expectations. Her mother, as wonderful as she’d been, had pinned her hopes and dreams for the elusive “great life” on her only child and that hadn’t been easy to face.

“Still waiting on the final vote,” Stone said.

Interesting. They headed to the checkout, with Stone nodding to two more people along the way.

“Everyone knows everyone here,” she murmured, unloading her cart, staring at the candy bars above the row of batteries on the last-minute stand above the conveyor belt. “I feel like I’m in Mayberry.”

“Yeah. I call it Mayberry with Attitude. But as for feeling like you don’t fit in, that could be fixed.”

“How?”

He met her gaze. “We could go out.”

“Out,” she repeated, her pulse kicking into gear.

“Get to know each other. Have fun.”

“How would that help?”

“Well…” He eyed her as he rubbed his jaw, the sound of his stubble doing something funny deep inside her belly. “Maybe it’d help you relax a little. If you were less uptight, maybe people would find you more approachable.”

Hard to dispute the truth, but didn’t make it easier to swallow. To take the moment she needed, she grabbed some batteries instead of the chocolate she really wanted. AAA’s, not on sale. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. The having fun thing.”

“No?”

“No.” She grabbed more batteries. “It’s nothing personal.”

His eyes revealed the skepticism of that statement.

“It’s just that I’m not going to be here long, and-” More batteries, because they were helping so much.

He eyed her cart with wry amusement. “You either have a lot of very little flashlights, or a busy vibrator.”

She looked down at the six packs of batteries and grimaced.

“You know, I have a better way to relax,” Stone murmured in her ear, his voice low and husky, and dammit, hypnotizing.

“The batteries are for my…” What? They were for what? She was drawing a big, fat blank.

He just raised a curious brow.

And she deflated. “Oh, be quiet.” In turn to his soft chuckle, she put the batteries back. It was time-past time-for her to blow that popsicle stand, cute mountain bums and all.

After a night of heavy rain, Stone and TJ took a group kayaking down the Cascade River. It was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, mostly because their guests had lied about their kayaking skills, and also because the rains had the river rushing and swollen.

Taking a break from keeping their clients alive, Stone and TJ pulled everyone off the river for a late afternoon lunch. Their guests stretched out, enjoying some sun and Annie’s sandwiches.

TJ and Stone sat a short distance away, trying to recover when Cam called Stone’s cell. He listened to their complaints and laughed from 7500 miles away. “What do you mean you’re exhausted? You going to let a couple of clients kick your collective asses?”

“You have no idea,” Stone muttered.

“Actually, you would have an idea,” TJ said. “If you’d get your ass back here.”

“Couple more weeks,” Cam said. “We’re going to Costa Rica first-unless you need us sooner?”

Stone looked at TJ, who sighed. Neither of them wanted to rush Cam, not when he was happy for the first time in recent memory. “We’re fine,” Stone told him. “You just lounge around with your fiancé and we’ll earn your keep.”

Cam laughed. “Sounds good to me. So what’s going on?”

“You mean besides the fact that the river’s crazy today and that our clients lied on their applications?”

“Sort of like the pregnant woman?” Cam asked. “You guys are losing your touch.”

“Okay, you know what?” Stone said. “People getting lots of sex don’t get an opinion.” He shut the cell phone.

“Now see,” TJ said. “This is why I like the long treks. No baby deliveries. No beginner kayakers. Only the hardcore people who know what they’re doing. I have three separate requests for that six week Alaska trip alone.” Lying back, he shoved his hands behind his head and smiled up at the sky. “I could get into taking three long trips in a row.”

Stone tried not to panic. “Which would leave me alone here.” Again.

“You love being in charge.”

Stone cranked his neck to look at his brother. “No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No. I really don’t.”

“Then why do you always handle all of the behind the scenes stuff?”

“Uh, because you don’t?”

TJ grinned. “Oh. Right. Thanks for that, by the way. You should give yourself a raise.”

“I’ll do that.”

Sensing the tone, and perhaps the fact that Stone wasn’t kidding, TJ looked at him. “Are you pissed at something?”

“No.”

“You get shot down by the pretty Doc?”

“No.” Dammit. “Yes, but that’s not it.”

“You hungry? You get cranky when you’re hungry. I’ve got another sandwich-”

“Shut up, TJ.” Stone sat up.

TJ did too, and looked at him for a long moment. “Annie smacked me around some this morning. She told me you’ve been putting in long hours at night in the office. You’re overworked.”

“Ya think?”

“I should have offered to help.”

“You could offer now.”

“Okay. You want some time off? You need to get the hell out for a while or something? You could take the first Alaskan trip, no problem.”

Stone sighed. “It’s not like I’m chomping at the bit to get out of here.”

“But…”

“But…” He decided what the hell. “I want to do another renovation project.”

TJ blinked. “So…you want to stop having fun all day in order to work your ass off?”

“I don’t want to stop doing this. Jesus. You don’t listen.”

“I listen plenty, and what I’m hearing is that you need to get laid.”

Stone let out a laugh. “Is that your answer to everything?”

“Yes,” TJ said fervently.

Okay, true. Sex was an extremely nice fix to just about everything, but he knew he needed more than that this time. “Remember when I bought that house on the corner of Main and Sierra and fixed it up, then sold it to Old Man Pete?”

“Your first project. I remember. He turned it into the convenience store next to his gas station.”

“Yeah.”

“You nearly lost your ass on that project.”

“That’s because I was twenty-two and got screwed on the loan, but it worked out. It’s not about the money, TJ. It’s about doing something I love. This…” he gestured around him. “It’s good. It gives Cam a purpose, and it’s what you love, but I need more. I need something for me.”

TJ just stared at him. “You’re serious.”

“Yes.”

“Well, Christ, Stone. What’ll we do without you?”

Now he stared up at the sky, feeling it weighing down on him. “I’m not leaving. I’m not asking to leave. I just want some time for me.”

“Maybe you just need a distraction. Ask her out, man. It’ll help.”

Stone didn’t have to ask which “her”, he knew exactly. “No.”

“Is it because she saw you buck ass naked on your first date? That could be construed as a romantic memory, you know.”

Romantic? True, her hands had been all over him, but she’d been pulling gravel and chunks of rock out of his flesh, her fingers steady as a rock as he’d sworn the room blue.

Yeah, romantic as hell. “It wasn’t a date, you ass. It was…an encounter. Then I brought her up a mountain to deliver a baby because you didn’t notice that one of your clients was twenty-two months pregnant.”

“Hey, that could have been romantic, too.”

“How? How could that have been romantic?”

TJ thought about it for a minute and then shrugged. “Okay, maybe not.”

Stone just shook his head.

“So what do you think you’ll do for your next…encounter? Maybe tell her that the minor heart attack she thinks her father had was in fact a major one, and that if you hadn’t been there he’d have died?”

“I thought I’d save that for some other time.” Like, oh…never. Never worked for him. Emma wouldn’t thank him for not telling her the truth, he knew that much. Nor would it matter to her that it hadn’t been his truth to tell.

“Maybe you could try a new tactic.”

“Like?”

“Like a date. Without the blood and guts and someone screaming in pain.”

As the middle child, Stone was the talker, the peacemaker, the one who kept them all together, but as the oldest, TJ usually had the answers, at least when it came to women. “You don’t think that would be a waste of my breath?”

“I think you’ve got a shot.” TJ smiled. “I’ll put your first-aid kit back so you have it handy. Knowing you, you’ll need it.” With a pat on the back, Stone’s supposedly smarter, wiser, older brother got up and headed toward their clients.

The next morning, Emma woke up to her cell phone vibrating right off her nightstand. When she finally caught the thing, she saw Spence’s number and felt herself smile.

Spencer did that for her, made her smile.

They’d become friends in an undergraduate freshman biology class at Columbia. They’d become friends-with-benefits their junior year when he’d been dumped by his long term girlfriend, and that tradition had continued on an as-needed basis throughout the years. When they were dating others-mostly Spencer, because Emma didn’t often make time for dating, they saw each other less, but in between significant others-again, mostly Spencer’s-they spent more time together. Whenever there were bad breakups, and for Spencer there was never any other kind, they’d occasionally knocked their feet together in bed.

It’d been a year since they’d last gotten naked, and that wasn’t what Emma wanted from him now. She wanted the company of someone who knew her and accepted her, as is. “Tell me you’re still getting on a plane tomorrow,” she said.

“I’m already here. I got in late last night to surprise you.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I’ve already been on a mountain bike ride this morning, in the rain, no less, which was amazing. I suppose your lazy ass is still in bed?”

“What do you mean, you’re here? Here here?” Emma sat up and pushed her hair out of her face as she looked around her childhood bedroom, still so yellow and cheery and full of sweetness that she felt like she got a new cavity every night she slept here. God, she needed coffee. “I don’t see you.”

“I’m at a place called Wilder Adventures. You know it?”

She’d in fact been dreaming about Wilder Adventures for nearly two weeks now, or more correctly, of the men who ran it. One in particular.

Stone.

Naked.

Not muddy. Not bleeding. Not teasing her about her battery purchases. “Yes,” she said weakly. “I know it. How do you know it?”

“My assistant looked up things to do in Wishful and found it. I’m only about four or five miles from you, and it’s sweet. Did you know you can guide out any kind of trip you can imagine? It’s amazing, and-”

“I know. I’m familiar with it,” she said, closing her eyes tight. Her best friend and sometime casual lover had just slept at the place owned by the man she’d been fantasizing about. She didn’t need a cup of caffeine, she needed an entire pot.

And possibly a shrink.

“Anyway, it’s dumping rain, like buckets of rain, and supposedly the road out of here gets tricky without four wheel drive. Did your father leave you a vehicle that you can use to come get me?”

She got out of bed and padded to the window to open the shades.

Indeed, it was pouring rain, big fat drops that hit the ground and bounced back up like super balls. She eyed her father’s ancient, massive Ford truck that he’d indeed left for her, and braced herself.

But just like anything else, she could handle it. “Yes, I have a truck. I’ll be right there.”