Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

H e couldn't remember the last time he'd been this fucking relieved that a shift was over. When dispatch dismissed him after holding him over for five hours, he'd damn near kissed the ground in thanks.

Wincing when the muscles in his right shoulder protested in agony, Eric grabbed the two bags of takeout out of his truck and shut the door. Thanks to Greg, he'd fucked up his shoulder when the little bastard lied about being able to lift a hundred and fifty pounds.

Then again, it was possible that he'd been telling the truth and the patient simply startled him when he'd started seizing on their stretcher. If it hadn't been for Brian, the paramedic who filled in for Joe, the stretcher would have tipped over, but thankfully, he'd jumped in and grabbed the stretcher and righted it just in the nick of time. It hadn't saved his shoulder, though. It hurt like hell, but nothing some ice and a bottle of Advil wouldn't fix.

He had the next two days off and he planned on spending them with Joe. He had a game plan to not only make her forgive him but one that would get the ball rolling on her getting a new job. It would take time, but he was pretty damn sure that he'd have her convinced that this was a great idea. He just had to find the right moment to approach the subject.

"So, you want me to quit working on the ambulance, huh?" Joe asked casually as she stepped out of her house and leaned a hip against the small porch railing.

Apparently, there was no time like the present.

"Do you think we could go inside and discuss this while we eat?" Eric asked as he raised the bags of takeout in his hands.

"Sure," Joe said, taking him by surprise.

He'd expected a fight, but he wasn't going to complain. He was too tired and hungry at the moment to question it. Without another word, he followed her inside and placed the bags on the table.

"I'll be right back," Eric said around a yawn as he walked down the long hallway towards her bedroom. He could have used the guest bathroom, but he preferred hers.

On the way to her bathroom, he grabbed a pair of his grey boxer briefs out of her bureau. He stripped out of his clothes and jumped in the shower, wishing he could take a long shower to work the strain out of his muscles, but he wanted to get this over with.

Five minutes later, he walked into Joe's kitchen, feeling slightly better. He just wanted to eat and get this conversation out of the way so that they could focus on finding a way to keep her safe. Joe was just starting to fill their plates when he walked into the kitchen and made his way to the fridge.

He grabbed an ice pack for his shoulder and thought about grabbing a couple of beers, but he didn't want her to drink just in case she needed a painkiller. So, instead, he grabbed a couple of Cokes. He placed one by her plate and sat down across from her at the small kitchen table.

Other than a murmured "Thank you," she didn't say anything to him as they ate, for which he was immensely grateful. He was so damn hungry. They'd had back-to-back calls all night and the only thing he'd eaten was the stale packet of peanuts he'd managed to wrestle from a vending machine at two in the morning.

"You want to tell me why you're trying to get rid of me?" Joe asked when he finished his third helping.

"I'm not trying to get rid of you, Joe," Eric said as exhaustion threatened to knock him on his ass.

"That's what it sounded like to me," Joe said, leaning back in her chair as she crossed her arms over her chest. "From what I heard, you tried to unload me on Nathan," she said casually, letting him know just how pissed she really was.

Shit.

"This isn't the way I planned on doing this, but I've been thinking that it was time for you to move on and do something else with your life," Eric explained. When she only sat there glaring at him, he decided that perhaps he needed to explain the situation a little better before she decided to go for his balls.

"Well," Eric said, clearing his throat and feeling a little uncomfortable under that glare, "you knew that you couldn't do this forever." She cocked a brow at that announcement, so he added, "Could you really see yourself doing this job when you're sixty?"

"Yes," Joe said with absolutely no hesitation and made his job of convincing her that this was a good idea more difficult. He decided to get rid of the bullshit pleasantries and get to the point.

"There's no way in hell that you'll be able to do this job when you're sixty, Joe, and if you think so, then you're crazy. Besides that, you deserve to have a life and you can't do that with a job that constantly fucks you over," Eric said, noting the way that her eyes narrowed dangerously on him.

"I have a life," she shot back defensively.

"Oh, really?" Eric asked, cocking a brow. "When's the last time you went out on a date?"

"I have no idea," Joe said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal, "it doesn't mean anything."

"And when's the last time you got laid?" Eric asked, silently daring her to lie to him. He knew it had been at least a year and a half.

"It's none of your business!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought, Joe," Eric said, pushing his plate away. "You don't date. You don't have a life outside of work. Hell, I can't remember the last time you turned down overtime. You're thirty years old, Joe, and if you keep this job, you're going to be forty and lonely and wondering how life passed you by. You need to find something else that's safe and will allow you to live your life. You-"

"What about you?" Joe suddenly demanded.

"What about me?"

"You don't have a life. You don't date and I doubt you've gotten laid in a couple of years," Joe announced, and he had to grind his teeth as he forced away the memory of why he hadn't gotten laid in too damn long to be normal. "Are you going to be looking for another line of work?"

He frowned at that. "No, why the hell would I?"

"Exactly," Joe said, placing her hands flat on the table as she stood up. "So, it's okay for you to still be doing a job you love at forty, but not for me?"

He got to his feet and leaned forward, closing the space between them until their noses were only a few inches apart. "Damn straight."

"Why exactly is that?"

"Honestly?" Eric asked, not really sure if she wanted to hear the truth.

"Of course," Joe said tightly and if it had been any other woman, he wouldn't have laid into her, but this was Joe and he wanted her safe and if that meant pissing her off, then so be it.

"While you think that you're one of the guys, Joe, you're not," Eric said, ignoring the flash of hurt in her eyes. "While a lot of women are perfect for this job, you're not. You're too fucking kind, which comes in handy when we have a patient that needs a reassuring word and a little handholding, but it's also a huge problem. Every fucking time you get into that ambulance, I have to worry about you and I'm fucking sick of it."

For a moment, she didn't say anything as she looked at him and he thought that maybe he needed to push the point a little more, but thankfully, she seemed to understand. "I see. So, it's distracting to work with me," she summed it up.

"Yes."

She shrugged it off as she pushed away from the table. "Then, I guess I don't have any choice but to call Bill and have him reassign me to another shift since I'm such a distraction for you."

Everything in him went still as her words hit home. She was going to work with someone else? Not fucking happening. As long as she was working on the truck, and if he had his way, it wouldn't be much longer, she was going to work with him. He didn't trust some other asshole to keep an eye on her and keep her safe.

That was his job.

"No," Eric said evenly.

"No, what?" Joe demanded.

"You're not switching off our shift."

"That's not your decision, Eric. In fact, I believe you just made it painfully clear that it's a problem to work with me. Well, I found a solution so you should be happy that I'm going to be out of your hair soon," Joe bit out angrily as she moved to walk past him.

He stepped in front of her. "You're not fucking switching off our shift, Joe. As long as you're determined to be pigheaded about this, you're going to work with me so that I can keep you safe."

She shoved him back. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Joe demanded, stepping forward to shove him back again. "You're not my boss or my keeper! If I want to switch my shift, then I'll switch my damn shift! And if I want to keep working on the truck until I'm old and gray, then that's my goddamn business!"

"Bullshit!" Eric snapped, grabbing her hands when she went to push him again and shoved them behind her back. The movement forced her to arch into him until her breasts were plastered against his bare chest and she was forced to glare up at him. "Anything that concerns you is my business."

"No, it's not!" Joe said, struggling against his hold. "I can take care of myself!"

"You don't have to!"

"Yes, I do!" she yelled.

"Why?" Eric demanded, yanking her back against him when she managed to put some space between them.

"Because I don't have anyone, you asshole! Now, let me go!"

He glared down at her. "That's bullshit, Joe."

"No, it's not," she snapped, renewing her struggles, but he didn't let her gain so much as an inch this time.

"You have me, Joe! You've always had me," Eric bit out evenly.

How the hell could she even think that she was alone?

She'd always had him. Always. They'd been inseparable since they were eight years old and that hadn't changed, never would. She was just too damn stubborn to realize that she wasn't alone in this world. She was so hung up on that bitch that abandoned her that she refused to see that she did her a favor. She was the most important person in his life and he'd thought that he was the same for her. It killed him to know that she thought she was alone. She wasn't. Not as long as he was around.

"No, I-"

Whatever she was about to say was cut off when he did the one thing that he'd longed to do again since that dare he'd accepted when they were fourteen. He kissed her. For a moment, she just stood there, but he didn't let that stop him from enjoying this. Her lips were so warm and so damn soft and he couldn't seem to get enough of them.

He knew he'd fucked up, but he couldn't help himself. She felt so good in his arms and when she moved her lips tentatively against his, she felt fucking perfect. It was so damn good, but he wanted more.

With a groan, Eric released her hands and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as he traced the seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue. When she opened up to him, he didn't hesitate. He slid his tongue inside of her mouth and couldn't help but feel like he was coming home.

She suckled his tongue into her mouth as her arms wrapped around him. In seconds, the kiss went from cautious to out of control and desperate. He couldn't get enough of her and if the way she was fisting his hair was any indication, she felt the same way. They stumbled back until his back hit the wall.

Without breaking the kiss, he turned them around so that her back was against the wall. He pulled his arms free so that he could slide his hands over her back, her sides, and then up until he was running his hands over her breasts, earning a needy little growl from Joe as her hard nipples teased his palms through her shirt. She felt so good, a thousand times better than he'd ever imagined she would, Eric thought as he released her breasts and reached down, cupping behind her knees and pulled her legs up.

She didn't hesitate in wrapping her legs around his waist and he sure as hell didn't waste any time in shifting until his erection was pressed against her. Even through their clothes, he could feel her heat. He couldn't remember ever wanting a woman this much. He ground himself against her as he swallowed her moans.

Joe ran her hands down his back and over his ass, encouraging him and he knew by the sounds of her breathing and the way that she dug her nails into his ass that she was close, and God help him, but so was he. It wouldn't be enough. Not nearly enough, he thought as he pulled her away from the wall and placed her on the edge of the kitchen table.

He needed to be inside of her.

He reached for her pants when he heard the front door open and they both went still.

"Joe? Look, I can't stand you being mad at me, so I brought you another milkshake."

The moment Eric pulled away from her, reality crashed over them and they both realized just how badly they'd fucked up.