Chapter 3

THREE

Silas

When I walk into El Fuego, I'm immediately drawn to where Britt sits at the bar. She commands attention wherever she goes if the guy at the bar talking to her is any indication. He hands her a drink, and I know I'm already fucked.

"There he is, Cory. That's the man paying for my tab." She holds the margarita up toward me.

The bartender gives me a look of disbelief. "You're a brave man. She once drunk me under the table at a UK tailgate. I'm two-ninety, and she was still going when I passed out."

"Shut up. Nobody asked you to tell all my secrets, and if you're not careful, I'll let everybody know you passed out before I did." She raises her glass to him then takes a drink.

Cory sighs before looking over at me. "What do you want to drink?"

"Corona with a lime."

He slams it on the bar top. "This one's on the house. You're gonna need it, my man."

I have a seat next to her, bumping my knee next to hers. Glancing down, I see the new scars. "Those look good, they're going to heal well."

She takes a drink, swallowing slowly. "It's disgusting." She grimaces. "They're ugly as hell, and I'm reminded every single time I look at them that I was stuck with my daughter on my own. I was trying to not freak out as my heart thumped in my chest. I almost passed out." She scoffs, playing with the top of my bottle. "All I could think about was being alone with Karli, and annoyed that my ex-husband wasn't around."

I reach out, grabbing her fingers, to stop her from twirling the bottle cap. "You made it though, Britt. You're walking, you're working, and taking care of your daughter. What is he doing?"

She snorts. "Not a damn thing. Dakota doesn't even pay child support when he should, even though he easily could. But you're right, I'm strong. He will not make or break me."

I reach out, curving my finger along her jawline, tracing the proud tilt. "This won't either." I look down at the scars. "You're so much more than your circumstances."

"How do you know that?"

The background becomes louder as a couple of groups of women come in. One of them is celebrating an upcoming marriage, and they've definitely been drinking. I don't answer her, not with all this noise and all of these people. "You wanna get outta here?"

Her dark eyes meet mine. "Yeah, but I don't know if I want to go home with you. I had plans..." She bites her bottom lip. "But now that you've told me I'm strong, I'm not sure I can do it. When someone praises me, I start to feel vulnerable."

I understand this more than she knows. Many times in my life, I've been told I'm the member of my family that everyone is proud of. They tell me how I've made it. How my parents sacrificed so much to make me who I am. It's embarrassing. I'm a regular man who went to college and got a degree to be a doctor. On my days off, I still go to my parents' farm and help with chores. I drive a tractor and clean out horse stalls when needed. It's hard to mesh my two lives together.

But I don't tell her any of that. Instead, I reach out and clasp our hands together. "Let's go."

"This isn't where I thought we'd end up." She laughs as I walk her a couple hundred feet down the road to the local park.

"What? Too quiet for you?"

"Not at all." She tilts her head back and spreads her arms, turning in a circle.

Britt looks like some sort of fairy in the moonlight as it dances across her skin, and lights up her hair. Reaching in, I grab her around the waist and hold her tight. Our eyes meet, a smirk raising the side of her mouth up. "You just wanna be free, don't ya?" I lean my head down, our foreheads touching.

"Yeah." She smiles. "It's what I always wanted. I wouldn't give Karli up for anything, but if I didn't have her, I'd be gone. I'm way too much like my dad. My heart wanders."

Cupping her cheek with the palm of my hand, I whisper. "Thanks for letting me catch you, even just for tonight."

Our lips meet, tongues tangle, and then I'm reaching down, grasping her ass in my hands. Pulling her up, I encourage her to wrap her legs around me.

"I'm too heavy." She presses out when we separate for a breath.

"You're not. I've got you." I walk us over to one of the playground apparatuses, sitting her down on a bridge. She makes room for me between her legs, and that's when we go to town. Her fingers go into my hair, tugging me from her lips and directing me to her neck. Once I'm where she wants me to be, her hands go down to the small of my back, nails digging into the material and hitching my shirt up so that I can feel the breeze from night on my bare skin.

Her legs hook around, and she digs her heels into my ass, pushing me forward. I use my hand against the bridge to brace myself, and that's when I hear it.

The woop, woop of a police siren, causes me to groan, before I notice the spotlight.

"Dr. Blake? Is that you?"

I sigh heavily before turning around. "Yup, Cam. It's me." I wave.

He laughs. "I've wanted to catch you with something since you had that nurse give me a tetanus shot in my ass. What are ya doing?"

I see him all the time in the ER and he gives me shit every single time. "C'mon Cam, you know what is happening here."

"I think that's Officer Fellows to you."

Britt giggles into my neck.

"Are you enjoying this?"

"I am." She laughs. "This has been the best date I've had in a long time." She turns to Cam. "Are you gonna arrest us, or can I go home?"

"Y'all can go home, but remember how nice I've been to you." He flips me off before he turns to back out of the parking lot.

She's already walking toward her car. "Britt, he's gone. We can resume what we were doing." I talk to her back, hating that I can't see those eyes of hers.

"We got stopped by the police." She turns, walking backwards. "Maybe it means tonight isn't the night, but keep my number, Hot Doc. We'll do this again." With those words, she faces forward and shakes her ass as she walks away.

God, I fuckin' hope so.