I'd thought that I'd been the one to give up on the relationship, but apparently she had to.

We had a kid together.

A kid that looked exactly like my sister's kids did.

My stomach was roiling at the thought of Rue keeping that from me. Then I berated myself.

I'd had just as much a part of it as she did, if not more.

"Cleo...I don't have any kids. That kid is Cody's baby," she yelled back.

"Cody's baby?" I asked, confused.

Hadn't I heard from Silas that Cody was gay?

She raised her eyebrows up. "Yeah, they went to Egypt just a few months ago and adopted her."

That stopped me in my tracks.

Then I felt immensely stupid. "f.u.c.k, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come over this morning. I had a bad night, and I just jumped to conclusions. I just wanted to see you."

She blinked, surprised at my apology.

"It's okay," she said softly. "But maybe you should go home. Come back some time when you're thinking clearly."

"I...I don't want to go home," I admitted.

"Why?" She asked. "What happened?"

I sat down on the edge of her couch and let my head fall into my hands. "I had two patients die last night. Two separate accidents, but no less severe than the other. One was a two year old who'd touched a live wire that had fallen in her backyard. The other was a young girl who suffered third degree burns in a motor vehicle accident."

Both cases were still just as fresh in my brain as they were four and a half hours ago when they'd happened one after the other.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Cleo," she said softly. "But, that still doesn't help me answer why you're here at all. You left me, remember? Why now? Why, when I just got my life back in order? Do you know how long it's been since I cried through the night? Two G.o.dd.a.m.n weeks. Then one freaking look at you, and it's all right there again. I can feel everything. It's tearing me apart," she whispered with tears filling her voice.

Her head fell, hiding her face so I didn't see the tears.

I swallowed thickly.

"I didn't want to die and leave you alone," I rasped.

She finally looked up, giving me her tear stained blue eyes.

"I would've followed you anywhere. Done anything for you. All you had to do was tell me what to do. I would've waited. I would've been able to live my life knowing you'd be coming back to me...if you were able," she cried.

I closed my eyes. The pain and terror that had grown for the past year all compounded to that final moment. The exact instant in time that I knew I had to get out.

"I almost died over there," I grated. "The only thing that kept me alive was knowing you were here for me to come back to you. Whether you thought that you were mine or not, I was always yours. And I always will be."

Her quiet crying turned to a giant sob, and I gathered her into my arms, burying my face into her neck.

"What will it take for you to give me a chance?" I asked.

My heart froze in my chest, and then started to pound double time.

"I'll give you anything. Everything. You want me to quit, I'll do it. You want me to leave the MC, I'll do it. It'll hurt, but I'll do it. Just give me a chance. You don't have to decide anything right now. But just let me spend some time with you. I'll prove to you I've changed. I won't freak out, I promise," I pleaded.

She listened to my explanation, and I could tell it wasn't enough by the dead in her eyes.

"I can't. I just can't," she said and stepped away. "You can hang with me tonight, but after that, I want you to leave me alone."

"But you'll give me tonight?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'll give you tonight."

"I don't think I want any kids," Rue said softly as she practically fell back onto the couch with me.

I leaned forward for a piece of pizza and handed it to her before taking one of my own. "Not if they're all like that. She's cute as h.e.l.l and all, but when she starts crying and doesn't stop, I can't see the desire of having one of my own "Me neither," she shuddered. "I'm glad she's only staying the night. I felt like I was going to break her when I put that sleeper on her. But you're right. She's cute."

I snorted. "You won't be saying that tonight when she wakes you up in the middle of the night."

She giggled, making something inside my chest loosen.

She'd been doing that all night.

A comment here, a touch there.

When I'd left work, I rode.

I don't think I consciously decided to drive to Rue's place. It was just one second I was on the back road leaving the station, and the next thing I knew, I was pulling up in front of Rue's place.

I'd found her nearly the minute I'd gotten home from overseas, and I'd spent many nights driving past her place.

I supposed it was just instinct that'd driven me to her house tonight.

"How's the new job? Why'd you move?" I asked her when the silence continued too long.

She shrugged. "It's nice. I like working in this ER since it's so much bigger. However, the staff members are all b.i.t.c.hes. You've also met the doc that loves to torture me while I'm there."

I lifted my lip up at that thought. "That man was a pompous a.s.s. He knew who I was. I came in and met him during one of our transfers last week. Just let me know if he gives you any problems, and I'll have a word."

She glanced over at me.

Her curly brown hair fell forward, partially obscuring her face from me for long moments before I reached forward out of habit and tucked it behind her ear.

She hissed and pulled away, and my hand dropped to rest on the cushion between us.

She stood and clapped her hands.

"Well, I'm off to bed. Thank you for the pizza, but I foresee a long night ahead of me and I suppose I should be heading that way."

I stood up with her, and reached forward to touch the tip of her nose with my index finger.

"Thanks for keeping me company. Today was a hard day," I said as I started walking to the front door.

She followed a good distance behind me so she could make sure there was no possible chance for us to accidentally touch.

"You're welcome," she said graciously, shifting from foot to foot.

I opened the door, and stepped out into the cold night air.

It was colder than normal, but that didn't matter. I didn't think fifty degrees was that cold. Not after growing up in North Dakota. Fifty degrees was spring weather up there.

What did get me was the humid, hot summers.

Leaning forward slowly so she knew my intentions, I kissed her cheek softly.

Her eyes widened as I pulled away, and then she shuddered.

Her smell was exquisite.

Like the rain after a summer shower.

That same smell had haunted me over the last year. A thunderstorm would strike, and the smell of her would be in the wind.

As if she wasn't always on my mind already.

"Thanks for being with me tonight. I needed it," I said softly. "Sleep well, Rue La La."

She cracked a grin, which blossomed into a full-blown smile. "You too, Cleo-Leo."

The nicknames that we'd made for each other were one of a kind, and we'd used them often during our time together.

She'd used mine, and I knew that it was a sign.

I winked at her and headed to my bike, feeling her gaze on my back the entire way.

She didn't know it yet, but she was mine. She thought she was winning this war, but I had a Trojan Horse, and she'd just accepted the package.

Chapter 5.

I could use a foot ma.s.sage, an hour in a sauna, a half of a chocolate sheet cake, and an o.r.g.a.s.m.

-Tru on what she wants for dinner Rue "I'm going to kill you, Cody," I whined as I exited the doctor's office where I'd just been told that I had strep throat.

"I'm sorry, Rue. I didn't mean to pa.s.s it off to you," Cody said remorsefully.

"It's okay, this just sucks. I used to have this all the time as a kid, and I don't remember it ever bringing me down like it's done today. I feel awful," I said nasally into the phone.

"Do you want me to get your prescription for you?" Cody asked.

I opened my car door and practically fell inside.

Luckily, I'd found my car in the driveway this morning like Cleo had promised the night he came over after work, or I'd have been screwed. "No, I need to go for some meds anyway. The doctor said it might be the flu on top of strep since I feel so bad. Therefore, I have to run in for some liquids to tide me over. What you can do is tell your mom I won't be there for a week or so."

Cody snorted. "Oh, she's going to love that. We're already three short due to strep, and now you too. This week is going to be the bomb."

Was that a hint of smarta.s.s I heard in my best friend's voice?

"Sorry-Charlie," I said as I started driving to the pharmacy. "I'll talk to you later. It's taking too much concentration to talk to you, drive, and not sneeze at the same time."

"Okay, be careful. Call me if you need anything," Cody insisted.

We hung up, and I drove to the pharmacy closest to my house where the doctor had called in my prescriptions.

I parked next to two bikes, and got out.

I'd just closed my car door when I sneezed all over the bike that was parked next to me.

"Nice," a deep voice said from in front of me.

I didn't react, but only because I followed up my first sneeze with fifty more. Okay, more like three, but still.

"I'm so sorry," I coughed.

Then I opened my back door and lifted out the disinfectant wipes I kept in the car at all times.

"Here," I said as I plucked out two wipes. "You'll probably want to wipe that off. I have strep throat."

It was when I was handing over the wipes that I realized it was a ma.s.sive man wearing blue jeans, motorcycle boots, a black shirt, and none other than a Dixie Wardens MC leather vest.