"You'd be surprised. I know of a surgeon who broke his finger and all he did as he was coming down a staircase was casually b.u.mp the banister with his hand."

Emily Anne had thought that Sheriff Kendall had been displaying an overabundance of caution, sending her here to the clinic. Heck, there was a part of her that thought his orders to come and get checked out had been issued solely to give Billy J a bit of a scare. Except, of course, he hadn't been the least bit scared.

Instead, the sheriff must have been genuinely concerned about her and not completely without cause. Who knew such a simple encounter could have such repercussions?

"Thank you, Doctor Jessop. I appreciate your taking care of me."

"You're welcome, Emily Anne. There's not much we can do about the bruising you're about to endure. However, please pay attention to the injury. If the area swells, put a bit of ice on it-or a bag of frozen peas. If it begins to hurt more instead of less, or if it becomes excessively tender to the touch, or if it feels as if it's hardening-you come back and see me, immediately."

"Don't worry, Doctor Jessop. She will."

Emily Anne looked over to the doorway. Connor and Mel filled the s.p.a.ce, each having to stand a little sideways so they could both see her.

"Hi."

"Hi yourself, precious." Mel raised one eyebrow toward Doctor Robert, who nodded. He didn't wait any longer to enter the room, and Connor was right behind him.

"Well my work here is done," Kelsey said. Then she wrapped her arms around Emily Anne and gave her a hug. "No more work for you today, my friend. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks for coming to be with me."

"You're more than welcome, Emily Anne," Kelsey said.

Emily Anne couldn't recall a time when anyone had ever put herself out for her the way Kelsey had just done.

l.u.s.ty really was her home in more ways than one.

Both men said a quiet word to Kelsey as she pa.s.sed them, and then they came to her. Connor gently picked up her arm and brushed his thumb over the bruise she had growing there.

She didn't say anything, just let him focus on the mark. "You're all right?" Connor asked her instead of the doctor, and she appreciated that.

"Yes, I really am. I bopped him one...well, kind of." She showed him her fist and he smiled. Then he took her hand.

"If you ever have occasion to do so again at any time, please don't tuck your thumb inside that way. You could end up breaking it." He lifted her closed fist to his lips and kissed it.

"I'll remember."

Emily Anne leaned into him and laid her head on his chest. Mel smiled and stroked his hand down her back.

She didn't know how it was she understood that Connor was the one who needed the most a.s.surance that she was all right. She suspected, though, it was because of the life he'd led, the danger he'd walked into on behalf of their country, and the losses he'd endured.

In ways only a woman would understand, she knew he was a fragile human being, for all that he was a brave and fierce warrior.

"We tossed a coin. I'm going to take you home while Connor goes over and has a little 'talk' with Billy J." Mel said that as if he was just announcing a trip to the grocery store.

Emily Anne eased back and looked up at Connor.

"We decided that we didn't want him to know there were two of us. He sounds like the kind of unscrupulous little s.h.i.t who'd use that sort of information against you."

"I'm not ashamed of being with you both. Let him do his d.a.m.nedest. I don't care."

That got a grin out of Connor. "We know you're not ashamed of being with us, angel eyes. But you haven't had a chance to talk with your family, yet. Let us take care of you the best way we know how, all right?"

She gazed at him for a long moment before she nodded. "All right. But on one condition."

He didn't ask, he just raised his right eyebrow.

"When you come back home, you'll have to show us both your double-headed coin."

She'd been guessing, but judging by the way Connor was struggling to control his smile-and the look of shock on Mel's face-she figured she must have nailed it.

"You know me pretty well, sweetheart, don't you?"

"I guess I do."

He bent over and gave her a very sweet and way-too-short kiss. He ran his hands up and down her arms, from shoulders to elbow. Then he lifted her bruised forearm and placed a kiss there, too. "I won't be long," he said.

He nodded to both Doctors Jessop, clapped Mel on the shoulder, and left the exam room.

"He's sneaky," Mel said. "He didn't have to use a trick coin on me. I'd have let him confront the jerk."

Emily Anne grinned. "That's just because you think he's scarier looking than you are."

"It's a h.e.l.l of a thing for an alpha male to admit," Mel said. Of course his sigh, heavily exaggerated, was designed to make her smile and keep her mind off of what might shortly be taking place at the sheriff's office.

He didn't have to bother. She wasn't really worried. Connor Talbot would go all out against a perceived enemy, she had no doubt of that.

If that enemy was a real threat. She couldn't for one moment think that Connor would view Billy J. Cooper as any kind of threat at all.

He had, however, behaved badly toward her. Emily Anne was beginning to understand just how much she meant to these two men, and how, just maybe, one of the worst things a person could do, in their eyes, was treat her badly.

Emily Anne focused on the man standing in front of her. "You're wrong, you know. He isn't scarier looking than you at all. You can put on quite the fierce face when you need to, Mr. Richardson."

Mel looked over at the Doctors Jessop who'd been playing spectators to their personal moment. "Is she really all right?"

"Absolutely," Robert said. He repeated the instructions he'd already given her, clearly quite comfortable with the concept that Mel would take better care of her than she would herself.

"Thanks, Doctors. Both of you." Mel extended his hand to both men. They shook, and then he helped Emily Anne down from the exam table.

He led her out to his car, and she found her gaze tracking over to the sheriff's office on Main Street.

"Connor won't hurt him, as much as he might want to. This time," Mel said. "But if the little s.h.i.t is stupid enough to bother you again, all bets are off."

"I'm not particularly worried about the little s.h.i.t," Emily Anne said. "I just don't want Connor to get in trouble with the law."

Mel grinned. "This is l.u.s.ty. I'm quite certain that Adam has already put the fear of G.o.d into Billy J, and will very willingly stand back as Connor ably gives him a second helping of that."

Emily Anne had no problem with that concept. She couldn't imagine that any real feelings for her had brought her former boyfriend here. He had to be up to something-he had to want something from her. He'd never given her anything so it couldn't be a piece of jewelry or a personal possession he wanted back. She just wished she knew what the heck his so-called interest in her was all about.

"Don't worry," Mel said. "Connor will find out what the h.e.l.l is going on with him, and what he wants from you."

She stared at Mel. "Are you a mind reader, now?"

Mel stopped, leaned over and kissed her. He opened the car door and held it for her. "No, precious, but I know you were wondering why he was pestering your mother, trying to get her to tell him where you were. Did she, by the way?"

Emily Anne took note of the casual way Mel had asked that question. He and Connor had let her know, early on, that they didn't appreciate the way her family had made her feel fat and unloved. She imagined they wouldn't put up with any lip from anyone about her-not even her own mother.

"I jumped to that conclusion as soon as I saw him. But according to Billy J he got the information from Linda Sue Powers. Her daddy owns the company where my daddy works." Emily Anne shrugged. "My daddy wouldn't hesitate to tell Linda Sue where I was, even though she's never been a friend of mine. I'm just really glad momma didn't tell him."

"Me, too, baby. Come on, let's go home. Do you think you could tolerate your men fussing over you for one night?"

Emily Anne smiled. "Your fussing over me happens on a regular basis and is fast becoming one of my favorite things." She held up her arm. "It really is nothing, you know. Yes, it hurts a little, and it's gonna get very colorful. But I'm sure I'll be just fine."

"We'll have to agree to disagree there. It's not the degree of hurt that matters, but the person it happened to. If it happened to you, even if it's only a sliver, it's not 'nothing.' You, Miss Bancroft, are very, very important to both Connor and me."

"I think, Mr. Richardson, I am finally beginning to figure that out."

Emily Anne sighed as she got in the car. Mel reached in, fastened her seat belt, and placed a soft kiss on her lips. After a lifetime of feeling not quite good enough, period, being cherished by these two private d.i.c.ks was a very fine thing indeed.

Chapter 18.

"You can't keep me here, Sheriff. I didn't do anything!"

Connor heard the whining plea as soon as he opened the door to the sheriff's office. Adam looked up from his desk and met Connor's gaze.

"Thank G.o.d you're finally here. I don't know how much more of this bulls.h.i.t I can take. I'm tempted to just shoot the little p.r.i.c.k, claim it was an accident, thereby putting us all out of his misery."

Connor's gaze swept the office. Adam was the only one there. He looked back at Adam as he felt his right eyebrow rise. "Where's Matt?"

"Deserted the ship, that's where he is. Said it was a matter of public safety. My deputy has even less patience for whining little snot-nosed boys than I do."

"Are you charging him?"

"I was waiting to talk to you about that, first."

It didn't even seem odd to Connor that Adam would want to talk to him about it and not Emily Anne. This was l.u.s.ty, and while the women had done and would no doubt continue to do more than their share when it came to wielding the sword against life's dragons, the men had their own bottom line.

Dealing with a pesky ex-boyfriend was definitely something the men claimed as their prerogative.

"I'll let you know," Connor said.

Adam jerked his thumb in the direction of the single cell, which was just down a short hallway behind where he was sitting.

Billy J sat on the single, very uncomfortable-looking cot, a pouty, angry look on his face. He's just like Emily Anne described him. Then the boy looked up and met Connor's gaze.

Connor could see the sly intelligence, and understood in a heartbeat the kind of man Billy J. Cooper was. He'd run into a couple of "foster brothers" just like him when he himself had been a scrawny, too-angry young man.

Billy J schemed and connived, but at heart the guy was nothing more than a wimpy little coward. A coward who would act the bully against someone he perceived smaller and weaker than himself.

"Who the h.e.l.l are you?"

"I'm Connor Talbot."

"So what-you're another cop?"

"Naw, I'm a private investigator." Connor leaned against the wall, facing Billy J. He put his hands in his pockets and took on the same demeanor he'd done while questioning "persons of interest" around Fallujah.

"So? Am I supposed to be scared, or something?"

"About me being a private d.i.c.k? No, not at all. About me being the man who's in love with Emily Anne Bancroft and intends to marry her? Yeah, you should probably start engaging your brain before you open your mouth again, a.s.shole."

"Aren't you kind of like, too old for her?"

Connor hissed out a sigh. From the next room, Adam cheerfully said, "Maybe he doesn't have a brain to engage, Connor."

"I'm beginning to think," Connor said. Then he focused on Billy J. The little s.h.i.t couldn't quite hide the real trepidation he was feeling. Good thing.

"All right, boy, listen up, because I'm about to tell you where the bear s.h.i.t in the buckwheat. Emily Anne is off limits to you. l.u.s.ty, Texas is off limits to you. She does not want to hear from you or see you, ever again. Out of respect for her, and because this town is off limits, I'm not going to press charges. This time." Connor found he really had to work at keeping his temper down to a slow simmer. The insolence that came and went on Billy J's face just pushed his b.u.t.tons.

"You don't understand. I need her. A record producer is expecting a demo tape with her singing with us. Without her, we don't have a chance of getting that recording contract!" Billy J ran his hand through his hair, and Connor got the impression that he couldn't understand why the producer would ask for such a thing.

He'd heard his woman sing and he understood it completely.

"How the h.e.l.l were you going to get her to agree to that after the way you treated her?"

"h.e.l.l, I figured I just had to grovel a little and she'd forgive me. She doesn't know how to hold a grudge. I even had it figured how I could score all that groupie p.u.s.s.y without her being any the wiser. Now...f.u.c.k!"

Connor thought of the way this man had treated his precious Emily Anne-not just the words he'd said, but the other things he was certain of but didn't want to mention. He hoped his woman appreciated the restraint he was showing out of consideration for her.

Since Connor had just been staring at him and hadn't answered, Billy J stepped closer to the bars. "What the h.e.l.l am I supposed to do about that?"

"I don't care." He enunciated the words as if each one was a sentence unto itself. "You are to leave here and never come back. The answer is no. No how, no way. Now prove to me and to the sheriff, that you're not really as dumb as a box of rocks. Leave town. Do not come back." Connor took two steps away from the cell, and then turned back. "And don't go pestering Mrs. Bancroft, either. There is nothing that woman could say that would make her daughter even look your way, ever again. Emily Anne is through with you. And so, by d.a.m.n, am I-unless you are stupid enough to come back."

Connor stepped back into the main office. "I'll take him to his car and make sure he leaves town," Adam said. "How's Emily Anne?"

"Just bruised, thank G.o.d." Connor looked toward the cell. It was a good thing that a brick wall prevented him from seeing that sorry son of a b.i.t.c.h.

"Good. Don't worry about Billy J. I'll explain that I'm letting him go, conditionally. You go and take care of your woman."

"Yeah. That's exactly where I'm headed."