A Total-E-Bound Publication
www.total-e-bound.com
The Doctor and the Bad Boy
ISBN # 978-1-78184-377-2
©Copyright RJ Scott 2013
Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright June 2013
Edited by Stacey Birkel
Total-E-Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination
and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or
places is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form,
whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of
the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.
Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound
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proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs
and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator
of the artwork.
Published in 2013 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL,
United Kingdom.
Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This
story has a heat rating of Total-e-burning and a sexometer of 2.
This story contains 86 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book
containing 6 pages.
Book four in the Ellery Mountain series
Mitchell Askett, the recovering alcoholic bad boy, meets Doctor Liam Wolfe, the man who shows him
it’s okay to love…
No one has ever understood Mitchell Askett. The bad boy. The alcoholic. The loser. Buying
into the Ellery Mountain resort and placing down roots in the community for himself, his
sister and his niece puts him on the radar of the Fridays and Doctor Liam Wolfe.
He soon realises he has friends in his new home who don’t judge him for what happened
before and finally begins to escape his past. When he falls hard and fast for the doctor, he
even sees a future for him in Ellery.
But when his new happiness is threatened first by family interference then by disaster, he
begins to lose faith, until Liam shows him it’s okay to ask for help.
Dedication
Always for my family.
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following
wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Doritos: Frito-Lay
Jack Daniel’s: Brown Forman Corporation
National Geographic: National Geographic Society
Starbucks: Starbucks, Inc.
BMW: BMW AG
Jeep: Chrysler Group LLC
AA: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Formula One: Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile
Corvette: General Motors LLC
Toyota: Toyota Motor Company
Porsche: Porsche AG
Tom and Jerry: Time Warner Inc.
Coke: The Coca-Cola Company
Mario Kart: Nintendo Company Ltd.
Magic Mike: Warner Bros. Pictures
Beauty and the Beast: Walt Disney Pictures
Witness: Paramount Pictures Corporation
Lexus: Toyota Motor Corporation
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
6
Chapter One
Mitchell Askett knocked firmly on the door then stepped back. After glancing down at
the piece of paper with his hastily scribbled instructions, he again checked the cabin. There
was no number on it or sign to indicate this was where Brenda Skylar lived, but the
directions had led him this far.
“Uncle Mitch,” Bobbie called from the car. “It hurts. I feel sicker than before.”
“I’ll be with you in a minute, sweetheart.” Mitchell knocked on the door again. If there
was no answer, at that point he would skip finding where he was supposed to be staying and
meeting the other owners. He’d find the nearest hotel room and get his niece tucked up into
bed. Maybe if he was really clever he could locate a shop in Ellery that sold dry crackers, or
eggs. He always liked eggs when he had a hangover. Not that twelve-year-old Roberta was
facing the awful post-alcoholic binge effects like he did. No, she just seemed to be suffering
from car sickness. Or she had a bug. Or something.
“I’m gonna be sick,” she whined. Mitchell was torn. No one was answering. He should
just go and find the hotel, or hell, maybe even a doctor, just to get her checked out.
“I’ll be right with you,” he called.
To be fair, they’d been driving on and off for quite a few hours and their diet had
consisted of whatever they could get from gas stations en route. At twelve, he would have
jumped at the chance of a road trip fuelled entirely on chocolate and Doritos, but the
normally buoyant Bobbie had refused everything he’d offered.
The front door finally began to open.
“Unca Mi—” he heard, then the sound of a car door opening and retching.
Suddenly torn between what he had come here to do and what he needed to do, he
threw a hurried “Sorry” to whoever had just answered the door then jumped the steps back
down to the car. Sliding to a halt around the passenger side, which faced away from the
cabin, he stared in horror for a second. Not only had Bobbie been violently sick, but she was
curled in a ball and sobbing.
Without further hesitation, Mitchell crouched down next to her and in a smooth move
had her up in his arms.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
7
“Baby? Are you okay?” Stupid question, but all he wanted was for her to open her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” a voice broke through his concern. Holding Bobbie protectively close
to him, he swivelled to face the owner of the soft words. A short woman with grey hair and a
concerned look on her face stood with her arms outstretched like she wanted to take Bobbie
from him. He tightened his grip, only for Bobbie to whimper at the hold.
“Does she need a doctor?” the woman asked in a rush.
“I don’t know,” he said. God, he felt worse than useless. What would Annabelle do?
Not that he could remember his sister having to deal with a sick Bobbie, as Bobbie was
usually one healthy child.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” She touched Bobbie’s head. “She’s very hot.”
“She complained of stomach ache, but it’s been getting worse.”
“Let’s get her to the hospital.”
Mitchell felt suddenly as sick as his niece. Hospital? That sounded like this was serious.
He’d only been responsible for her for two days and he’d already fucked up.
“Hospital?” he said.
“Our doctors are there—we just need to get her looked at. Wait…” The woman ran up
the steps then came back out almost instantly. In her hand she had wipes and some keys. She
locked the door behind her then came and climbed into the back seat.
“Give her to me,” she ordered firmly. “You drive.”
“I’m not— I don’t…” he stammered. Bobbie was curled up in his arms, then her head
lolled back and suddenly Mitchell’s instinct to get things done kicked in. In seconds, he had
her laid with her head in the woman’s lap, and he pulled a blanket from behind the seat up
and over her.
“Where?” he asked quickly. Bobbie was crying quietly and the woman shushed her
gently with soft words.
“Left out of here and down into Ellery,” she said.
Forcing the car into gear, Mitchell wheel-spun on the loose gravel and the car lurched as
it gripped and surged forward. In a few minutes, he was back at the road. Only when they
were on the main route to town did he speak again.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s very hot, and listless,” the woman said.
Mitchell realised he couldn’t keep thinking of her as ‘the woman’.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
8
“I’m Mitchell Askett. Mitch.”
“I know who you are, Mr Askett. Brenda Skylar.”
“The little girl…my niece, Roberta—we call her Bobbie.” Or Bobs when she was cute, or
Roberta Jane when she caused mischief.
Brenda had a cellphone in her hand, talking to someone, possibly the hospital, but
Mitch had to watch the road. He came to a three-way stop and for a moment was confused,
then realised which way he needed to go. Down. Into town. Where was the hospital? The last
time he’d been in Ellery, he was only twelve or so, the same age as Bobbie. All he
remembered was that the limousine he had been riding in had a mini bar and that he’d had
his first taste of brandy. It hadn’t made him sick but it had taken the edges off the anxiety
inside him.
They hit town and he spotted the sign for hospital and in no time at all he was pulling
up at the Emergency Room door. Maybe the doctor would be elsewhere, but Bobbie was
shaking and crying and in pain. The ER was certainly the place to take her. He threw the car
into park, jumped out and pulled Bobbie into his arms. She reached a hand up around his
neck and gripped hard to his long hair. Just like she used to when she was a baby.
Compassion, love and fear warred for dominance. A small group of people waited at the
entrance, but Mitch saw none of it. Someone took Bobbie from him and in the next instant
she was on a gurney and all Mitch could hear was shouted words like ‘ultrasound’ and
‘emergency’. He ran in after them, then stopped at the glass internal doors beyond which he
could see two women and a man checking Bobbie out.
“What is it?” he asked. He was so scared he could feel the acid of it eating away at him.
He’d made Annabelle let him have her. He’d forced his sister to think Bobbie would be best
off with him in Ellery while she was at her lowest point. And now Bobbie was in there,
unconscious. Was she dying? What had he done?
“Come and sit down,” Brenda said gently. She had her hand on his arm and pulled him
away, but he shook it off and refused to move. “I think it may be appendicitis,” she said.
Horror gripped Mitch. He’d read about that, seen it on TV shows, where being sick all
of a sudden turned into a fight for life and poisoning in the body.
“Fuck,” he cursed. “No.”
“She’s in good hands,” Brenda said firmly. “Doctor Wolfe and Jamie have it under
control.”
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
9
The names were a blur—all he could see was his flesh and blood lying so still beyond
the glass door.
“Sir? Did you understand me? Can you sign consent?” someone asked. “Are you her
father? Hello? Sir?”
Mitch met green eyes that held so much compassion that it made his heart ache.
“Uncle,” he managed.
“Can you sign for us to operate?” The green-eyed guy looked determined. What was he
asking? What was Mitchell going to be signing?
“Operate?”
“Your niece has appendicitis, she’ll need to have it removed,” Green-Eyes said
patiently. He didn’t seem at all pissed off that Mitch had clearly not heard a word of what he
guessed had been a lengthy explanation. Mitch glanced down at the guy’s badge. Paramedic.
Jamie Llewellyn. Paramedics knew what they were doing. He should trust this Jamie.
He signed consent where he was told and without another word Jamie moved back into
the room where Bobbie lay. The other man in there looked up and over at Mitch and nodded.
Then in a flurry of movement the two men disappeared out of another door with two nurses
trailing them until all that Mitch was looking at was an empty room. Left suddenly bereft, he
slumped and rested his head on the glass. What the holy hell had just happened?
“She didn’t want her Doritos,” he murmured. “I should have known. She never turns
them down.”
Brenda pulled him gently and this time he allowed himself to be led until he could feel
a chair at the backs of his knees and in one loud exhalation of breath he fell into the chair. He
winced as the set of three joined plastic torture devices shifted under his sudden fall.
Brenda sat next to him. “Do you want to call someone? The girl’s mother…your sister
or sister-in-law?”
Mitchell shook his head. They’d get a call in to his sister if it was an emergency, and
God, this probably qualified on all levels. But putting a call in to the rehab switchboard
didn’t mean she would take it, or if she would actually care at this moment in time.
Depended on where in her cycle of depression she was—and two days ago she hadn’t looked
good at all.
“I’m Roberta’s guardian,” Mitchell lied. He wasn’t officially a guardian in the eyes of
the law. He was, however, Bobbie’s uncle—that had to count for something. He’d deal with
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
10
the fallout later, but right now the last thing he needed was any kind of legal problems… Or,
worse, for his parents to find out what he had done. They didn’t even know Annabelle was
sick again, let alone that he had taken it upon himself to remove Bobbie from all the crap she
was in the middle of.
“Can I get you anything?”
Mitchell blinked at her and shook his head. He felt spaced out and lightheaded. What I
wouldn’t give for a Jack Daniel’s at this very moment. Something to settle me so I can think. Fuck.
That thought had crept up on him. Cricking his neck, he stood.
“I need to move the car,” he said. “I’m blocking the entrance for emergencies.”
“I’m sure it will be fine, we don’t get a lot of them.”
Mitchell looked up to see Jamie standing in front of him.
“Why aren’t you in with Bobbie?” Mitchell snapped the question. In small towns it was
all hands on deck, right? If Jamie was a trained paramedic then he should be in there with
Bobbie.
“She’ll be fine,” Jamie said softly. He had taken a step away and Mitchell wondered
how much temper and anxiety he was carrying in his expression.
Mitchell held out a hand to shake and Jamie accepted it. “Sorry, man,” Mitch offered in
apology. He needed to keep his infamous temper in check if he had a hope in hell of pulling
off being a responsible guardian. May as well start with someone who was a damned expert
who could help Bobbie.
“No worries,” Jamie replied with an understanding smile. “It’s only my third day here
but I’ve known Doc Wolfe for years. Your daughter is being looked after by the best there is.”
“Niece,” Mitchell corrected.
“Niece. Anyway, as I was saying, emergencies aren’t as frequent here as they are in
Knoxville. If you want, I’ll take your keys and move the car just in case, then come back and
explain what’s happening.”
Mitchell didn’t argue. He handed over his keys and took the proffered coffee that
Brenda returned with. He must have been in major panic shutdown mode to have not even
seen her leave. He sipped at the disgusting black fluid but savoured the caffeine as it hit his
system. Brenda didn’t talk at all and Mitchell welcomed the silence. He internalised his
worry and all the random thoughts shooting through his head at this point.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
11
“All done. I put it out front in visitor parking.” Jamie handed him the keys. “So. From
what I saw it is appendicitis. Has she been poorly for long?”
“She’s been off her food for a few days.” Ever since I had her mom committed then dragged
Bobbie on this insane journey to a new future. “She said she had tummy ache, and I asked her
where the pain was, but she said it was all over, so I didn’t even consider appendicitis. Then
on the journey here she was sick at the last gas station, then again outside the car when we
got to Ellery. When I picked her up she was so hot. I didn’t notice before. I just assumed…” I
should have noticed.
“Don’t beat yourself up on that,” Jamie offered quietly. “As parents, or uncles, we’re
not infallible.”
“What are they doing to her now?”
“I imagine they’re carrying out an appendectomy. I won’t bore you, but if appendicitis
is the diagnosis then the appendix will need to come out.”
“What else could it be?”
“I am fairly sure it’s appendicitis, but Doc will let you know when he’s done. They will
want to get it out to avoid perforation, which can lead to an abscess or possible diffuse
peritonitis.”
Mitch buried his head in his hands. None of that sounded good. “Fuck.”
“I’ll be at the emergency station, but if you come with me I’ll show you to the family
room where you can wait.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Brenda asked. Mitch glanced at her. A stranger
by all accounts. He didn’t need anyone else in the room with him. He had plenty of ghosts in
his past that provided all kinds of weird company in his head.
“I’ll be fine,” he began. “I need to come and find you again after…”
“When you’re ready,” she said. “I’ll check back later.” She patted him on the shoulder
then, with a smile and a goodbye for Jamie, she left.
“This way,” Jamie encouraged. In a daze Mitch followed and listened to words
explaining where coffee was, where a phone was, even how long this could all potentially
take. He left as well and Mitchell was suddenly in blissful peace in a silent, empty room. The
walls painted a bright cheerful yellow were probably supposed to counteract the miserable
colours in his thoughts. It didn’t work. Nor did the magazines that were all at least three
months old. He picked up a copy of National Geographic and stared at the cover, which
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
12
showed some kind of ancient temple against a blue sky. How long he focused on that he
didn’t know but it was his cellphone vibrating in his pocket that snapped him back to the
here and now.
He checked the screen. Mom. That call he could ignore. She was used to that and he’d
hate to disappoint her any more than he did already. There is no way she could know about
Annabelle yet—he considered he had a couple of weeks before anyone would find out. The
summer break was nearly over and, of course, Bobbie’s old school would query it when
Bobbie didn’t turn up for her first day in the new school year. Given it was his mom that paid
the other school, she would probably be contacted and informed. That would be the day
Mitchell had to begin fighting to keep Bobbie with him until Annabelle was better.
He stuffed the phone back in his pocket and slumped back in the chair. His hair had
come loose from the tie it had been in when Bobbie had tugged at it and he cursed when the
end of the length dipped into his cold coffee. The door marked ‘Bathroom’ was only a few
steps away, but he hesitated to go out of the main room just in case someone came to find
him. He pushed his hands into his jeans pockets, hoping to hell he could find a tie, or
anything. Hell, he’d go with an elastic band at this point. The feel of soft leather against his
fingers was a relief and he pulled out the length that had snapped last week.
It took a few tries but eventually he had the hair pulled back from his face and tied with
the strangely knotted twist of leather. The weight of it away from his neck was a sudden
feeling of freedom. He stood up and under the air con until he was cooler. Then he sat. Then
he stood. Then he just did what came best to him. He paced from one side of the room to the
other and repeated every curse word he knew.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
13
Chapter Two
Liam Wolfe stood back from the table and breathed a sigh of relief. The slip of a girl on
the table was going to be fine, and thank God the appendix had been whole and intact. There
was no way this hospital was equipped for bigger surgeries than that and it had been touch
and go whether she should be transported to Knoxville.
“Nice job, Doctor.”
Liam looked up and grinned behind his mask. He knew that the smile would reach his
eyes. “Thank you, Doctor,” he replied.
Doctor Stephani Burnette waved a sketchy salute and left the room. Between them they
had managed to keep this case at Ellery Hospital rather than having to chance complications
on a helicopter ride to Trauma in the city.
Liam waited a few minutes longer as two of his nurses busied themselves with getting
Bobbie ready to transfer to one of the post-op rooms. When he was sure everything was clear,
he stripped off his disposable scrubs, mask and gloves. The girl’s dad was in the relatives’
room and the next part of Liam’s job was way more pleasurable when a surgery had gone
well. Whistling, he walked the short distance to the room, passing Jamie on the way there
and passing on the news of the all-clear to the paramedic.
He hovered outside the door and he hesitated to touch the handle. Someone inside was
having an argument—well, possibly an argument. All he could hear was cursing. Frowning,
he concentrated on the words but the only thing he could make out was a long list of curses
with no connectives. He decided there and then that knocking may be his best bet, which he
did firmly. He was expecting a ‘come in’ but stepped back in surprise when the door was
yanked open from the other side and the most gorgeous guy Liam had seen in a long time, at
least since he’d shown interest in Luke, was grabbing hold of his white coat.
“Is she okay?” the wild-eyed man snapped. “Is Bobbie going to be okay?”
“She’s fine,” Liam said. He untangled the man’s hands from his coat and encouraged
him to step back before closing the door behind him. “Doctor Liam Wolfe,” he introduced
himself with a hand outstretched.
“Mitchell Askett,” the other man said. “Call me Mitch. Is Bobbie okay?”
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
14
Liam nodded at the offer of a name then made a decision to cut the crap he would
usually flower up a surgery with and instead cut to the core of it. Mitchell looked to be one
step away from losing it. He was pale, and exhaustion bracketed his soft brown eyes.
“She’s fine. Sleeping. The appendix was swollen and infected. We removed it and there
will be very little scarring. It hadn’t burst so there is no danger of peritonitis.” Mitchell
visibly relaxed to the point where he slumped as though boneless into one of the chairs. Liam
coughed to clear his throat. He needed to point out the drawbacks of what had happened.
Bobbie was a healthy child but no operation was without risks. “Of course, worst case
scenario post-appendectomy complications include wound infection and abscess, but she is
in the best place and is under observation.”
Mitchell straightened in his chair and that wide-eyed panic was back. “But that won’t
happen to Bobbie. I mean I got her here, to the hospital, as soon as I knew something was
seriously wrong.” He bowed his head in his hands. “I should have realised quicker,” he
moaned loudly.
“Appendicitis is one of those things,” Liam began to explain. “In a twelve-year-old—in
anyone—the symptom of nausea wouldn’t instantly be recognisable as being caused by
appendicitis. Nausea alone isn’t enough for you to think anything was badly wrong.”
Compassion filled him as it did when he spoke to any family of a sick child, or in fact any
patient of his, old or young. “You did the right thing. Your daughter will be fine.”
Mitchell shook his head and scrubbed at his face with his hands. He was scruffy, with
stubble, and his long, dark brown hair had begun to pull loose from whatever was
attempting to hold it back. Strands of it curled insistently around his pale face and Liam
fought the instinct to push it back behind Mitchell’s ears.
“Not my daughter,” he said softly. “My niece—I’m her uncle. She’s my sister’s girl.”
“Well,” Liam said matter-of-factly, “your sister will be proud that you got her to us. Is
she coming to the hospital?”
Mitchell frowned then a new emotion marked his expression. Worry? Fear even?
“Why?” he asked urgently. “Does she need to?”
“I’m sorry?” Liam wasn’t following this new train of conversation.
Mitchell glanced up at him then looked down at his feet. “My sister, Annabelle, she
isn’t… I mean— I’m…Roberta’s legal guardian.”
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15
“Okay.” Liam narrowed his eyes. Mitchell didn’t sound entirely convinced of that
status. Then Mitchell stared right up at Liam and there was a new conviction in his eyes, and
his expression.
“When can I take her home?” he asked clearly.
“Tomorrow, maybe the day after. We’ll keep an eye on her. Kids bounce back quickly.
But Roberta may need the rest to get back to health.”
“She’s a fighter,” Mitchell said quickly. “She fell off her bike when she was six, blood
everywhere. My sister called and hell, she was freaked out. We got her to the hospital and
Bobbie had broken her leg. You know, she didn’t cry once.” So much pride dripped from his
words that Liam’s fleeting concern over the guardian comment was pushed to one side. He’d
seen a lot in his years in medicine—first as a trainee, then as a doctor in Knoxville, then as the
chief here in this three doctor, eight bed hospital. He’d seen both forced and genuine
emotion, and what Mitchell was showing was honest. Just to be on the safe side, though, he
resolved to pass the details to Finn. The cop could run a check on Mitchell Askett and his
niece Bobbie.
“Can I see her?” Mitchell asked. His words broke through Liam’s thoughts.
“Of course. He opened the door and gestured for Mitchell to follow then they made
their way to the post-op rooms. “Ignore the monitors. She’s absolutely fine, but we need to
get some readings that can give us a heads-up for complications.” Mitchell hesitated at the
threshold to the room and grief carved his face. In seconds he was at Bobbie’s side and held
one of her small hands in his.
“She looks so pale,” he said gently.
“She’ll soon get some colour back in her cheeks,” Liam pointed out.
Mitchell shot him a quick look. “Thank you. I owe you one.”
“Just doing my job. I’ll leave you here with her. The nurse is right through the glass if
you need her.” Liam pointed at the glass to two sides of the room and to the small desk on
the other side. Abby was sitting there at the moment with her head down, scribbling
furiously in a book, and Owen, one of two male nurses in the hospital, was at the PC.
As administrator to this entire hospital, Abby Grant put so much time in that at times
Liam wondered if she ever left. As he looked over he saw Owen glance at Abby and the look
he sent her when she wasn’t facing him was one of want. Liam sighed. Owen loved her. In
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
16
fact he had done for the past three years he’d worked here. One day Abby would see past
Ellery Hospital and put her own life in order by seeing what was staring her in the face.
Then again, who was he to talk? It wasn’t like the vista of his love life was anything
more than tumbleweeds and chirping crickets. Finn had Max, Daniel had Luke… Hell, he’d
liked Luke, but he was the first to admit that Dan and Luke made sense. Then, even Kieran
was loved up to the point where Liam had been avoiding the Friday get-togethers when
asked recently.
Unsettled and angsty was the way he felt at the moment. Not that it helped when he
turned back to face Mitchell, who had an expression on his face that spoke of too many
questions. Evidently, Liam had zoned out through everything.
“Anyway. I’ll be in tomorrow to check up on you. I’m not on call but Doctor Burnette is,
if you need anything,” Liam summarised. He headed for the door and heard a chair being
dragged across the floor. A quick look back had him seeing Mitchell settling himself on the
newly moved seat right next to Bobbie’s head. There was so much love in Mitchell for his
niece, any fool could see that. She was lucky to have got such a good guardian—some
children weren’t so fortunate. He closed the door behind him but not before he’d heard four
small words from the guardian to his patient.
‘I should have seen.’
Liam was immediately accosted by Abby, who thrust two sheets of paper at him then
shooed him down the hall to his office.
“I got Daniel to come in later than normal, and he has Max with him, something about
fire regulations. Also, the first referral has come through as agreed. All it needs is your
signature. The guy’s details are on the paper headed ‘Patient Details’. The other sheet is the
quotes for the therapy pool.”
Liam came to an absolute stop and Abby skidded to a halt next to him, wobbling on her
heels.
“What is it?” she asked immediately.
Liam needed to find the right words. Not only did Abby work damn hard as hospital
administrator, she hired, fired, cajoled and organised, and on top of that she was helping him
out on the project for Daniel’s centre. How could he sum up his thanks in a sentence that
made any sense and didn’t need three whole paragraphs of added explanation? He pulled
her off her feet into a sudden and tight hug and simply said, “Thank you.”
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
17
When he set her down again, she straightened her slim-fit skirt and her jacket then
looked directly up at Liam.
“Idiot,” she said affectionately. Then she pushed him towards the door to his office.
“Go do great things.”
“Don’t ever get a job elsewhere,” he said quietly.
“I won’t.”
“Consider yourself given a pay rise.”
“Doctor Wolfe, that will be my third pay raise this month. I’m not seeing the money in
the budget.” She was teasing—it was a standing joke between them.
“Get rid of the coffee machine then,” Liam deadpanned.
“And risk mutiny? Go.”
They exchanged smiles and Liam let himself into the office, still smiling. Daniel was by
the window on his cell and his conversation, by the sound of it, wasn’t going well. Max for
his part was leant back, with his eyes shut and his mouth slightly open, in the comfy chair in
the corner of the room, and Liam could swear he heard soft snoring.
“Hi, guys,” he said. Daniel turned and acknowledged his entrance with a wave and
Max opened one eye blearily.
“Hey,” he said.
“I don’t give a shit about that,” Daniel said loudly into his cell, “I want those parts by
Saturday midday or I’ll just take my business elsewhere.” He ended the call and, with a
dramatic huff, dropped himself in the other chair opposite Liam’s desk. “Freaking asshole
asking for more money up front.”
“On what?”
“How do I know? Kieran ordered whatever it was. I’m just playing bad guy. Who do I
have to kill for coffee here?”
Liam laughed and made three coffees from his own small machine on the side desk.
The gleaming silver appliance had been a present from his parents when he left the city. They
thought he’d be bereft without Starbucks and they’d been halfway right. Finally, all three
men sat at the table and Liam laid out the two pieces of paper side by side.
“Final quotes on the therapy pool,” he summed up. “All doable in the budget. You
want to sign off on these with me?” He signed on the bottom line then pushed the sheet to
Daniel, who glanced at the words quickly then signed next to Liam.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
18
“All I can say is thank God the proceeds of Jason’s charity episode came through,”
Daniel murmured. “We had another unforeseen expense coming at us.” He looked pointedly
at Max who shrugged.
“You were the one who turned the staircase,” he said. “Means you need a new fire door
as a barrier. And two other smoke alarms because of the path from kitchens to roof. You need
to get up to code.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “Turning the staircase was a good idea. Means we get the TV
room.”
“And two code violations,” Max pointed out.
“You sound just like Kieran,” he muttered.
Max shrugged and addressed his next comment to Liam. “Daniel’s just pissed off
because I was tasked with the report on the code and came up with the new stuff.”
“I. Am. Not. Pissed. Off.” Daniel bit out each word firmly. “You did your job. I want
this all done properly. I can’t help it if one of my best friends chose a partner with a health
and safety stick up his ass.”
Max rolled his eyes and Liam chuckled. Daniel was only bantering. He got along with
Max just fine. In fact, the two of them—Max and Daniel—loved teasing Finn, which was a
hell of an amusing thing to watch.
“I also got the final papers on our first soldier…or sailor, actually. He’s an ex-SEAL.”
Max and Daniel exchanged looks of surprise.
Daniel was the first to talk. “A SEAL? A proper, actual, honest to God real SEAL?”
“Lieutenant Travis Baranski. Retired. Thirty-six.” Liam peered closer but most of the
boxes were empty and he frowned. “Injuries unspecified. History unspecified.”
“Usual secrecy then,” Daniel muttered.
“Well, we do know he’s thirty-six,” Max interjected. “And we know he wouldn’t have
been referred here if all normal methods of help hadn’t failed.”
All three men sat in serious silence for a few moments. What Daniel was doing, and
what friends like Liam and Max were working on, was important. Suddenly the teasing and
the joking left the room. Navy SEAL Baranski was due in a few weeks, as was another yet
unnamed patient—or resident, or whatever they were calling the guys and girls they tried to
help.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
19
Daniel stood with a determined expression on his face. “Come on, Max, let’s get Kieran
involved on the work we need to do.”
They left and Liam spent the next few hours working on paperwork until the clock
showed eight p.m. and he needed to do a final walk-round. With only four of the eight beds
currently occupied, it meant that his last minute rounds would have been quick had he not
stopped at each bed and chatted.
Widow Jenn, in for a type 2 diabetes work-up and a few days of tests, demanded that
he go and check her house, then go out and find a man, because he hadn’t had a man in ages.
Little Billy Jones, son of Monique at the diner, was in with bronchitis and asthma, and
Monique hovered and also queried the state of Liam’s love life. After all—‘Finn and Max,
Daniel and Luke, Jason and Kieran…’ Blah blah.
When the first thing out of Harriet Pole’s mouth was ‘You out on a date tonight, son?’
Liam knew he had somehow crossed over into a twilight zone where everyone was trying to
match up the last remaining gay guy in town. Well, apart from Mikey, Norma-Jean’s
grandson, and of course his friend the paramedic, Jamie Llewellyn, who was apparently over
the whole dating thing.
With a sigh of relief he rounded the corner to the post-op area and his freaking sex life,
or lack of it, hit him squarely in the face.
Mitchell, with his head rested on his crossed hands, was asleep while leaning
awkwardly on the covers over Bobbie. His head was turned towards the door, his lips parted
as he breathed and his long hair loose around his shoulders. Mitchell had a huge thing for
long hair. All that gorgeous dark softness wrapped around his hands as he… No. He
couldn’t go there. He’d done this before. Seen a gorgeous guy with long hair and a fuck-me
body at a club or a restaurant, and had his interests dashed when the girlfriend/wife had
turned up from their trip to the restroom. Daniel took great pleasure in telling him that he
clearly frequented the wrong places. Mitchell moved in his sleep, then mumbled words in
that random way of a dream. He had perfect lips, a little pouty, soft, kissable, and his face,
whilst not classically pretty in that twinky blond way Liam normally liked, was a study in
hard planes and angles. Long lashes brushed his cheek and sleeping like this gave Liam the
perfect chance to check the man out.
Jeans and a plain sweatshirt gave little away. His jacket was black leather and creaked
as he moved so was probably quite new, and he wore boots laced up to above his ankles. He
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
20
clearly loved his niece—official guardian or not. Liam imagined there was a story behind
those serious brown eyes.
Carefully, he rounded the other side of the bed, grabbing the chart on the way.
Everything looked fine. Her temperature was normal, her skin tone even seemed a little
warmer. She had the same colour hair as her uncle and they shared family characteristics.
But where Uncle Mitchell was all angles and shadows, Bobbie had gentle features.
“We should get him to move,” Stephani said at his side. “He can’t sleep in that position
all night.”
The instant thought that he could stay with Liam flashed through his head. Preferably
naked and in his bed.
“I’ll get a cot moved in here,” Liam said after a pause.
“I’ll sort it,” Stephani said quickly. “It’s Friday night. You need to get changed and get
yourself to Max’s place.”
Liam didn’t even begin to question how his fellow doctor knew that tonight the meet-
up was at Max’s house. He’d been hoping at the back of his mind that he could maybe avoid
tonight, but his conscience pricked him. Max was moving in with Finn next week and this
would be the last meet-up in his place on the main street. Kind of a celebration, even, and
Finn had made Liam agree to be there. Glancing at his watch, he realised he would be
fashionably late, but yes, Stephani was right—he needed to go.
With a final look over at Sleeping Tough Guy and his patient, he left the room to go to
his locker. He was too late to go home and change but a quick shower in the staff area and he
could get away with wearing the jeans he had been wearing this morning. He would force
himself to attend the Friday meet-up and have to watch all the happy guys.
Sometimes it messed with his insular existence to have friends. Especially friends like
Finn.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
21
Chapter Three
When he arrived at Max’s he had to put up with ten minutes of jokes about being late,
but after downing a beer fairly quickly, he had a nice buzz and settled into a solo chair.
Max and Finn disappeared into the kitchen to ‘search for snacks’, although no one else
believed them. Jason was nearly asleep with his head on Kieran’s shoulder and Daniel lay
sideways on the sofa opposite, his head in Luke’s lap. The talk expanded from Daniel’s
project, to Finn’s upcoming promotion tests, to Jason admitting he was one of only three
shortlisted to star in a new serious drama. Liam was relaxed and he told himself he had to
remember that he actually enjoyed interaction with friends. Even disgustingly happy and in-
your-face-in-love friends.
“Is the Askett girl doing okay?” Daniel asked. “Mom said Mitchell arrived early.”
“Early for what?” Liam asked. “And how does your mom know Mitchell?”
Daniel raised his eyebrows in silent surprise. “Do you ever listen to what we talk about,
Doc?” he asked with a sly grin.
“Of course I do,” Liam started. “Luke and you are sickeningly happy, even though I
still think Luke would have been better off dating a doctor, Max and Finn are moving in
together, and Kieran and Jason have long-distance love down to a fine art.” He was joking
but when no one immediately replied he thought back to what he had said and realised he
had probably come off as more sarcastic than funny. “Joke,” he added lamely.
Daniel was the first one to start laughing, and soon it seemed everyone found what
Liam had said hilarious. Even Liam himself.
“You really need to get laid,” Finn suggested, which set everyone off laughing again.
When more beer appeared Liam didn’t refuse and on his third beer he suddenly recalled
what Daniel had said.
“How does your mom know him?” he asked.
“Mitchell Askett is the new half-owner of the cabins. He was supposed to be arriving
next week, but he got here early. He’s moving into town and they’re rebuilding Mike
Fitzgerald’s cabin.”
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22
Liam wasn’t sure what part to jump on first and decided that Luke’s reaction to his
dad’s cabin being rebuilt was a big thing. Luke didn’t look upset, or worried. In fact, he was
looking down at Daniel with that gorgeous, sexy, stunning—sighs—smile of his.
“You know Mitchell as well,” Finn said.
“I would remember him,” Liam defended. Tall, dark, hard… Yep, no way in hell he
would forget a man like Mitchell.
“Well, you don’t exactly know Mitchell himself, but you know the library is the Askett
library, and Askett road runs parallel to Main? That’s the family. An old Ellery family who
made good and moved on to the city. Mitchell is the son of one of the Askett brothers. I think
he has a sister.”
That made sense. Of course Liam knew the Askett story—he just hadn’t put two and
two together. “And a niece recovering from an appendectomy. Roberta Askett. Mitchell is
her guardian.”
“Last I heard Mitchell was arrested for something,” Kieran said thoughtfully. “Norma-
Jean told Dad that Mitchell was working hard to get a reputation as a bad boy. Dad told me
and embellished it with a whole load of stories about Mitchell, like his arrest for drunk and
disorderly, which led to a spell in some fancy clinic. There was a DUI as well I think. No one
knows what he does, but he has family money.”
“Which he’s invested in the cabins,” Daniel finished.
“This doesn’t worry you?” Liam asked. The minute DUI was mentioned, his back was
up. He’d worked to save too many victims of DUI’s, and the drivers themselves, to have a
single ounce of patience for anyone who did that kind of thing. He noticed both Max and
Finn looked equally concerned. It was easy to be prejudiced with what they all saw in their
line of work.
Daniel nodded. “My mom met with him, took Thomas with her. If she’s happy, then I
am. She’s a good judge of character and she says he’s making himself into a new man.”
“Leopards and alcoholics don’t change,” Liam muttered. No one commented back and
the subject moved on to other things. When the evening broke up it was after midnight and
Liam left his car outside Max’s house. Gently, he touched the hood in a reassuring pat.
Immaculate inside and out, the ten-year-old BMW was his pride and joy.
“Want me to drive it back?” Kieran called.
Liam waved him away. “Not sure you could see over the dashboard, shorty.”
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
23
“Ha, freaking, ha.” Kieran slipped his hand into Jason’s and they sauntered off in the
direction of where Jason had parked his Jeep.
“You still on for the moving?” Max asked. He stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the
light from the hall behind. They would be moving boxes from Max’s place to Finn’s, and he’d
volunteered before he realised the day was amidst his being on-call towards the end of the
week. He could manage it, though. Apart from the odd emergency he had everything pretty
much in order.
“Totally,” Liam said quickly. “You okay with me leaving my baby here?”
“Of course.” Max looked from car to Liam and back again. “You sure you can trust it
outside my house?” he deadpanned.
Liam snorted. What could happen on a brightly lit road? It wasn’t as if it was the first
time he’d left it at a friend’s house when he’d drunk beer.
The noise of a car driving down the hill from the hospital had him turning in curiosity.
After midnight Ellery pretty much shut down. He didn’t recognise the car as being local, and
he really knew his cars. Had to be a hire car or something. It pulled out into Main Street and
swung in a wide arc. Too wide. Far too wide. When the nose of the car scraped down the side
of his BMW Liam ran to the spot and had only one thought in his mind. He was going to kill
whoever had touched his beloved car.
The owner stopped a little ahead of the BMW and clambered out, and in the light of a
street lamp it was obvious who the hell it was. Mitchell Askett. Max’s front door opened and
the big man was on the doorstep and assessing what had happened in an instant, but Liam
was incredibly focused. He stalked past his car to a stunned Mitchell and pushed him back
against his rental.
“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted into Mitchell’s face. He sniffed but he
couldn’t smell alcohol on the guy’s breath. That proved nothing. “Have you been drinking?”
“No—”
Liam shoved him again but Max was immediately there. “Are you hurt, sir?” he asked.
He placed one hand on Liam’s chest to hold him back.
Mitchell looked dazed. “No. I’m… I don’t know the… I’m really sorry—I’ll pay for any
damage.”
“I want him tested,” Liam snapped.
“I haven’t been drinking. I’ve been at the hospital. My niece…”
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
24
Finn was suddenly there, buttoning up jeans and with his hair sticking up at all angles,
wet from the shower.
“What’s happened?” Even half-naked, Finn was all cop.
“Damned idiot ran into my car,” Liam said. The alcohol buzz that had made him so
high and happy was nothing but a distant memory now.
“Liam. Stop,” Max ordered. “Minor collision between a rental and a parked car. Little
damage and the driver is lucid, if a little dazed,” the fireman summarised everything for Finn
who had now at least finished buttoning his shirt.
“I’ll give him dazed,” Liam snapped. “Damned idiot took the corner too wide.”
“I’m really sorry,” Mitchell protested. He sidestepped Max then stood as close to Finn
as he could. “I’ll take a test,” he said to Finn. “I promise you this was a complete accident and
I haven’t drunk anything since January twenty-ten.”
Finn rolled his shoulders and ran a hand through his wet hair. “Stay here, sir,” he said
using his patented cop voice. He shrugged on the shirt he had balled in his hands. “I’ll get a
kit.” In seconds he was jogging over the street to the cop house and was back again in quick
succession. Liam counted down from a hundred as Mitchell was tested.
“It’s negative,” Finn said simply. He swiftly dealt with the reading and packaged
everything up for filing.
“I said, I’m just new to town, and I am genuinely sorry. The light on the corner tricked
me into thinking there was more space. Once I was in the turn I couldn’t stop. It’s an
unfamiliar car I’m driving…” He stopped and looked fairly miserable.
“You’ll need to call your insurance company in the morning,” Max said helpfully.
“You think?” Liam muttered. He watched Finn talking to Mitchell and a small amount
of compassion eked its way into his anger. The guy hadn’t been drinking. He’d probably just
been tired—that was just as dangerous. But he looked devastated to have hit Liam’s car—
seriously wiped out by it—which wasn’t an incredibly rational response from the man.
Mitchell leant back against the rental and shook his head at something Finn said. Then he
moved and climbed in the car and drove off in the direction he had been heading. Probably
the motel outside Ellery from the look of it.
“He’s staying at the motel,” Finn said. “Just for tonight. Apparently Stephani told him
that he needed to get some sleep.”
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
25
Liam sighed then ran a hand along the scarred flank of his prized possession. The
damage wasn’t that bad, but he was still angry. Thing was, he realised he was angry at
himself as well. He never left the car anywhere vulnerable, and he never drank to the point
where he physically assaulted another person. Fuck. Max had had to break him off. Half
embarrassed and half just plain tired, he turned to the couple who stood waiting for him to
do something.
“Is he pressing charges?” he asked.
“What for?” Finn replied. He looked confused.
“Should have seen him. Had the guy pushed up against the car.” Max shook his head.
“Never seen the doc that agitated.”
Finn shook his head. “He never mentioned that. Kept saying he owed you so much for
what you did for Bobbie and he felt awful for what happened. Seems to me he’s not calling
you on your reaction.”
“My reaction, which was totally out of all proportion.” Liam sighed.
“You know what you need?” Max said gently.
Liam narrowed his eyes as he waited for the obligatory one-liner about his sex life that
the guys were so fond of throwing at him.
“What?” he prompted.
Max looked at Finn who grinned back at him. Then in unison they said exactly what
Liam had expected them to say, “You need to get laid.”
Fuckers.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
26
Chapter Four
Bobbie was out of hospital on Sunday morning and, luckily, Doctor Burnette had been
his contact at the hospital. For that he was so damned pleased—seeing Doctor Wolfe was
bottom of his to-do list. He couldn’t believe he’d hit a car, or that he’d overreacted so badly
after hitting it. The shame of all the stuff that happened before with his drinking and the DUI
washed over him the very moment the cop, Ryan, had administered the test.
He’d thought he had a handle on all this, but he had to be honest with himself. He was
well and truly fucked. He’d found a meeting to attend on Monday in the local church hall.
He could have gone into Knoxville and attended his normal AA meeting, but he had Bobbie
to think of, and hell, how many people would be attending an AA meeting in a small town
anyway? He’d booked an extra night in the dive of a motel but from tonight the two of them
would be staying in the Mountain View Hotel—Bobbie deserved way more than stained
ceilings and cracked toilets. He could afford better but at least going back to the motel after
scraping that damn car had been an adequate punishment.
He pulled up outside the hotel and parked in the first space.
“Is this our home?” Bobbie asked. He glanced over at her and smiled. She looked so
excited and for someone that had been so ill she was bouncing.
“No, just the hotel we’re staying in for the next few weeks.”
“Wow, do I get my own room?”
“It’s a suite with two bedrooms. Is that okay?”
“Can we stay up late and make hot chocolate?”
“Of course we can.”
“Can I braid your hair?” she asked cheekily.
“Isn’t it me that is supposed to be braiding your hair?” Mitchell laughed.
She twirled a finger in her short dark hair. With an exaggerated sigh, she tugged at it.
“No, Uncle Mitchell, your hair is longer than mine.”
He carried their bags inside and they checked in with a very talkative lady who
apparently knew everything about Ellery. They were lucky to finally escape to their rooms.
The suite wasn’t huge, but there were two doors off a sitting room that led into two
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
27
bedrooms, a seating area with a large TV and a small kitchen. Mitchell didn’t expect they
would be cooking much there—he wasn’t the best cook—but it would be good for breakfasts.
The hotel had a small restaurant and there was a diner in town. They’d manage okay here.
Bobbie called dibs on the bedroom that overlooked the mountains, and Mitchell didn’t
argue. He preferred the view of the town anyway. People watching was how he’d become
such a successful fund manager. Lying back on the bed, he looked up at the stain-free ceiling.
No one had tried phoning him—not his parents, not the rehab place, not the cop about the
accident. At the moment everything was peaceful and Bobbie was well. He couldn’t ask for
more. Well, apart from feeling like at any moment his whole world was going to crash down
on him.
“There’s a Justin Beiber marathon at eight,” Bobbie informed him from the door. He
groaned inwardly. “We can get popcorn and drinks and watch it.”
Watching a Justin Beiber-thon sounded like his idea of hell. “Okay, that sounds like
fun,” he lied.
“Can I have a shower?” she asked.
“So you can look your best for Justin?” Mitchell joked.
“No. So that I can smell nice.” She sniffed her T-shirt. “I smell like a nurse.”
“Cool. Don’t get your bandage wet. Do you remember how they showed you to wrap
it? Do you need my help?”
He’d changed Bobbie’s nappies, given her late night feeds, got her to eat whole food,
taken her to her first day at kindergarten, bathed her, watched her sports days—but there
was a point in every uncle’s life when he needed to let his niece have her space. She’d
reached that age a few years back. Probably why he’d never noticed what was happening.
“I don’t need help, Doctor Steph showed me how.”
“I’m going to lie here, shout if you need me,” Mitchell said. She smiled at him then in a
sudden impulsive move she scrambled up to sit on his stomach and he let out an oof of
protest. Leaning down, she hugged him close then kissed him on the cheek before
clambering down.
“Love you,” she said.
“Love you too, pumpkin.”
“Stop calling me pumpkin!” she called as the bathroom door shut.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
28
Mitchell lay still and smiled. He loved her like she was his own daughter. It broke him
in half that he had never seen what was happening, too embroiled in his own new sober life
to see that he’d left her behind. Well, that was damn well changing and starting now, life was
going to be different—despite what people told him he was or wasn’t capable of. His sister
was ill, and Bobbie was his niece. He would do a good job or die trying.
The knock on the door had him quickly rolling off the bed and moving to answer. The
woman from downstairs had said she was dropping in more pillows when he’d mentioned
that Bobbie liked to sleep in a nest of them. He opened the door with a flourish expecting to
see five foot nothing of grey-haired old lady hidden behind pillows. Instead, he got six foot
of blond, blue-eyed doctor with his arms crossed over his chest and stubborn, intractable
irritation in his expression.
“Hi,” Mitchell said.
“Mr Askett,” Doctor Wolfe said in acknowledgement.
“Mitchell, please.”
“Liam,” he said sharply. “And I’m here because I wanted to apologise for how I reacted
after the whole car thing.”
Mitchell opened his mouth to say something but surprise had stolen his words. Doctor
Wolfe was apologising to him? The words sounded rehearsed but the fact that he was
outside Mitchell’s door looking all official and pissed off was evidence that emotion rested in
every one of Doctor Wolfe’s—Liam’s—words.
“It was my fault,” Mitchell offered. “I should be the one apologising.”
“It’s just a car,” Liam counter-offered.
“No, it’s not,” Mitchell said instantly. “It’s a limited edition BMW 360 brake horse
power M3 that can do nought to sixty in under five seconds. It was never released into the
US market so I assume you imported it or know someone who did. You have the 3.2 litre
engine in silver grey metallic, and that was one of only two colours—black being the other.
It’s lighter than the regular M3, and it had no air con as standard, which in Tennessee in the
summer has to hurt. It has carbon fibre reinforced polymer and glass-reinforced plastics in all
structural points of the car and was inspired by Formula One technology. You want me to
tell you how they lowered the centre of gravity of the car by changing the roof from the
standard M3?” Mitchell stopped talking. His enthusiasm for cars had gone with his job and
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
29
his drinking, but the passion was still there. Now he looked like a complete idiot and he
waited for Liam to turn on his heel and leave.
“You know your cars,” was all Liam said. He relaxed a little and had at least unfolded
his arms—pushing his hands into the pockets of his black pants instead.
“Some,” Mitchell said. “I used to love my imports but always hankered after a cherry
red Corvette. Which is why I know that your car isn’t ‘just a car’. Because if I had that
Corvette and someone drove into it then I wouldn’t be happy. Which is why I am so damn
sorry I was stupid enough to drive that crappy Toyota in such a wide turn and scratch down
the side. I tried to brake but my foot slipped. I am genuinely sorry.”
“You want a coffee?”
The change in subject was enough to have Mitchell standing there with his mouth open.
“To seal the mutual apology,” Liam qualified.
“I have Bobbie here with me, she’s in the shower. Maybe another time?”
“You know where I am,” Liam said. With that he spun on his heel and walked away
and Mitchell was left standing in his doorway. What a weird conversation to have been
having with the guy he owed so much to. He didn’t feel any better but at least Liam wasn’t
carrying a grudge. Hell, if someone had scraped down the side of the Porsche he’d once
owned he’d have lost it too.
“Men,” Bobbie said from behind him. Bundled up in a towel she looked younger than
twelve with her face all rosy red and a broad smile splitting her face.
“What?”
“It’s what Mom says. Men and their cars.”
Mitchell didn’t know what surprised him more—that Bobbie remembered what
Annabelle had said or that Annabelle had said it in the first place.
“She said you wasted all your money on cars.”
“She did?”
“She smiled when she said it.”
Something tugged inside his chest. For all her problems, his sister loved him, and he
loved her. She’d always teased that he’d replaced a lack of a stable sex life with his cars.
What was it with people commenting on his sex life?
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
30
“He’s nice. The doctor. I think he’s gay.” Bobbie sat on the sofa and switched on the TV
before flicking from channel to channel. Mitchell pushed the door closed and turned to face
the awkward conversation he could see happening.
“What makes you say that?”
“He asked you for a coffee.”
“A—he didn’t ask me because I am gay and he likes me, because he doesn’t actually
know I’m gay and probably doesn’t like me anyway. B—I crashed into his car. And C—how
the hell do you know he’s gay?”
Bobbie went from her bold statement to being a twelve-year-old again when the
channel stopped on Tom and Jerry. “Look, it’s the one with Jerry asleep in the piano. It’s your
favourite.”
With the awkward conversation diverted, Mitchell sat in the other chair and settled in
to watch Tom and Jerry. He loved the cartoons and possibly—hopefully—his niece may forget
about the Bieber-thon.
“Do we have popcorn? Cause don’t forget Justin is on soon,” she said.
Well, shit.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
31
Chapter Five
Mitchell knocked on the door and thought back to the day he had arrived in Ellery and
knocked on the same door. This time it opened almost immediately and a man stood there
with a welcoming smile.
“I’m here for a meeting with Brenda Skylar,” Mitchell said by way of introduction.
“Come in, come in—my name is Thomas Dexter, I’m Brenda’s fiancé.”
“Congratulations,” Mitchell said immediately. “Is it okay if I bring my niece in?”
“Of course,” Thomas said as he peered around Mitchell. “Brenda has cookies.” Mitchell
turned and waved Bobbie in and she joined him at the door.
“Hi,” she said with no trace of shyness. She must get that from him. His sister had
always been impossibly shy.
They all went in and the scents of cookies and coffee made Mitchell’s mouth water. The
scents reminded him of lazy Saturday mornings minding a young Bobbie and making
cookies with her.
They all sat at the kitchen table and made small talk. Apparently Brenda’s son would be
joining them soon, and was it okay to wait to start chatting, and boy, wasn’t it hot at the
moment?
When a tall, dark-haired man walked in through the back door Mitchell immediately
felt defensive. Something about the guy made Mitchell instantly wary. He hated feeling so
intimidated. Where was his natural confidence?
“Daniel Skylar,” the man introduced himself. “Heard you had a drama, young lady.”
He was talking to Bobbie and, even at twelve, Bobbie was suddenly all coy and cute.
“I had my ‘pendix out,” she said.
Daniel ruffled her hair and reached over to pick up a cookie, which he consumed in two
bites. He then pulled a chair over until all five of them sat in a loose circle around the aged
wooden table.
“First off,” Brenda began. “I know we’ve only spoken through solicitors, but I want to
welcome you to Ellery Cabins personally. When we accepted your bid, it was because the
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
32
previous owner, Luke Fitzgerald, and I were very impressed with the outline of the plans
you submitted.”
“Thank you. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
“So where do we start?” Daniel asked. “I’m guessing you want to invest some of your
time in getting the old cabin rebuilt so you have somewhere to live?”
“That would be a great start. I want to learn everything,” Mitchell stated simply. “I
want to know how the website works, how we take bookings, how we market ourselves, get
return bookings, do maintenance. I want to be hands on and be part of the team.”
Daniel nodded approvingly at his words and Mitchell felt lighter at the support. He
really had to make a go of this. He’d sunk every penny of his deeper investments into this
place and rebuilding the cabin, and all he had left was maybe twenty thousand in a couple of
bank accounts. More than enough to live on by himself for a while, but hotels cost money
and renovations cost money despite how much insurance had paid out to rebuild. He needed
an income from Ellery Cabins and he needed it fairly quickly. After all, he had a child to
support.
Meeting over, Brenda and Thomas took Bobbie to show her an old tree house that
apparently Thomas’ son Kieran had built with his best friend Finn. When they explained
who Finn was, Mitchell didn’t know what to say other than a weak “We’ve met.” He didn’t
explain when or why. As small towns go, what had happened was probably general news by
now.
This left him alone with Daniel, who leaned on the rail around the porch area and
stared out at the Smokys just beyond the town.
“Scary with the appendix thing,” Daniel began conversationally.
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Mitchell replied instantly. “I should have realised but by
the time I got here she was really ill.”
“Taking care of kids is hard.”
“Do you have kids?”
Daniel smiled and threw the leaf he had shredded over the porch to the ground below.
“I’d like some one day. My partner is a teacher and he isn’t as convinced he wants kids at
home as well as at school.”
Mitchell stored away the information. If Daniel was with a he, then maybe they could
have something in common.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
33
“How did you meet him?” Mitchell asked curiously.
“You know him—well, through lawyers you do—Luke Fitzgerald. He owned the other
half of the cabins. It was his dad’s cabin that burned down.”
“Jeez. That’s awful.”
“You’ll hear a lot in town about Luke’s dad, and about Luke. The longer you stay here
the more of your story will become public knowledge as well. Small towns and all.”
“I don’t listen to gossip. I’ve been the subject of it too many times.”
“The DUI and the arrests,” Daniel said carefully. Mitchell’s heart sank and he looked at
Daniel sharply.
“That news didn’t take long to filter down.”
“One of Ellery’s old families comes home, then his story is one people pass on. You’ll
have to get used to it. I don’t think everyone knows yet, but it won’t be long.”
“I just hope Bobbie isn’t affected by anything that is said. I won’t have her hurt by
people talking about what I used to be, and how I used to act. I moved here to give her a
stable home, but I’ll leave before I see her hurt in any way.”
Daniel nodded then turned to face the cabin and leaned the other way on the porch
surround. “I can understand that. No one in the town will ever know anyone’s real story
unless you tell them everything. They’ll talk about you, and discuss what kind of man you
are now, but it won’t last long. Bobbie will be fine and I’m guessing you want her in school in
two weeks? For the new term? I can get Luke to give you a name or something.”
“Thank you, I do want her settled.” The thought of getting her into a normal
environment outweighed the fear that his parents would then know exactly what Mitchell
had done.
“So I heard you smashed into Liam’s car.” Daniel huffed a laugh. “He loves that car.”
“It’s a nice car,” Mitchell agreed. “And it was less smash and more scrape. Still, I feel
bad.”
Daniel straightened and stretched tall, exposing tattoos around his biceps and an
intriguing tattoo on his hip bone just above where his worn jeans sat. Entwined letters or
something like that. Daniel certainly would have attracted Mitchell’s attention in the clubs in
Knoxville. Just a little bit dangerous to look at with eyes that spoke of passion. But oddly
enough, even standing here next to Mr Tall and Gorgeous, Mitchell’s brain focused on
Doctor Liam Wolfe. He had stubborn temper flashing in his sapphire blue eyes and a body
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34
just begging to be held, and that had Mitchell excited to see the man again. He could ask
Daniel. It wouldn’t be an inappropriate question. Would it? One gay man asking another
whether a third man was indeed gay. Jeez. What was in his head? That sounded like the start
to some weird porn film that ended up in a threesome.
“Liam asked me for a coffee,” Mitchell offered. He had to get the image of the doctor
naked out of his head. Instead, he hoped mentioning the coffee was enough for Daniel to talk
about Liam Wolfe. Mitchell waited for him to immediately launch into an explanation of how
Liam was not only gay but actually liked to fuck around with recovering alcoholic bad boys
with criminal records.
Yeah, right, that is not going to happen. The doc is a professional guy who, even if gay, wouldn’t
be able to handle me.
“He did?” was all Daniel said. He didn’t mention or even hint at G-A-Y.
“So we could chat and maybe bury the hatchet, I assume,” Mitchell led. But when he
looked at me, I thought he was maybe checking me out. Or it could have been temper that I had
smacked his car. I don’t know. I think I’ve lost the skill to tell the difference.
Daniel nodded. “Sounds like him. He’s a nice guy, if a bit obsessed by that damn shiny
car.”
The noise of an approaching vehicle had Daniel turning and waving. “This is Kieran
Dexter, son of the mayor, and my friend. He’s a carpenter, but he can turn his hand to
anything. I said you’d be interested in getting a quote from him for the cabin.”
“Thank you.”
The man who climbed out of the car was short and pretty and blond and twinky-
gorgeous.
Jeez. Was anyone in this town ugly?
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
35
Chapter Six
Ellery Inn was busy for a Tuesday, but Liam wasn’t interested in getting a table so it
didn’t matter how many groups took up the space. He perched on his normal stool, right at
the back on the curve of the bar and out of everyone’s way. Avery slid him a bottle of
sparkling without even asking and Liam tilted it in acknowledgement. Beer was off limits
when he was on call and Avery had a handle on Liam’s schedule that would rival the best
PA. For a few minutes, Liam relaxed and focused on downing half the water. That quenched
his thirst and the rest of the bottle he could nurse as he people watched.
Twisting on his stool, he cast expert eyes around the crowd and saw very little different
from what was normal.
“How goes it, Doc?” Avery asked from behind him. Liam turned back to face the
smiling man. He’d pondered Avery as a possible guy for some random sex when he’d first
moved to Ellery but had soon realised Avery was a much better friend behind a bar than in
his bed. The bar was Liam’s escape. He loved the smell and the people and the chatter.
“It’s good,” he answered in general.
“Heard your baby got smacked.”
Liam winced. Equal amounts of sadness at what had happened and embarrassment
about how he had reacted flooded him. “It’s not that bad,” he finally said. “Most of it will
buff out with enough elbow grease. Poor guy who hit it, though…” He shook his head. “I
gave him hell, and he was having a bad day anyway.”
“The new family? A man and his niece, moving up into the cabins but staying at the
hotel meanwhile,” Avery offered in summary.
“Yeah.” Liam wasn’t surprised Avery knew that much—Ellery was a small town and
Avery was as efficient as Widow Jenn in the knowing everything stakes. Part and parcel of
being the guy people felt easy talking to, he supposed.
“I haven’t met him yet,” Avery commented as he concentrated on completing an order
for a beer and a Coke. Passing the drinks to the customer, he exchanged pleasantries then
resumed his relaxed elbows-on-bar stance. Liam wasn’t going to share that it was unlikely
Mitchell would be frequenting a bar any time soon. If the information about Mitchell being a
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36
recovering alcoholic hadn’t made it this far then he wasn’t broadcasting it. He checked his
watch. He had an hour’s break and a pager in his pocket if he was needed back over at the
hospital. He had paperwork to complete and chocolate cake, his ultimate weakness, calling
his name.
Downing the rest of his water, he realised just how unsettled he was feeling. He knew
exactly why he was feeling this way. During the entire time he’d been shouting at Mitchell
and demanding he be breathalysed, all Mitchell had done was stand there and take it. With
hurt in his soft brown eyes, he had let Liam rip him a new one. Then he’d accepted Liam’s
apology like he didn’t need to tell Liam he was a jerk. He considered going over to the hotel
and visiting Mitchell. He had an excuse. He could just say that he completed at-home visits
for patients. Well, one patient at least. At ten o’clock at night. That was a believable story.
Right? Hell, Bobbie would be asleep, unless there was anything wrong and she was ill. What
if she was ill and Mitchell hadn’t noticed?
He could probably get away with asking. That’s what he told himself. Just go up to
Mitchell’s room and knock on the door. See about booking a coffee in so that it was less ‘see you
whenever’ and more ‘see you tomorrow’. Mitchell intrigued him and the more he heard from the
gossip that he really tried hard not to listen to, the more he wanted to know. Most of what he
heard came from Widow Jenn, who felt it was her duty to fill in the gaps of his Ellery town
history. Given she knew some of the information, it was likely going to spread right through
town by the weekend. Poor Mitchell. He’d need a friend. Liam could do friend.
She said he was a bad boy. Apparently, he’d broken his momma’s heart with his
drinking and his rebellion. He didn’t care about family and slept with any man who would
have him. The sister wasn’t much better, according to what she’d heard. Of course, Widow
Jenn, while telling you this, would be looking for your reaction. That is how her network of
information built. Mitchell appeared to love his niece very much and had been knocked
sideways by her being ill. He didn’t give the impression of being someone who didn’t value
family.
Liam left the bar with a sketched goodbye, checked his beeper for messages then turned
deliberately towards the hotel. He waved at Ed in reception as he walked up the main stairs.
If Ed even looked up from his comics, he wasn’t going to comment on Doc visiting a patient.
He reached Mitchell’s door and stared at the number seven for a few seconds before pulling
his shoulders back, taking a fortifying breath and knocking on the wood.
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
37
The door was opened pretty quickly and Liam could see beyond Mitchell that the room
was lit with the low lamps and he could hear the TV. Mitchell was a sight for sore eyes.
Pyjama bottoms hung low on his hips and a ratty T-shirt stretched tight across his chest.
“What’s wrong?” Mitchell said immediately. Liam felt sudden guilt that he had put
worry on Mitchell’s face.
“I was just checking on Bobbie,” Liam lied.
Mitchell glanced down at his wrist and the platinum-coloured watch there. “At ten
o’clock at night?” he asked in disbelief.
“I was on my break.” Liam shrugged. “So. Um, is she okay?”
“As of my last check ten minutes ago she’s asleep. She went down at seven saying she
was really tired.”
“No one gets good sleep in hospital,” Liam said, suddenly feeling really stupid.
Mitchell was looking at him like Liam was mad and that probably wasn’t so far from the
truth. Why had he thought it was a good idea to knock on the door of someone he’d known
for such a short time? And so late at night?
“She’s fine,” Mitchell added. “Just a bit sore. We’re visiting the school tomorrow to
meet with the principal to get ready for the new term so she’s excited about that.”
“That’s great. I’m helping Max tomorrow—my friend Max, he’s a fireman—I’m helping
him to move.” Why? Why did I say that? What possible reaction am I looking for?
“Max, the guy who was with the cop? On Main. Where I hit your car,” Mitchell
summarised when everything had been quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time.
Liam nodded. “Yeah.”
“He’s big enough to move twenty boxes on his own.”
Liam smiled. “He’s moving up to Finn’s place and he has this old furniture he wants
shifting. It’s more an excuse to sit and eat pizza really.” Mitchell appeared wistful for a
second but the expression cleared quickly.
“Cool,” he finally said. Then they went back to the awkward staring. Liam decided this
could well have been the worst idea in the history of his bad ideas. Maybe he was reading
things all wrong. Just because Mitchell had agreed to have a coffee with him didn’t mean he
was interested in anything else. Widow Jenn said he slept with a lot of guys. Why was he
trusting what she said? What if Widow Jenn had made a mistake? What if he didn’t like men
at all?
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38
“Right, I need to go,” Liam said softly. “I’m glad Bobbie is feeling better. Have her come
visit me in a few days so I can check everything is okay.”
“I will.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
Liam turned on his heel and heard the door close behind him and somehow he knew
he’d blown it. He hadn’t even been brave enough to ask Mitchell the question he really
wanted an answer to. Was he attracted to Liam? He imagined what the guys would say to
him tomorrow. How they would be all understanding about his hesitation but still tease him
for backing off. Had he imagined Mitchell checking him out? Had he made up the spark of
interest in Mitchell’s eyes when he’d opened the door just now?
He had to know one way or the other. He was impatient like that.
In an instant, Liam had returned the way he’d come and raised his hand to knock, even
as the door opened and Mitchell stood there with a startled expression on his face. They
stood in a weird face-off until finally one of them moved. Who it was, Liam couldn’t tell—all
he knew was that Mitchell suddenly was kissing him with his hands cradling Liam’s face and
his tongue was tasting him, deep and hot. The kiss deepened as Liam gripped Mitchell’s hips
and moved a little closer. He was hard and part of him wanted Mitchell to know how turned
on he was. When Mitchell groaned low in his throat and stepped them backwards into the
room, Liam felt hope bloom in his chest. Mitchell pressed him back against the closed door
and suddenly Liam knew it wasn’t just him. Their cocks were hard against each other—the
delicious sensation of Mitchell against him was perfect.
Mitchell broke the kiss but still cradled his face.
“I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you,” he said. “Then again when you were
shouting at me. Then again just now.” He rested his forehead on Liam’s and exhaled. His
breath smelt like it tasted—minty. Evidently he’d brushed his teeth to get ready for bed.
“Same here,” Liam said softly.
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” Mitchell whispered. Liam had never heard
such utter despair in so few words.
“Let me be the judge of that,” he said gently. Liam placed his hands over Mitchell’s and
pressed gently. “Coffee? Tomorrow?”
“I’ll have Bobbie with me.”
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39
“Good. I like kids. I’ll treat her to an espresso.” Liam chuckled as he said it and he even
raised a smile in Mitchell. With a final gentle kiss they parted and Liam let himself out of the
room. He couldn’t look back in case his iron resolve to walk away shattered under the weight
of the desire in Mitchell’s brown eyes.
Desire matched by what was inside him.
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40
Chapter Seven
Mitchell shifted in the chair. He was not going to be a cliché but hell, sitting opposite
the principal of Weston Elementary made him feel all kinds of uncomfortable. He’d been in
this position more times in his life than should be allowed. In trouble from a young age, he’d
barely graduated high school. Not because he lacked brains—no, he had those in
abundance—he’d just never valued education over cars and thrills, and sex and drink. So
here he was sitting in this office telling the biggest lies he’d ever told.
“I believe education is vital,” he said. Bobbie cast a glance at him and he could have
sworn he saw her smirk.
“I am so pleased to hear that,” Principal Derek Wallace said firmly. “Even at Bobbie’s
young age it’s important to set a good example for her.”
“Uh-huh,” Mitchell said enthusiastically. Now that did earn him a smirk from Bobbie.
“If you could sign this here, and here”—the principal passed him the information and
he signed where indicated—“this will give us the authority to request information from
Roberta’s old school.”
“Bobbie,” Mitchell said. “She likes Bobbie.”
Principal Wallace made a note on the paperwork then grinned at Bobbie. “I hope you
enjoy your time at Weston,” he said. Then he made a show of shaking her hand and Mitchell
relaxed. He was a nice guy and he would look after Bobbie.
They left the school and drove back into town. As they got nearer, Mitchell went
through every scenario of what he was going to say to Bobbie.
“Would you like a hot chocolate?” he asked. “Doctor Wolfe texted to say he would be at
the café at midday and would we like to meet up with him?”
“Cool,” was all Bobbie said. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so worried. Then she turned
more fully towards him. “Is this a date for you? Will there be kissing?”
“You shouldn’t be asking questions like that—you’re twelve, Roberta Askett.”
She shrugged and turned to face front. Then with a smile in her voice she said, “Mom
said you need a good kiss.”
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41
Mitchell made a mental note to talk to his sister when she felt better. Too many
comments on his lack of love life had led to statements like that from his niece.
“What did you think of the school?”
“There were no kids there, so I don’t know yet, but the computer room is cool. And
they have a place just for cooking.”
“It’s a bit different from the private school you were at.”
“You can’t afford it,” Bobbie said simply.
Mitchell paused for a moment and concentrated on the three-way stop that was the last
before Ellery. Then with a split decision he pulled over in a lay-by and switched off the
engine. He climbed out of the car then went round to her side and she jumped down to hold
his hand. They crossed to sit on the small wall separating the path from the gentle slope
down into Ellery. The day was bright but at least the trees dotted along the path gave some
shade.
“We haven’t talked,” he started. “I made a decision that I thought was best. You were
happy at your school, but when your mom became ill, we talked and agreed to start over in
Ellery. I wanted you with me until she can join us here.”
Bobbie frowned and looked to be thinking on what Mitchell had said. Had he been clear
enough? His niece was twelve, not sixteen. How much did a twelve-year-old understand?
Was it fair to push his own fears on her?
“I get it. I didn’t like my old school much. This one looks like it will be more fun.”
“Okay.” Well, at least that was one thing that seemed to have worked. “What about
your mom? We haven’t really talked about it, but you know I’m here if you want to talk. You
understand she’s in that place for a while.”
“Rehab, for drugs,” she said simply. “Like you with drink.”
Mitchell turned to face her and straddled the wall. Holding out his hands, he waited for
her to hold them, which she did immediately. A twelve-year-old girl should be worrying
about going to big school, or Justin Beiber or One Direction, or anything except a mom with
problems and an uncle with a reputation.
“I’m sorry you have to think about it,” Mitchell said gently. Perhaps he should talk to
Liam about counselling or something for her. He was a doctor—if he didn’t know of one then
he must know someone who did. It didn’t help that his mom and dad were trying to get
Bobbie removed from Annabelle’s care. She would go to that dysfunctional pairing over his
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
42
dead body—they may have money but his own counselling had made him see his self-
destructive ways weren’t all his own fault.
“I don’t think about it.” She shrugged. “Can I have marshmallows in my chocolate?”
Mitchell smiled. “Of course you can.”
Who said he was a pushover?
* * * *
Liam wasn’t in the café when they arrived, but someone called Monique took the order
for a hot chocolate with everything and his black coffee. He deliberately sat with his back to
the door so that he wouldn’t appear to be like some kind of pitiable person who pathetically
waited. He still heard the door and knew who it was just by the way Bobbie looked up and
smiled widely.
“You already ordered okay?” Liam said from behind him. Mitchell turned in his chair
and Liam was there, looking fresh and relaxed and not at all nervous—not like how he
himself felt inside.
“We’re done,” he said.
“Did you order lunch? They do some really cool lunch menus here. Hang on…” He
spun on his heel and headed for the counter and exchanged words with a smiling Monique
before returning to sit next to Bobbie and diagonally opposite to Mitchell. “I asked Monique
to bring over some things, like fries and burgers and salad. I hope that’s okay?”
Mitchell nodded. “Thank you,” he said.
“How did school go, Bobbie?” Liam asked conversationally. He had to wait for an
answer while Bobbie was concentrating on blowing on the hot liquid. Then she set the mug
down.
“It’s a really cool school. There is this really big computer room…”
Mitchell watched as Liam talked about computers, and Mario Kart, and hot chocolate
and school and… Jeez, did this guy have anything he couldn’t talk about? At least it gave
Mitchell the chance to stare unashamedly at Liam. He was clean-shaven and wearing a suit—
when he’d first seen him, the doctor had been in a white coat. Mitchell didn’t remember
much else about that night. The suit fitted him so well and it was dark grey over a sky blue
shirt and no tie. All of it made his eyes appear even bluer, if that was possible. His gaze
THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD BOY RJ Scott
43
rested on Liam’s soft lips and he recalled the kiss. Heavy, hard, then soft, searching and
tender. Mitchell thought it was a perfect kiss. He wished he could lean over the table and kiss
the man now.
“Uncle Mitch?” Bobbie’s voice broke through the pictures his brain was creating
involving a chair, lube and a whole lot of kissing.
“Sorry?” he said. He looked at his niece then at Liam. Both of them were smirking.
“You were staring,” Bobbie said with a laugh.
“I was?”
“Like you do when we watch Magic Mike, all dreamy-eyed and wriggling.”
“Well, Channing Tatum is hot,” Mitchell said immediately. Then he realised what he
had said and sank down in his chair. Way to impress the doctor. He’d never been like this
before. Usually he had control over what he was saying to the point where he even came off
as intelligent at times.
“So is Doctor Wolfe,” Bobbie said innocently. “Don’t you think?”
Thankfully their food arrived at that moment, plates piled high with burgers and fries
and Mitchell didn’t have to find an answer to that one. Although, when he glanced at Liam
and saw the banked laughter in his eyes, he knew that he probably owed an answer at some
point. In private, maybe.
When they had finished eating, Mitchell caught Liam checking his watch.
“Thank you for meeting us for lunch.” He wanted to give Liam an out if the man
needed to be somewhere else. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
“I’ve got the bill,” Liam said quickly. He leant forward and whispered dramatically, “I
get a discount here.” He grinned and laid enough money on the table to cover the bill with a
generous tip. Then he stood and stretched. “No pressure,” he began, “but I have another
hour to kill. Want to go see something?”
“What is it?” Bobbie asked excitedly.
“Something you’ll love. If that’s okay with your uncle.”
Mitchell nodded. He had written off today as school visit day and he wasn’t meeting
Kieran the carpenter for another few hours. He followed Liam and Bobbie out of the door
and smiled his thanks to Monique who waved goodbye. There was something to be said for
small towns. Liam led them around the diner and along a path that led down to the river
running behind Ellery.
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44
“This is the River Black. It’s called that because of the dark stones at the bottom here.
This way…”
They walked a little farther until Ellery was behind trees and suddenly the river
widened and flattened and small areas were cut out from the main river where the water ran
slower and was in shade.
“I thought you’d like to test the water,” Liam suggested.
Bobbie squealed and had her socks and runners off before Mitchell had processed what
Liam was suggesting. He peered over the edge and frowned.
“It’s kind of fast moving,” he said.
“Don’t worry. The main part is, but these bits off the side are slow and steady, and I can
hold her hand.” Mitchell realised Liam had toed off his own shoes and socks and was in the
process of rolling up the trousers of his very expensive suit. “You coming in?”
Of course he was. If Bobbie was in water then Mitchell was in as well. He didn’t know
the area as well as Liam and his trust levels needed to be reinforced as to the safety of it all.
He was wearing jeans from the appointment and it took a lot of fiddling to complete the
complicated act of rolling them up. When all three of them were finally barefoot, Liam
scrambled down the bank and held out his arms. Bobbie didn’t hesitate. She launched herself
off the side and landed half on and half off Liam, who stumbled at the catch then laughed as
he allowed her to settle on the ground. Mitchell watched for a second. Liam was always
laughing and smiling, apart from when he was angry and shouting, but that had been an
unusual situation.
“Come on, Uncle Mitch,” Bobbie called.
It was a hot day and the feeling of cool water on his feet was bliss. Add in the shade and
he could stay here all day. Tennessee summers could be brutal even in the mountains.
Bobbie crouched down and investigated rocks and other watery type things and
Mitchell pushed his hands deep in his pockets and tilted his head to the canopy of branches
above. Standing here was peaceful and he hadn’t had a lot of peace recently. Liam was
talking to Bobbie about the time he’d first found this spot and how he made sure he visited it
at least once a day when it was hot. Liam tugged on his sleeve and Mitchell pulled himself
out of his contemplation of the leaves.
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45
“There’s a place higher up, a natural area where you can swim,” Liam said. “You ought
to take Bobbie when her surgical wound is healed up. Just make sure you cover her from
head to toe in sunscreen because it’s exposed.”
Mitchell pushed down the quick twist of irritation at being told what to do where
Bobbie was concerned. Of course Liam would say that. He was a doctor and he’d seen how
Mitchell hadn’t picked up on Bobbie’s appendicitis.
“I will.” He tried not to let any of his irritation colour the words and realised that he
had come off as slightly hesitant instead.
Liam frowned and he opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. He
glanced down at Bobbie then back to Mitchell. “Can Bobbie swim?”
“I can swim,” Bobbie said with a grin. She pushed herself to stand and her eyes shone
with excitement. “I wanna go swimming. Can I, Uncle Mitchell?”
“Where is this swimming area?”
“Keep going up the road and you’ll see a sign for Echo Point. Turn in there, and there’s
parking. You’ll soon see it.” He paused then tilted his head back and shut his eyes in a pose
similar to how Mitchell had been standing. Was it wrong that even with Bobbie here, all
Mitchell wanted to do was explore every inch of Liam’s tanned throat—from the pulse there,
and up his neck to his face and on to his temples. He was getting hard just thinking about it.
Bobbie grabbing his hand pulled him from his observation and together they scrambled up
the bank. Liam followed, using footholds that Mitchell hadn’t seen, until he was standing
next to them and replacing socks and shoes.
Bobbie turned her back on them deliberately. “You can kiss goodbye,” she said firmly.
“I won’t peek.”
Mitchell didn’t know what to do with himself. What if Liam didn’t want to kiss him
goodbye? His insecurities vanished when Liam pulled him closer and, cradling his face,
proceeded to kiss him in a thorough and perfect goodbye. They pulled apart, both grinning,
then turned when Bobbie let out a whoop.
“Now I can tell Mom that Uncle Mitchell got a kiss,” she teased.
“You looked!” Mitchell exclaimed in mock horror. He lifted her up in his arms, as
carefully as possible to avoid pressure on her healing wound, and her squeal of protest and
subsequent laughter lifted his spirits as much as Liam’s kiss had.
Today was a good day.
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46
* * * *
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast had finished ten minutes ago, but Mitchell didn’t want to
move. Bobbie had fallen asleep on his lap right when Belle had kissed the beast and kind of
missed the conclusion although they had seen the film so many times he’d lost count. He
could just reach his cellphone and he really needed to make the effort to check messages. The
damn thing sat on charge next to the sofa, but he hadn’t looked at it for anything other than
calls from Annabelle’s rehab.
There was a short text from an old friend looking to catch up, and a voicemail. He
didn’t have to check the number to know who it was from—he’d been expecting the call ever
since he’d left Knoxville on this journey to Ellery.
‘Mitchell,’ his mom had begun frostily. ‘I understand Annabelle is undergoing treatment and
that you have seen fit to decide between you that Bobbie is to stay with you. While I was prepared to
allow this to a certain degree, I am now informed that a school in Ellery has requested transcripts from
St Andrews. This is simply not acceptable, Mitchell. Our only grandchild will not be attending school
in the very place we worked so hard to leave. Call me immediately with your proposal for resolution.’
Mitchell listened to the message again. Resolution? There was no resolution that his
mom was going to approve of. Annabelle, his younger sister by two years, had fallen
pregnant at sixteen and no one had helped her or understood except him. Annabelle needed
support with her depression and who better to turn to than her recovering alcoholic brother.
May as well keep fucked-up together. He hated it when Constance Askett used her legal tone
on him. It had grated when he was a kid, when he’d become a teenager and he sure as hell
hated it now. She was successful in her field of divorce law, but throwing in words like
resolution into what should be a normal conversation just underlined her view on life.
He’d been through this before and it wouldn’t be the last time. His counsellor had
warned him that unless he dealt with the issues in his head properly, he’d always feel out of
control. Bobbie stirred in her sleep and he looked over at her. She was the reason he was
going out of his comfort zone, the reason that he was here in Ellery.
Scooping her up, he carried her to her room and tucked her in. With a kiss to her
forehead he whispered goodnight then left the room. Sleep wouldn’t be coming any time
soon for him and he was working with Kieran tomorrow on the cabin. He needed sleep but
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one message from his mom and he was lost in memories he’d rather forget. The itch of need
in him grew louder and he crossed to the window. The irony of being given a view of the
Ellery Inn bar wasn’t lost on him. He could even imagine the change in his personality as the
spirits slid down his throat. He wouldn’t be worrying about who he was, or what he was
capable of. All he’d be worried about was the next drink.
Resolutely, he turned his back on the view and lay flat on his back in bed. He decided to
focus on today, before he’d listened to the call. Liam in the diner. Liam paddling. Liam
kissing him.
He reached into his loose pyjama bottoms and closed his hand around his cock, which
was valiantly attempting to stiffen despite the lethargy in his head. He closed his eyes tight
and imagined Liam and him taking things a step further. What kind of lover would Liam be?
Forceful? Tender? Thoughtful? Was he a top, or did he switch? Mitchell knew what he
wanted—what he needed. He let the fantasy grow until the images in his mind had him
being fucked into the mattress by a very forceful Liam, who wouldn’t let Mitchell move and
was demanding that he come. His hand was dry on his cock. He smoothed a little pre-cum
onto his fingers and the sensation of the smooth against his rough fingers had him bucking
upwards into his own grip.
Fantasy Liam pushed deeper and harder and ordered Mitchell to finish. That was
enough to have him shooting over his stomach. For a second he lay absolutely still—
breathless in the afterglow. Then, after wiping himself with a discarded T-shirt, he rolled on
his side and closed his eyes. The glow of orgasm allowed him to relax and his last thoughts
were of Liam. They were very nice thoughts.
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Chapter Eight
Liam climbed out of his car and stretched tall. The journey from here to the city wasn’t
long, but after a five-day seminar on emergency medicine, he was tired and achy. It was
good to be home and there was never a more welcoming sight than his own house. He let
himself in, scooped up the mail and laid it all on the side. He’d check through it later after a
shower.
His shower was his one item of luxury, aside from his car, and it was there for a reason.
Years of medical school then hospital accommodation had left him wary of tiny
showerheads, cold water and limited space. When he’d bought his own place, the first thing
he’d done was get the bathroom remodelled. He’d lost half a bedroom in doing so, but then,
who needed three bedrooms when it was just him? Even if one day he found someone
willing to put up with the kind of hours he kept as a doctor in a small town hospital, the one
master bedroom was going to be enough.
Unless they had a child in tow. Like Mitchell. Then the second bedroom would need to
be emptied of his gym equipment to give way to another bed. He groaned as thoughts of
Mitchell ran through his head. The double headed shower eased his muscles, but his cock
was as hard as iron. He’d done nothing but get off to images of Mitchell all week. Mitchell on
his back, on his front, sucking Liam off, jerking himself off in front of Liam. The possibilities
his brain came up with were endless.
This time he imagined Mitchell in the shower and knew that somehow he needed to get
the man in here, naked and ready for some action. The thought of this had him close in such
a short time that the speed of reaching orgasm took him by surprise. As the water washed
away the evidence he leaned against the tiles and sighed noisily. He was spending way too
much time imagining Mitchell and not enough time actively approaching the man. Of course
it didn’t help that he hadn’t seen Mitchell in over a week now. The timing of this conference
had sucked. For all he knew, Mitchell had met someone else in town and was now happily
doing all the X-rated stuff that Liam had imagined him doing, but with someone other than
Liam.
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A quick glance at the bathroom clock, another must-have for Liam, had him seeing he
had an hour before he was supposed to be at Finn’s place. Friday meant the usual gathering
and he couldn’t exactly get out of it when it was Finn and Max’s kind of housewarming.
After selecting and donning nearly-new jeans and a dark blue shirt, he pushed on shoes and
grabbed the gift he had bought for the guys, and with time to spare he was at the car.
He could just check to see how Bobbie was. If Mitchell happened to be with her then it
was not his fault. Of course he pushed aside the fact that Mitchell would inevitably be there.
Bobbie was his focus.
Yeah, right.
He knocked on the room door and Mitchell opened it with a wide grin. God, was he a
sight for sore eyes. In a red tee and tight worn jeans, he was sex personified. His long dark
hair was loose and all Liam wanted to do was bury his hands in it and kiss the guy until they
ran out of air. The scent of his aftershave reached Mitchell and he inhaled. The scent and the
look and the whole I’m here at his door had him hardening in his jeans. Not good.
“Hey,” Mitchell said enthusiastically. “How did the conference go?”
“You knew where I was?”
“Kieran told me. Something about the heart. Very clever medical things.” Mitchell was
teasing him, Liam was sure of it.
“Sorry I didn’t get to tell you myself,” Liam started. Then he caught what he was doing.
Mitchell wouldn’t expect him to explain his schedule. They were acquaintances, not lovers—
not even close friends. Just people who met and kissed. A lot.
“Come in,” Mitchell offered. He stepped back and gestured into the hotel suite. Bobbie
wasn’t in sight.
“How’s Bobbie?” Liam asked and ignored the invitation. One step inside and he
wouldn’t be leaving, and not only was Bobbie likely to be in her room, but he had a party to
attend.
“She’s fine.” Mitchell frowned. “Is everything okay?”
“I, um… Good… I’ll see you after I… I’ve got this thing to go to.”
“The barbecue,” he said quickly, “at Finn’s place? That’s where we’re going.”
Bobbie walked into view, her dark hair in two pigtails, her clothes clean and bright and
in her hands she held a bright gift-wrapped present.
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Since when had the Friday get-together with beer become a freaking family barbecue?
And why the hell was Liam suddenly feeling territorial and pissed off?
“Hey, Doctor Wolfe,” Bobbie said. “Are we going in your car?”
“Bobbie,” Mitchell said quickly. “We’ll take our own car.”
“No,” Liam said quickly. Irritation and territorial crap had disappeared. All he wanted
was Mitchell in his car. And Bobbie, of course. “It’s fine. We may as well go together.”
“Are you sure?” Mitchell asked carefully. Unspoken were the words, Bobbie didn’t mean
to intrude.
“Absolutely. You can see how they fixed her up,” Liam said.
“You got it fixed?” Mitchell encouraged Bobbie out of the apartment and, patting his
pockets to check for keys, he closed the door. “What was the bill?”
“Nothing major. The guy I know who works on my car had space and he loves working
on the imports. He did it at cost, so I don’t think we need to involve the insurance
companies.”
Mitchell looked visibly relieved. “That’s good. Give me the bill and I’ll cover it.”
“You don’t need to,” Liam began. But he cut off when he saw the stubborn expression
on Mitchell’s face. Any other person would be paying, so why was he saying that Mitchell
didn’t need to? He was either offending Mitchell by questioning his ability to pay, or he was
offending him by presuming Mitchell wouldn’t pay. Either way, his idea of some kissing
later was less likely if he didn’t manage what he was saying. “I’ll give you a copy of the
receipt,” he said.
“Cool.” Mitchell visibly relaxed and by the time they reached the BMW outside the
hotel, Bobbie was chatting about swimming and the cabin and everything else that had
happened during the week Liam had been away. She clambered into the back seat and
buckled up and Mitchell crouched down to inspect the area he’d scraped.
“Your guy did a good job,” he summarised.
Liam crouched next to him and bumped shoulders. “Told you it wasn’t that bad.
Anyway, Marco is a genius with imports.”
Mitchell huffed a laugh. “Marco Golding? On Grange Road?”
“You know him?”
“Know him?” Mitchell repeated. “He worked on all my cars.”
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Liam filed away that little piece of information about ‘all’ of Mitchell’s cars for later.
Seemingly satisfied with the work on the car Mitchell climbed into the passenger seat and
when Liam slid into his seat, it was to find Mitchell lovingly running his hand over the
dashboard.
“She’s gorgeous,” he murmured. Then he moved his hand into his lap and said nothing
else. There was sadness as he talked, almost bitterness. Liam assumed having a DUI on your
record made insurance on performance cars unattainable for the normal man on the street.
Was Mitchell sad? Or angry with himself? So many questions that Liam had for the other
man.
“I’m starting school on Monday, Doctor Wolfe.”
And so they spent the short journey up Ellery Mountain chatting about school, and
computers, and pencils. Cars and alcohol were not in his head by the time they reached
Finn’s house. He managed to squeeze his car into the perfect space where he was sure no one
would hit it when they opened their car doors, then turned to unbuckle and caught Mitchell
grinning at him.
“I did that,” Mitchell said. “I would drive around parking lots for ages trying to find the
one space where I knew my car would be absolutely safe.” He paused then laid a hand on
Liam’s thigh. “Come on then, let’s eat meat.”
Liam waited for a few seconds before exiting the car after Mitchell and Bobbie. He
pretended to fiddle with the radio but in reality was fighting arousal at the touch of
Mitchell’s hand and the heat he could still feel on his skin.
He was really fucked.
* * * *
Kieran threw a beer his way as soon as he arrived but with no hesitation Liam tossed it
back. “Driving,” he said simply. Then he wandered off to find Finn and Max. His present
wasn’t one he wanted them opening in front of everyone and he decided the best course of
action was to slip inside and hide it in their closet. He wanted to check in with the guys first,
though, and he found them at the barbecue.
“At least if you start a fire we have you to put it out,” he deadpanned.
Max sighed. “If one more person says that to me I will lose my cool.”
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Finn gestured to a row of buckets. “We have three water buckets, a cordoned-off area
for just those who can approach the dangerous fire and if we’re really lucky we’ll have a
health and safety demonstration soon.”
“What?” Max said. “You want our home to get burned to the ground?”
Finn laughed and pulled his lover’s face closer with a tight grip in Max’s short hair.
They exchanged a loud noisy kiss then separated, both grinning like idiots.
“I have a gift,” Liam said. “But I’m going to put it straight in the closet.” He added the
rest in a quiet voice and with an exaggerated waggle of his eyebrows. “You can open it
later.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Max said with a grin. “Daniel and Kieran both had the same idea, it
seems.”
“Well, it can get lonely up on the mountain,” Finn said.
Liam moved away and up the steps inside the house and glanced around when he
reached the top. He couldn’t see Mitchell but Bobbie was sitting with Brenda and Thomas
and chatting away with a huge container of soda perched in her lap. She was a really sweet
kid. He knew Finn’s place—well, Finn and Max’s now—really well and had the gift tucked
away next to two other similarly shaped presents in short order. When he stood up again he
stumbled as he hit something firm, and was startled when the something firm appeared to
have hands to steady him.
“Hey, Doc,” Mitchell said softly. “Come with me.” Grabbing a hand, he pulled Liam
out of the bedroom, only pausing to check the coast was clear before continuing on to
another door that Liam knew led to the small boot room at the rear of the property. In
seconds they were inside with the door shut behind them and suddenly Mitchell let go of his
hand.
“I missed you this week,” he said. His expression gave nothing away except for a small
frown marring his face. Was he frowning because he hadn’t wanted to admit that? Or was it
because he was unsure why? He took a step back until he was flat against the wall then
crossed his hands over his chest. “We went swimming at Echo Point and I kept thinking
about how you’d look all wet in the icy water. I went for a coffee with Kieran and Bobbie and
imagined you drinking opposite me. I had showers and got myself off thinking about you.”
He looked like he needed an answer and Liam had only one to give.
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“I missed you too,” Liam said softly. He had to be as honest as Mitchell, especially after
the frustrating week he had just had.
“So what now?” Mitchell asked. “I have Bobbie.”
“She’s happy with Brenda now,” Liam replied quickly.
Mitchell nodded. “We probably have ten minutes.”
Liam took a step forward. His thoughts were clouded with the desire inside him to
have this man right here, right now. Then another step and he was in Mitchell’s space,
bracketing him with his hands flat on the wall. They exchanged the gentlest of kisses,
nothing more than a butterfly touch, until a soft groan from Mitchell had Liam pressing
against him and shifting them as they deepened the kiss, until they were aligned. With both
of them in jeans, it was difficult to get the sensation Liam needed and he reached between
them to unbutton his own jeans then concentrated on unzipping Mitchell. Finally, with their
cocks free of the denim, he could finally get the feeling he wanted—Mitchell hard and ready
against him—and they moved sinuously together. Giving in to temptation, he moved his
hands until he could bury them in Mitchell’s long hair, then twisted them to break the kiss
and have Mitchell arching his neck.
“I’ve never seen anything so gorgeous,” Liam murmured. “I could spend all day kissing
you and touching you.” He pressed a kiss to Mitchell’s pulse then tasted the skin there.
Mitchell gasped and writhed against him and Liam filed away the reaction for another time.
He kissed a trail to Mitchell’s lips then, using the grip he had in his hair, he tilted the kiss and
deepened it. He was so turned on, so close, just from kissing and rubbing, and he felt sixteen
again.
Mitchell’s hands moved from Liam’s biceps to cup his ass.
“Close,” he gasped. Wrenching himself away from Mitchell, he stumbled back until he
was against the opposite wall, and taking himself in hand, he finished himself off into his
palm before wiping his hand on a towel hanging from a peg. Mitchell had a hand on himself
and suddenly Liam wanted to taste. In seconds he was on his knees and had the gorgeous
length of Mitchell’s cock in his mouth. Mitchell groaned and pressed deeper before stuttering
and pulling free to come in his own hand. Just that taste was enough for Liam to know that
he wanted more, and soon. He wanted to know if it was safe to fuck Mitchell naked, to
swallow his cum. He wanted it now. Mitchell wiped himself off on the same towel.
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“We’re getting old.” Mitchell grinned. Liam stole another kiss from that smile. “When I
was sixteen I would have thought nothing of walking around with cum in my shorts at a
party. When did it become uncomfortable?” He laughed.
“Seventeen,” Liam deadpanned. He had closed in for more touching when the door
flew open and hit him in the back.
“Oops. Sorry, guys.” Liam recognised Jason’s voice. “Max said there was beer in the
boot room. I’ll come back.” The door shut. Mitchell groaned and buried his face in Liam’s
neck.
“‘Barrasing,” Mitchell muttered.
“Life,” Liam answered. “Let’s get out there.”
Together they zipped and buttoned jeans and Liam watched fascinated as Mitchell
tucked and arranged his hair so it looked less mussed. Liam tossed the towel in the laundry
basket and together they walked out of the house and into the waning sunlight of the
Tennessee evening. Liam expected everyone to look at them, expected everything to have
changed, wanted people to notice. Instead, nothing happened—no one saw them come out
together, no one would know. Except Jason—a man who was very good at keeping secrets.
They mingled and laughed and spent time with Bobbie, and when the night came to an
end, Liam realised all he wanted to do was grab Mitchell’s hand and in front of everyone say
just one word.
Mine.
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Chapter Nine
Mitchell watched Bobbie until she disappeared into the school’s main door. She hadn’t
wanted him coming in with her and had proudly said she could handle anything. Given that
he’d already signed the forms, he had no reason to be sitting watching, but the protective
side of him couldn’t just drive away until he knew she was safe. He drove the small distance
from Weston school to the cabins and after taking the short road to the owner’s cabin area, he
parked up next to Kieran’s truck. There were a couple of other vehicles, but he didn’t think
anything of it until he rounded the corner and saw five men standing in a circle around a
small table all leaning in to look at a pile of papers.
“Hey,” Mitchell said by way of letting them know he was here.
“Hi, Mitchell—guys are here to help raise the cabin.”
“Like Witness?” Mitchell finally said.
Max chuckled and separated from the group to cross to the cabin. Finn followed.
“I loved that film,” Jason said. He had his hands pushed into the pockets of his jeans
and he was smiling. They’d been properly introduced after the incident of Jason finding him
and Liam together, and Mitchell was, if he was really truthful, a little star-struck. He loved
Late Last Night, and he loved Jason’s character. To have a real honest to goodness actor
standing in the group that was going to be raising his cabin was a little weird.
Kieran coughed to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, guys. Max has the best idea here of
what we’re doing structurally, and I’m in charge.” Kieran looked at each of his friends in
turn and when he reached Mitchell he smiled. “They have to be told. Otherwise Daniel will
interfere.”
“Fuck off,” Daniel said succinctly. Luke wasn’t there, but then, school was running. He
was the only one missing, really. Other than…
“I’m here.”
Mitchell didn’t have to turn to recognise Liam’s voice. “Sorry,” Liam was explaining,
“couldn’t get away.” Absentmindedly, he walked up to Mitchell and kissed him straight on
the lips. Then he wandered over to look at the plans.
Hell.
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They hadn’t seen each other since Friday. Liam had been on call and had taken an evac
call, and even though they’d exchanged a couple of texts, the contents had been very specific
as to what they had done in the boot room and hadn’t exactly contained a lot of non-sexual
information—more a load of promises about what they wanted to do to each other. Jeez,
Mitchell had spent all weekend in a perpetual state of arousal. And Liam had just announced
to his friends that he was in a kissing relationship with the new guy.
The seven men worked solidly until the sun was high in the sky then each couple split
off for different reasons, until only he and Liam stood inside the recognisable shell of his new
home.
“Looking good,” Liam said as he turned in a slow circle.
“It’s looking like it could be a real place now,” Mitchell agreed. Kieran had marked out
where internal walls would go with Max’s help, and finally Mitchell could see how it was
going to look.
“You’ve cut down the size of the bedrooms to fit in three?”
“One for me, one for Bobbie, one for my sister,” Mitchell said. “The back two have a
shared bathroom—the girls can have those. I’ll take the front bedroom. It’s big enough for a
king-size bed and a desk, and Kieran is building in some closet space in all three. He said
he’s tied up for the rest of the week with Daniel, but we can at least get the roof and the
windows in today and tomorrow.”
“The centre,” Liam said. “Daniel is working on this house backing up to the park for
guys back from war who need somewhere quiet to get their heads straight. We’re all
involved.”
“Kieran said. Actually Kieran says a lot.” Mitchell smiled as he recalled the shorter man
who was brimming with life. “He gave me the whole back story. Said you were part of it
too.”
Liam sat on the nearest ledge and nodded. “It was part of Daniel’s need to be doing
something. He’s an ex-soldier that I worked with when he first came back to Ellery. There
will be close connections between the hospital and the centre.”
“It’s good everyone is working on this. I offered my help any way I can. I don’t have
any skills as such, but I do have spare time.”
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“What did you do?” Liam suddenly asked. Mitchell was a bit taken aback at the change
in direction of the conversation. “Back in the city,” Liam qualified. Realisation flooded
Mitchell. That was both an easy and a difficult question to answer.
“I was an investment broker, working mainly in futures. Left college with a degree in
business, realised I wasn’t cut out for taking orders from idiots and set up on my own. I did
okay. Had some savings, anyway, enough to invest in the cabins.” That was the easy section
of the explanation.
“So you’ve quit doing it altogether?”
And there was the difficult part. “Yes. For Bobbie, for my sister, for me.” Mitchell felt a
nervous energy coursing through him and he suddenly couldn’t stand still. He didn’t pace so
much as ambled from one point of the cabin to the other. He couldn’t believe he was going to
try to explain what had been going on in his life over the last few years.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Liam offered gently.
“No, it’s cool.” Mitchell came to a stop in front of Liam. “So you know about the
alcoholic thing. When you broker deals, it always includes dinner and drinks. Then drinks
after. All the best deals were made when there were enough spirits to pave the way. And the
men. There were a lot of men, casual hook-ups—got to the point I was testing regularly,
although why I didn’t just alter the act itself and take care of myself I still don’t know. I was
still part of my sister’s life, part of Bobbie’s life. Annabelle had the most God-awful post-
partum depression and I helped when I could. When I wasn’t drunk or in some stranger’s
bed having crap sex.” Mitchell laughed at how he was summing up his existence.
“Maybe being drunk caused the bad sex,” Liam pointed out.
“Maybe so. Whatever the cause, it all ended the night I had an incident with one of these
guys. I’d only met him the night before, a casual hook-up after I’d finished up with a
meeting, only he was a bit…” Mitchell stopped. How did he explain that night? Shame stole
over him. “He was a big guy, very pushy, and he wasn’t up for me saying no. But the vodka
and the whisky helped. I hit him, managed to get away from him and I did something I
regret to this day. I took his keys and his car and I drove off.”
Liam stood up at this and gripped Mitchell tight on his biceps. He didn’t look to be
judging—in fact his expression was neutral to the point of there being no reaction at all. Still
the grip was firm and Mitchell wanted to continue.
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“I ran straight into a wall. Got no more than a hundred yards down the road. Was
found and arrested for driving under the influence. I let Annabelle and Bobbie down. I let
myself down. That week I went to my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I’ve been dry
ever since. But, you know as well as I do that I’ll always be a dependent personality,”
Mitchell finished.
“No,” Liam said. “That isn’t always true. You don’t know that. You don’t strike me as
dependent now,” Liam said. He pulled Mitchell in for a close hug, and at that point there,
Mitchell knew Liam would support him.
“My sister has a low level depression and is on medication, but she needed help. A few
months back I got a call from the manager of a café to say my number was on her phone and
would I go and get her? She had been sitting at a table for six hours and wouldn’t talk to
anyone. That is when everything changed. Instead of the uncle who visited all the time, I
moved in to try to help, but I don’t know if what I did was right.”
“Taking care of her and Bobbie would never be wrong.”
Mitchell shook his head. “She just spiralled really fast. Her doctor said she needed help
so she’s in a rehabilitation place, and we decided between us that we wanted out of the city
for Bobbie.” And away from our parents. “I needed a new start anyway. I was pretty much
done with investing for other people. I took Bobbie ahead, and as soon as Annabelle is well
enough, she’ll follow on.”
“You’re not her legal guardian, are you?” Liam said matter-of-factly.
Mitchell winced against Liam’s chest. “Not exactly.” He waited for the fallout. For Liam
to jump away and claim Mitchell should have told him the truth. He was surprised when all
Liam did was hug him tighter and whisper three words.
“You should be.”
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Chapter Ten
Bobbie didn’t stop talking all the way home from school. She’d spent the afternoon in
art lessons and judging from the ink on her hands had certainly put her all into the lesson.
She had two girls showing her round, and a really cute boy called Oscar who sat next to her
in English. He’d never heard her so excited coming out of her old school, but Weston was a
new place. He expected there would be plenty of days when Bobbie came out weighed down
by the stress of some happening at school. He was going to enjoy this bubbly, happy Bobbie a
little while longer and just listen as she talked. When the car in front of him turned into the
entrance to the cabins, Mitchell realised he had followed Luke from the school.
Luke got out of his car and crossed to the cabin as Mitchell parked up.
Mitchell turned to Bobbie. “Are you okay hanging here for an hour?”
Bobbie wrinkled her nose then grinned. “Did you bring snacks?”
Mitchell gestured back at the two cool boxes. One with food, the other with beer and
soda. It was the least he could do. He watched as Luke stripped off his jacket and tie then
grabbed Daniel in a deep hello kiss before releasing him. That was nice. That simple
connection followed by laughter and hugs. He liked that.
“Can I explore?” Bobbie asked with a mouth full of cookie.
“Close your mouth when you’re eating,” Mitchell said absentmindedly. He was
watching Finn and Max handling a large beam of wood and Daniel directing it from below.
“And don’t go far,” he added. “Not past the cabins.”
He climbed out to join the guys helping him and work went fast when eight men all
worked smoothly together on the project. Every so often he found himself staring at Liam for
no other reason than he just couldn’t help it. When Liam caught him looking he would wink,
and that there was enough to have Mitchell offering his help elsewhere. Kieran certainly
knew what he was doing and with everyone following his instructions, the structure was up
and finished ready for a roof, which would be fitted by contractors at the end of the week.
Windows were missing, but there was no point in putting the glazing in until the roof was
done.
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Everyone backed off and stood in a loose semicircle around the half-completed cabin
and Mitchell passed out the beers and soda. He could imagine the slide of the cold beer
down his throat and very deliberately stood off to one side so he didn’t reach for one.
“I have a splinter,” Daniel said, examining his finger.
“A splinter?” Jason said. “I have a million of them.”
Kieran shook his head at them both. “Wimps,” he teased.
Mitchell waited until the laughing had stopped then decided he should be saying
something important. “Thank you,” he said. He couldn’t think what else to say. He was
utterly overwhelmed that his family home was taking shape and he didn’t have the words in
his exhausted head to even think of how to convey how he felt.
“It was fun.” Jason sounded enthusiastic.
“Actors don’t get out much.” Kieran smirked.
Next to him, Finn groaned. “I need a shower.” Max grabbed his partner and began
dragging him to the nearest truck. Daniel and Luke followed quickly after.
“We’re gone,” he said.
“She looks good,” Kieran said and smiled. Jason pulled him in for a close hug and they
stood there for a while, with Kieran explaining about the roof and the glazing and the
electrics. All three things were being farmed out and Mitchell listened attentively. Bobbie
came running back around the new cabin and slid to a halt in front of the four of them.
“Hi,” she said with a grin. “I’m Bobbie.” She held out her hand to Jason, who shook it
very seriously, then to Kieran, who bumped fists.
“Can I talk to you?” Liam said softly in Mitchell’s ear. Satisfied that Bobbie was happy
with her chatting, he stepped to one side with Liam who tugged him around the other side of
the cabin.
“Can I see you tonight?” he asked.
“I have Bobbie.”
“I wouldn’t be there until late,” Liam said evenly. “I just want to kiss you so bad, and
talk, then some more kissing.”
Mitchell smiled. “I have a support meeting tonight. Bobbie usually goes with me and
waits in the foyer. We’ll be back at nine. She’s in bed pretty much right after that.”
They kissed briefly. “I’ll see you then.”
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* * * *
“Hello everyone, my name is Mitchell Askett and I’m an alcoholic.” The group
responded with a chorus of hellos then the noise died down and Mitchell had everyone’s
attention. “My last drink was three years, three months and two days ago.” A polite ripple of
applause ran through the small group. He continued, “I overcame a trigger today. Whenever
I did physical work in the past, I would reward myself with a beer. Mow the lawn, beer.
Paint a room, beer. Today I worked all day on raising a cabin and passed out beers to
everyone helping, but I didn’t take a beer myself. I felt the itch of it inside me and I could
imagine the taste, but I didn’t feel the urge to join in or feel the loss when I stuck to soda.”
Everyone murmured support and well dones, then the ‘talking baton’ was passed to the
next person. Every story had parts that were familiar to Mitchell. Bereavement, drugs, loss,
stress—all the triggers were there and everyone had their own experiences. Today, standing
there with the other guys working, he had felt clear-headed and purposeful. Then for Liam to
want to meet up had been the icing on the cake. Expectation spiralled inside him and he felt
guilty when he realised he had tuned out some of the people talking. He shouldn’t do that—
every story was important.
When the meeting finished, he collected Bobbie from where she was reading in the
foyer and they drove home. It wasn’t nine yet but she was yawning and without Mitchell
asking she brushed her teeth then climbed into bed in pink jammies. Tucking her in, he
wondered briefly why it was that Bobbie appeared to grow an inch every day. He’d almost
reached the door when he heard whispered words.
“Uncle Mitchell? Will you have to go to those meetings forever?”
Mitchell paused. He didn’t know how much a twelve-year-old could know about
alcohol, or the crutch it had become for him. But one thing Bobbie wasn’t was stupid.
“Probably,” he said. He was trying to be as honest as he could. She didn’t deserve
anything else.
“Okay,” she said softly. Then she turned over under the quilt and apparently had no
more questions. Pulling the door shut behind him, Mitchell stood in the hall for a short while.
One day, when Bobbie was old enough, he would explain how easy it had been to become
addicted, how simple it was to think that you were funnier, or happier, or more in control,
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62
when you were under the influence. She’d think he was lecturing, but she needed to know
how much Mitchell had lost so that the same thing didn’t happen to her.
Pulling himself back to the here and now, he contemplated getting another shower.
He’d cleaned the day off his skin before the meeting, but he always left the gatherings feeling
like he had to wash away the emotions that had bubbled to the surface of him. When he
heard the soft knock at the room door he realised he didn’t have the time. He’d have to push
past how he felt and try to live for now and time with Liam.
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Chapter Eleven
Liam waited patiently for Mitchell to answer the door. Excitement simmered inside
him. Watching Mitchell work today alongside all the other guys had been an education. He
was stronger than he looked and when he’d stripped off his shirt and displayed acres of
smooth toned and tanned skin over delineated muscle, Liam had almost lost it there and
then. With his hair pulled up in a tie and sweat beading on his body, he was every one of
Liam’s fantasies made real. He had to see him tonight if only to talk and maybe steal a kiss.
He patted his jacket where he’d put supplies. The last thing he would want to do if it was
possible Bobbie would walk in was to start something now, but just in case…
The door opened and Mitchell stood blocking the entrance. Dressed in worn jeans and a
button-down shirt in the palest blue, he looked gorgeous, and the scent of his cologne was
intoxicating. However, he looked nervous and Liam wanted to put his mind at rest.
“Is it still okay for me to visit? I can come visit another time.”
Liam watched Mitchell glance behind him. He guessed that he was simply checking
Bobbie wasn’t standing behind them. But it appeared Mitchell had just needed those extra
few seconds before he stood aside and gestured for Mitchell to come in, saying, “No, it’s fine.
Bobbie’s asleep.”
A quick look in the main room and he could see no sign of Bobbie. One of the bedroom
doors was closed, the other open, and the lighting was low and inviting. He held out the
soda he had brought over and Mitchell took the cans with a nod before placing most of them
in the small fridge in the kitchen area. He opened two and handed a can and a glass to Liam
before bringing his own to the table in front of the sofa.
“We can sit?” he suggested with a question.
Mitchell took one end of the sofa and Liam settled onto his half. They were so close that
Liam could feel the warmth of Mitchell’s thigh next to him.
“How did the meeting go?” Liam asked gently.
Mitchell sighed and slid down a little in his seat. “Fine. The usual. I always feel a little
on edge after. I should have remembered.”
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64
“I don’t have to stay,” Liam said. Mitchell answered with a grimace and by placing his
hand on Liam’s thigh.
“I want you to stay. Today was a good day and I don’t want it to end just yet.”
Liam deliberately placed his drink on the table next to Mitchell’s then turned in his seat
and pulled one leg up under him so he could face him. Mitchell copied the action until finally
they were looking at each other directly. Liam saw the smudge of tiredness under Mitchell’s
eyes, and the faint darkening shadow of beard on his face. He saw a light in Mitchell’s warm
brown eyes and his gaze traced the generous curve of Mitchell’s lips.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked. “With Bobbie in her room. I don’t want to do anything to
make you feel uncomfortable.” The last he added to qualify the reason why he was asking.
Normally, he wouldn’t be hesitating, but Mitchell was responsible for the twelve-year-old
girl.
“She’s sleeping already.” Mitchell leant forward a little and his lips parted on a breath.
Liam moved closer and finally they were kissing. It was everything Mitchell remembered
and more. The taste of this man was sexy and appealing and everything Liam wanted. His
right arm was along the back of the sofa, but he used his free arm as best he could. Burying
his left hand in Mitchell’s hair, he fiddled with the tie that held the beautiful thick mass of it
back. When it loosened, he tugged and the hair was free. He curled his hand into the length
of it and used the firm hold to tilt Mitchell’s head to deepen the kiss. Mitchell gripped Liam’s
shirt and pulled him closer, and Liam realised this kiss could get way out of control as the
heat between them rose to boiling.
Mitchell pulled back and when they separated both men were breathing heavily.
“I can’t,” he said. “Not here.”
Disappointment flooded Liam, but he understood totally. Which was why he was
surprised when Mitchell scrambled to stand and grabbed Liam’s hand before tugging him
towards the bedroom with the open door. When inside, Mitchell shut the door then pushed a
chair against it.
“Just in case. We’ll hear the noise if Bobbie comes out of her room,” he said.
Liam huffed a laugh. “We’ll have to be really quiet.”
Mitchell suddenly looked really serious and dropped to his knees in front of Liam. In
deft movements he unbuttoned pants and pushed material aside and with no delay had his
mouth on Liam’s ready and willing cock. The sight of Mitchell’s lips stretched around him
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65
was enough to push him close to the edge and he stifled a moan with the back of his hand
pressed to his mouth. Mitchell pulled off and sat back on his haunches before wiping at his
mouth with the back of his hand. His gorgeous brown gaze fixed steadily on Liam.
“Do you think you can manage to be quiet, Doc?” His voice was low and sexy and God,
Liam needed the man’s mouth back on him now. Caressing Mitchell’s soft hair, he twisted
the length of it around his fingers then gently pulled him back so he was a breath away from
his cock.
“More. Please,” Liam begged. “I’ll be quiet. I promise.”
Mitchell chuckled darkly and without using his hands he took Liam’s cock into his
mouth and made messy work of swallowing Liam down before bobbing his head and setting
a slow rhythm. Liam was desperate to tighten his grip in Mitchell’s hair, just to hold him still,
but when Mitchell introduced his talented fingers into the mix Liam couldn’t think, let alone
grip hard. Mitchell held each ball and moved from sucking Liam’s cock to laving each round
sac separately whilst his other hand tugged and shoved at denim.
“I’m goin— Stop—” Liam gasped as orgasm pulled tight at him and the sensation built
close to him coming down Mitchell’s throat. They hadn’t talked about safety and Liam
cursed his stupidity. He wanted to shoot down Mitchell’s throat then pull off and mark his
face, gripping his hair so hard that Mitchell could only focus on Liam. Fuck. This was too
much. Pushing Mitchell aside, Liam gripped the base of his cock hard and forced back
coming like a freaking freight train. Mitchell grinned up at him then did something so sexy
that Liam lost control. It was nothing sexual, but when Mitchell tucked his long hair behind
his ear, Liam needed Mitchell under him immediately.
“Bed,” Liam growled the order. He was more a top than a bottom and he’d read
nothing in Mitchell’s actions to suggest that Mitchell wanted to run the show for the next
little while.
Mitchell didn’t argue—he clambered onto the bed and discarded clothes as he
shimmied up to the headboard. When he got to the top and relaxed back with his hands
sliding the length of his own cock, Liam faltered in his determination. He’d been carried
along on a wave of lust, but Mitchell deserved more from him. Liam wanted to turn him over
and fuck him into the mattress, but at the same time he needed to give his lover more than an
orgasm.
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Slowly he removed all of his clothes, and as his jeans hit the floor he pulled out the lube
and condoms and threw them up to Mitchell.
Liam had one more question. He hoped he got the right answer otherwise he might just
expire of blue balls. “Are you sure?” he asked gently. Mitchell didn’t speak. He just reached
for the lube, flipped the top and squeezed an amount onto his fingers. With care he closed
the lid then without taking his eyes from Liam he squirmed until he could push fingers into
his hole. Liam watched in fascination as Mitchell’s greedy ass swallowed one, then two, then
three of Mitchell’s fingers. If he’d ever seen anything this hot he couldn’t remember.
Crawling up the bed and ending between Mitchell’s legs, he pressed on his knees to widen
the space then trailed his fingers up and down Mitchell’s thighs.
“Keep going,” he ordered under his breath. “Keep pushing.” Liam slid his hands up
Mitchell’s body, careful not to ruin his concentration. He revelled in the fur on his lover’s
chest. He’d watched it dampen and curl when Mitchell was working and had seen nipples
that begged to be bitten. Using just the tips of his finger he scratched across the top of each
cinnamon disc and watched as they puckered and pebbled under his touch. He pinched them
and the guttural moan that left Mitchell’s voice was intense and low.
He played with them some more until the skin around them was pink with his
attention. Then he wanted to see more. Sliding back, he watched the three fingers scissoring
and pressing and making his lover squirm and close his eyes.
“Can you use four?” Liam wondered out loud. Mitchell opened his eyes and nodded.
He moved to add a fourth, but Liam stopped him and instead wiped his own finger through
the mess of lube and pushed it inside alongside Mitchell’s. The reaction was instant and
incendiary, with Mitchell lifting off the mattress then pushing down on the joined fingers.
Liam was at the wrong angle to massage Mitchell’s prostate, but it didn’t seem to matter.
“In me,” Mitchell begged on a single breath. “Now.”
Liam smoothed lube over his sheathed cock and waited until Mitchell had removed his
fingers. For a second he watched and imagined what it would be like deep inside his new
lover. Breathless in anticipation, he wanted this moment to last forever. When he pushed
forward and felt resistance he closed his eyes and waited. Then in a smooth movement he
was through and inside. Mitchell tensed and mewled his pain then relaxed as Liam went
deeper. Soon the only sound was flesh on flesh and the low moans of the two men as they
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67
moved closer to completion. Words of passion and need were on the tip of Liam’s tongue,
but he held them back, instead resorting to a litany of curses under his breath.
“Liam…” Mitchell moaned. The single word was his way of saying he was coming.
Splashes of cum were between them, marking them both, and at that very second an orgasm
so strong it left Mitchell shaking had him bite his lip to stop himself shouting.
They lay, joined, until finally they had to part. Neither of them spoke. Liam pulled out
eventually, tied the condom and threw it into the bin. He would deal with it later. Much
later.
“Stay for a while,” Mitchell murmured. He reached for a discarded shirt and wiped his
belly of the drying cum then around his ass at the sticky mess of lube. Liam took the shirt
from him and finished the bits Mitchell couldn’t reach until finally he was convinced
Mitchell would be comfortable. He glanced at the bedside clock and reached for his cell that
was still in his jeans. Setting the alarm for five a.m., he did exactly what Mitchell wanted him
to do. He stayed.
Curled up with his arms around Mitchell was his version of heaven, and those damn
words of a future stuck in his throat. It was way too early to think about tomorrow, or the
next day, let alone months or years. He had to be content with what they had now. Not
everyone was like Max and Finn, Daniel and Luke or Kieran and Jason. Some men just came
together when circumstances were right. Didn’t mean there was a happy ever after for every
gay man in Ellery.
“Thank you,” Mitchell murmured sleepily.
“No,” Liam said gently. “Thank you.”
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Chapter Twelve
The day of the move it seemed every single guy that had helped raise the cabin had
been in attendance at some point during the daylight hours, except for Liam. When Mitchell
realised he was angsting like some young girl over the guy who was so much a part of his
life now, he made a very real effort to stop. They saw each other nearly every day and had
had lots more nights like that first one. They hadn’t promised anything, but they weren’t
seeing any others and there was a strong commitment there.
Liam had said he’d be here today at some point, after a symposium in the city, but he
had been cagey and hadn’t quite been able to meet Mitchell’s eyes at the time. Oh well, it had
been good while it had lasted. At least the rest of his new friends had rallied around and
made the day special, not so much for him, but for Bobbie. Kieran had promised to help her
rebuild the old tree house and Finn was all over that like a rash. The two men had grand
plans for a new level and Bobbie was carried along with the enthusiasm so much that she
was constantly grinning.
Finn and Max made a special trip up to check in on them at different times. Kieran and
Daniel were working at the cabins anyway and Mitchell resolved to talk to Daniel about
taking over more responsibility for the things he would normally do around the cabins. He
was a partner now and he needed to be sure he was working hard enough to share in the
proceeds. It had been three weeks and two days since the skeleton of the cabin had gone up.
The roof and windows had been done a few days back and all the electrics worked. A day’s
shopping in and around Ellery and he and Bobbie had a kitchen filled with the essentials and
bedding they’d chosen themselves instead of the hotel’s generic orangey-yellow colour
theme.
Bobbie had gone for a skater boy theme, all bold reds and blacks and with graffiti art
she had produced herself. Call him a proud uncle, but his niece was a talented artist. She
clearly didn’t take after him. His room was blues—dark blue drapes at the windows and a
navy quilt cover. There were a few clothes on a temporary rail. He’d commissioned Kieran to
create custom-sized closets but they wouldn’t be ready for a while. He was excited to see
them after viewing some of Kieran’s work. The blond was another artist that Mitchell
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69
admired. Max had just left and Mitchell had to laugh at what he and Finn had done
independently of each other. Finn had checked the security on the windows and doors, and
Max had spent ten minutes telling Bobbie the different routes out in case of fire. She’d looked
a little pale when Max had left but at least she knew that if the place was an inferno and in
thick smoke, only seven steps to the left of her door were between her and the outside.
None of the others gave her scary lectures and by the time five p.m. came around, he
and Bobbie were pretty much settled in. The two were curled up on the sofa that Max had
more or less singlehandedly moved in, and the TV was showing a Tom and Jerry marathon.
“When is the doc coming over?” Bobbie asked innocently enough.
“I’m not sure,” Mitchell replied softly. “He has this thing in Knoxville.”
Bobbie cuddled into his side and Mitchell put an arm around her in a hug. “Can I ask
you a question?” she said softly.
“Of course you can,” Mitchell answered absentmindedly. She shouldn’t feel she had to
ask.
“It’s just that, I know she isn’t here yet…” Her voice trailed off.
“Your mom?” Mitchell said gently.
“This is a nice place, she’ll be so happy here with us. I just want her to be happy,”
Bobbie was so earnest when she spoke. “I mean, her room… Do you think we can maybe get
some stuff for mom’s room? I know there’s a bed, but she loves pretty jewellery and I want
her to have a really gorgeous place to come home to.”
Mitchell smiled into her hair. “Of course. We’ll go look tomorrow.”
“You’re my favourite uncle in the whole world,” Bobbie said with a squeeze.
“I’m your only uncle,” Mitchell said quickly. This was a familiar routine between them.
“Well, if I had any other uncles, I bet they would suck big time.”
“Well, you’re my favourite niece.”
“I’m your only niece.”
“No competition then, squirt.”
They laughed and relaxed into comfortable silence watching Tom chase Jerry with a
frying pan. Mitchell was so relaxed that the knock on the door startled him. He shot up and
Bobbie squeaked at the move.
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“I’ll get it,” she said excitedly. She threw open the door to reveal Liam standing there
with a sheepish expression on his face. In one hand he held Chinese takeout and in his other
he had an enormous carrier bag.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said. But he didn’t move inside the cabin.
“Come in,” Mitchell invited.
“I bought you a present,” he said but he still wasn’t coming inside.
“You can come in,” Mitchell repeated. He even stood up and waited expectantly.
“You kind of need to come out,” Liam said. He sounded nervous. Bobbie darted around
him and Mitchell heard her exclamation of surprise. Liam stood to one side and nodded with
his head to gesture Mitchell outside. Finally Mitchell moved to the door and what he saw
outside had his jaw dropping. A dusty, scratched, dented, tired-looking Corvette in cherry
red. The most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“What is it?” he asked uselessly.
“A Corvette.”
“I know that,” Mitchell said crossly. “I mean, why is it parked outside my home?”
“It’s a housewarming present.”
“You thought saucepans were too simple?” Mitchell said. He glanced at Bobbie who
appeared to be picking up on his shock. She looked like she was going to cry as she glanced
from Mitchell to Liam and back again.
“It’s a project for all of us. I thought…” Liam stopped talking then shrugged. Carefully
he placed the takeout on the floor and dropped the bag next to it. “I bought you some stuff
for your house in the bag but what I want—what I really want—is to work on restoring this
car with you and Bobbie. You said you always wanted one, and Bobbie and I talked about
it—”
Mitchell rounded on Bobbie. “You knew?”
“Don’t be angry.” Bobbie sounded worried and she was biting her lower lip.
“Oh, baby”—he pulled Bobbie close—“I’m not angry. Just surprised is all.”
Liam looked just as worried. “I want to spend time with you. Learn more about you. Be
here for when Annabelle comes back. I want to pull you way into this community, because,
God help me, I don’t want to let you go.” He stopped his speech and waited for Mitchell to
reply, for which Mitchell was grateful. Not only had his lover bought them a shared project
car, he’d got the perfect car, and wanted to spend time together. Added to that he didn’t
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71
want Mitchell to leave? Overload. Taking the four steps to Liam, he gripped hold of Liam’s
shirt and pulled him close before planting a big noisy kiss on his lips. Then he backed off.
“Who said I was going to allow you to let me go?” was all he said. Then, grinning, he
hugged Liam close and pulled Bobbie into a three-way hug and she giggled.
Awesome. Freaking awesome.
They trooped indoors, deciding Chinese beat looking at the car for the time being.
Sitting at the small round table in the kitchen, they laughed their way through sticky rice and
sweet and sour pork with noodles. There were prawn crackers and fortune cookies. Bobbie’s
said her lucky colour was pink, which she turned up her nose at, Mitchell’s said he would
find fortune on a Friday, but it was Liam’s that made them all laugh.
“Read it again,” Mitchell said with tears of laughter in his eyes.
“I swear it says that,” Liam said between great heaving breaths trying to control his
laughter.
“Read it.”
Liam laid it flat on the table and stabbed at it with his finger. “It says, ‘How much
deeper would the ocean be without sponges?’”
This set off another round of laughing, and it was this laughter that Bobbie went to bed
on. In her new room with a smile on her face she snuggled into her quilt and was asleep in
minutes.
“Will you stay tonight?” Mitchell asked Liam when they were clearing up the kitchen.
“I want to.”
“When are you on shift next?”
“Not until Tuesday.”
“We could have a look at the car tomorrow, just check around it and see what needs
doing.”
Liam nodded thoughtfully. “Best I stay here then,” he said.
“Anyway, I need to thank you for the car,” Mitchell said with fake seriousness. “I was
thinking a blow job?”
Liam pretended to consider, then with a grin he grabbed hold of Mitchell’s hand and
dragged him towards the bedroom and the wonderful, new, solid bed. “Deal,” he said as he
pushed Mitchell onto the bed then shut the door behind them. Without asking he pulled a
packing box in front of the door and Mitchell fell for the gorgeous doctor all over again.
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72
He paid so much attention to Liam’s cock that his mouth ached, then he delighted in
stretching himself just as Liam liked until finally he had what he wanted—Liam’s fat cock
inside him and a reach around that had him losing it in minutes. He could love this man.
Hell, who was he kidding? Curled back in Liam’s arms, he knew he was way past falling in
love and was well on the way to being in love.
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Chapter Thirteen
“Are you still nervous?” Liam whispered so only Mitchell could hear.
“Not really,” Mitchell said. He had confessed his anxiety last night when they were
snuggled under the quilt, but this morning he’d woken with perfect clarity of thought. He’d
seen this before—this wasn’t the first time that Annabelle had spent time at The Oaks. She’d
be exhausted but level and would smile widely when she saw Bobbie and him. What was
there to be nervous about? His mom and dad were phoning daily now, to the point where
yesterday he had actually answered the phone. Of course the conversation had only lasted
thirty seconds, but what had his mom expected? She was the one who had launched in on
the fact that Bobbie had switched schools and Annabelle was in The Oaks, and where the hell
was he hiding out with their poor granddaughter?
Like they’d ever been interested before.
“Is it time yet?” Bobbie asked from the back seat. She hadn’t really stopped talking the
whole time back to the city. All kinds of plans of what was going to happen when her mom
got home spilled out in rapid succession. She’d even found her a possible boyfriend in one of
her teachers at the school. Mitchell glanced at his watch.
“Yeah. Let’s go, Bobs.”
“I’ll be right here,” Liam said unnecessarily. Mitchell gripped his hand momentarily in
thanks then, with Bobbie close by his side, they entered The Oaks through the huge glass
doors and walked into the cool atrium. There was always peace here in this open space, but
he knew just beyond the doors what kind of organised chaos there would be. Annabelle
hated it here, but she never refused to go.
“Mr Askett.” A tall dark-haired man approached and immediately Mitchell held out a
hand. He had a lot of respect for Annabelle’s doctor. Adam Sawyer was a good man who
worked hard for his patients.
“Doctor Sawyer, how is she doing?”
Out of deference to the fact that Bobbie was stood right there, the doctor toned down
his explanation as he usually did. Mitchell knew he would be able to phone later and get the
official list of medications and doses.
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74
“She’s doing really well. We changed one of her medications and it worked well and
fast. I’d like to see her back in a few weeks, but I think this was a good change.” He changed
the subject. “How is school, Bobbie?”
“It’s great. I’m at a new one where I get to do art classes.”
“A new school, eh? How wonderful.” He glanced over at Mitchell and his expression
showed he had questions. Mitchell nodded to indicate he would answer in full later.
“We moved to Ellery. It’s a small town about two hours from here.”
“I’ve heard Annabelle talk about Ellery. She speaks of it fondly, although I recall she
was very young when your parents left?”
“I was twelve, so yeah, she was young. Bobbie’s been writing to her about it.”
“I even found her a boyfriend there,” Bobbie said with a smile. “Mr Oppenham is my
art teacher and he is so cool.”
Mitchell couldn’t fail to notice the look that passed over Adam’s face. Concern? Worry?
Or something else? He’d always suspected Adam wanted to be more than friends with
Annabelle, but he’d never made a move to take that any further. Adam was a good doctor, a
good man. But he must have been forty and Annabelle twenty-eight. Mitchell frowned and
Adam was staring right at him when he did. He paled then appeared to make the effort to
pull himself together.
“Come on, guys, let’s get your mom,” Adam said simply. He led them to the small
visitors’ room and suddenly Mitchell had Annabelle in his arms with Bobbie squeezed
between them. Everyone was talking at once and Annabelle had so much to say and
everything she said was accompanied by a smile. Adam watched Annabelle, and Mitchell
watched Adam. He looked wistful.
Bobbie ran ahead of them to the car and Mitchell carried the two bags that Annabelle
had left with.
“You and Adam, then?” he said gently. She looked startled at the question then sighed.
“Nothing’s going to come of it.” She paused. “He’s a really nice guy and we get on well.
But I’m moving to Ellery. We probably won’t see each other again.”
Mitchell pulled his sister in for a hug. Seeing the same wistful expression on her face as
on Adam’s had him thinking maybe there was some kind of connection. “It’s only two
hours,” he said into her long dark hair. She hugged him even tighter at that. “Come on…
Let’s get you home.”
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Liam was out and leaning against the car and Bobbie and he were chatting about
something Mitchell couldn’t hear. He stopped walking suddenly and Annabelle looked at
him curiously.
“There’s someone else here,” he began. She glanced over at the car.
“You mean Liam, your boyfriend who got you the car? Bobbie keeps me in the loop.”
She laughed as she finished. “She says you are happy. One of us should be.” She was teasing
as she said the last with a grin. Then, surprising him, she strode over to Liam and shook his
hand.
“Liam,” she said firmly.
“Annabelle,” Liam replied. “How are you?”
“Happy,” she said. Then with nothing else to add she climbed into the back seat and
pulled her seatbelt across her. “Hurry up, guys, I want to see my rainbow bedroom.”
* * * *
Mitchell watched for a few moments at the door to his sister’s room. She was exhausted
and had more or less fallen asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow. He’d just got off the
phone with Adam and had a revised list of medications. Six different tablets that mixed in
ways he didn’t understand but kept her depression at bay. She had a chemical imbalance that
made life impossible for her at times. Two-year cycles meant she was a regular at The Oaks.
He was glad she was home. Bobbie moved in her sleep. She was cuddled into her mom’s side
and had refused to move, declaring that she needed her mom tonight and that her mom
needed her.
He wondered when Bobbie had become so grown up.
His cell vibrated in his pocket and he withdrew it. His mom. Again. She probably knew
Annabelle had left The Oaks by now. It wouldn’t be long before she tracked them down.
Mitchell wouldn’t put it past her to hire a PI or track his mobile or one of many ways to find
him that he had seen on TV shows. Carefully he pulled the door shut then went to his own
room. Liam was on duty and the bed seemed empty without him. He’d spent time here for
so many nights that Mitchell had grown used to having a side of the bed now. Instead of
sprawling this way and that, he and Liam gravitated to the middle.
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76
He had a finance meeting with Brenda in the morning and Liam would be here when
he wasn’t. He missed him so bad. Maybe when Annabelle wasn’t tired he could spend the
night at Liam’s place and they could just spend the whole night making noisy love. Laughing
at the thought, he rolled onto his side and looked at the clock. Nine p.m. and he was already
in bed. He certainly knew how to live.
* * * *
“So if you move three of the cabins from rented to owned—maybe cabins twenty-eight,
thirty-two and forty, the ones at the extremes of the site—then that would release around
half a million, which you then use to smarten up the remainder.”
“Doesn’t that mean we lose rental capacity and a regular income from them?” Mitchell
asked. He was aware that both Brenda and the finance advisor were having to lead him
through this with baby steps. Neither of them appeared to mind, though.
“We’re only at full capacity from September to Christmas. The rest of the year we run
anywhere from sixty-five per cent to eighty,” Brenda explained.
“So we sell off a couple of cabins, invest in the other cabins, and get more money in that
way,” Mitchell summarised.
“Exactly,” Brenda said with a smile. He liked Brenda. She was the kind of mom that he
wished he had. She made pies and cookies, and ran a successful business. She rocked. She
was warm and supportive and Daniel had turned out okay. Maybe he and Annabelle could
adopt her. Talking of whom…
“My sister is living with me now and she’s an artist. Would it be okay if she completed
some original art for the cabins?”
“I love that idea,” Brenda said immediately. “I hear Bobbie is quite the painter as well.”
“She is.” Mitchell felt proud. He couldn’t draw a stick man to save his life, but his sister
was a talented artist and Bobbie showed the same promise.
“She’s a lovely girl.” Brenda smiled.
“So,” the finance guy interrupted, “am I okay to start listing the three cabins?”
They talked about the website, or lack of a decent one, and Mitchell found himself
volunteering to work on creating one. He could ask Annabelle if she had any ideas for a logo
for the resort. After that there was nothing to cover. He signed off on the work that Kieran
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77
was doing, collected all the information that gave him background on the day-to-day
running. Okay, so he would never be rich working here but the whole place made money—
more than enough to support Annabelle and Bobbie. Buying the fifty per cent share of the
cabins may well have been impetuous but it was going to pay off.
When he got into the car he turned up the music and sang loudly along. He caught up
to a cop car at the three-way just out of town and wondered if he was following Finn up to
his house. When the car didn’t turn off but instead took the road to the cabins, Mitchell was
intrigued. The car pulled up next to a Lexus outside his new place. When he saw who was
standing next to the car he pulled up quickly and was out in an instant.
He summed up the situation in seconds. Annabelle sitting on the steps, Bobbie next to
her gripping her hand and Liam standing square and firm between them and the two people
standing with their backs to Mitchell. He knew exactly who they were.
“What’s happening?” he snapped causing his parents to turn in sync to face him. His
dad wore the usual calm, placid expression that gave nothing away. His mom was spitting
fire. That was never a good sign, when she lost control.
“I called the authorities,” Constance said firmly. “This man is telling me that I can’t see
Bobbie.” She waved a dismissive hand at Liam who didn’t move from the spot.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Mitchell said immediately. “Her mother is here and the
two of them live with me.”
“Is that so they can keep your whisky hidden?” Constance snapped.
“You know damn well I haven’t had a drink in three years.” Mitchell moved to stand
next to Liam and gripped his hand tight. His parents would have to go through both of them
if they wanted to see Bobbie, let alone spirit her away.
Finn coughed to interrupt the face-off and Constance’s temper immediately changed to
her lawyer face—calm, composed and looking to be a reasonable, level-headed, responsible
adult. Mitchell wished he could switch off his high emotions as quickly.
“Can someone explain to me what is happening here?” Finn said evenly. He looked at
Mitchell, who had to bite his tongue to keep from slipping into a shouting match that would
do no one any good. “Mitchell? Liam?”
“I can tell you exactly what is happening,” Constance said immediately. She could see
Mitchell’s reticence and was going to exploit the momentary silence to its fullest. Finn faced
her and gave his full attention.
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“Ma’am? You are?”
“I am the person who called you to get this stranger blocking our way to move. My
name is Constance Askett. Bobbie is my granddaughter.”
“You just remembered that now?” Mitchell snapped. Liam squeezed his hand
warningly.
“That’s enough, son,” his dad interrupted. Robert Askett didn’t usually put himself in
the middle of his son and his wife. Mitchell wasn’t surprised that his dad had chosen to side
with his mom, though. He and his dad had a simple relationship. He stayed out of Mitchell’s
life and Mitchell never asked for much in return. His reaction to Mitchell declaring he was
gay had been a quiet chuckle before hiding behind his paper. Mitchell hadn’t even attempted
to carry on the conversation.
Then his dad surprised him. He continued, “And you, Constance, you need to stow the
superiority and state the facts.”
Mitchell didn’t know who was more shocked, he or his mom.
Constance opened and closed her mouth then let out in a small hurt voice, “Robert—”
“Enough, Constance.” Robert wasn’t entertaining whatever Constance was going to
say. Then he turned his attention to Finn who stood quietly waiting. “Officer, the situation
here is that our son chose to remove our granddaughter from where we could look out for
her, from the school we paid for and the house that we also paid for. Our daughter is not
well, and is far from capable of caring for her own daughter long term. We have come here to
take Bobbie back with us.”
“What about what I want?” Bobbie shouted, agitated.
“Don’t be silly, Roberta,” Constance dismissed. “You aren’t old enough to know what
you want.”
For the first time ever, Bobbie stood up to her grandma. “I know I want to stay with
Uncle Mitchell and Mom.” Mitchell could hear tears in her voice and his heart twisted. His
mom and dad may well have been divorce lawyers, but it gave them a better chance of
knowing the system than Mitchell ever would.
“I assume you have the correct paperwork,” Finn said smoothly. “If I could just take a
look then we can get this cleared up.”
Constance looked from Robert to Finn then reached into her purse.
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“No!” Bobbie shouted. “I’m not going with them. I love it here, and I love Mom, and I
want to help look after her, and I love Uncle Mitchell and Liam, and I won’t go.”
Mitchell turned to face his niece and Annabelle, who was gripping her daughter so
tight there were sure to be marks. She looked devastated and tears filled her eyes. Bobbie
wrenched herself free and stalked into the house slamming the door shut behind her.
“I’m not saying we want full custody,” Constance said quietly. She handed the
envelope over to Finn who opened it and removed the contents. Mitchell’s heart was in his
chest. Surely they wouldn’t have petitioned for full custody without either him or Annabelle
having been made aware in some way. The courts would have had to have told them?
Finn pushed the papers back into the envelope. “This isn’t enough,” he said. “The filed
papers state that in the event of Annabelle’s death then custody of Bobbie is to be shared
between yourselves and Mitchell.”
“I wrote that when I was pregnant,” Annabelle said. She stood and leaned against
Mitchell who supported her. “I’m sorry, Mitchell, but you weren’t always there.”
Mitchell pulled his sister close in a hug of reassurance. He didn’t blame her—he’d kind
of checked out of life at that point. He’d given support but not backed it up with action until
Bobbie was born.
“Annabelle’s not dead,” Finn said mildly.
Constance pulled back her shoulders. “We fear for Bobbie. To have a mother who is
mentally unstable and an alcoholic uncle. What kind of life is that? We want the best for
her—stability and a future.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs Askett, but unless you bring proper guardianship papers then Bobbie is
to remain with her mom.”
“I need to speak to your captain,” Constance said loudly.
“You’re welcome to do so, but he will not tell you anything different to what I already
said, ma’am. Mr Askett, would you like me to escort your visitors from here?” Mitchell
didn’t realise Finn was talking to him. He was used to his dad being Mr Askett. He sighed as
Finn looked at him expectantly.
“No. Thank you, officer. We need to talk this out.”
Finn nodded to Liam as he left. What passed between them was Finn’s way of saying
‘call me if you need me’. He climbed into his car and reversed down the road before driving
off and leaving a trail of dust.
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“I’m going to find Bobbie,” Liam said softly. Mitchell didn’t want his lover to go but he
was worried about Bobbie as well.
“I won’t have you coming here and upsetting her,” Annabelle said. She sounded firm
and unmoveable.
“Annabelle, she isn’t safe here with you,” Constance responded. Her voice held
desperation. “What with your health issues and your brother’s problems with dependency.
You have to know Bobbie is better off with us. I know allegations alone are not always
sufficient to prove she would be better off with us—”
“You’re the lawyer, tell me how you think taking Bobbie away when neither of you is
ever home beats her being here with me and her mom?”
“I appreciate the burden of proof is on the grandparent,” Constance said. She sounded
less sure and more tired. “But if it’s sufficiently proven that Annabelle is an unfit mother—”
Annabelle gasped and Mitchell held out a hand to stop her moving.
“Annabelle is the best mother,” Mitchell said firmly. “How can you stand there and not
see that Bobbie has turned into a young girl with respect and a future?”
“God, this isn’t the way I wanted it to go. I just want you to see reason, Mitchell.”
Constance glanced over his shoulder as the front door opened.
“I can’t find Bobbie,” Liam said quickly. “Her bedroom window is open and she’s not
there.”
Mitchell spun to face Liam. Then both of them heard the noise at the same time. Crashes
and screams. Bobbie. Mitchell immediately ran in the direction of the noise with Liam right
behind him. It soon became horrifyingly obvious what had happened. The tree house that
needed structural repair had been the place that Bobbie had chosen to hide. The whole flimsy
structure had collapsed and somewhere in there was Bobbie, who was now deadly quiet.
Mitchell immediately began to pull away wood, but Liam stopped him with a firm hand.
“Mitchell, call nine-one-one and get my bag from the house.”
“No!” He attempted to get into the mess again, but Liam pulled him back and this time
shoved him away.
“The collapse is dangerous and lodged in the V of the tree. Bobbie is quiet—that is a
bad thing. If you go in then the whole thing could collapse. Call nine-one-one, and bring me
my bag.”
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For a second Mitchell fought the request then just as suddenly everything became clear.
His lover was a doctor, he knew what to do. They should get some of the wood cleared. With
no other words he ran down the hill and met Annabelle on her way up.
“What’s happened?” she shouted and grabbed at him.
“We need to call nine-one-one. Bobbie’s caught in the tree house. It’s crumbled. I need
to get Liam’s bag. Go find Liam but do what he says. Okay?” Annabelle nodded and
resumed the journey up into the forest that surrounded the cabins.
Constance and Robert were waiting where they had been standing.
“What’s happened?”
Mitchell ignored them and jumped the steps in one. He grabbed Liam’s bag and the cell
from the side before heading back up. He overtook Constance and Robert who were walking
as fast as they could towards the commotion. Calling nine-one-one was the easy part. The
dispatcher took the details. He slid to a stop but couldn’t see Liam.
“Where is he?” Mitchell asked Annabelle. Then he realised what had happened. Liam
had done exactly what he’d told Mitchell not to do. He’d gone in to help Bobbie.
“He said not to let you in, that you should just pass down the bag,” Annabelle said
urgently. “He reported back she’s in a space, but she’s not conscious, and she’s bleeding.”
Mitchell digested what Annabelle was telling him and he scooted closer just as his mom
and dad arrived. The structure shifted a little and he paused. Assessing the supports he
realised he was approaching from the wrong angle. If he could just get in the other side he’d
be able to help Liam. Maybe even support the structure a little to give the rescuers time to get
Bobbie out. He tuned out his hysterical mom and the warnings Annabelle was giving him.
Running up and behind the collapse, he realised there was a safe entrance and in seconds he
was in the middle of the mess, using his body to hold up the side of the old tree house that
was threatening to fall. The wood scraped and tore but at least he could form an arch over
Bobbie to stop her getting further hurt.
He slid the bag towards Liam, who yanked it open and pulled out a smaller bag.
“Why isn’t she awake?” Mitchell asked.
“Shock—she hit her head, and she has a penetrating trauma to her left leg. There is a lot
of blood.” Mitchell followed where Liam pointed and bile churned in him. A branch had torn
into her upper thigh and the blood was scarlet. “Put your hand here and press,” Liam said
abruptly. Mitchell did what he was told then watched as Liam worked.
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“Hellooo…” The voice was loud in the quiet space. Liam glanced upwards at the light
above them.
“Jamie…”
Liam and Jamie were exchanging information that was over Mitchell’s head—numbers,
stats—and all the while Mitchell pressed hard where Liam had instructed him to.
“Guys, we’re gonna have movement here!” someone shouted down. Max? Finn?
Mitchell couldn’t tell. When the wood moved, a cloud of dust was unsettled so Mitchell
covered Bobbie’s face and held his breath. The weight of the wood on his shoulder was
getting to the point where it was cutting into him and he hoped to hell he could keep the
weight off Bobbie.
“We need to hurry this up,” Liam called up. Mitchell looked at him to see what that
meant but all Liam was doing was supporting the small branch that had cut Bobbie. “The
penetrating branch isn’t attached to the main trunk,” Liam reassured. “We can move her.”
Mitchell nodded. Liam knew what he was doing. Liam would make sure everything
was okay. His shoulder was numb now and the shouts and noise from above meant he
couldn’t hear any more of what Liam was saying. How long had it been? How much time
had they spent down here?
Finally the last of the structure that had threatened to topple was pulled away and
Mitchell winced as the blood supply ran back to his shoulder. Together they manoeuvred
Bobbie to the gurney. Everything was a blur and happened so quickly.
* * * *
When Mitchell slumped in the chair outside the same operating room they’d been in at
the beginning, he realised he was in shock. Annabelle was crying softly and they gripped
hands. His mom and dad were somewhere close, they hadn’t left. And the guys—Max,
Finn… Everyone was there.
They had to wait.
When the door opened and Liam came in Mitchell immediately stood up. “She’s stable
and ready to be transferred to Knoxville,” Liam announced to the assembled group. Relief
rushed through Mitchell.
“I’ll go with her,” Annabelle said quickly. “In the ambulance.”
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Mitchell opened his mouth to say he would go instead when Annabelle looked at him
directly. In the background he could vaguely hear their parents saying Annabelle shouldn’t
go and he realised he was doing the same thing. He was assuming that Annabelle needed
looking after and that she couldn’t cope with this.
“You go with her. I’ll follow you.”
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Chapter Fourteen
“Bobbie’s asleep,” Mitchell said quietly. “She’s actually in her own bed tonight.” Two
weeks had passed since Bobbie had come home from Knoxville. Since coming home she had
taken to sleeping in with Annabelle and that was another thing Mitchell cursed about his
parents’ interference.
“Do you want to go out tonight?” Liam asked.
They’d been invited to Daniel’s place for the weekly Friday meet-up and when they’d
been asked, Mitchell had been inclined to say no. He wasn’t sure what kind of company he
would be. “I think we need it,” Mitchell finally said. “And we need to talk.”
Liam frowned. “That doesn’t sound good.” He stood up and waited uncertainly and
Mitchell cursed his stupid way of starting a serious conversation.
“I didn’t mean it to sound like… I…” He stopped. Finally he shrugged, “Let’s get over
to Daniel’s. We can talk on the way.”
Liam picked up the sodas and beers and opened the front door. As soon as he was
outside next to him, Mitchell circled his hands around Liam’s neck and kissed him deeply.
Just a kiss, no more, and for a while they embraced that way in the dark. Finally Mitchell
pulled back.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s time for me to move on,” Mitchell said gently. “And before you think otherwise, I
don’t mean move on from us.”
“Hell,” Liam said, “don’t screw with me like that.” He bent down and placed the drinks
on the floor then tugged Mitchell to sit on the swing on the porch. Moonlight caused
shadows in front of them and for a short time Mitchell stared at the moving images until
finally he thought he had enough guts to say what he really wanted to say.
“Hi,” he began. “My name is Mitchell and I am an alcoholic.”
Liam turned a little to face Mitchell and grasped his hand. Thankfully he didn’t say
anything—as if he knew Mitchell had to get this off his chest.
“Some days I don’t even think of it. Not the taste of it, or the smell of it, or the feeling of
rightness that happened only when I had taken the edge off of everything. I was the one in
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85
trouble at school. I never lasted a whole lesson without causing mayhem of some sort or
another. I was lucky to make it through college, and just as lucky to fall into a career where
drinking was acceptable. Some days the itch is there. The bubbling under my skin of want
and need. When you are an alcoholic it doesn’t leave you. Not ever.”
He paused and concentrated on lacing his fingers with Liam’s, who to his credit still
said nothing.
“When Bobbie was born I realised I didn’t want to be that person anymore, but do you
know it took until she was five to really get my head around it all? Then I had the accident
and lost my licence for two years. All the things I had been told, about how I was the guy
who let people down, just came home to me.” Breathing deeply he looked up and into Liam’s
eyes. He wished he could see the blue of them, but there wasn’t enough light.
“I love you,” Mitchell ended. “I want to move on to the next step, come stay at your
place and see if I can stop worrying about how Annabelle copes when quite plainly she is
coping fine. I need to see Bobbie isn’t a baby anymore, and I need to focus on what I want.
That doctor, Adam—he’s visiting again this weekend, and Annabelle has someone else who
sees her as a strong person, as much as I need to. So what I am saying, in a roundabout way,
is I like the idea of every so often we stay at your place. So we can learn about us, make sense
of us.” Mitchell finished and looked for any horror or shock in Liam’s expression.
“Can you say that first thing you said again?” Liam asked gently.
“What thing?” Mitchell said. Then he realised what Liam meant. “Oh. That. I love you,”
he repeated.
Liam cradled his face with his hands then stole the sweetest kiss before moving his
hands to bury his fingers into Mitchell’s hair. It was like he knew how much Mitchell loved
that. The kiss deepened and abruptly the weight of everything Mitchell wanted to say was
lifted. He felt lighter and put his heart and soul into the kiss. The words may well have been
fine but he wanted to show Liam as well.
Finally they broke the kiss and Liam was smiling. “I love you, Mitchell Askett, and…”
“And?” Mitchell prompted.
“You’ll need to bring your own toothbrush.”
They kissed again and everything was right in Mitchell’s world. Walking the short
distance to Daniel’s was a time for hopes and talking about the future, and, unexpectedly, the
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86
past seemed a long way away. Daniel answered the door, laden down with files and juggling
them carefully. Seemed like tonight was a planning session for the house.
“Guys—beer, soda, kitchen. Luke is making something that smells of tomato, and the
pool is starting tomorrow.” He wandered off and Mitchell grabbed a soda before he and
Liam took the last remaining chair. It was only a single seat so he perched himself half on the
arm and half on Liam.
“How’s Bobbie?” Kieran peered up from his laptop and asked.
“She’s doing fine. Back to school Monday.”
Mitchell grinned as he talked and swallowed a mouthful of soda. He could sit here and
be Mitchell Askett without drinking. He could answer questions about Bobbie and
Annabelle.
It turned out that even an alcoholic bad boy like him deserved to love and be loved.
“You okay?” Liam asked. Mitchell shifted a little until he was more on Liam and
wriggled. Liam cursed under his breath and Mitchell could feel how hard his lover was
getting. He smiled and threw caution to the winds by drawing Liam’s face to his and
planting a noisy kiss on his lips.
“More than okay,” he said. “Way more than okay.”
Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:
Back Home
RJ Scott
Excerpt
Chapter One
“J, are you coming?”
Jordan Salter jumped a little and glanced up from his work, refocusing tired eyes that
had been intent on minute hand work on a three-by-three post of kiln-dried walnut. He
widened his eyes fractionally in the gathering evening gloom, blinking and attempting to
make sense of the new focus of his concentration. The ache behind them was the icing on the
cake—a by-product of the nagging headache that had tracked him all day and the need to
concentrate on creating the intricate detail work that he was determined to finish. He closed
his eyes briefly, gritty exhaustion in them, and he let out an almost incoherent, “Wha…?”
“You said you were going to be finishing early today.”
“Wha…?” What is it with people interrupting my work?
Whoever it was in the room with him flicked on the overhead light, courtesy of the
electrical work that had been completed and signed off today. Jordan winced.
“It’s past eight and you’re still here?”
Jordan blinked steadily—if it was eight o’clock then why the hell was Ben standing in
the house? He should have gone home two hours ago. Come to think of it, why was Ben
dressed to the nines in his Sunday jeans and a clean shirt? Jordan remembered last seeing his
friend and colleague in overalls, working on wiring. Ben Craig was the only subcontractor
they called on and then only in an emergency.
“You said to come back for you. To remind you about the party.” Ben was clearly and
deliberately speaking in words containing minimal syllables, and he spoke slowly enough
that Jordan could absorb the words. Tension stiffened the older man’s stance, and his
expression schooled itself into a frown. What was he supposed to remember? Suddenly,
through the fatigue, the memory clicked into place. The party. Hayley’s party. She was
twenty-two today, and he’d been invited to join the Addisons and associated friends at The
Olive Garden for dinner.
“Shit.”
“In it, big time,” Ben muttered, walking across the kitchen and, almost as if he couldn’t
help it, sliding the palm of his right hand over the unwaxed, still-dull brown wood that
Jordan had chosen for the newel post. Fingertips barely touching the surface, Ben traced the
grain and nodded. Jordan looked from the wood to Ben and back again, mind working
feverishly to keep his focus on the fact that he’d promised to be at the party.
“She’ll be pretty,” Jordan offered, wondering if he was coming across as defensive even
as he dismissed the thought and focused on the beauty of the wood.
“She’ll polish up well,” Ben agreed. “Walnut was a good choice.”
“I just get…” Involved, he finished in his mind. Engrossed to the point that he felt no
weariness until his attention was broken. From intricate carved details on newels to the
hand-turning and intricate inlay work for chair backs, Jordan had always been mesmerised
by the forms he could create. The patterns and the curves under his fingers had always been
inside the wood, as far as he knew. Able to find the faintest of grains, he would sand and
shape and polish, thinking of nothing except the beautiful wood beneath his touch. Once he
saw the purpose of each piece of wood, and had paid attention to the shapes buried in each
piece, he laid out the finished product in his head. Giving his thought to the raw potential in
front of him, he focused on having the wood’s final shape match the completed mental
image. He often didn’t know where to start, but when he was in the zone, when each tiny cut
made the beauty of the wood show in striations of pale brown and gold, he couldn’t snap
himself out of it.
Tonight wasn’t the first time over the last few months that he’d forgotten something,
nor would it be the last. Jordan was tired, and he felt years older than his twenty-nine. He
commonly put in eighteen-hour days. First had come the hard physical work on the larger
aspects of renovation, then the labour-intensive detailed finishing woodwork on Mistral
House had consumed him.
Recession had hit the construction industry hard, and he was the sole remaining staff
member of Addison Construction. AC’d had no choice—people had had to be let go, and he
was finishing this contract on his own, with just Ben in and out for things he couldn’t do,
electrical being one of them. When Jordan was working on the final touches in a renovation,
he sank into the process, the carving and staining and completing his only reality. Intensely
involved and completely cut off from the rest of the world, such things as birthday parties
and promises to attend them didn’t exist.
AC needed to flip Mistral House as soon as they could—the very existence of Phil
Addison’s company depended on the cash flow realised from the sale of the home. Added to
the stress of the need to finish, he’d had little more than three hours sleep last night, and he
was into his nineteenth hour working today.
He glanced back down at the smooth wood, the texture of the newel satiny and solid
beneath his fingertips, judging that he only had a quarter hour, maybe half, and this part of
the detailed intricate work would be finished.
The kitchen cabinets, each custom made, were solid walnut, generations of growth in
the sturdy wood. Jordan’s elaborate detailing accentuated the highlights and lustre of the
wood’s deep honey tones. Jordan had created a pedestal, circular-topped kitchen table and
four chairs as well, and the rails complemented the other wood in the room. The kitchen was
the crowning glory of the carpentry in this house renovation and a source of great pride to
Jordan.
He had, after all, done most of the work single-handedly, since Phil had become too ill
to work alongside him. The kitchen was his baby, and he just needed to finish the detailing—
tonight. Ben stood, waiting for an answer if his subtle shifting from foot to foot was anything
to go by.
“I’ll be there before they cut the birthday cake,” Jordan compromised softly. Softly
because he half hoped that Ben wouldn’t hear and, if Jordan seemed to ignore him, would
just give up of his own accord and leave. Jordan didn’t need the inevitable lecture as to why
he should be with the Addisons, that it was important he was there for Hayley, because he
was all she really had left in the way of a brother.
Lady Luck however, was not smiling down on Jordan Salter. Ben heard him and started
to work up a good head of steam.
“You go nowhere. You do nothing outside of working. You work all hours God sends
us. Do you have a freaking death wish, son?” It was that single word—son—that broke
through Jordan’s barriers. There was affection in Ben’s voice—affection and concern. Maybe
he should stop working. Maybe Ben had a point.
“Ben…” He turned slightly, determined to talk, then had to jerk to catch a hammer he
had knocked with his arm.
“God damn fool. You’re an accident waiting to happen.” Ben’s eyes narrowed as he
sized up Jordan from that new perspective. And he clearly didn’t like what he saw.
“I’m not far off finishing.” There was steel in his voice, even he could hear it, and he
winced inwardly. Ben didn’t deserve his disrespect. However tired he felt, he should at least
try to be polite.
“You’re not far off killing yourself.” Ben’s normally calm voice held something new. A
level of panic had replaced a little of the anger. Jordan dealt with Ben the only way he knew
how, by dismissing Ben’s concerns out of hand, not giving the electrician any room to carry
on the conversation.
“For God’s sake, Ben, I’ll be along in an hour.”
“Half an hour,” Ben snapped back at him. Temper coiled in Jordan, but how could he
lose it with Ben, when the older man really did have reason to worry? And Jordan knew it.
He didn’t think he’d ever felt so low on reserves, so damn drained, but Ben didn’t know
the full extent of the shit that Addison Construction was in. He wasn’t aware of the debt that
sat at the bank, the check that the Mistral House was just about to cut for them only just
covering the deficit. The timing had to be perfect. They were coming to inspect in two days,
and he had so little to do to finish. Jordan let Ben keep talking, ignoring it mostly for his own
sanity, until Ben reached his peak then just as suddenly stopped.
Jordan frowned at the sudden silence. Silence with Ben was always a bad thing.
“Brad wouldn’t want you working yourself to death just to get to see him sooner.”
Ben’s words were weighted with sadness, and he said them so firmly, not backing off one
inch from his opinion.
Guilt, anger, temper—all three churned in Jordan’s gut, then came a sudden maelstrom
of grief. The overwhelming feelings he felt when he thought about the man he had loved and
lost were something he ruthlessly pushed down. He locked them away, behind walls of
stone. Fuck. Exhaustion was letting the hidden emotions through. Ben should leave well
enough alone. Why did he even have to mention Brad, tonight of all nights? Couldn’t he see
that Jordan was busy trying to save the company from going bust?
Ben looked at him with such mute understanding in his lined and weathered face that
Jordan felt the temper in him begin to dissipate. He banked the fire of his anger as much as
he could, channelling it to fuel his stubbornness. He didn’t have any response to Ben’s
statement. Really all he wanted to say was that, yes, maybe he did want to join Brad, that
somehow dying would make everything easier. Maybe if something did happen to him it
would be for the best. He was insured big time, and his will specified everything would go to
his surrogate family, the Addisons, and that would clear all the debt and then some. He
turned on the small jigsaw he’d been using earlier to do more shaping on the newel post. The
high whine of the machinery made talking impossible, and it was the only way he could stop
himself from giving in to anything other than the determination to finish this damn house.
His throat was thick with emotion, and his thoughts writhed—tangled and tied in all manner
of what-ifs in his head.
Ben should never be forced to bear the brunt of that horror. Deliberately, Jordan turned
his back on Ben. In no uncertain terms, he declared the conversation over and returned to
concentrating on finishing the work. He caught a glimpse of the worried expression on Ben’s
face, but he ignored it. And he heard the quiet “This is getting too dangerous” Ben muttered
to himself as he left, but he ignored that too. Jordan only relaxed when he sensed that he was
alone in the room and glanced over his shoulder to confirm that the door no longer framed
his friend. Gone with him was the air of disappointment and growing concern that had
surrounded the older man.
With a hefty exhalation of relief, he turned back to the work at hand, trying to find his
balance, desperately attempting to connect to the skill that was inside him, not wanting to
ruin everything now. Working with his hands, creating beauty out of the wood, comforted
him and centred him. Kieran had once called him an artist…
Jesus. Where had that thought come from? First Brad and now Kieran? This was one
hell of a night for ghosts and memories to choose to haunt him.
Trying to calm his anger and the roiling misery inside him, he was able to push through
the complete exhaustion, the last, stuttering pulse of adrenaline forcing him towards the
finish line. The bone-numbing, bone-deep tiredness verged on paralysis and was causing his
eyes to half close. His muscles, operating with an overload of lactic acid, howled with pain.
Jordan knew that he’d pay dearly for the abuse in the morning. At least the pain would be
eased a bit by the satisfaction of creating the final invoice for the two hundred thousand they
were owed.
Ben’s words rattled in his head—Jordan was too far past exhaustion to be able to block
them. Damn him for talking to Jordan now about Brad. Hayley’s birthday meant that the
anniversary of Brad’s death was only days away, the dark anniversary of a nightmare that
had yet to lift. His concentration slipped, and he caught himself just in time to stop the
wickedly sharp blade from carving a hole in his hand. Through the fog of weariness, one
lashing flicker of reality shot through. Jordan felt rather than heard his frustrated sigh.
That had been too close, much too close. He was being an ass. Insurance money or not,
he wasn’t suicidal and he would be no good to the Addisons or to himself if he managed to
destroy his most important tools—his hands. It was way past time to stop.
Jordan stretched up and took a step backwards, his legs cramping, sore and tight from
being in the same position for so long. The pain and a momentary weakness in his left leg
caused him to stumble to the left. Attempting to catch himself, he somehow managed to
tangle his foot with the cable to the saw, causing his hand to slide up against the thin blade.
The pain was instant, and the power cut off just as quickly.
He’d managed to yank back as the blade had touched his skin. But the damage had
been done. The blade had sliced into his wrist and the fleshy part of his hand. The injury was
so deep he could see bone. The first shock of pain was so intense it sent him stumbling
backwards until he crashed into the stool he’d been using.
Something in the back of his mind screamed, Stop the bleeding! Get help! But he didn’t
know how to do either. Shock rendered him mindless. Blindly he lurched to rest his forearm
on the stool and tried desperately to get the gaping wound closed using his uninjured hand.
Blood surged between his fingers and down his forearm, slithered across the seat of the
stool, and ran down the nearest leg before it combined with the sawdust on the floor into a
horror of reddish wood paste. Jordan, head light with the deeper onset of shock, pain making
it almost impossible to think, knew with absolute certainty that losing blood as fast as he was
meant he could die. He released his hold on the wound, scrabbling for his cell phone, which
he’d left lying on the side of the saw table. He cursed as it slithered away from his blood-wet
hand.
“Son of a bitch. Fuckin’ son of a bitch,” he muttered over and over, the smell of blood—
his blood—making him nauseated. He grabbed again for the cell, managed to reach it and
flipped it open.
His vision greying and his eyes closing, somehow, from somewhere, he remembered
that he needed to put pressure on the injury. Hitting redial was all he managed before the
cell dropped to the floor as red with blood as his hand. The floor rose to meet him in a haze
of wood and grey, and he collapsed to the ground, his injured hand mashed into his shirt. He
rolled, his arm under his body, and knew he would soon lose consciousness in a twisted
maze of blood and wires. He knew it. He watched the scarlet spread more slowly but still
relentlessly from under him as the blood, his life, saturated sanded wood floors and seeped
between smooth bare floorboards.
In the swirling grey-black, Jordan’s thoughts became dazed. Maybe this is okay. Maybe it
doesn’t matter.
It wasn’t going to be long, then, if he was lucky, he would have the chance to tell Brad
how sorry he was. How sorry…
And the world disappeared into dark.
About the Author
RJ Scott has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for
an infraction involving cookies. She was told to write a story and two sides of paper
about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born.
She can mostly be found reading—anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror. However,
her first real love will always be the world of romance. When writing her goal is to
write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and more
than a hint of happily ever after.
RJ loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and
author biography at
Also by RJ Scott
Ellery Mountain: The Fireman and the Cop
Ellery Mountain: The Teacher and the Solider
Ellery Mountain: The Carpenter and the Actor
With Amber Kell
End Street Detective Agency: The Case of the Cupid Curse
End Street Detective Agency: The Case of the Wicked Wolf
Total-E-Bound Publishing
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