Wreck Me: Steel Talons MC Read Free Page A

like a sincere apology and tell her the truth. He didn’t have to do that; he didn’t owe her anything. It wasn’t like she’d saved his life or anything. And yet…
     
    “Thank you, Jim,” she told him, wanting to smile but not quite sure it was appropriate. She wasn’t awkward with people very often, but she didn’t really know how to address him. She shifted her weight back and forth from one foot to the other, feeling like some preteen admiring the bad boy from across the schoolyard—only Jim Wade stood just a few inches from her.
     
    Jim laughed, a nervous sound, and it was truly endearing as he rubbed his head again. “So, are you on your way out? I mean, if you’re busy, I can just…” He waved in the other direction, and Susan assumed he was offering to leave her alone.
     
    “No, actually, my partner’s busy right now, and we’re not on call until he’s done with this other business. I’ll probably be here for another hour or so.” The boy had cozied up to Eric and told him a lot of things Susan hadn’t heard that she was sure the police and the social worker would want to know. She’d seen this before, and these interviews could take a while.
     
    “Do you smoke?” he asked.
     
    She laughed. “Um, no, I don’t, but I’m guessing you do.”
     
    “Yeah, and I haven’t had a cigarette in hours. Where can I go to get some fucking nicotine into my system without bringing the wrath of God down on me?”
     
    Losing the resolve she’d had to stay away from him, Susan pointed toward the door she had been getting ready to exit. “I’m heading out to the bus barn.” His confused look amused her. “It’s where we park the ambulances after we drop off the patients when we know we won’t have time to get back to the firehouse before the next call. Anyway, once you’re in that parking lot, you can light up all you want. Just watch out for open buses. They have oxygen tanks inside.”
     
    He looked so relieved, Susan thought he might collapse. She watched him closely as he limped out the door with her, gazing around him as they made their way toward the row of ambulances. They crossed a red painted line, and Susan gave him the thumbs-up. His cigarette and lighter were already in hand, and he didn’t waste time lighting up.
     
    He took a deep drag and sighed with pleasure. “God, that was a long time coming.”
     
    Susan couldn’t help but giggle. “As a medical professional, I should tell you—”
     
    “I don’t want to hear shit about how badly I’m fucking up my lungs. We all have to die somehow, sometime, right?” He took another drag. “Tonight wasn’t my night, and I’m going to enjoy my smokes in celebration.” His determination would have been admirable under any other circumstances.
     
    “Suit yourself, but lung cancer is a very painful way to go.” She checked her watch, antsy for Eric to get back and tell her how it went. “Where are your friends, by the way? The ones who were in the room with you.”
     
    “Waiting for me,” he grunted.
     
    “Maybe you should go then,” she suggested.
     
    “They’ll wait.” He dropped the cigarette and stepped on it. “Son of a bitch!” he cried, and Susan looked down to see his bare feet. She wanted to laugh, but that sort of burn had to be excruciating on the bottom of a foot.
     
    “Come on, I’ll take care of it, dumbass,” she told him, walking toward her own bus and unlocking the back.
     
    She motioned for him to climb in, and he cursed as he dragged his leg inside. She turned on the lights and rummaged through the burn kit, taking out the necessary supplies. He sat quietly, but obviously fuming, until she finished her work, his foot resting in her lap. When she looked up at him, she gasped.
     
    His eyes were different; the way he looked at her made her go perfectly still, as if the clock had stopped.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    That tender touch sent Jim reeling, and he realized how long it had been since a woman