Surrogate Escape

He was shaking his head again. “My job.”

“Why is it your job?” she asked, smiling down at him.

“Because I found her.”

She straightened and drew back, her smile gone. She sighed. “That is not how this works.”

“Lori? Does this mean that we’re talking again?”

He waited while she blew away a breath and then crossed her arms protectively before her, the shields coming up again.

“Maybe. But it’s hard, Jake. When I see you, I remember...”

“Our daughter.”

She dropped her chin and nodded.

“Yes, and everything else.”

Jake opened his arms and gathered her up as she rested her forehead on his shoulder. She kept her arms crossed but let him hold her, rub her back. He hadn’t held her since they’d lost their own baby, and that had not gone well. The time before that had been in his truck. She’d said yes, yes to everything. And that was her fault as much as his.

Lori drew back first, of course, and he let her go. It seemed that was all he ever did.

“I’d like to be able to talk to you, Lori. And not just about what happened.”

Her eyes were cautious. She had reason to be suspicious, but not as much reason as he had to be suspicious of her.

“Talk, huh?” She gave him a look that cut through the bull. He wanted many things, but talk wasn’t exactly one of them.

She changed the subject, dismissing him and the topic.

“Your captain said you were on patrol last night, that you covered the traffic fatality and who knows what else. So, bed. Now.”

He stroked a strand of her hair that had escaped the tight knot. Instead of drawing back, she let him cup her head in his hand. He met her gaze, letting her know what he intended and giving her time to step away.

It was a bad idea, but he was still going for it. No stopping himself, just like the last time they were alone. But he was older now. His control was better.

Liar. She still stripped away all control. There was no containing the fire that burned within him for this woman. His brain shrieked a warning as he pulled her in tight.

Her eyes widened as she sucked in air through flaring nostrils. The small gesture made his chest constrict. He flexed his arm, bringing her in closer. Her fingers slipped into the opening of his uniform at the collar, nails raking his chest. His blood surged and he took the kiss, his mouth hungry. Her arms threaded around his neck as he deepened the kiss, tasting the sweetness of her mouth. She was like a drug for him. The habit he thought to break, and all the while it had lingered inside him, waiting for a chance to have her again. If she had learned anything, she should be running for the door because they were alone again, and there was a bed right beside them.

He turned her in his arms and brought her to the mattress. She stiffened and broke the kiss. He lifted to his elbows to give her a questioning look. She gaped at him and then shoved away, slipping from his grasp. He sat on the bed while she stood panting beside him. He’d dragged the forked comb from the tight bun and let her hair fall. Then he raked his fingers through the strands until her hair fell about her shoulders in soft waves.

“Jake, you can’t do that.”

But he just had. His mouth quirked.

“That so?”

“Yes, that is so, Jake Redhorse. You might be the golden boy to everyone else, but you and I know better. Don’t we?” She reclaimed her hair fastener.

That stung. He drummed his fingers on his thigh.

“I said I’d marry you, didn’t I?”

She gave a sharp, audible exhale and folded her arms over her chest. “My hero,” she said, her tone mocking. Then she spun on her heels and marched out of the room.

He had half a mind to follow her.

Jake flopped back onto the bed. And what was that “my hero” gibe about? She’d gone with him, let him do what he liked. They’d both been there, both been stupid kids. It wasn’t his fault. At least not all his fault. His mistake had been thinking he could control himself with Lori. He’d even had the damn condom in his pocket. But that wasn’t how a condom worked, was it?

He hadn’t used protection and she had never asked about it. Thinking a Mott girl would use protection was like expecting a cow to wear pajamas. That was what his brother Ty had said. Kee had said it was an unfortunate but predictable occurrence given family history. The whole thing still made him burn deep inside, shame and hurt and desire all firing at once. But he would admit that whatever appeal Lori had for him had only grown stronger with time.

What was it about Lori Mott that drew him like a lamb to slaughter?

“No,” he promised to the empty room and settled down in the bed alone. The pillow smelled like Lori. He breathed deep and then growled, rolling to his side, ignoring the stirring of his body for her.

Not again.

Chapter Four (#u5f0a71c4-4a64-547a-adba-51d50d785266)

Lori stomped away to the nurses’ station. She was so mad she could spit nickels. She plunged into work, muttering to herself. Officer Redhorse was no white knight. She knew it even if no one else did. But somehow he always came out of every situation smelling like a rose. It burned her up inside.

Did he actually believe what everyone had said about her? He’d been there, for heaven’s sake. He knew exactly how it had played out. But in the days and weeks after the miscarriage, Jake had disappeared. Bolted like a branded calf. She’d learned from her older sister Rosa that Jake had been congratulated on his escape.

And she’d just kissed him again. She must be out of her mind. Lori gave Fortune a bottle of formula and brought baby Leniix to her mother for feeding. She spoke to Betty Mills briefly about the new arrival. When she finally felt herself again, she returned to give Jake a piece of her mind and found him puffing softly in slumber. Lori permitted herself the pleasure of looking at the handsome boy who had grown into an even more handsome man. You just couldn’t tell from the outside what lay inside. Sometimes you learned that only when it was too late. When her throat began to ache, she crept out.

She was in the women’s health clinic with Dr. Redhorse all morning and was called to the urgent-care unit twice when they became swamped. Midmorning, Lori noticed Jake’s mother at the clinic, accompanied by her new husband, Duffy Rope. May Redhorse Rope never liked Lori after what had happened and had been strongly in favor of letting the baby go to adoption within the tribe so her precious son would not have to be encumbered by a marriage to the likes of her. When Jake had announced that he planned to marry Lori, May would not speak to her, but she made sure Lori heard what she thought. May’s words were engraved in Lori’s memory like letters on a tombstone.

He shouldn’t have to spend a lifetime tied to a girl like that because of one simple mistake.

Lori and May made eye contact, and May glowered. Lori went to fetch Dr. Kee Redhorse. She didn’t need any extra rancor this morning.

She later learned that May had a new ulcer on her foot above her big toe amputation and needed special wound care twice a week. Kee had made an appointment in Darabee with a specialist. Lori did not like Jake’s mother, but she would not wish her troubles on anyone.

Dr. Kee left for lunch and Lori ordered in, then returned to the computer to code entries while she waited. They didn’t have a proper cafeteria, but they had a break room and a standing arrangement with the diner across the street to have food delivered when needed.

Her order arrived with a familiar deliveryman. Bullis had left the grill to hand-deliver her meal. He’d been after her for months for a date, but she had put him off. He owned the diner and was a nice guy. But he just didn’t make her tingle all over—like Officer Redhorse. More was the pity. Nathan was the better choice because he gave her something Jake never had—respect.

“Extra sandwich,” said Nathan, lifting a bag. “Roast beef with mustard, lettuce, tomato, with potato salad and a bag of chips. Plus one sixteen-ounce iced tea.” He glanced around. “This for Nina? She usually drinks diet.”

“No. A, er, visitor. Jake Redhorse. Sleeping in there.”

Nathan frowned. “Why?”

News would get out anyway. It always did. “He found a baby in his truck.”

“A baby? No way. Can I see it?”