we wasted so many years.”
Joel nodded. Jason and Penny belonged together. He wondered if he’d ever find the woman who would complete him and light fire to his soul the way Penny did for Jason. No sooner than he thought it did the feisty chocolate beauty Samantha Dash pop into his mind.
His pulse quickened, and for the first time in a long time, he felt a rush. Now, there was a woman who could bring out passion in a man. So what if he couldn’t seem to agree with a word that came out of her mouth, her full, luscious, delectable mouth. The image of her beautiful lips planted itself in his brain, and for the rest of the evening with his brothers all he could do was think of what it would be like to kiss them. How did they taste? Now more than ever, he was determined to find out.
Chapter 5
I t had to be the worst session with a patient Samantha had ever had. The most god-awful encounter with another person she had ever experienced in her twenty-seven years on the planet. And the closest she had ever come to physically hurting another human being.
But Joel Hightower was behaving in a less-than-human manner and giving off more attitude than usual. Since she had vowed not to lose her professionalism and snap at him again, she tried to grin and bear it.
However, him standing there, smirking at her as she tried to show him new stretching exercises broke her resolve. She could have sworn he was trying to provoke her. She went off.
“Do you not want to be able to cope with the pain? Am I boring you, Mr. Hightower? Or maybe you just like the pain?” She put her hand on her hip and glared at him.
For the first time that afternoon, her grumpy patient smiled. At least, it looked like a smile and less like the smart-aleck, condescending smirk he’d been wearing.
“What’s your deal, Joel? I can only help you if you let me. Would you like to change to a different therapist for your final month?”
Ready to throw in the towel didn’t even begin to touch how she felt. It was hard enough seeing him three times a week and getting glimpses of that funny, sweet guy she had imagined him to be before she actually met him. When Joel Hightower wasn’t putting on his sulking front, he was actually quite charming, too darn charming.
He frowned then. “No. I want to keep you. It’s just…I’m not sure this is worth it. I still may not be able to do the job I love.”
She took a deep breath. Now was not the time to force him to see he could find other jobs he loved because he was still alive to do so. Instead she took a seat on the mat and looked up at him.
Squinting, she contemplated the best approach. Typically, she would offer a pep talk and finish guiding her patient on the path to recovery from a professional distance, but when she gazed up in his sincere but stressed brown eyes, she couldn’t maintain her distance.
She swallowed as she realized she cared about Joel Hightower. And even if she wasn’t ready to admit it let alone give into it, she knew she had to give in to her need to comfort him.
Leaning back against the wall, she patted the spot on the mat next to her. Joel didn’t hesitate at all and took a seat.
“Would not being able to fight fires anymore be the absolute worst thing that could happen?”
“Yes.” He didn’t even pause before answering her.
And more important, he barely left any room for her to encourage him to open up more.
“Would you rather be dead than to not be able to fight fires? Because I can tell you this, the people you would leave behind wouldn’t want that. Your family and friends would rather have you here.”
He paused then, and she wondered if his silence signaled she had overstepped her bounds with him. She seemed to have become good at doing that.
“When I was a kid, I would watch all of the men in my family—my father, his cousins, all of them, in their uniforms. The cops, the firemen…There’s the Hightower legacy of service that we get taught almost from the
Joel nodded. Jason and Penny belonged together. He wondered if he’d ever find the woman who would complete him and light fire to his soul the way Penny did for Jason. No sooner than he thought it did the feisty chocolate beauty Samantha Dash pop into his mind.
His pulse quickened, and for the first time in a long time, he felt a rush. Now, there was a woman who could bring out passion in a man. So what if he couldn’t seem to agree with a word that came out of her mouth, her full, luscious, delectable mouth. The image of her beautiful lips planted itself in his brain, and for the rest of the evening with his brothers all he could do was think of what it would be like to kiss them. How did they taste? Now more than ever, he was determined to find out.
Chapter 5
I t had to be the worst session with a patient Samantha had ever had. The most god-awful encounter with another person she had ever experienced in her twenty-seven years on the planet. And the closest she had ever come to physically hurting another human being.
But Joel Hightower was behaving in a less-than-human manner and giving off more attitude than usual. Since she had vowed not to lose her professionalism and snap at him again, she tried to grin and bear it.
However, him standing there, smirking at her as she tried to show him new stretching exercises broke her resolve. She could have sworn he was trying to provoke her. She went off.
“Do you not want to be able to cope with the pain? Am I boring you, Mr. Hightower? Or maybe you just like the pain?” She put her hand on her hip and glared at him.
For the first time that afternoon, her grumpy patient smiled. At least, it looked like a smile and less like the smart-aleck, condescending smirk he’d been wearing.
“What’s your deal, Joel? I can only help you if you let me. Would you like to change to a different therapist for your final month?”
Ready to throw in the towel didn’t even begin to touch how she felt. It was hard enough seeing him three times a week and getting glimpses of that funny, sweet guy she had imagined him to be before she actually met him. When Joel Hightower wasn’t putting on his sulking front, he was actually quite charming, too darn charming.
He frowned then. “No. I want to keep you. It’s just…I’m not sure this is worth it. I still may not be able to do the job I love.”
She took a deep breath. Now was not the time to force him to see he could find other jobs he loved because he was still alive to do so. Instead she took a seat on the mat and looked up at him.
Squinting, she contemplated the best approach. Typically, she would offer a pep talk and finish guiding her patient on the path to recovery from a professional distance, but when she gazed up in his sincere but stressed brown eyes, she couldn’t maintain her distance.
She swallowed as she realized she cared about Joel Hightower. And even if she wasn’t ready to admit it let alone give into it, she knew she had to give in to her need to comfort him.
Leaning back against the wall, she patted the spot on the mat next to her. Joel didn’t hesitate at all and took a seat.
“Would not being able to fight fires anymore be the absolute worst thing that could happen?”
“Yes.” He didn’t even pause before answering her.
And more important, he barely left any room for her to encourage him to open up more.
“Would you rather be dead than to not be able to fight fires? Because I can tell you this, the people you would leave behind wouldn’t want that. Your family and friends would rather have you here.”
He paused then, and she wondered if his silence signaled she had overstepped her bounds with him. She seemed to have become good at doing that.
“When I was a kid, I would watch all of the men in my family—my father, his cousins, all of them, in their uniforms. The cops, the firemen…There’s the Hightower legacy of service that we get taught almost from the
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