The Cowboy's Redemption: BWWM Billionaire Western Romance Read online

  There was a tense silence that passed between them, framed by the quickened beeps of the heart monitor. His doctor said nothing for a moment, but he could see how her fingers fidgeted against her scrubs, and he could sense the uneasiness coiling in her figure just as easily.

  “Why are you alone, Warren?” she asked softly. The tone in her voice startled him. And then when she looked up at him, he couldn’t help shivering.

  “Because I chose to be,” he said.

  She left moments later, and he tried to ignore the ramming sensation in his heart beep in sync with the monitor blaring next to his bed.

  --

  Chapter 10

  --

  She couldn’t avoid him after that. Not after she had unintentionally exposed him like that.

  Melinda had been unable to shake away Warren’s final words to her. In her mind, they turned and turned, appearing and reappearing while she worked and when she took her coffee breaks. Driving home after that conversation had left her unable to turn on her radio and listen to songs until she faded away. She couldn’t seem to puzzle over the conundrum of it all.

  A man who had everything, had chosen to have nothing.

  In the end, isn’t that a certain contradiction of everything she had believed people to want? People lied to have their hands on everything, yet this man exposed himself to the truth for the sake of being left in his own grief. He didn’t even bother keeping his own secrets to himself, secrets that spoke of a lifestyle that while grand on the outside was as empty as hers.

  They walked different walks of life. Their feet should be carrying them in other places…yet they met somewhere in the center… where they couldn’t not deny similarities.

  Melinda paused in the middle of that thought.

  Warren had been the one to speak his mind, not her. He had answered her questions, and given her half-glares that reminded her of a wounded animal that bared its teeth at its most vulnerable. He didn’t bothering hiding that much either—or if he did she saw straight through it.

  Why are you alone?

  Because I chose to be.

  “Doctor?”

  Melinda blinked, and she felt her stomach jump to her chest. She stopped, glancing down and taking in her surroundings once more, unable to remember when she had drifted from her destination to her office, only to end up on the very threshold that opened into the room of the man whom had occupied her mind for the past few hours.

  Warren was looking at her quizzically, sitting up on his bed with a fork in hand and a plate of cafeteria food in the other. For the first time since he had arrived, Melinda took in his appearance with unexpected interest. Beneath the fall of the hospital gown she could she the sturdy build of his shoulders and pectorals, the sleeves stopped just above his biceps, exposing curling muscle beneath the spread of sun-tanned skin. His eyes, blue and curious, beheld her from above sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw with a five o’clock shadow, a sharp nose sloping to stop over a pair of parted lips. His hair, a dark shade of chestnut, stuck up on odd angles but did not necessarily look bad. He looked rugged, tired…

  He looked like how she felt.

  Clearing her throat, Melinda forced down a blush of mild embarrassment. “I came to do a quick check-up.”

  Warren’s eyebrows curled, “…like the on you did twenty minutes ago?”

  She did? Melinda floundered—a feat that surprised her as much as it did him—before she took another step inside and closed the door behind her.

  “You sure you’re doing alright, doc?” Warren asked, lowering his fork to better appraise her.

  “I’m fine,” she replied automatically, edging toward the side of the bed where her patient’s vitals beeped and blinked regularly. “I wanted to tell you that you can check out of the hospital whenever you’d like now.”

  Warren blinked. “Oh…?”

  Melinda nodded, “Yes. Our concerns had been with some other information, but seeing as you’ve been stabalized fairly well without issues we’ll just rule it out as non-threatening.”

  Her patient nodded, taking in the information slowly before he sat back on his pillows. “So, what, nearly five days of getting to know me better and that’s it?”

  The comment took her by surprise, “Pardon?”

  Warren shrugged, “Has anything I told you given you any answers?”

  Oh. Melinda felt her fingers smooth the sides of her coat down quickly, “We’ve gathered what information we could. I’m sure if anything comes up, we’ll make sure to contact you.”

  She turned to leave, her work shoes clacking softly against the tiled floor before he called her out. “Hold on.” Melinda slowed to a stop, uncertain as to why her heart was thundering in her chest all of a sudden. “Before I check out, do you think we can just…talk?”

  The request was somewhat unusual, of this Melinda had no experience with. The idea in it of itself was somewhat amusing, considering the fact that she had been so busy speaking to him to get information out of him that in the process, she had almost forgotten he was human just like her.

  “Talk?”

  Warren nodded, “Yeah. Talk. Like human beings?” When she said nothing in response he gave a long sigh. “Look, I’ve been thinking about our last conversation—the one where I snapped at you. I’m sorry for that, treating you that way when you’ve been busy helping me out. But, it made me think… the only other person I’ve really ever spoken to is gone now, and that leaves me with a whole lot of nothing. Honestly, I’m tired of it.”

  Tired of being alone. Tired of waking up to empty beds and cold showers. Tired of nursing black drags of coffee and tired of pushing away nightmares of losing people I care about.

  “Tired of choosing to be alone?” Melinda asked softly.

  Warren looked up at her, blue eyes meeting brown through one yard of space. He nodded, teeth working at the inside of his cheek before he glanced at the chair.

  Everybody lies.

  He hasn’t.

  Yet.

  Inhaling, Melinda broke through hesitance and uncertain moment where she could have turned and left instead. Sitting down, she met Warren’s gaze with a slight smile, “You mentioned you had a sister…”

  “Alana.” He spoke the name reverently, with profound and deeply dug in love. “Yeah…had.”

  After some time, Melinda allowed herself to inch closer. “I’m sorry.”

  “Everyone is sorry,” Warren replied, and when he blinked up at her, it was with newer scrutiny. “Not you. You know.”

  Melinda frowned, “Know what?”

  “What it’s like. To lose someone when you could have done something about it.”

  A feeling like ice and fire fell through Melinda’s skin, dousing her in the abrupt encounter with something she didn’t think she could ever face. She couldn’t move aside from dropping her chin, trying to remember what it was like to breathe. But she was far too tired to find a place to strengthen her walls, and she could feel them threaten to unravel beneath this man’s words.

  “That kind of thing never leaves a person… like a mark. Only you can see it if you’ve felt it yourself,” Warren was saying. “So you understand… how little there is a point to do anything else.”

  Melinda looked back up, fingers clenching against her coat tightly. “How little there’s a point?”

  Warren shrugged. Melinda scowled, and just as easy as it was to succumb to sadness, it was much easier to succumb to anger. “You’re sad.”

  When he looked at her, it was with shock. “You honestly think that all there’s left is nothing? You may understand because you’ve lost someone, but you’ve only lost that person for a few weeks. I’ve been struggling for years with the loss. People say it gets better with time but sometimes all you have left is the memory.” Melinda stood abruptly, uncertain whether she wanted to run away or slap him, but apparently there was a third option. She took a step forward and reached for his hand, her fingers clenched tight around his palm, made him jolt as he
met her stare with wide blue eyes.

  “You think giving in to nothing is what you deserve? You think that’s what she would want—your sister? For you to fall into yourself and become nothing? No. That’s not what she would want, because that’s not what he would want. I come here, I change lives, and I save them. My job is what allows me to keep going, my job has let me make a difference. That is how I redeem myself. That is how I make it up to Eddie, by saving lives no one else could save because I failed to save his. You want to squander what’s left of your life, then fine, do it. But don’t you dare say words like that as if I would understand what it’s like to make that choice because that is not what I’m doing, and that’s not an option.”

  Warren stared into her eyes, dumbfounded, and deep within his gaze, Melinda felt a tug she had not felt in years. Tearing her hand away, Melinda let out a shuddering breath and with that she turned on her heels and marched out of his room.

  She stayed far away from him then, stayed far away until Flint told her Warren had been checked out and his room was given to another patient with another background. Those next few nights, Melinda had hid within her apartment and cried within the safety of her own shower. She cried because she had no idea how far she had made a mistake—she had made a stupid mistake in becoming attracted to yet another person, and she felt stupid for feeling so vulnerable.

  In that stupid moment of vulnerability, Melinda had broken down his wall by slamming a fist through her own. The crumbs sat between her and the tears lingering in the shower water, and all Melinda could do was cry as the poured away into the drain.

  She had been foolish to believe that she had been impenetrable, pushing herself past certain personal limits that would’ve broken anyone else—shattered them completely.

  Melinda was amazed she had even made it this long without completely cracking open.

  Days passed… then weeks… and one day after Melinda pulled a double shift she felt a spur of the moment urge that demanded her to take a step toward the Head of the hospital and ask for a sick day.

  “You’ve been pulling doubles nonstop,” Doctor Solaris replied, smiling ruefully. “I think you deserve more than a sick day, Melinda.”

  That day, when Melinda walked out of the hospital, she nearly bumped into Richards himself and when he snarked with his usual, “Quitting already?”

  She smiled at him and kindly told him to go fuck himself.

  Chapter 11

  --

  She had been in the middle of her kitchen, a glass of strawberry wine in one hand and a slice of cheese in the other when she heard a knock at her door. Melinda almost ignored it, hoping the visitor would leave thinking she wasn’t home, but her stereo was blaring Julie London’s Cry Me a River, so she doubted they would buy it.

  She deposited her glass of wine on her kitchen counter and lowered the volume on her stereo before walking toward her door. “Who is it?”

  “Warren Markus.”

  The name and voice sent a thrill of alarm through Melinda’s mind and for a moment her mind scrambled in what to do. Spinning around, she looked over the appearance of her apartment, half tripping-half running to pick up discarded underwear from the top of her couch and a box of used tissues next to a stack of pathetic rom-com movies. Her reaction only further confused her.

  Why am I freaking out? Made war with, how the hell did he find me?

  Then the ever obvious fact that he was rich and probably had people who knew how to locate others crossed her mind and Melinda felt rather silly when she realized there was still a crumbled up lace panty in one hand and a box of tissues in the other.

  That won’t look good.

  Shaking her head, Melinda tossed the items into a closet before she approached her door, with a little more certainty. When she opened the door, sure enough Warren Markus stood before her, shaved and combed and looking nothing like the broken man she had treated so many weeks ago. In his right hand he held a small bouquet of pink and red carnations, while his left hung at his side in its cast. Surprised at the sight, Melinda felt herself gawk in surprise. Warren beat her to the punch.

  “I’m sorry for disturbing you…” he said, shifting awkwardly over his feet. “But, I wanted to take an opportunity to thank you.”

  “O-oh,” Melinda stammered, blinking quickly and wondering if she was probably already drunk enough to be hallucinating. When he gave her an expectant look Melinda cleared her throat. “Sorry, please, come in.” Warren stepped into her house, his eyes traveling over her home as she shut the door behind them.

  “What can I do for you?”

  He turned to face her, straightening his stance. “It’s not much actually, but I—uh, I got you these flowers.”

  Melinda felt dazed as she received the bouquet, inhaling deeply as she brought the flowers to her nose. “You didn’t have to.”

  “I wanted to,” Warren said and his expression turned soft. “Look, Doctor Reese, I want to be honest with you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that day before I checked out. No one has ever spoken to me like that before, and honestly, I’ve been trying to find someone who will. You reminded me of something incredibly important, and while most people would’ve just bothered with saying sorry and being done with it… you didn’t. And that meant everything.”

  Melinda nodded slowly, taking in Warren’s words with buzzing clarity. “I…”

  “This leads me to my next question,” Warren said, and he fixed her determined look. “Will you have dinner with me?”

  “You’re asking me out?” Melinda breathed, stunned. Warren nodded.

  “I know that Doctors and patients shouldn’t date…but I’m no longer your patient, and you’re no longer my doctor. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to take you out and get to know you better.”

  There was a short silence that followed, and Melinda couldn’t help but feel like she was being pulled in two directions at once. “If you would rather not, I understand,” Warren said. She should stay far away. Getting emotionally involved is reckless.

  “I can just leave and you won’t ever have to see me again.”

  That’s right, make him go.

  “I just wanted to say thank you,” he explained. “Sorry for the trouble…”

  “Yes.” Melinda blurted. Warren’s eyes blinked before going wide.

  “You…?”

  “Yes,” she said again, taking a step closer. She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol in her system or the fact that a part of her felt liberated because of the words of this man, but he was standing before her and suddenly her hand was reaching up toward his neck—her thumb flicking over the scar that now healed—and tugging him down, whispering “I’d like that very much.”

  When her lips met his, Melinda felt him gasp against her mouth. Perhaps it was reckless to move, to accept so soon, but her body was burning with inhibition and desire, and all she wanted was to drown the last of her sorrows away and burn them against the heat of his mouth. The kiss grew more intense the more it lasted, and when she felt his hands drag against her sides, Melinda felt the touch urge her hips foreward to grind against his.

  The sensation made the both of them gasp, made them split apart for one quick second and when she met his stare and found the same emotions reflected off hers, Melinda caved.

  “Melinda,” she announced, unsure why she did. “My name. It’s Melinda. I live alone. I haven’t had anyone be with me in a very long time.”

  Warren’s eyes softened and he nodded, “Same here.”

  “I’m a wreck,” Melinda said.

  “So am I.”

  “When I’m sad I drink wine and eat cheese.”

  “I drink whiskey and jerk off.”

  Melinda let out a sudden laugh before pulling him back down against her mouth, the carnations falling to a place on her couch as she tugged this man toward her bedroom. Their lips collided in swift touches that sent flames coiling within her core, made their hips drag and grind hard until the
y were delirious with desire. Clothes peeled off skin in layers of exposed emotion and the more he touched her the more Melinda could allow herself to feel.

  Warren’s mouth had traveled to her collar, his single hand struggling with the clasp of her bra as she laved her tongue against the underside of his jaw. With a groan, Warren shuddered above her, bucked his hips a little harder and drew out a long moan out of Melinda’s parted lips. With a smile, Melinda pulled away to help him out of his shirt, her fingers tracing the edges of his muscles with awed reverence and shy reservation. Warren watched as she tentatively drew her lips along the sharp angles of his abdominals, making his shiver and his body pucker with goosebumps.

  He paid her touches with equal respect, finally finding a way to pull her bra off and freeing her breasts into his curious caresses. Melinda’s lips parted with a heavy breath, her back arching as each flick of his fingers over her nipples drew electric bolts into her nerves like strokes of a paintbrush. He reached further down before his lips capturing one of her sensitive peaks between his lips and giving it a leisurely suck.

  Melinda let out a groan, her fingernails raking down his sides before finding his pants. She slid her fingers within the fabric, pulling down until there was nothing but his exposed flesh before her eyes. She didn’t hesitate to drag her fingers down between his legs, finding his hardness with a moan from his lips. She wrapped her palm around him, gripping gently but with certain pressure that made him buck into her grip and suck a little harder around her breast.

  A throbbing pressure grew between her thighs, making her slick with need and the desire to move further and further into wild abandon. Warren broke away from her chest to capture her mouth against his, dragging her lower lip between his teeth and giving delightful sucks that made her groan and moan in tandem to the sounds escaping past his teeth.

  “I want you,” Warren murmured.

  “Take me.” Melinda breathed.

  Spinning her around, Warren chuckled as Melinda let out a soft yelp when she tripped over her bed, her knees landing on the mattress. She braced herself against the bed and when she glanced over her shoulder, Warren was crawling after her. His one hand found the hem of her shorts before pulling down and Melinda was all too happy to assist him to pull them down evenly. His erection brushed against her folds and Melinda heard herself moan, arching her back and pressing her rear harder against him.