Free Crazy Dreams by Dawn Pendleton Page B

happens. I can pretend to be loopy again and ask for another blowjob.”
    Her eyes flashed. “Oh my God! You embarrassed me so bad in the ER. I can’t believe you said that in front of the doctors.”
    “I honestly didn’t know they were there when I said it. Plus, I was on drugs,” I said.
    “That’s no excuse. Imagine if you’d said that in front of Dallas or Baker!”
    “Baker?” I knew who he was but I couldn’t remember why he was important.
    “Baker was Rainey’s husband. He’s a sweetheart and he thinks of me as his kid sister. He’s just as protective as Dallas, if not more so.”
    I nodded. Another brother-type . I wasn’t exactly looking forward to meeting Baker, but at least I didn’t have to worry about him at the moment.
    “Baker’s coming by next week,” she announced, her eyes on my finger as she rewrapped the bandage.
    I looked up at the ceiling and tried not to think about my cut open finger. I focused my attention on Baker, who was someone I’d never even thought of before, but if Ember’s words about him were true, she cared about him. His opinion of me would matter to her. Dammit . Another man in her life who probably wouldn’t like me.
    Sure, Dallas liked me, but he already gave me his warning to stay the hell away from her. I listened real well to that warning. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Which meant Dallas was probably going to chop my nuts off when he found out how far I’d already gone with Ember. The fact that I wanted to go further was another issue.
    I hadn’t been able to control what I blurted out while on pain meds, but I was back to my old self, so hopefully, she attributed my outburst to the drugs. It was sort of true. Except my drugged-up self wasn’t afraid of consequences, so I’d spoken my desires without worry of what would happen.
    “All set,” Ember announced, giving me a smile.
    “Great. Have you heard from Dallas at all?” I asked, thinking that maybe I needed to talk to him about Ember. He wouldn’t kill me. That’s what I told myself, anyway.
    “Umm, no actually. I’ve been taking care of you and then trying to sleep,” she said.
    “Yeah, sorry about that. I’ll be fine from here on out,” I explained.
    “Oh? So you’re going to change your dressing tonight?” She gave me a meaningful look.
    “Umm, maybe I’ll just have you do that,” I said, trying to ignore the fluttering in my stomach. Even just thinking about blood made me nauseous.
    She laughed. “I thought so. By the way, Baker texted me at like three am. I guess he’ll be here this afternoon.”
    Wait. What? “Oh.” I didn’t really have anything else to say. I would have to keep myself in check around Ember while Baker was around. I was certain I could do it.
    “He said he was going to call Dallas and see if he could come home for a day or two, so maybe if you need Dallas for something, you can call him and find out if he is coming home.”
    “Yeah, I’ll go do that,” I agreed. “Have you seen my phone?”
    “I put it on the charger in your room.”
    “Great, thanks,” I said and walked to my room, dreading the conversation I was about to have.
    My phone had three missed calls and two texts. It was Dallas. He didn’t leave any voicemails, but his texts said what he needed to say.
    Dallas: I’ll be home in the afternoon.
Apparently,
Rainey’s husband is coming to visit Ember and expects me there.
    Dallas: Where are you? Make sure the house is clean and answer me.
    I took a deep breath and then dialed his number, choosing to call rather than text. It rang three times before he answered.
    “Hey, man, where you been?”
    “Sorry. Ember had to take me to the emergency room last night,” I answered.
    “Shit. How come?”
    “I sliced my finger cutting up tomatoes. I had to have stitches and she drove me,” I explained. “Everything’s fine now. It just hurts like hell.”
    He chuckled. “I bet it does. My flight gets in at one o’clock. And then I