The Trouble With Love (2 page)

Sabrina had
just stepped off into the grass when someone grabbed her shoulder painfully and spun her around.
  She reached for her gun that she forgot she wasn't wearing and then wound up on her butt in the grass when big oaf pushed her.

"You like it rough, huh?
" he slurred
and then grabbed her arm to jerk her up standing again.

S
abrina
balled up her fist and was about to deliver a blow to his big gut, when he grabbed her wrist with his hand and
jerked
her toward
him. 
When she got her balance back, she tried to bring
her knee up between his legs again.  He was wiser this time though, and he turned aside just in time to avoid contact.
 
While he was off balance, s
he swept her leg behind his and then pushed with all her might against his thick chest. 
He
stumbled, but he didn't go down.
  At least he
'd
let go of her arm
, she thought, before she
took off running toward the house
. 
If there was one thing Sabrina knew, it was when to retreat. 

She looked over her shoulder
and
saw
he
was lumbering right behind her, so she screamed at the top of her lungs and pushed faster
, then
heard him grunt behind her
right before she
heard
a fist connect with bone
. She stopped and spun around to see that
Cole
Jackson
had tackled him and they were rolling around in the grass stru
ggling to gain the upper hand.

Cole was on top for a minute, then big oaf was back on top. 
As big as Cole was, probably six foot four or so, b
ig oaf
was about three inches taller and fifty pounds heavier.  He landed
a punch to Cole's face
,
right in
his eye socket
,
and
Cole
grunted, but
didn't stop.  He kept fighting and landed several substantial blows of his own.  Big oaf's nose was bleeding
,
he had a gash over his eye
, and
Sabrina thought
his jaw might be broken,
from the way
it was sagging on one side
.

When big oaf got on top again and was about to deliver another punch to Cole's face, Sabrina ran over and landed a
hard
kick to the side of oaf's head.
  Big oaf grunted then fell sideways off of Cole.
  She dropped to her knees beside Cole, who had rolled to his side and was moaning.
  Putting her hand on his shoulder, she asked gently, "Cole, are you okay?"  He nodded, but she wasn't sure if it was a yes or no.

Right then,
four
uniformed
deputies
ran in formation out of the reception tent over to them.  They rolled big oaf over then jerked one hand behind his back, then the other to cuff him.
 
One of them tried to get Cole to stand up, but he shook him off and told him just to take the guy to jail.

Where the hell had they been before Cole got his face mangled?  It's a good thing that James Barton was dead.  The
se were the guys
Luke
had hired
to protect Cassie during the wedding, and if this was the best they could do, she'd have been in real trouble.

Sabrina grabbed Cole's arm and tried to get him to stand up, but he just jerked away and
told her in a muffled pain-filled voice, "Go get Luke..."

What the hell could Luke do that she couldn't...and it was Luke's wedding day
.  He'd
had more than enough trouble already
today
. She wasn't about to go get him.  Sabrina pushed up to her feet then stepped over him and put her hands on her hips
and glare down at him
.  "Get up
,
"
she ordered.
  "We are going into that house and I'm going to treat your injuries, or I'm calling an ambulance...you choose."

He finally pulled his hands away from his face and she gasped. "Oh, good Lord..."
  His left eye was swollen shut and he had a cut above his eyebrow
, and
a big blue bruise
was
forming on his cheekbon
e
.  His
nose was bleeding
too
...not as much as big oaf's but still.

Without a word, he pushed himself up to sitting, then moaned loudly when he went to stand and clutched his ribs.  "Okay...we're taking you to the hospital
,
"
Sabrina told him
with concern
.  He might have
some broken ribs
, the way he was acting.

Cole shook his head and grimaced as he pushed himself up to standing then staggered a little.  She went over to him and put h
er
arm
around his waist
letting him lean on her. "C'mon...let's get you inside."

They took baby steps to the porch, because she didn't want to hurt his ribs.  Her hand around his waist helped steady him, but he was far from steady.
  It took a little effort to get him up the steps,
he was a lot bigger than she was
.  Somehow
they managed
though, and
she helpe
d him inside
and
to the kitchen
then
into a chair.

"Don't move...I'll be right back.  I'm going upstairs to grab the first-aid kit I saw up there
,
"
she told him then headed upstairs. 
She'd need towels too, since he was bleeding all over the place.  Imelda would probably have a bird when she saw her floor.
 
He probably should just
go to the hospital,
she thought,
considering how much blood he was losing...and that cut over his eye might need stitches.
..not to mention his ribs.

When she made it back down with the first aid kit, ace bandages and towels,
Cole was slumped over in the chair
with h
is head in his hands, not looking good at all
.  Suddenly, he put his hand on the table and tried to stand up, leaving blood smears all over the white table cloth, while he gripped his side with his
other
hand. 

"Cole! Sit back down!"
Sabrina
yelled and ran over
and dumped
all of her supplies
on the table, then push
ed
him back down in the chair.

"Think I'm gonna be sick..." he said then gagged.

"It's your nose...here," she said and put a washcloth to his nose and tilted his head back to apply gentle but firm pressure
at the bridge
.  "Relax back in the chair..."

The tension in his shoulders eased a little
,
then he slid down in the chair to rest his head on the chair
back
.  He reached up and took the rag from her holding it himself. "Thanks..."

Sabrina grabbed a couple
more
rags from the stack and went to the water dispenser on the refrigerator and wet them with icy water.  Reaching inside the freezer, she grabbed some ice cubes and put them into one of the rags,
then
grabbed a large bag of frozen peas, before walking back over to h
im.

"Here Cole, move the washrag," she told him and put the peas over his nose and swollen eye, then grabbed his hand and put the washcloth with the ice in his hand and brought it up to his cheek
bone
.

He groaned when the peas touched his eye, but then sighed in relief when they started to numb it evidently.  "Better?" she asked.

"Yeah..." 
he said and she noticed h
is breathing had slowed down some
,
so that was a good thing.

Fishing around in the first aid kit,
Sabrina found some butterfly stitches, a sanitizing wipe and some antibiotic ointment
,
then went to work on the cut above his eye. 
Although it was fairly deep, it wasn't large, so she managed to stop the blood flow and pull it together neatly for the adhesive tape to close it shut.

Sabrina
adjusted the peas over his nose and eye then told him softly, "You
keep that on there while I clean the floor
...
then we'll work on your ribs
.
"
She ran to the sink and wet a couple of towels then used one to mop up the mess on the floor,
and
the other
to clean up his face and hands.  Taking his hand in hers she looked at his
raw knuckles, which were peppered with
scrapes and cuts
.  None of them were
deep, but some look
ed
like teeth marks
.  She hoped Big Oaf had his rabies shots
,
the
big overgrown bastard
. 
Grabbing another wipe she disinfected the cuts then rubbed ointment on them.

The western tux he'd worn for the wedding, the one that made him look like a hot cowboy James Bond
earlier
, was now in rags.  One sleeve was torn at the top and hung off his shoulder,
one
knee w
as
ripped out of the pants
, and t
here were grass stains and dirt all over it.  His shirt was
also
bloody and missing a few buttons.
 

Guilt flowed through her, Cole
looked like this because he'd put himself in danger to help save her from Big Oaf.  Sabrina was usually able to take care of herself, but she knew she had been outmanned by Big Oaf.  If Cole hadn't stepped in, she'd probably look like he did right now.
..or worse.

Sabrina shivered and said, "Thanks for helping me...I'm sorry you got hurt," then gently took his shoulder and pulled forward to get him to sit up.

"Welcome," he said his usually smooth deep voice muffled by the bag of peas on his probably broken nose.

She grabbed the lapels of his tux jacket to slide it off his shoulders and he
shrugged trying to help her
, then groaned and gritted his teeth
, and she told him gently,
"Just let me do it...don't wiggle around.  You probably cracked a rib or two."

He snorted,
then coughed and told her,
"No probably about it..."

Gently
,
she moved her fingers to his throat and undid the first button on his shirt.  She saw him swallow a couple of times, and a muscle twitch at his jaw.  "Am I hurting you?"

"No..." he said through gritted teeth
.

Moving her fingers slowly down the row of buttons,
Sabrina
felt his chest rising and falling under fingers
,
his soft breaths brush
ing over her chest.
  Involuntarily, her nipples peaked and her own breathing increased.
 
It seemed all this irritating man had to do was breathe to incite a response from her dormant libido.  Every time she got within arm's length of him, she got itchy
, wanting things she had no business wanting from
him
.

When she got to the bottom
button of his shirt, she p
ulled it open, she saw that he was evidently having the same problem as she was.  The thick ridge behind the zipper of his trousers
said so.

"Hurry up will you?" he grated out and moved his hand to jerk the shirt off of one should
er.