Page 42 of Her Paramedic (Men in Uniforms #3)

“W hat day is the hair show?” Slate asked as he brought up the calendar on his phone. “I want to make sure I put in for the time off.”

“It isn’t until August first, but you don’t have to take off work to come. I know being off while Killian was injured drained most of your PTO,” Talia responded.

“I want to. I want to see you in action. Besides, I’ll have enough by then, and if I don’t, I know I can get Carie to cover for me.” He put it in his calendar.

“Even with us taking a long weekend away at the end of the month?”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” Talia inquired.

“I’m positive, gorgeous.” Slate placed his phone back on the table and returned to folding laundry. “Did you pick up your replacement vial?”

“Yes, I got it yesterday. I’ll replace it in my pouch when I use the last dose in my current one.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Slate responded, jaw ticking.

Every time he thought of what happened during his Memorial Day gathering, he wanted to strangle his cousin all over again.

The other man’s blatant disrespect for his house rules was irritating enough, but triggering Talia's allergic reaction pushed his anger to another level. Brent had even called attempting to apologize, but Slate hadn’t let him get much of a word in, cursing him out as soon as he’d answered the phone before hanging up on him.

An apology would not cut it. Nothing his cousin could say would make what happened any better. Especially after he’d acted so blasé about it. He could go to hell, and maybe then Slate would consider allowing him to apologize, but not before then.

His cursing Brent out had gotten back to his mother.

Slate wasn’t surprised by it. He was sure Brent had told his mom, and his aunt had called Slate’s mother to vent to her sister about his behavior.

It was better that she’d called his mother and not him directly because he likely would have told her to go to hell, too.

“You still haven’t told me where we were going,” Talia stated, and Slate could hear her shifting on her end of the phone.

“I know, and I’m not going to. That’s what makes it a surprise.”

His girlfriend groaned. “How am I supposed to know what to pack if I don’t know where we’re going?”

“You don’t have to pack anything. I’m fine with you being naked the entire time. Actually, I might prefer it,” he joked.

Talia laughed. “You’re impossible sometimes, you know that?”

“Maybe, but you like it.”

“Sure, if that helps you sleep at night.”

Slate hummed. “You know what really helps me sleep at night? Your tight little pussy wrapped around my dick.”

“Stop it right now,” Talia demanded, and Slate chuckled. “I don’t get to see you for a week. Do not rile me up when I’m so close to ovulating.”

“I don’t have to be with you to make you cum, baby.”

“How’s the car coming? Are you almost finished with it?” she changed the subject, and he smiled in amusement but allowed it.

“I’m waiting for a part to come in. It took me forever to find it.”

“I can imagine. I suspect original parts for something that old are scarce.”

“They are, but it’ll be worth it once it’s finished.”

Slate knew that exclusively original parts meant he could charge more for it when he resold it. He could name his price, but he was sure this one would go much like the last one he took to a car show. There had been a bidding war for it, and he’d made a pretty penny.

“Do you know what you want to work on next?”

“I don’t. I think after this one, I’ll wait a little while before shopping around for another one.”

Typically, he restored three cars a year if he could get the parts in on time.

He only had room to work on one at a time since he did it in his garage.

Sure, he could rent a space and work on multiple cars, but he enjoyed the serenity of doing it at home.

It reminded him of when he was young and had first gotten into restoring.

His parents had turned their shed into a workspace for him.

Slate enjoyed working at home even more recently since his girlfriend seemed to enjoy watching him do so, and he always got to reward himself for the hard work between her thighs.

He spoke to Talia for another hour before she told him she’d text him when she returned home from dinner with the ladies.

Slate finished folding his laundry and put it away as he thought of gifts to get his dad for Father’s Day.

The holiday was two weeks away, and he wanted to make sure whatever he bought would arrive on time.

He’d just returned to his living room when his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen before answering it.

“Hey, Kil.”

“Hey. What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” Slate responded, propping his feet on the coffee table.

“A little bird told me you almost choked Brent out last weekend.”

Slate chuckled. “Let me guess. Our moms have been gossiping.”

“They have. It seems she was unsure whether to be upset or proud about it, and wanted a second opinion. What happened?”

Slate gave him a rundown, and Killian scoffed as he finished. “I’ve been telling people for years that he’s slow because what made him think they didn’t use kiwis to make kiwi-flavored vodka?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Slate responded.

“You want to jump him next time we see him?”

Slate laughed, and his cousin joined in. “Nah, he’d call us pussies. We can tag team him, though.”

“Deal,” Killian replied. They wouldn’t. It would be like picking on a child, but the thought amused them. “When are you and Talia going on your trip?”

“The last weekend of the month. We’ll be gone from Friday to Monday. Why? What’s up?”

“I wanted to know if you’d earned enough vacation time to help me move.”

“So you did it,” Slate said. “You decided to retire.”

“I did.”

“I probably don’t, but if I let Carie know now and she isn’t covering for anyone, I can get her to take those shifts or switch with another unit if I’m not off during those days. When are you trying to move?”

“Not this coming weekend, but the next.”

“Yeah, I’ll text her and see, then let you know. Are you renting a U-Haul?”

“Two of them. So I’ll call Axel and Ace, too.”

“I take it since you’re retiring, you’re going to work at the firm full-time.”

“That’s the plan. At least after getting settled. I took my vacation time off instead of letting them pay me out of the days, so it’ll be a few months before I do.”

“And what happens if security work becomes too boring?” Slate asked. He knew his cousin well and knew that the other man liked the action, pace, and structure.

“Colorado Springs has a recruiting office, and I’ve never been opposed to joining the Naval Reserves.”

Slate got the feeling that the latter would be more up his cousin’s alley, and he figured it might only be a couple of years before he signed up if he waited that long.

He spoke with Killian for a bit longer before they hung up, and Slate texted Carie before looking for a Father’s Day gift for his dad.

? ─ · ─ · ─ · ─ · ─ · ─ · ─ ?

T alia was sitting in her office late Monday morning, placing supply orders, when she heard arguing coming from the main area of the shop. She paused in what she was doing to listen. It was only a few seconds later that the voices got louder, and then the sound of glass breaking echoed.

She rushed out of the office to find two clients, smocks still on them as they went at it. Everyone else in the shop seemed to be frozen. Only when they bumped into Whitney’s station, knocking the equipment off, did Talia and two other stylists move to break them up.

They were pulling them apart, both women still swinging and screaming about some man, when one of them elbowed Talia in the jaw hard enough to make her teeth rattle.

“Son of a bitch!” she exclaimed, letting the woman go and her hand instinctively cupping her jaw.

Everything in the salon fell quiet as they turned to look at her. One client, who she recognized as one of Nesha’s regulars, eyes widened.

“Oh my gosh, Talia! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Get out,” Talia cut her off, pain rocketing through her jaw as she spoke.

“But, I—”

“Get. Out. And don’t come back, either of you. You’re banned, and don’t think I won’t bill you for the damage.”

“You can’t ban me,” the other woman protested.

“I just did, and if you come back around, I’ll have you trespassed.” And then you can meet me in the parking lot, Talia thought, but knew it was wise not to say aloud.

The woman huffed, storming out of the salon, smock still on.

Talia didn’t care; she’d bill her for it, too.

The other woman laid her smock in Whitney’s chair, looking apologetic before leaving, and Talia wondered if they’d continue their confrontation in the parking lot.

She didn’t care as long as they weren’t in front of her shop.

“Are you okay?” Monique asked, approaching her.

“No. Not at all.” Talia ran her tongue along her teeth and felt one of them move, pain shooting down to her gums, and she refrained from cursing. “Will you help them clean this up?”

“Of course,” Monique responded.

Talia returned to her office and fished some pain medicine out of her purse. When she swallowed the pills, the temperature of the water sent a shock of pain through one of her teeth. This time, she cursed under her breath.

Picking up her cell phone, Talia called her dentist’s office to see if they could fit her in to look at her tooth. Luck was on her side as they had an opening for half an hour from then. She took it, grabbed her purse, and told Monique she’d be back in time for her two o’clock appointment.

“A s you can see, it’s a deep fracture. All the way to the root,” Dr. Morganson stated an hour later. “It’s better to extract it than try to fix it. It’s also a wisdom tooth, so it won’t be missed.”

Great. These past couple of weeks have been kicking my ass, Talia thought.

“How soon can we do it?” she asked. “I don’t want to deal with this pain longer than necessary.”

“I have an appointment available on Thursday at nine a.m. If that works for you, we can take care of it, then.”

Talia could tough it out for two days. She didn’t have a choice. Until then, she’d have to be cautious of what she ate and drank.

“Yes, that works.”

“Until then, I’ll send a prescription for some pain medication to the pharmacy.

I would prescribe you some after the surgery, but you’ll need them now.

Confirm the information we have on file is correct with the receptionist, and I’ll have it sent in a couple of hours,” Dr. Morganson instructed.

“Because it’s fractured, we’ll put you under to extract it. ”

Talia nodded, and the two exited the room. She went to the front desk to set the appointment and confirm her pharmacy.

“Your insurance is still the same, correct?”

“Yes,” Talia responded.

“Be sure that whoever brings you can stay the entire appointment. The anesthesia will make you feel a little out of it. I’ve confirmed all of your information, and the pharmacy should have your prescription filled in a few hours.”

“Okay. Thank you,” Talia responded before exiting the office. She would ask Kaydence or Alivia to take her to her appointment on Thursday and send the two clients the bill for anything she paid out of pocket.

“W hat were they even fighting about?” Slate asked later that night while Talia lay in bed.

“Some man from what I could make out through all the screaming, but I didn’t care enough to ask anyone.”

“And now you have to have a tooth pulled because they were fighting over a man who doesn’t really want either of them.”

Talia laughed. “How do you know he doesn’t?”

“Because he put them in a position to fight one another.”

“You don’t know that for sure. Maybe one is an ex that can’t move on.”

“Nah, I doubt it, but it’s still his fault, if that’s the case.

He’s giving her false hope, didn’t set firm boundaries, or he set them but let her cross them.

There’s not a man on this planet who will put his woman in a position where she has to fight over him if he actually wants to be with her.

That’s not a position I’d ever put you in. ”

Talia couldn’t help but smile, even if he couldn’t see her. “I guess you’re right.”

“I am. When is the appointment?”

“Thursday morning. I texted Kaydence and Alivia to see if one of them could take me. If not, I’ll ask Nova.”

“You can text them again and tell them you don’t need them. I’ll take you. I’m off Thursday.”

“Are you sure, baby?”

“I’m positive. I’ll come down Wednesday after I get off, take you, and one of them can check in on you Friday morning after I leave.”

“Okay. I’ll text them when we get off the phone.”

“So, in the morning, because we both know you’re about to be knocked out,” Slate teased.

“Hey,” she protested. “Don’t call me out like that.”

He chuckled. “You know I’m messing with you, baby. It’s cute. I don’t mind.”

“You’d better not, because it’s your fault.”

“Are you saying I’m boring, gorgeous?”

Talia scoffed. “No, I’m saying I like the sound of your voice. It’s soothing, so it isn’t my fault.”

“Oh, do you now?” He dropped his voice an octave. “You like the way I sound, baby?”

“Slate,” she whined. “I’m going to hang up on you.”

“You’re not, but if saying it makes you feel better, then cool.” She could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

“You get on my nerves sometimes,” she countered.

Her boyfriend chuckled before shifting the conversation to talk about car parts, and Talia knew it was because he knew he’d been right about her being asleep soon.

He always talked about random things when she was on the verge of sleep, and it wasn’t long before she was drifting off to something about engines and timing belts.