Dare to Be Mine

By Sandy Sullivan

Bass guitarist for Iron Rogue. The life of Aiden Rains. Too bad it is one of the most unfulfilling things he’s ever done. Not that he doesn’t love playing guitar and he enjoys the lifestyle of a rock star to some extent, but it’s not enough. He wants the love of a good woman, to settle down, and be a regular guy. Too bad he loved and lost the only woman who could make him feel complete.

Gracie Bell dreamed of a life outside of her hometown of Sommerton, Iowa. Her goal—a physician in a large city emergency room saving lives every day. Goal met. Life complete, right? A king-sized bed and no one to share it with after dealing with gunshot wounds, death, and blood leaves her empty. Not the way she’d pictured her relationship status right out of high school when she thought she had everything.

Faced with saving the life of the man she’d loved since she was a teenager when he shows up in her emergency room, Gracie realizes she never let go of Aiden Rains. The love has never died, but if she doesn’t hurry, he might.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandy Sullivan
• Release date: Jan 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781944122393

Sandy Sullivan

Sandy Sullivan is a romance author, who, when not writing, spends her time with her husband Shaun on their farm in middle Tennessee. She loves to ride her horses, play with their dogs and relax on the porch, enjoying the rolling hills of her home south of Nashville. Country music is a passion of hers and she loves to listen to it while she writes. She is an avid reader of romance novels and enjoys reading Nora Roberts, Jude Deveraux and Susan Wiggs. Finding new authors and delving into something different helps feed the need for literature. A registered nurse by education, she loves to help people and spread the enjoyment of romance to those around her with her novels. She loves cowboys so you'll find many of her novels have sexy men in tight jeans and cowboy boots. Sandy’s website www.romancestorytime.com

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Dare to Be Mine

Iron Rogue 3

Erotic Romance

Sandy Sullivan

Copyright © 2019 Sandy Sullivan

Smashwords Edition

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Erotic Romance

Dare to Be Mine – Iron Rogue 3

Copyright © 2019 Sandy Sullivan

E-book ISBN: 9781944122492

First E-book Publication: June 2019

Cover design by Dawne Dominique

Edited by Ariana Gaynor

Proofread by Maranda Raven

All cover art and logo copyright © 2019 by Sandy Sullivan

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

Dedication

Rock on, Iron Rogue fans!

DARE TO BE MINE

Iron Rogue 3

Sandy Sullivan

Copyright © 2019

Chapter One

Siren’s screamed as the lights of the ambulance swirled in his vision. Aiden Rains, bass guitarist for Iron Rogue, had been shot at a bar outside of New York City after the last show of their tour. He’d gone there on his own, tired of being alone. With Noah and Alex paired up, he felt like a third wheel, not having a woman of his own. Sure, he could find a willing female in any of the groupies hanging around after the show, but that had become hollow and unfulfilling to the nth degree after the years of being on the road.

How the hell he’d ended up on the wrong end of a .45 caliber, he wasn’t sure. It might have been the chick he’d been talking to at the bar. Not that she’d shot him, but her big ass biker boyfriend who’d taken offense to their conversation had the second the woman leaned in and thanked him for the drink.

The paramedic shined a light in his eyes, making his head explode in pain. Are you in pain, sir?

I am now, asshole.

Sorry, but I need to check you over. You’ve been shot.

No shit.

Do you know where you are?

The back of an ambulance on my way to God knows where.

We’re headed to Mercy Hospital. The ER is awaiting your arrival.

Why does that name sound familiar? I must be more hurt than I thought. Am I going to live? I have a band waiting for me. They’re going to be pissed about this.

I believe so, sir, but you are losing a lot of blood. I don’t know from there. The physician on duty tonight at Mercy is really good. You’ll like her.

The paramedic started messing with something over his head connected to the tubing in his arm. His head felt like he had cotton between his ears. He couldn’t really understand what the guy was saying anymore as things faded in and out. Man, the guys are going to be ticked about this!

He opened his eyes to find a woman hovering over him, shining one of those stupid lights in his eyes. Do you mind? That fucking hurts my head.

I’m trying to check your pupils, sir. I need to examine you and find out how badly you’re hurt. Please lie still.

That voice. He knew that voice. It was one he hadn’t heard in a long time except in his dreams. Vivid dreams of a girl, barely eighteen when she’d walked away. Gracie?

Her gaze ricocheted to his, a frown marring her pretty features. Chart?

Someone handed her a clipboard. Flip. Flip. Flip. Pages rattled as she gripped the edges until her knuckles turned white.

When she looked back at him, he almost didn’t recognize her. The girl was gone, a woman, a very confident woman remained. Mr. Rains, you have a gunshot wound. She looked up at someone across from her. We need to roll him. I need to see if it is a through and through.

Pain ripped through his belly. The groan escaping his lips did nothing for his image, but Lord it hurt.

Nurse, give him some Morphine.

No, he rasped. No Morphine.

Allergic?

No. Former junkie.

He heard her suck in a ragged breath, her hands shaking against the skin of his back. You need something for pain, Mr. Rains. What’s your preference?

I’ll be okay. Just get it done.

She mumbled, Stubborn as always.

Something stabbed him in the back. Holy fucking mother of God. His teeth ground together, almost cracking a molar in his attempt to keep from moaning.

You can groan, cuss, or whatever, but keep breathing. You aren’t dying on me tonight.

Instead, he passed out.

* * * *

Gracie let her head fall back between her shoulder blades as she stared up at the ceiling for a minute. Saturday night in the Mercy General Hospital ER was always hell, tonight would be no different.

They rolled him over, his features were the same although pale and slack at the moment. She never thought she’d see him again, especially not in her ER. Damn you, Aiden. His eyes were closed. He’d passed out from the pain as she probed the wound in his back, hoping to find fragments to indicate it had hit something. The bullet went straight through, exiting about midway up. Stubborn man wouldn’t take anything for pain, but she understood if what he said was true. Former junkie. She’d never known. After she left Summerton, she hadn’t looked back, except in her dreams to the girl she’d left behind when she went off to college.

His hair was a little longer on top and shorter on the sides but still dark brown. His eyes were the same, green with flecks of gold. He’d recognized her, she knew when he said her name. Professionalism was the name of her game now. She wouldn’t acknowledge their past if she could help it. He was her patient and keeping him alive came with a price. Her personal life didn’t matter here, never had.

Shaking her head, she got back into the game as she rattled off orders to the nurses. Fluids, blood work, x-rays, and if she had to, pain medication. She would take his wishes into consideration, knowing his past now, except when it came to his comfort.

His eyelids fluttered slightly and then opened as he searched her out.

You’ll live if I have anything to say about it. You’ll need surgery, though, to make sure nothing major was hit by the bullet. Is there anyone we need to call?

Noah, he whispered.

Noah King?

Yeah. We were here doing our last show. He needs to know where I am. His number is in my phone in my pants.

She knew about the band. Iron Rogue. Aiden had hooked up with the others back in high school, while they had been an item. Even though she’d never admit it, she’d followed his career from the instant Iron Rogue had hit it big and their gorgeous faces were plastered all over the rock music scene. She’d even been to a show or two, just to see him. I’ll call him. Rest. She turned to find his clothes in a bag in the corner.

Gracie?

Nobody called her Gracie. Except him. To the people around her, she was Dr. Grace Bell, ER Physician.

She took a deep breath and turned back to face him. His gaze was fixed on her face, moving over everything from her ponytail to the name tag on her chest. Unable to stop it, her body warmed. He’d had that effect on her from the minute they’d met. Yeah?

He raised his hand and extended his pinky finger.

Damn you, Aiden. Don’t do this.

Tears burned behind her eyelids. That had been their sign of love. They’d wrap their pinky fingers together and lean in for a kiss. The last time they’d done that was the night before she’d left for medical school.

She wiped the lone tear slipping down her cheek, turned on her heel, and walked out of his cubicle. Turning her back on him fourteen years ago had been the hardest thing she’d ever done, but she wasn’t going to give up on her dreams of being a physician, even for him. Her future was secure, except she didn’t have him.

The door of the physician’s locker room banged against the wall as she pushed it open with more force than necessary. A moment was all she needed. Alone.

Never knowing what had happened to him between the time she’d left and when the band made their name, she’d tried not thinking about him. If she went home for visits, she avoided his side of town, preferring to not run into him at all. The drug use surprised her. He’d been so clean cut in high school, not getting into trouble, doing his homework, living clean. To find out he’d fallen into that stuff kind of hurt. Had her leaving been behind it? Guilt was a hard pill to swallow, if so. She’d never meant to hurt him like that.

Dr. Bell?

A quick swipe of her face and she turned to face the nurse standing in the doorway. Yes?

We have a couple of patients who need you to see them.

I’ll be right there.

The girl standing in the doorway stepped inside the sanctuary of the doctor’s lounge and hugged her. It’ll be okay, whatever it is, Grace. I’ve got your back, girl.

She hugged her friend. Lissa wasn’t just a nurse to her, they were best buddies. They’d been through a lot together since she’d come to work in this ER years ago as a resident, staying when she’d finished her degree. This nurse knew more than many doctors, but she didn’t flaunt it or throw it around. The doctors who didn’t respect her learned to in short order. She could make or break you with her knowledge. If she shared it, she liked you. If she didn’t, you didn’t make the grade. Luckily, she’d taken Gracie under her wing, and they’d been friends ever since. Thanks, Liss. She wiped her cheek and tried to smile. I promise, I’ll be there in a second.

Lissa gave her a thumbs up and left, leaving Gracie to her thoughts. She needed to get her shit together. She had a job to do and it was saving lives in one of the roughest neighborhoods in New York City. Losing patients came with the territory. All she could do was try and keep them alive long enough for the surgeons and others to do their job. After that, she couldn’t say. Most of the time, she didn’t even know what happened to her patients when they left her. One of them, staying professional would be a challenge.

For the rest of her shift, she checked on him frequently, keeping herself out of his sight and making sure the nurses knew where to find her should something go wrong. Maybe that made her a chicken or unprofessional, but she couldn’t face his gaze again.

Right before she was ready to leave for home, Lissa came by the nurse’s station. "You need to physically check on Mr. Rains. I’ve seen you peeking in there off and on, but he needs a full assessment. Surgery will be coming to get him soon."

Her chest rose and fell with a heavy sigh. This had been coming for the last couple of hours. She needed to go back in there and face him, even if she had to keep it on a doctor/patient level. I’m going.

I don’t know what your issue is with this one, but we’ll be talking about it.

I’ll fill you in later. Let’s just say, there is a history.

Lissa leaned in close. Isn’t he Aiden Rains from the band Iron Rogue?

Yes.

Ah. Well, that makes sense. Not! I had no idea you knew him.

I don’t. Not anymore. She grabbed his chart, tucking it under her arm. Are all the pre-op stuff done?

Of course. Lissa gave her the one eyebrow raised stare.

She knew better than to ask. It was a stall tactic and Lissa knew it. I’m going. I’m going.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed aside the curtain to his cubicle. Glazed hazel eyes met hers when she approached the bed. No one else stood inside the curtained area, but she knew everyone could hear everything. Mr. Rains, they’ll be coming for you soon to take you to surgery. Have they explained what will happen to you in there?

His head turned so his gaze fixed on the ceiling. He was ignoring her now like she’d done the last little while. Yes. I’ve already signed the paperwork.

She lifted the packing on his abdominal wound, pleased to see the bleeding only minimal on the dressing. The bleeding has slowed. That’s good. Several shaky breaths in and she grabbed her stethoscope. I need to listen to your heart and lungs so I can chart on your condition before they take you in there. Pressing the cold disk to his chest, her hand shook as she heard the sounds of his heart, the same one she’d pressed her ear to so many times after they made love. Take a deep breath in and then out, please. When he did, his warm breath flittered across her cheek and ear, sending goose bumps across her arms. Holy hell.

A murmur reached her ears even though she couldn’t hear what he said. I’m sorry, what did you say?

I said, I don’t hate you, you know.

She pressed her lips together, fighting for composure before she met his gaze again. She hadn’t thought about him hating her when she’d walked away, although she couldn’t have blamed him if he had. They’d been together for over a year when she left, but she’d told him from the beginning what her plans were. Falling in love with him had never been in those plans.

This is not the time to discuss this.

When is because I’d like to. You never gave me a chance to talk about it. She started to move away, but he grabbed her hand in a death grip. Don’t leave.

I have patients to see.

I’m your patient, right?

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