by Terry Spear
“Why don’t you start the wash, throw in the gown, your lab coat, and the bloody wipes you used on me,” he said.
“Why don’t you just toss the trash?”
He had to give her credit for not being a pushover. Not that he wouldn’t have preferred that in this instance she would do as he asked without giving him grief. But he had to admire her for her backbone and obvious attempts to leave clues as to the trouble she might be in.
She shook her head and led the way to the laundry room where everything was white in there also, except for splashes of pastel colors—pictures of longhorn goats and fluffy white sheep in the mountains—hanging on the walls, colorful bins for sorting the laundry, and a window looking out on the gardens also. She dumped everything in the wash, then started it.
“Where’s your bedroom?”
Her back stiffening and her brow furrowing, she turned to glower at him. “Why?”
“Hell, you don’t think I can leave town wearing this, do you?” He tugged at the hideous scrubs.
She glanced down at them and smiled. “I might have some sweats you can wear. But they’ll be a little short.”
“What about Chase?”
She let out her breath on a feigned, exasperated sigh. “He’s obviously not home yet.”
“His clothes?” Leyton said, not buying into her story one iota.
“We just got married. He hasn’t moved his stuff over yet.”
Like hell the guy wouldn’t have if he was half a man. If Leyton had been married to her, he would have moved in before the big date and been sharing the bed with her long before that. No way could he look at her and not want her—if he was about to marry her.
“Ahh, so that’s why there are no pictures of the two of you. Although, I would think you would have a wedding picture at least.”
“I’ll get you the sweats.” She so quickly dismissed the comment, he wasn’t expecting her to turn and stalk off down the hallway and into a room.
He couldn’t help prodding her about the fake husband. He wondered why she wouldn’t be married already. “The wedding pictures aren’t back from the photographer?” he suggested.
“Right. You know it takes time, proofs, small touching up.”
“So you were newly married. Like only a few days ago?”
She didn’t respond.
“And you’re going on a camping trip without him? Sounds like trouble in paradise already.”
“He’s joining me out there. He had to work a couple of shifts. Why am I explaining myself to you anyway?” she asked, glowering at him.
As soon as they walked into her bedroom, he considered the queen size bed covered in a rose quilt coverlet, lacy bed skirt, and lace and rose shams, he was certain that no man was living here. She began to open a dresser drawer. He was right next to her in an instant, seizing her hand, then pulling the drawer open himself.
“What? You think I have a gun in every drawer in the house?”
“If you lived in Texas, yeah. But since Yuma Town is so safe, no. Well, and it would be too far to get to if someone broke into your house in the middle of the night.” Yet, he had reacted to that very real concern, until he’d thought better of it. He frowned at her. “Why did you have a gun in your desk drawer at the clinic?”
“I went practice shooting with Chase in the morning, and didn’t have time to run it home before I saw my patient load.”
She rummaged through the drawer and he took a moment to check out the clothes in her closet, keeping an eye on her in the event she moved to another drawer he hadn’t checked out yet. “Not even one deputy sheriff’s uniform. Nothing?” He’d hoped that if she had been seeing a man, and had no longer been with him as he didn’t smell any male scents in her bedroom, the guy might have left some article of clothing behind. Something that would fit him.
“Okay, here they are.” She tossed the sweats on the bed.
Pale blue sweats? He put the bag on the floor by the bed and pulled on the sweat shirt, and groaned. Hell, his shoulder was killing him.
She turned a worried look to his shoulder, but when he dropped the scrub pants, her gaze dropped to his erection—that was semi-aroused. Hell, he swore no female doctor who had ever checked him out had ever given him that kind of a rise.
“Have you eaten?” she suddenly asked, pulling her gaze from his growing erection.
“Why? Do you plan to arm yourself with a knife?”
She lost the frown and actually smiled a little.
He didn’t like that devious look.
“Not a bad plan. But you look like you need to eat. I haven’t eaten since this afternoon either.”
“What about Chase?” He knew the guy was married to the woman in the picture and that the babies were his. No way was he the woman’s brother as many pictures there were of them together. Not that he had any brothers or sisters that he could relate to, but still, he knew that’s what the deal was.
“Hey, listen, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you’re the good guy and the guy who shot you was the bad guy. So if you need money, I’ll give it to you. I’ll help you to get some shoes and other clothes. I’ll even give you a lift to the next town that has a bus service. Or a rental car place.”
He pulled on the sweatpants. They rested way above his ankles.
“I’ll take you up on the food.” He stopped her before she left the bedroom and checked the rest of the bedroom drawers, looking to see if she had anything bigger to wear. The sweats barely reached his navel, and the sweat pants looked like they’d shrunk in the wash. It was bad enough he had no shoes. Nothing in any of the drawers, though he’d rifled through her silken lace panties and bras wondering just what she was wearing under her Yuma Town T-shirt that said, “Cougars have lots more fun in Yuma Town, Colorado.”
Then he checked the drawers in the bathroom.
“What are you looking for?" she asked, hands on hips.
“You’re not married and you’re not living with some guy by the name of Chase or otherwise.”
“Why? Are you interested?”
He smiled back at her. “Lady, you couldn’t handle me on a good day.”
She laughed. “In your dreams.”
Yeah, she’d be in his dreams all right. Underneath him, instead of her on top this time, in a nice soft bed, and she would be just as naked as him.
When they reached the kitchen, he checked her fridge and cabinet. “Unless Chase doesn’t eat much, your place is stocked for a single person.”
“What do you want to eat?” she asked, a frown creasing her brow, ignoring his comment.
“Anything is good. And…thanks.”
“You’re not really welcome. I would have been on the—“
“Road by now? You were going tonight? Where?”
“To meet up with a bunch of friends at a cabin in the Rockies. I’ve been going for years.”
“So you know the way already.”
“Yes. Why?”
“I need to find the cabin where the suspect fired the shots at me. What would be the chance that he would come upon the cabin as a cougar, break-in, and have a loaded rifle just waiting there for him to use on me?”
“He had to have known the area,” she agreed, pulling a package of chicken thighs from the freezer.
“Exactly. He was ahead of me the whole time and knew exactly where he was going.”
“You’ve got to go to the sheriff then. Dan and his deputies will go after this guy.”
“No can do. I have my mission.”
“They’re all cougars. They know to be discreet. Besides, if we know his name and that he’s from around here, some of us are sure to know him.”
“Butch Sanders?” That would be the break he needed.
She shook her head.
“It’s an alias, but he probably used another in the area.”
“Do you have a picture of him?”
He raised a brow.
“You could use my phone to access your email.”
“It’s not in an email. I’m undercover. Anyone could hack into it.”
“What are you going to do next?”
“Eat. Rest up a bit. Then I’ll decide.” He started doing a Google map search on her phone of the area he’d traveled through.
She defrosted the chicken in the microwave, seasoned it, stuck it in a roasting pan, and into the oven. Then she started boiling a pot of water for the broccoli.
“Where are you staying?” He showed her the Google map.
She eyed him with suspicion. “Why?”
“I wondered if I saw the area where you’re staying when I ran all over hell and back trying to catch up to the shooter.”
“There,” she said, pointing to a spot in the Rockies. “What do you want to drink?”
“Milk, water.”
He was thinking she needed to go with him, to tend to his injury, to show him how to get to the shooter’s cabin, and then she would be far enough away from her home in town and close enough to her cabin that he wouldn’t have to worry about her going to the sheriff. He’d let her go. But he wasn’t mentioning it at first, because he was afraid he’d have a fight on his hands.
She served him a glass of water and milk and then placed a glass of water on her placemat. She set the table next as he sat opposite her chair, his back to the wall, his focus on her, keeping the bag with her phone and gun on the tapestry-covered chair next to him.
Once he letdown a little now that he wasn’t chasing Butch or looking for a safe place to tend to his injuries, he felt exhausted, suddenly experiencing the weariness settling into his muscles and even his brain. Sleep deprivation, running for days, and getting shot could do that to a body, when he really needed to keep his wits about him while he kept an eye on the good doc.
While she worked in the kitchen making dinner, he finally glanced around at the rest of the place. Nicely furnished with redwood furniture, curved legs, a grandfather’s clock that looked like an expensive heirloom, or a good imitation. Pots of flowers sat in the kitchen windowsill and on the back patio and front porch too. They would need to be watered while she was gone, he figured.
“Is someone coming over to water your plants while you’re away?”
“One of my nurses.”
He hadn’t expected that. He’d have to watch her extra carefully then to ensure Kate didn’t try to leave any kind of evidence that said she had been taken hostage against her will and needed to be rescued.
“You know,” she said, slicing up potatoes, “if you need a guide to go into the back country, there are several who are cougars living here, who are perfectly qualified—“
“I don’t.”
She paused in slicing the potatoes.
He wondered when she’d grabbed a knife to slice them. That made him realize he was slipping a bit where watching her was concerned. She could just as easily have made baked potatoes. No knives involved.
She began slicing again, slowly as if she was thinking over what she was going to do to convince him to give himself up or at the very least, take off and leave her alone. He watched her this time as she carefully and preciously sliced through another potato like a surgeon would. She was wearing jeans, probably because she’d planned to go camping straight from work. They fit her nice and snug and the image of her cute derriere as she moved about caught and held his attention. He’d never considered a doctor would be built as nicely as she was.
Feeling suddenly hot, he gulped down the rest of his milk.
She was petite and he wondered just how successful she’d be at using her black belt skills to free herself from his grasp or take him down. He didn’t believe for an instant that she could get the best of him, yet the notion intrigued him that if they were just practicing—for fun as he didn’t want to have to fight her for real—just how adept she would be at ju jitsu.
She finished cutting the potatoes and began frying them.
He was famished, the aroma of chicken baking and the potatoes frying, both covered in lemon and pepper and garlic salt seasoning, making his stomach grumble with interest.
The longer he sat drinking milk and water, the sleepier he was getting though. He’d planned to head on out with her after dinner, but he thought better of it. He was certain he’d fall asleep at some point, either at the wheel if he couldn’t trust her to drive, or if she was driving, he’d risk her taking him straight to a ranger station. Or maybe not since he was a shifter. She could head right back to the sheriff’s office in Yuma Town and have him arrested. Safer that way for their kind.
He didn’t plan to stay with her all that long. Just take her to her cabin and then after that, he’d try to find his way back to the one where Butch had shot him so he could investigate it. If Butch was still there, even better. But Leyton would be armed with Kate’s 9 mm this time if he needed it, and he’d return it when he could.
“When will your nurse water the plants?”
“In a couple of days.” She turned to look at him, frowning. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I wondered if we should water them again before we leave.”
“They’re fine,” she snapped.
Maybe she really did need more of a nap. “Do you have medical supplies for the trip?”
“For emergencies…” She looked at his shoulder. “Yes, I do.”
He took a deep breath and let it out. He really hadn’t meant to take anyone hostage. But she was…sort of going his way. She was a doctor. And he couldn’t have her telling the sheriff he had broken into her place, so what else could he do?
“I’m sorry. I’ll get out of your life as soon as I can, and you can get on with your vacation as soon as possible.”
She sighed.
Maybe she had thought he was going to keep her hostage for the duration of her vacation and beyond.
He joined her in the kitchen. Looking worried, she glanced at him.
“Thirsty.” He got some more water. Blood loss could do that to a body. “Won’t your milk go bad while you’re gone?”
“It’s that organic kind. It lasts lots longer. Feel free to drink as much as you want.”
He looked at the container, then realized that was probably helping to make him even sleepier. Hell, had she planned it that way? No, he was a big cat and naturally he’d asked for milk. She had only given him what he’d ask for. Dummy him.
As soon as she began to serve up the broccoli, chicken, and potatoes, he refilled his glass with water once more and returned to his seat. He was so hungry, he could have eaten a couple of whole, plump, juicy turkeys.
She’d barely served up the food before he was greedily eating his up.
“How long has it been since you’ve eaten,” she asked, looking surprised to see him stab another chicken thigh with the serving fork and dropping it on his plate.
“Two days. I was chasing the bastard for four days. I managed to stop for an hour and catch some fish, rest a bit, and take after him again.”
“I’ve got ice cream, if you’d like some for desert.”
He nodded.
“Why don’t you let the officers of Yuma Town help you locate this man?”
He shook his head.
“So after I clean up the dishes, then what?”
“We’re going to lie down for a bit.”
Her green eyes widened.
“If I drive, I’m liable to fall asleep at the wheel. If you drive? No telling where we’d end up if I fell asleep,” he explained. “Back here, even,” he added. “So we’ll lie down for a bit and start the drive before sunrise.”
“You’re taking me with you.”
He was surprised she hadn’t already assumed that. “We’re going in the same direction. I’ll just be with you until you get safely to your destination.”
She ground her teeth, then frowned. “Are you going to tie me up?”
He smiled a little, but didn’t say what he was thinking. Not that he was into bondage or anything, but… “If I thought you’d behave yourself,
I’d just as soon hold you close. But I don’t think that I’ll wake if you attempted to slip away. So yeah, I believe that’s our only option unless you have a better suggestion.”
He was devouring his third piece of chicken while she was poking at her first piece. “I don’t have any ropes.”
“We’ll tear up a sheet or something. Maybe those God-awful scrubs.”
“Elsie Miller, one of my nurses, loves those scrubs.”
“We’d be doing her a favor.” He was about to take another bite of his chicken when Kate’s phone rang in the bag. Both of them stared at the bag for a couple of seconds, then he hurriedly fished the phone out and looked at the caller’s name. “Who’s Dan Steinecker?”
“The sheriff of Yuma Town.”
“Answer it. Carefully. Put it on speaker.”
Her heart pounding, Kate wiped off her fingers and answered it, with the big cat across the table looking as though he was ready to grab her or the phone if she said anything that would get him in hot water. “Hey, Dan.”
Had he seen her drive by his place and wondered what was up? Though that had happened about an hour ago. She was certain if it had been about that, he would have investigated already.
“Hi, Kate. Just checking in on you to see if you’re okay. One of the boys staying at Hal’s ranch, Ricky Jones, said he saw your light was on in your kitchen. I know when you have the automatic timer lights go on, they’re set to go off in the living room when you’re away. We thought you were headed out straight after work.”
“I took a nap at the clinic. Sheba woke me and …” She looked at Leyton. “…well, I figured I’d go ahead and fix dinner first, and then get some sleep before I hit the road.” She kept her voice steady, though her stomach was flip flopping.
“Okay. Good deal. I’m glad you’re going to get some rest before you make that long drive. I was just running over to Dottie’s place to have something to eat with her and the kids, but was going to swing on by to check on you if you needed me to.”