by Janice Lynn
Even though she knew he couldn’t see her face, she arched a brow. “As opposed to our non-silly ones?”
“Humor me?”
“I’m on your back, aren’t I?”
He laughed. “That you are. Now, make a funny face.”
She let go of his neck, held her arms out wide to her sides, kept her legs tight at his waist, and stuck her tongue out at her phone.
He clicked the screen a few times, then, laughing, pulled the photo up on her phone.“Hey, that’s great,” he said.
He held it up to where she could see.
“I hope the others are better, because there’s nothing ‘great’ about that one.” Although she had to admit seeing Justin’s face contorted into his “silly” pose did warm something inside her.
Or maybe that was just the trapped heat accumulating between their sweaty bodies.
He swiped his finger across the phone screen and showed her the next picture.
“This one is good.”
He was right. The photo on the screen was perfect. Justin’s face was full of good humor as he smiled at the camera, his eyes twinkled, and the sheen of sweat outlined his muscular arms perfectly. Her own smile looked real, relaxed, and her eyes sparkled. Even her skin glowed.
Must be the South Carolina humidity he’d mentioned, she thought. Because if she admitted it was the man she’d have a lot of soul-searching to do.
He handed the phone to her. “You’ll have to send me these.”
She slid it back into her pocket without taking another look, although she knew she’d painstakingly go through all the photos later. She wouldn’t be able to resist. Just as she seemed unable to resist anything Justin dangled her way.
“Just so long as you don’t show anyone,” she said.
Why she’d added the caveat she wasn’t sure. It had just come out. Maybe as a protest against how he pulled her out of her comfort zone. Maybe because her heart was still pounding like crazy at seeing the photos, at how they looked like a “real” couple, at how happy she looked.
In both photos her face glowed with something that had been missing for a long time. Happiness. But her smiles in the pictures shouldn’t impress her. They were just reflections of who she was: a woman content with her life—right?
Justin tightened his hold on her legs, then resumed his progress toward the bridge, almost as if he thought she was going to tell him to put her down again. She should. His carrying her was just childishness.
“Why don’t you want me to show the pictures to anyone?” he asked. “Are you ashamed for people to know you were with me?”
Her stomach twisted. “It’s not that.” She scrambled for a reason. “It would just give the wrong impression.”
“What wrong impression would that be?”
“That we’re involved.”
Another hesitation, then, “Aren’t we?”
Riley closed her eyes. She was surrounded by Justin. He was filling all her senses. His smell, his strength, the sound of his breathing as he carried her the short distance to the bridge, the feel of his muscles working against her body...
“Life will be simpler if we aren’t.” The exposed honesty of her admission shocked her.
The fact that he didn’t push her to elaborate shocked her even more.
Reaching the bridge, he relaxed his hold on her legs and Riley slid off his back.
When she was on her feet, Justin turned. “Anytime you want to be carried rather than going it alone, just let me know.”
Rather than answer him, or any of the questions swirling through her mind, Riley scooped Daisy up into her arms and took off, tossing over her shoulders, “Race you to the end.”
* * *
Justin was smart enough to know that Riley had hoped he’d take off and leave her when she’d issued her challenge. She’d certainly picked up her pace from their earlier jogging. But he knew she wasn’t trying to win a race. She just wanted to make conversation difficult.
He was okay with that. Maybe he even needed a moment to gather his wits after holding her. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to touch Riley without feeling his blood heat. Holding her, even on their juvenile piggyback ride, had sent his insides into an adrenaline rush.
Her legs around his waist had given him instant flashbacks of a far more erotic wrapping of those long legs around him. Had sent him into an instant longing to take her back to his place and explore those legs at his leisure. To explore all of her. Her body and her mind, too.
He wanted to know what made her tick...what made her who she was. He’d learned a lot today. But he wanted to know more. Lots more. Everything, he admitted. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Riley.
And with time, he would.
Because, whether she wanted to or not, Riley liked him. She had admitted she didn’t want to, which was maybe progress in getting her past whatever made her think she shouldn’t. Surely, with patience, she’d realize liking him wasn’t a problem? But her thinking she shouldn’t like him, shouldn’t want him, was a huge problem...
“By the way,” she said now. “You didn’t happen to find a gold cross on a chain?”
He glanced toward her. “No. Did you lose one?”
She nodded. “At some point over the past few days. I’d thought it might be in your Jeep or—well, you know...”
“I haven’t seen one, but I haven’t looked. It has sentimental value?”
“It was a gift.”
“From a man?”
“From my mother,” she corrected. “She gave it to me for my graduation. That I’ve lost it breaks my heart.” Her voice broke as she made the admission.
“We’ll check the Jeep when we get back to the parking area. Maybe we’ll find it.”
* * *
Please let it be here. Please let it be here.
Riley ran her hands around the edge of the passenger seat, checking beneath it. Nothing.
“It’s not here.”
“I’m sorry, Riley. I’d hoped it would be so I could play hero and give it back.”
“If you found my necklace I’d definitely think you were a hero.”
He turned back to the Jeep. “Let’s look some more.”
She shook her head. “Wishing isn’t going to make it suddenly appear.”
Still, he checked over everything on the passenger side one more time.
“Thanks for checking, though.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll look when I get home and give you a call if I find it.”
“I—Okay, that would be great.”
“I’ll need your number.” He studied her. “Is that okay?”
“I—Sure. I guess so.”
“If you hand me your phone, I’ll dial mine. That way you can send me those pictures.”
“That’s fine.”
She took her phone from around her waist, but didn’t hand it over. Couldn’t hand it over.
“Riley...?”
Taking a deep breath, she thrust the phone his way. “Here. Just take it and get it done.”
Staring at her a bit oddly, he punched in his number and hit “dial.” His phone began ringing. He pressed the stop button, then handed her phone back.
“Now, no excuses. Call me anytime.”
Riley slid her phone back into the pouch. She wouldn’t be calling Justin. He was much too dangerous to her sanity and well-being for her to have anything more to do with him.
“Come on, Daisy,” she said to the dog. “Let’s go home.”
* * *
Justin sought Riley the moment he entered the operating room. Funny how, when everyone was dressed in the same surgical scrubs and protective wear, his gaze still went to her in instant recognition, as if he felt her presence as much as saw it.
The surgical crew today was identical to
the previous day’s. That didn’t always happen, but Justin liked this group. They worked well together.
“Good morning, Dr. Brothers,” Sheila greeted him.
“It is a good morning,” he echoed.
“Somebody is in a lot better mood than he was yesterday,” the anesthesiologist teased. “Feeling lucky?”
Justin forced his gaze not to go toward Riley, to see how she’d taken the doctor’s comment.
“I’m lucky every day,” he countered as he allowed a nurse to assist him in putting on his personal protection equipment.
“Hear, hear!” the anesthesiologist cheered.
“Lucky in cards. Lucky in lottery tickets. Lucky in races.” With the last, Justin gave in and glanced toward Riley to see if his words had got a reaction.
“Remind me to have you to scratch off my next lottery ticket,” she piped up, without looking up from the surgical tray she was inventorying.
Relieved that she’d joined in the conversation, he nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll even let you borrow my lucky rabbit’s foot if you want.”
“Ew!” She glanced up, her eyes twinkling. “Please tell me you don’t really have a rabbit’s foot.”
“Yeah, that would be gross, Dr. Brothers,” Sheila added.
“Agreed—and I was speaking metaphorically. The only lucky foot I have is attached to the rest of me, and I’ve got two of them.” He winked at Riley. “You’re welcome to borrow one or both, though.”
“I’m good,” she countered. “Thanks, anyway.”
“Better luck next time,” the anesthesiologist put in.
Justin felt he’d been lucky this time. Riley’s eyes had been expressive, had connected with his, and some warmth had passed between them. She hadn’t completely shut him out after the day before. He’d wondered if she would when her only response after he’d texted her that he hadn’t found her necklace had been: Thanks for looking.
Lord, how he wished he’d been able to find it and give it back to her, and erase the sadness he’d seen when she’d told him about losing it.
Surgical cap, lighted visor with face shield, mask, gloves, shoe covers, protective apron over the operating room scrubs he’d donned just prior to coming into the surgical suite—all in place.
Justin stepped over to his anesthetized patient and gave his complete attention to the sleeping woman.“Cynthia Gibbons, sixty years old, left hip replacement,” he began, and each member of the crew kicked into their professional role to make sure every aspect of Mrs. Gibbons’s surgery went smoothly.
During the next two hours Justin worked, often chatting with the crew about whatever topic they happened to be on. Riley joined in. It almost felt like old times. Almost, but in some ways better.
Physically, she wound his insides tight...made him want what they’d had the night of Paul and Cheyenne’s party. Not just the sex, but the easy flow between them.
Although he wanted the sex, too.
Desperately.
Giving himself a little shake, he pushed Riley from his mind and focused on the joint he was repairing. When he’d finished he straightened, and stretched out his spine and shoulders.
“Great job,” he praised his team.
His gaze once again went to Riley and their eyes met. She’d been looking at him.
He was surprised when she didn’t immediately look away. Instead her eyes sparkled with tiny green flames that burned holes right through him.
Plus—although it might just be the bright lights shining above the operating table—he’d swear that beneath her scrub mask she was smiling.
At him.
He caught himself whistling twice that afternoon, getting more than a few eyebrow-raises from his coworkers.
But later, when he went back to the recovery area, planning to find Riley, he was disappointed to find she’d already gone.
So much for his belief that she was coming around to his way of thinking...
* * *
Riley didn’t see Justin for the next couple of days as he wasn’t on the OR schedule but working in clinic.
That didn’t keep her from thinking about him. Nor did it keep her from looking at the photos he’d taken of them when she’d been riding piggyback.
Even though he’d asked her to, she’d not sent them to him. Something about sharing the pictures made her feel vulnerable—as if she would be giving him a part of herself, a part she needed to protect.
Stretched out on a hammock beneath two palm trees, she fiddled with her phone, flipping through the shots he’d taken, unable to keep herself from smiling. When she came to the one of their “silly” faces, she even snickered.
“What’s so funny?” Cassie asked, plopping down on the hammock next to Riley and almost flipping them out as she sat on the edge, her feet barely touching the ground.
“Nothing.” Face heating, Riley clicked her phone off as if she’d been caught looking at something naughty.
“Nothing?” Cassie asked, then shook her head. “You’re not fooling me, you know.”
Holding her phone close to her chest, Riley asked, “About what?”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just admit that you like him?”
“Who?”
From where she perched on the hammock, Cassie gave her the evil eye.
Riley sighed. “So I like him.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
Good question.
“I’m not planning to do anything,” she admitted, toying with her phone.
“Well, that’s a crying out loud shame—because he likes you, too.”
“How do you know?” Eek. That had been a lot of interest in her voice. Too much.
“You mean other than I saw how you two were eyeballing each other at Cheyenne and Paul’s party?”
Riley sucked in a deep breath. “He’s easy to look at. I’m not blind.”
“If you don’t see how he looks at you then you must be.”
“How does he look at me?” She cringed because she’d asked, but she hadn’t been able to stop the immediate question. Nor could she stop the way she waited with bated breath for her friend’s answer.
“As if he wants to eat you up.”
“That was just at Cheyenne and Paul’s party...because we’d drunk a little too much.”
“It’s every time he’s in the same room with you. It’s been that way from the beginning.”
Riley clicked her phone back on, pulled up the photos and handed the phone to Cassie.
Her friend’s dark eyes widened. “When were these taken?”
“The other night when I took Daisy for a run. I bumped into him.”
Cassie flipped through the photos. “You were having fun?”
Staring at the phone in her friend’s hand, Riley shrugged. “I was.”
“Justin looks like he was, too.”
“He was.” And if she hadn’t already known, looking at the photos would have assured her that he had been.
“So what does this mean? And don’t lie to me the way you keep lying to yourself.”
Riley rubbed at her temples, started to say it meant nothing, but wasn’t sure that was the truth. She was lying to herself, wasn’t she?
“I wish I knew.”
Cassie’s expression softened. “Let me ask a different way. What do you want it to mean?”
“Justin says he wants to date me.”
Still holding the phone, Cassie gave an excited squeal. “Then date the man! It’s not as if he isn’t a handsome, successful orthopedic surgeon who’s a great guy and just happens to turn you on.”
“There is that,” Riley agreed, taking her phone back.
After watching her in silence for a few moments, Cassie asked, “Does this have to do with Johnny?”
“Ugh...” Now
her temples really hurt. “Do we have to say his name out loud?”
“We don’t have to. But since he’s what’s holding you back, we need to.”
“He quit holding me back the moment he didn’t show up for our wedding.”
“Best thing that man ever did for you.”
“True.” She shuddered at the thought that had he shown up she would have tied herself to him for life. “I don’t want to go through that again.”
Cassie reached out and hugged Riley. “Johnny didn’t deserve you. He never did. What he did to you on what was supposed to be the happiest day of your life was unforgivable. But it wouldn’t happen again.”
Trying not to cry, Riley inhaled and then blew out slowly. “You’re right—because I won’t let it.”
She was content with her life, didn’t need a man to be happy. But Justin...
Cassie gave her another squeeze. “It’s been over a year, Riley.”
“Not nearly long enough to forget what happened,” she admitted, hugging her friend back, then pulling away.
“Don’t forget it, but don’t let it dictate your future,” Cassie advised. “You deserve to be happy. And Justin makes you happy. If you don’t believe me look at those pictures.”
* * *
Cassie had left with Sam, but Riley stayed outside, lying in the hammock, enjoying the cool breeze. Daisy was curled in her lap and hadn’t budged since a few minutes after Cassie had left. For that matter Riley barely had.
Reaching for her necklace to toy with the cross, she recalled too late that it wasn’t there. Tears prickled her eyes. How could she have lost her necklace? She’d searched everywhere she could think of, had called around, and no one had found it—including Justin.
Justin. He was never far from her mind.
She picked up her phone and yet again looked at the photos that filled her with an equal mixture of confusion and joy. She should send them to him. He’d given her his number and she’d told him she would.
She glanced at the time. She’d been out longer than she’d thought. He’d been in surgery early that morning. He was probably asleep.