by Annie Rains
The woman waved shyly.
He only gave a head nod, careful to keep his arms ready for any of Claire’s unexpected movements. His heart, however, gave a hard blow to his ribs.
Josie’s gaze moved to Claire and then skittered back to the rack of dresses she was looking at.
Tuck looked at Claire too. She was a young, beautiful woman. He could only guess that Josie had come to the same conclusion that Sophie had before he’d clarified that he was only here providing physical therapy. But Josie wouldn’t have heard that on the other side of the store.
So what if Josie thought he was here with Claire. He shouldn’t worry about that. So why am I?
Josie headed to the cash register a few minutes later, and Tuck watched her talk to Sophie. They giggled, which he’d never found remotely attractive in a woman, but he did this time. Then Josie paid and turned toward the exit. She’d have to pass right by him to leave, and he wasn’t about to let her walk out of here with any kind of misunderstanding in her mind.
“Josie,” he said as she crossed his path.
She turned hesitantly, looking like she wished she could’ve escaped without any kind of real interaction. “Hi.” Her gaze slid to Claire, and he recognized the look. Guilt. Did she think this was why he’d turned her down when she’d asked him to have a drink with her? They’d also had dinner together Saturday night, which, if he were dating Claire, would’ve been all kinds of wrong, especially with the way they’d flirted. He’d felt like he was cheating a little bit that night but it was on his late wife, Renee, not his patient Claire.
“Josie, I want you to meet a patient of mine. This is Claire Donovan.”
Claire stuck out her hand, another quick, uncontrolled movement, and Tuck’s hands went to her waist to steady her. “Nice to meet you, Josie. Are you new in town?”
Josie’s brows furrowed above eyes as blue as Silver Lake. “Kind of. A temporary transplant.”
“Oh, one of those.” Claire nodded knowingly and tossed a glance over her shoulder at Tuck. Good thing he was still securing her to the floor, because he had a feeling that move would’ve shifted her off balance too. “Temporary. That’s what they all say.” She turned back to Josie. “Heed my warning. People fall in love with this town. They can’t resist our charm down here. Isn’t that right, Tuck?”
He nodded. “Claire and I are, uh, doing her therapy in what I would call her natural environment,” he explained, in case Josie was still confused. She shouldn’t be though. He’d done the same with her last week, although his motives and secret thoughts when working with Josie had been nowhere near the same.
Claire laughed. “Oh, you are so obvious, Tuck Locklear. You might as well say what you mean. We’re not dating,” Claire told Josie. “That’s what he’s trying to make sure you know. I’m just his annoying patient who insisted on having some retail therapy mixed with my PT.”
Tuck didn’t embarrass easily, and with his complexion, he didn’t blush. But if he did, this would do it. “You’re not annoying,” he clarified, because the rest was pretty much true. That is exactly the message he was trying to relay.
“Oh.” Josie looked between them.
“I can see why you care. She’s pretty,” Claire said.
Now Josie looked embarrassed. And her complexion didn’t mask the flush of her cheeks. “Tuck is…was my physical therapist too. I injured my knee last week.”
Claire nodded. “Well, he got you up and about fast, didn’t he? He’s a good one.”
“My knee wasn’t too serious,” Josie said, “but you’re right. He is very good.” She gestured behind her. “I’ll let you two get back to work. See you tonight, Tuck.”
Claire’s lips went from a smile to a rounded little O. “Looks like you’re offering more than retail therapy to some patients these days, Tuck.” She swatted his arm and then let out a small scream as she went free falling toward the floor.
Tuck tried to catch her but this time he missed.
Claire hit the floor and then howled in pain while clutching her leg. Tuck was down by her side in a heartbeat. “Where does it hurt? Right here?” He peeled Claire’s hand off her calf. “Take a couple of deep breaths.”
“Do you need an ice pack?” Sophie asked, running over toward the commotion.
“Yes, that’d be great,” he said. He looked up at Sophie, and then his gaze jumped to Josie’s.
“What can I do?” she asked.
“Nothing. You’ve already done enough,” he said, not meaning to snap at her or give her a hard look. Why had she mentioned seeing him tonight? Didn’t she know how that sounded? Not that this was completely Josie’s fault. It wasn’t. He should’ve stayed focused on his patient and not gotten distracted. He should’ve kept his attraction to Josie in line instead of letting it put the safety of his patient in jeopardy.
“Here!” Sophie held out the ice pack to Tuck. “I keep one in my minifridge just in case something happens. Nothing ever happens here though. This is the first time I’ve ever had to use it.” The frazzled shop owner was talking a mile a minute.
Tuck rubbed a hand on Claire’s back and used his other hand to secure the ice pack along her lower leg. When he looked up, Sophie was still watching with large, worried eyes.
But Josie was gone.
* * *
Well, that was a disaster.
Josie climbed onto her bike with her shopping bags secured in her wire basket and took off down Main Street, careful to pedal with smooth, controlled movements so she didn’t aggravate her knee.
The rest of her, however, was fully aggravated. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Tuck had called her over to talk to him and his patient, and she had only politely responded. Maybe she’d stayed a touch too long. For that matter, maybe she’d stayed in Sweetwater Springs too long.
When she reached Hope Cottage, she leaned her bike against the exterior garage wall. She still needed to work, and the only place here with viable reception was still on his back deck. He’d likely be gone for hours so she headed in that direction and settled in at the outdoor table where she’d enjoyed a quiet meal with him over the weekend. A meal laden with flirting. The air had crackled between them, and if she’d have stayed much longer, she might have shimmied right over to his lap and kissed him, despite knowing about his past.
She never should’ve had dinner with him Saturday night. She should’ve opted to starve in the safety of her apartment and continued working. Work was always the better choice. Speaking of which…
She yanked her laptop out and pulled up her work email inbox. As always, there were a handful of messages from readers about articles she’d written. She loved those, unless of course they were criticizing her work. Sometimes a reader called her out on some trivial little detail that she’d gotten wrong. And, of course, there was an email from Bart waiting for her. At this point, she’d rather read the critical-reader emails than those from her new boss.
She sucked in a deep breath of fresh mountain air and clicked on his name. Tuck had already fouled her mood at the boutique so she might as well let Bart finish her off.
It was a message to the entire staff. Josie scrolled through the names of those on the receiving end, noting several that she didn’t recognize. That didn’t make sense, because she knew everyone on staff. Or she had. Missing from the list was her junior editor, Dana Malchak. Also Allison and Pete from the magazine’s food section. Had they been let go?
Josie scrolled down to read the email as dread swelled inside her chest.
Hey gang!
Josie frowned. Gang? As in the type that haunted certain areas of the city, or the Get Along Gang of her childhood, who spread cheer everywhere they went?
I know there’s been a lot of change over the last month. Thanks to those who’ve accepted the challenge of bringing our magazine from mediocrity to excellence.
Seriously? She was going to combust into flames of fury at any moment. Bart’s father, Gary, had run a good magazine. It wasn’t medi
ocre by any means.
She continued reading.
And on that note, I have another change to announce. Loving Life magazine will now be called The Vibe. We’re moving away from cutesy and charming. Sex sells, you guys. And we need sales!
The Vibe will encompass our new vision for the magazine. No more recipes, unless they’re for mixed drinks or aphrodisiacs. We’re also starting an e-zine to reach digital readers. More to come on personal expectations for each of you as we move forward.
Catch The Vibe!
Bart
Josie nearly gagged. Bart’s father was on this email. Why wasn’t Gary doing anything about this? The entire magazine was being uprooted. This wasn’t what Loving Life readers had subscribed to.
Josie pulled a hand to her chest and gulped in more fresh mountain air. In. Out. In. Out.
“Everything okay?” a voice asked beside her. It sounded far away though because she was currently on the edge of losing it.
She whirled in her seat to look at Tuck. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here,” he said hesitantly as a slow smile moved across his mouth. “I came to check on you. You ran out on me back there.”
“You told me to leave.”
He frowned. “No I didn’t.”
“You might as well have.” She crossed her arms at her chest, feeling like a shaken bottle of soda inside, thanks to earlier and the email she’d just read. Closing her eyes, she sucked in more deep breaths.
“Can I get you something?” he asked. “Some tea?”
“I just need a moment.”
Shadow brushed up against her leg and propped her chin on Josie’s knee. Without thinking, she reached out to pet the dog’s head as she breathed. After a minute, she opened her eyes, feeling slightly better.
She gave Shadow a curious look. “Wow. I need to take you back to the city with me.” Her gaze moved to Tuck, who was now sitting beside her at the table.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said. “I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.”
She gave a curt nod. “It’s okay. How is your patient?”
“Spunky and she talks too much. But her leg should be fine. Rest and ice.”
“Ah, I know that prescription well.” A genuine smile stretched across her face. “I’m glad she’s doing well.”
“Aged me fifteen years but”—he shrugged—“I guess I’ll survive.” He looked at Josie’s computer. “Does work always make you hyperventilate?”
“I wasn’t hyperventilating. And no. Only recently.” She closed her laptop.
“Don’t quit on my account. I have a patient coming in the next half hour.”
“The little girl you were with the other day?” Josie asked.
“She may be little but she’s tough,” he said. “Every session with her feels more like a wrestling match.”
Josie laughed out loud. It felt good, as therapeutic as petting Shadow’s head. When her laughter died, she realized that the look on Tuck’s face had changed. He was watching her with desire darkening the brown color of his irises. His gaze dropped to her mouth, making her heart quicken.
She’d written an article on kissing once and knew the signs that a man wanted to lock lips. Judging by the look Tuck was giving her now, that’s exactly what he wanted. And what she wanted too.
“Maybe if we just got it out of the way,” he suggested, “then it’d be over and out of our systems.”
“Got what out of the way?” she asked.
“A kiss.” His gaze stayed pinned on her lips. “Maybe then we could focus on something else.”
“What if we kiss and it only makes us want to do it again?” she asked, feeling dizzy and breathless.
“Then that might be a problem.”
She was sick of thinking about problems though. She had enough at work. She wanted to stop thinking for a moment. Everything inside her was frustrated, and kissing Tuck might just make her feel better somehow. “I could promise to kiss badly,” she said. “Maybe I could even bite your lip or something.”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “I could do the same. Bite you back.”
And that didn’t sound so bad at all. A shiver of warm tingles ran up her spine.
“I’d probably kiss badly anyway,” she said, filling the space between them with nervous chatter. “It’s been a long time since I’ve shared a kiss.” In fact, she couldn’t even remember the last time. Her dating life had circled the drain with her busy work schedule. What was the point? She wasn’t the kind of woman who settled down to play house anyway.
“I haven’t kissed in a while either,” he confessed as he stood.
His wife. She should put a stop to this right now. Instead, she allowed him to reach for her hand and pull her to her feet as well. The movement brought them close, their faces only inches apart. Josie met his gaze, struck by the way he was looking at her, like she was the most desirable thing in his world. Could he feel her heartbeat wracking her body right now?
“I like your idea. We’ll just get it out of the way. We’ll both be awful kissers and be done,” she whispered. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. Then she felt him tug, and she gave in, melting into his body as their lips met. His were warm and inviting. She parted her lips, feeling her entire body sigh with relief. Yeah. This is exactly what she needed. Wanted.
She curled her fingers into his T-shirt, clinging to him and this kiss. A gentle breeze wrapped around them, sending her hair flying in the wind. Maybe she was flying too.
He nibbled slightly on her lower lip as promised, and it was the exact opposite of bad. In fact, she involuntarily sighed into his mouth. If she had any blood flow left for her brain, she might’ve been embarrassed, but all her blood was currently pumping through her heart with enough force to knock her right off her feet.
Shadow barked below.
Tuck cleared his throat as he took a small step backward, giving her space. He didn’t let go immediately, which was a good thing because she might not have been able to stand.
She almost felt shy as her eyes fluttered open to meet his. “Yeah,” she said, feeling the need to say something. “I’m glad we got that out of our systems.”
“Me too.”
She searched his face, wondering if he was as big a fibber as she was. Because now that she’d kissed him, she only wanted to do it again. And again. “Liar,” she whispered, calling his bluff.
“You too,” he whispered back, heat and mischief molten together in his gaze.
Then they pulled each other in for a second kiss.
CHAPTER NINE
What am I doing?
When he’d first met Josie, he’d resolved that even though he was attracted to her, she wasn’t right for him for more reasons than he could count. He wouldn’t act on his desire. What he’d done on his back deck half an hour ago, however, had been the opposite of not acting on it.
“Where is your brain today?” Maddie asked.
Tuck blinked his young patient back into focus. “Hmm?”
“You’re not even listening to me. I told you my leg is hurting and I want to stop.”
Tuck had her standing on a level area of ground near the creek. He didn’t use much in the way of traditional equipment, but Maddie’s legs were weak so he had an aluminum walker in front of her. When he’d manually tested her leg muscles, they’d registered the same strength as some of his ninety-year-old patients whose muscles had atrophied from lack of use. Even so, most of those ninety-year-old patients could stand, and so could Maddie. She’d lost muscle strength and range of motion in her joints but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t get back. The prognosis for her nerve damage, however, was still uncertain.
He was sure Maddie also had a good bit of pain with movement. Depending on the patient, Tuck would tell them to work through any discomfort. The look on Maddie’s face told him she’d reached her limit though. He pulled a chair over and helped her sit down. She groaned slightly in pain, which signaled Shadow to her side.
Maddie reached over and petted her.
“You sure you like cats better than dogs?” Tuck asked, pulling his own chair up.
“Dogs are good too. Especially ones like Shadow.”
“After you’re up and walking, we’ll start working on your grandmother’s rule.” He handed Maddie a ball. “Just don’t toss it in the creek. I don’t feel like toweling off a wet dog this afternoon.”
Maddie grinned and launched the ball in front of her. Dutifully, Shadow darted forward, retrieved it, and carried it back, laying it in Maddie’s lap to repeat. After about five rounds, Maddie looked up at him. “I want to go to the Sweetwater Dance next week but Grandma says it’s too much trouble.”
Next week was the Sweetwater Springs Festival, which accounted for most of the town’s tourism during the year. At least until last Christmas, when Josie’s article had named the town one of the most romantic holiday retreats in the US. Leading up to the festival were all kinds of events. Outside movie screens and kite flying would be set up along Silver Lake. There’d be live bands and the Sweetwater Dance for all ages that Thursday night in the local high school auditorium. Tuck had never been one to attend such events in the community. He preferred nature to crowds of people, and serenity to loud music and dancing.
“Why do you want to go to the Sweetwater Dance?” he asked.
Maddie’s cheeks seemed to darken a shade, and she swept her gaze down at her lap and then to the creek. She launched the ball again. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’m a girl. There’ll be boys there and girls my own age.” She shrugged. “I don’t really get to hang out with anyone anymore. I barely have friends since, you know, the accident.”
Tuck guessed that was partly Maddie’s doing. From what he’d gathered, Maddie had shut down and pushed away everyone who’d tried to help her. That probably included any friends she had. It was progress that she was even interested in going to the Sweetwater Dance. “Do you want me to talk to your grandma?”