Nora waited at the signal, her gaze drawn back to her rearview mirror. The pair of headlights was still there. The same headlights that had followed her from the ranch. Damn the man. What did he think he was doing?
When the light turned green, she stepped on the gas and sped down the street. She slowed to turn into her neighborhood, making first a right, then a left and another right. She slipped into her driveway with the ease of long practice, then turned off the engine. Before she could even get her key out of the ignition, a car pulled in behind her.
That was it, she thought, fuming. She’d had enough. She jerked her keys free, grabbed them and her purse, then shoved open the door and climbed out onto her driveway.
It was a perfect Texas night. Cool, clear, with a million stars twinkling overhead. Nora was almost distracted by the beauty of the moment, but then she saw Stephen getting out of his car and her bad temper returned.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded when they were less than two feet apart. She was careful to keep her voice low. After all, it was ten on a weeknight and many of her neighbors had small children who would already be in bed.
Stephen didn’t look the least bit ruffled by her display of temper. Come to think of it, he rarely seemed to notice when she exploded at him. If anything, her short fuse seemed to amuse him.
“I do not appreciate being followed,” she continued when he didn’t speak. “There are laws against stalking people. I don’t care how you get your jollies, but do them somewhere else.”
He folded his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows. “Is that the best you can do?” he asked lazily. “I thought you’d be in a bigger snit.”
“Snit? This is no snit. You may choose not to take me seriously, but you are making a mistake if you don’t.”
“Take you seriously or choose not to?” he asked with a low chuckle.
Her temper flared, and with it the need to stomp her foot and scream in frustration. Instead she clenched her hands more tightly around her purse and glared at him. “If that’s all you have to say, I’m going inside.”
She spun on her heel and took a single step away from him.
“I wasn’t following you,” he said quickly. “I wanted to make sure you got home all right. It’s late, you’re driving alone. That was it. No ulterior motive.”
She spun back to face him. “I’m twenty-eight years old. I’ve been driving for about twelve years. Amazingly enough I’ve managed to make it to the ranch and back multiple times without anyone checking on me. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess I’ll be able to do it in the future. Thanks for worrying, but really, you can let this one go. There was the one kidnapping attempt, but I managed to elude my abductors, so relax.”
She gave him an insincere smile. “Not to make you panic or anything, but I’m thinking of going to the grocery store tomorrow, all on my own.” She loosened her grip on her purse and pressed one hand on her chest. “Oh, my. Do you think I’ll survive?”
He leaned against his car. There was just enough street light for her to see the flash of amusement in his hazel eyes. He thought this was funny? She blinked in confusion. Shouldn’t he be running for cover about now?
“I’ll bet there are a lot of guys who buy into your act,” he said conversationally. “Men who think you’re all mouth and not worth the trouble. So they back off. I’m guessing that’s what you want, or you wouldn’t bother with the ice princess act.”
It was as if he’d read her mind, she thought in shock. Color flared on her cheeks. She could only hope that the darkness hid the blush from him. “It’s not an act,” she mumbled, taking a step back.
“Sure it is.” He moved one step closer. “What I can’t figure out is why. You’re funny, you’re sexy as hell, you’re too smart for your own good. So why are you so determined to keep men running for cover?”
His compliments, however backhanded, made her blush deepen. Did he mean them? Did he really think she was sexy? “Maybe I don’t share your high opinion of your gender. I’d rather be alone.”
“Would you? I’m not sure I believe that.”
“Of course you don’t. My wanting to be alone doesn’t cater to your ego.”
He took another step nearer. He was standing way too close, she thought as her chest tightened and her throat went dry. But she wasn’t going to be the one to move away. Never show weakness. It was one of her best rules.
“You know what my ego says?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “That you’re a brilliant doctor, incredibly good-looking and any woman would be lucky to have you.”
“Thank you,” he said sincerely. “But we weren’t talking about me.”
This time she did stomp her foot in frustration. “I wasn’t saying that about you. I don’t think you’re any of those things. I was telling you what your ego thinks of you. There’s a difference.”
He lowered his hands to his sides and stared deeply into her eyes. “Actually there isn’t. You do think I’m all those things and it’s killing you.”
Her temper flared. “I never—”
But she didn’t get to say what she “never” did because without warning he wrapped his arms around her, drew her close and kissed her.
Chapter Five
T he real-life kiss was better than the ones in her dreams, which Nora hadn’t thought possible. Worse, they’d barely started and she was already a quivering, willing puddle of desire. She tried to find it in herself to be angry, to be anything but needy, but she couldn’t. Not when he was touching her and pressing his mouth to hers.
His arms felt strong as he held her close. His lips were firm yet yielding, warm, possessive and so incredibly tempting. Against her will, her body leaned into his and her hands somehow found their way to his shoulders, where they clung as if he were the only solid matter in an otherwise spinning world. All this after one chaste kiss. What would happen to her if he really started trying?
Then she realized she didn’t care. Not right now. The battle of the sexes was one she took seriously, but it was time for a temporary truce.
Stephen angled his head slightly, as if preparing to deepen the kiss. He moved against her mouth, touching every millimeter of her sensitized skin. Tingling started there and moved lower, making her breasts ache and that feminine part of her weep with almost forgotten need. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been held so perfectly and made to feel almost fragile. It didn’t matter that in her high-heeled sandals she was almost his height and that she would never be anyone’s idea of delicate. Something about the way he touched her and kissed her made her feel almost girlish.
She could feel his individual fingers as they splayed across her back. He shifted slightly, moving closer, then brushed his tongue against her lower lip. The perfect sensation made her blood rush through her at the speed of sound, heating every inch of her body, making her part her lips in welcome. He brushed her tongue with his, letting her taste his sweetness. As he entered her mouth, a keen vibration took up residence low in her belly. He was as perfect as he’d been in her dreams…maybe more perfect. Her sternness, her resolve to stay unmoved by any man, her very separateness disappeared as if it had never been. She wanted him with a desperation that terrified her. But instead of pulling away, she clung to him, running her fingers through his thick hair and flattening her breasts against his chest.
Need pulled at her, making her want to tear off his clothes. She wanted him naked, on top of her, taking her in a moment of passion so explosive they risked their very lives by participating. She wanted him to know that she already ached and hungered. She wanted to mingle the very essence of their beings until they ceased to be individuals and were only the miraculous joining of two perfectly matched spirits.
The intensity of her response horrified her. She didn’t need any man—not even in bed. She was always in control. But the words had an empty sound and she found it difficult to concentrate on anything but the gentle stroking of his tongue a
nd the feel of his hands sliding up and down her back. She arched into his touch like a cat begging to be stroked. When his hand moved lower, cupping her rear, her hips automatically shifted, pressing against his lower body. She felt the hardness of his arousal. A quick, heady thrill shot through her.
He pulled back slightly so he could tenderly kiss her face. First her cheeks, then her nose, her forehead and finally her chin. He nibbled on her ear, then trailed down her neck, making her shake and gasp and wonder if they could do it right there on the hood of her car.
The image of herself surrendering with such abandon nearly had her reaching for the buttons of his shirt. Then, somewhere nearby, she heard a door slam. Reality intruded with the subtlety of a dinosaur crashing a tea party. She stiffened, then straightened and pulled back. They were in her driveway! What was she thinking?
She hadn’t been thinking, she realized as she tried to catch her breath. Her chest felt tight, as if her lungs could never fill up with enough air. The night was cool, but her skin was burning hot and her insides felt like melted butter.
Stephen shifted so that he was braced against her car, then put his hands on her hips and drew her to him. But she’d already learned her lesson about getting too close to him. She jerked free of his touch.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, hating the breathy quality of her voice. She’d wanted to sound powerfully outraged.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to kiss you again.” He gave her a sexy smile. “We both liked it, so why not?”
Sensible question, she thought grudgingly. However, she didn’t feel the least bit sensible.
“I can think of a dozen reasons not to do that again. This is crazy.”
“Is it?” In the darkness of the night, his hazel eyes looked fathomless. “Why?”
She sputtered but couldn’t come up with an answer.
He reached for her again, this time snagging her wrist. He tugged until she found herself standing between his splayed legs, although she was careful to keep their lower bodies from touching. If she felt his arousal again, she would lose all control and simply beg him to take her.
“The way I see it, it’s fairly simple,” he told her. “You’re single and I’m single. From all that I’ve heard, the last thing you’re looking for is a serious relationship. I have different reasons for my motivation, but the point is, I don’t want to get involved, either.”
His words should have eased her concerns but oddly, they made her feel sad. “What’s your problem with getting involved?” she asked.
“That’s not important. My point is we’re both responsible adults who know how the game is played. Why not take advantage of that? We could be friends.”
As he spoke his fingers had woven themselves between hers. He was stroking the back of her wrist—a neat trick that made her heart thunder and her breasts ache even more.
She deliberately pulled free of his touch and narrowed her gaze. “My mother didn’t raise a fool. You don’t want to be friends, you want sex.”
He leaned so close, she thought he was going to kiss her again. But he didn’t.
“So do you.”
He’d whispered the words, but they echoed in her brain like a shout. Damn him for telling the truth, she thought grimly. Between her long period of celibacy and the dreams she’d been having about him, she had all the resistance of melted snow.
“I resent the implication that I’m easy,” she said stiffly.
Stephen laughed. “Nora, you’re many things, but easy isn’t one of them. Trust me on this. You’re about the most complicated woman I’ve ever known. But I’m not like those other men you know. I’m not frightened of you and you can’t scare me away with your sharp tongue and quick wit. I think we could be good for each other. Both in and out of bed. We would go into the situation with everything clearly defined. I’m not looking for a string of bedmates. I want a lover—someone I can depend on and who will depend on me. Are you interested?”
She swallowed. He’d certainly spelled it all out, she thought, slightly stunned by his pronouncement. Lovers? As in monogamous bedmates? Sex and friendship without the worry of love and marriage? She didn’t approve of marriage. It rarely worked out well for the woman.
“We need each other,” he murmured, brushing his mouth against hers.
“I don’t need anyone.”
“Liar. You need me, big time. You’re tired of being alone. We’d be great together and you know it.”
As if to prove his point, he deepened the kiss, slipping between her parted lips and making her burn. She found herself wrapping her arms around him and leaning against his hard strength. She was so aroused that if he’d touched her intimately in any way, she would have lost control.
“I don’t know that I even like you,” she said when she finally found the strength to pull back.
He grinned. “Of course you like me. As you said, I’m brilliant and good-looking. What’s not to like?”
“You have an ego the size of Texas,” she muttered.
“You’re just the woman to cut me down to size.”
He gave her one last, hard kiss, then set her away from him. “Think about it,” he told her as he headed for his car. “I’ll be in touch.”
She wanted to think of something perfectly brilliant and pithy to hurl after him, but her mind was completely blank. If she wasn’t mistaken, this was the second time Stephen Remington had left her speechless.
“I really hate that,” she said to herself as he waved and drove off. “I’m not going to think about him or his ridiculous proposition. Not for even one second,” she promised herself. “I’m not interested and I would never agree. It’s crazy, just like the man himself.”
His soft response came to her as clearly as if he’d been there speaking directly into her ear.
“Liar.”
Stephen slapped down the medical journal he’d been trying to read and glared at the phone. He hadn’t seen Nora in a week. He’d left three messages for her—two at her house and one at her salon. She’d ignored them all. He’d expected her to play games; he just hadn’t thought they would go on this long.
He rose to his feet and paced to the window. His office overlooked a side yard. The grass was slowly coming back to life and turning green while the flowering bushes were in full bloom. Spring had arrived in Lone Star Canyon. But while the rest of the world was enjoying the longer days and warm temperatures, he was stuck reliving a kiss he should have been able to forget fifteen minutes after it happened. Worse, Nora was giving him the brush-off.
How could she do that? The passion hadn’t been all one-sided. He’d felt her arousal and her response to his kisses. She’d been trembling, overheated and willing. He knew that if they’d been somewhere slightly more private than her driveway, they probably would have made love that night.
He paused in his mental monologue and probed his heart. Did he mind that he was attracted to another woman? Did it break the rules?
He considered the questions and decided that as long as he didn’t fall in love with anyone, he was allowed to experience all the wonders the human body had to offer. After over two years of feeling like one of the living dead, he was alive again. Unfortunately the woman responsible for his resurrection had disappeared from his life.
In addition to leaving messages, he’d been lingering after hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of her when she left her shop. He’d been hovering by the entrance to the medical office, checking out patrons at the local restaurants and generally acting like an adolescent with his first crush. Dammit, he was a grown man interested in having a very adult affair. If Nora couldn’t handle that, she should simply tell him no.
He paced to his desk and perched on a corner. He understood her need for caution. After all, her past had left her bruised and not very trusting. But wasn’t a week long enough to figure out if she was over that or not?
He folded his arms over his chest and raised his chin. Nora could keep playing th
is game if she wanted, he decided, but he was finished. As soon as Nurse Rosie left for the day, he was going to walk over to the Snip ’n Clip and confront Nora face-to-face. There wouldn’t be any more games—just reasonable decisions about what was going to happen next.
That decided, he felt himself relax. He returned to his chair and picked up his medical journal. But before he could find his place and begin reading, there was a knock on his door.
“Come in,” he called.
Nurse Rosie opened the door. “You have a visitor,” she said. “Is this a good time for you to see her?”
His heart rate increased dramatically. Nora? Nurse Rosie’s expression was completely neutral. “Show her in.”
But the woman who entered his office wasn’t Nora. Instead she was a petite redhead wearing black jeans and a gray short-sleeved sweater. She gave him a worried smile, then took the chair on the opposite side of the desk. Stephen thought she looked familiar but he couldn’t place her.
“I’m Dr. Remington. How may I help you?”
“I’m Jill,” she said. “I work across the street at the Snip ’n Clip.”
Stephen nodded. That’s where he’d seen the woman before. She’d been in the underground shelter the day of the tornado. “Is there a problem?”
“Sort of.” Jill shrugged. “She’s gonna kill me. I just know it. But it’s been nearly a week and we’re all really worried. Maybe you could go look at her and let us know if she’s okay.”
“Who is ‘she’ and what’s wrong with her?”
“Oh. Sorry.” Jill leaned toward him. “It’s Nora. She’s had a stomach bug for nearly a week. She can’t keep any food down. She’s weak and has a fever, but she’s too stubborn to go to her doctor. Actually I think she’s too sick to drive that far.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “She, ah, drives across the valley to see a different doctor.”
“Yes, I know,” he said wryly. He was sure Nora would rather eat glass than claim him as her physician. Then he dismissed all personal thoughts and concentrated on the facts. “How high is the fever?”
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