Gun Shy

by Diane Saxon

  “Yeah, I do.” Bill wandered back into the kitchen and lifted the coffee pot in invitation.

  Kate nodded, her mouth watering as she watched the other woman pour thick, black liquid into another mug. “I thought I heard voices. I hope I’m not disturbing you. I never thought to ask last night if anyone else lived here. I think by the time my head hit the pillow I was oblivious to anything.” With a grateful nod, she took the coffee Bill offered her.

  “I live alone. The idea was to get away from the constraints of having five brothers and dozens of damned male cousins who all seem to want to look out for me. I get some peace and quiet out here, but you’ll soon see I’m rarely on my own for long. Worst damn thing I did was put a gymnasium in my cellar.” She gave a good-humored grumble. “It’s a good one too, it just means the boys all have an excuse to come around and interfere in my life some more.” Holding out a bowl filled with lumps of dark brown molasses sugar, Bill offered it to Kate. A smile quirked her lips as Kate piled in three lumps.

  “Same way Jack drinks it.”

  The rhythmic pounding of rock music thundered through the house with such ferocity, the last piece of sugar hit Kate’s coffee with a plop as she almost jumped out of her skin. The house had been so silent up until that moment, Kate had thought they were alone.

  Bill laughed. “Some of them are down there now. If you want to join them, you’re welcome, but they’re very competitive, especially when females are around. All that testosterone comes bubbling to the surface, and whilst it may be vaguely amusing for a while, I’m sick of it now. Especially as I can whip their asses at most things.” She grinned in a naughty schoolgirl kind of way and wrinkled her nose. “I’m not so hot on weight lifting.” She raised her arms and showed off her sleek muscles.

  Kate nodded her approval with true admiration, unsure whether Bill wanted her to give her muscles a little squeeze, but before she was tempted, Bill dropped her arm back to her side. “Hell, I can out-run and out-row them any day.” She took a good slug of her coffee before she flicked her head to indicate downstairs. “Want to join them?”

  “Oh no.” With a puff of laughter, Kate stepped back. “I’m really not very competitive and I don’t exercise. Normally I don’t get much of a chance with the hours I work.”

  Bill gave a critical study of Kate’s figure and pulled her face as though she didn’t believe her.

  “I run around the hospital corridors—a lot!”

  The curve of Bill’s lips deepened. “I think you may need to learn how to run faster and farther once my brothers get a load of you. We should consider shipping good-looking females in more often.”

  Unsure whether to be flattered or offended, Kate closed her mouth on whatever it was she’d been about to say. She’d not been shipped in for anyone else’s purposes but her own development and experience as an ER surgeon. But the sight of Jack as he ran through the front yard, chased by the two German Shepherds, zapped her mind and fried her brain cells.

  Sexy cowboy she may have believed the previous night when her mind was fogged and her eyes weary, but she’d been unprepared for the sight of a half-naked god charging toward her.

  The muscles in her thighs quivered with protest as her brain insisted her legs hold her upright, but there was no command strong enough to tell her to peel her gaze from the sight of his broad chest and his sweat-soaked gray T-shirt.

  He stepped into the kitchen while the dogs bounded around him in a wild flurry of fur and excitement.

  His dark gaze met hers, and he halted mid-doorway. His arms hung loose by his sides, and he ignored the dogs as they butted their noses into the palms of limp his hands.

  “Hi.”

  It wasn’t fair. How did the man have the ability to faze her every thought?

  “Hey.” Not the most stimulating response, but she had nothing else.

  She raised her cup, dipped her head to hide her face in case he spotted the naked lust which surely must show as she scanned the long length of his tanned and muscular legs. The fine sheen of sweat coating them made her want to lick her lips.

  When her gaze reached his crotch, it automatically skittered away as a wild heat rushed her face at the sight of his obvious erection. Goodness, the man must have enjoyed his run. She had no idea where to look, except at the floor which would appear stupid and juvenile.

  She was a grown woman. She was a doctor. She’d seen plenty of penises. She raised her head just as Bruno plowed his big, shiny black nose into Jack’s groin, and she almost felt the man’s pain as he grimaced with shock and grabbed the dog’s snout in self-defense. “Easy, boy, easy.”

  Oblivious to it all, Bill poured a large glass of water and held it out to Jack. The glow of sweat covering his skin shimmered as his throat contracted while he downed the whole glass in one go.

  “I was just telling Kate how I can’t seem to get rid of you all.”

  Jack reached out and pulled Bill in for a strong hug and a loud smacking kiss on the top of her head as he handed the empty glass back to her. To Kate’s surprise, Bill’s response was to tuck her chin in and punch him in the gut. The soft expulsion of breath proved she hadn’t held back.

  “She doesn’t want to get rid of us, which is why she built the gym.” He knuckled his fingers into Bill’s short jet-black hair like she was a teenage boy rather than a stunningly attractive woman. As Bill slanted a look up at him, he gave her a clumsy pat on her shoulder and swiped up the coffee cup she’d just filled for him.

  “I need a shower, then I’m off to work.” He turned his dark, assessing gaze on Kate, allowed it to smoulder until she wondered if she might just ignite from the heat of it. Was he about to ask her to join him?

  She wasn’t sure if she had the strength to resist if he did. But he took a deep gulp of his coffee and sauntered to the far door, just as three young cowboys shouldered their way into Bill’s kitchen.

  It wasn’t fair. They all seemed to have inherited the good-looks gene, which made her wonder why they were single, according to Bill. Then again, on second looks, maybe they were all a little young. Especially for her taste.

  Her taste ran more to the fully matured alpha male who was just squeezing his way past his cousins.

  ∙•∙

  The chill of the water hit Jack’s body as he stood naked in the shower.

  He’d very nearly asked her to join him. If his cousin hadn’t been there, he may well have.

  Naked and aroused, every square inch of him thrummed with interest. An interest which hadn’t dissipated in the least once she was out of his sight, because she remained in his memory, live and breathing.

  He ground his teeth, ducked his head under the showerhead, and listened to the gush of water as it pounded over his flesh, cooling his body but not his blood.

  Smiling to himself, Jack dumped shampoo on his hair and frothed it up while thoughts of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman raced through his mind. She’d probably thought he hadn’t seen her cool-eyed assessment of his body. It had hardly been subtle as her gaze had raked over him, taking in the sweat slicked down his legs when he’d arrived.

  Overheated already from the run, it hadn’t taken much for the blood to rush to his groin at the sight of the well-rested and definitely attractive doctor sipping coffee in his cousin’s kitchen.

  Bruno had soon knocked his obvious arousal straight out of him. Jack would have loved to have curled over in a defensive position to protect his privates from any further abuse, but the doc’s narrow-eyed amusement had forced him to stand straight and act tough. It had cost him every breath he’d owned, but he’d managed it.

  His previous decision to avoid the pretty little doctor was the wisest, or he was going to find himself with a lot more problems than he could deal with. Which was exactly why he’d left her with his cousins. No woman was worth that amount of trouble.

  His body stirred once more at the thought of her. He dunked his soapy head under the spray and turned the temperature down another notch in t
he hope he might freeze her from his brain.

  Chapter Four

  Amazed at how fast things were sorted when an entire sheriff’s department chipped in, Kate cast her gaze around her new work environment. Inside of a week, the medical center had been cleared for opening, the stolen equipment replaced by the insurance company and the vandalism cleared up.

  It took even less time for Bill to locate the administrator and have Kate moved into her furnished apartment. And with a wave of relief, Kate received her new credit cards. All set, she should be excited, but the shaky start had cost her some confidence.

  She slipped her scrubs off and dumped them in the linen basket while she hung her stethoscope in her locker. She needed a breath of fresh air and a good dose of strong coffee after the shift she’d worked. Much longer than anticipated. She may have moved country, but the idiots were still the same, and by the time she’d stitched up her fourth victim of a drunken bouncy castle party, she was ready to call it a day.

  She’d spoken several times to her sister and parents to reassure them she was fine. There was no point worrying them with the details of her disasters when they were so far away. There was nothing they could do.

  The sharp hitch of tears hit her every time she spoke with her sister. She damped down the wave of homesickness and tried to convince herself she’d not made the wrong decision.

  She tugged her hair out of its severe bun and rubbed her fingers against her scalp to relieve the tension there. Before the humidity could whip it into a wild mess, she plaited it into a loose braid and flicked it over her shoulder.

  Although most of the staff had been transferred from the old hospital, there were a good number who were new, and the atmosphere was buoyant and positive with a pristine building and expensive, shiny equipment to work with.

  Keen to get to know each other, there was no shortage of invitations from the new staff to go out. There was no reason why she should be homesick. She’d thought she was stronger, but despite her popularity, the loneliness closed in.

  She swung through the hospital doors and headed for the buzz of The Shake and Bake Shack. The best coffee shop in town. The coffee was strong, just the way she liked it. The food was so good too, she often ate there as she rarely found time to cook for herself.

  She hadn’t seen Jack since the morning after she’d arrived when he’d been half naked in Bill’s house, but the image of him had stayed with her, outweighing the memory of their initial meeting.

  Despite the way his eyes had glowed at her, he’d made no effort to contact her since. He may be an important man, high enough to delegate, but she’d thought she might see him again.

  She glanced both ways before she crossed the street. She pushed back curling tendrils of hair from her warm forehead. Still only early morning, the heat had already started to build, making her thankful for the air conditioning in both the hospital and her apartment. She wasn’t used to such temperatures.

  There was only one thing that could make her heat up even more, and that was the gorgeous sheriff.

  ∙•∙

  The sassy swing of her long, blonde plait grabbed his attention as she sashayed along the sidewalk. He tilted his head to admire the gentle sway of her hips. He’d never seen a woman move with such grace.

  He’d not taken the time to watch her when she arrived due to the lopsided gait she’d developed because of the broken kitten heel, but now that he had the chance, the quick thrum of his pulse gathered speed.

  Avoidance had been his intention, instincts warning him that the woman was dangerous, but at the first sight of her, working her way down the other end of the street, his resolution grew wings and proved exactly why he should avoid her.

  He narrowed his eyes, contemplated the wisdom of following her into The Shake and Bake Shack, and lost the argument with himself. It was the skim of her skirt just above the knees, leaving shapely calves and slim ankles on display, that tipped the balance.

  Irritated with his lack of control, he slammed out of the police vehicle, casting a furtive glance both ways as he crossed to the sidewalk, breaking into a slow trot to catch up with her. He could have parked outside the Shack, but if anyone spotted him, his reputation would be in cinders, especially if his grandmother found out, which was the last thing he needed. If he was going to scope out the pretty blonde doctor, he needed time and privacy, not his grandmother throwing a diamond ring on the woman’s finger—a sure-fire way to send him running in the opposite direction.

  Sweat broke out on his forehead. He’d never chased a woman in his life, and he wasn’t, he convinced himself, chasing one now. It was purely a desire to check whether his department had done their duty. A follow-up.

  Blue skies brought the promise of another hot day with temperatures already laying a fine trickle of sweat down his spine. Good days meant less work, but sweltering ones meant the madness took hold of a generally sane population. It was a good one today, but they were heading toward the sweltering.

  The Shack wasn’t his first choice, but as that’s where the good doctor had chosen to take her break, that’s where he wanted to be.

  He swung open the door, scanned the room, and spotted her straight away. With a coffee cup already cradled in her hands, her cool, clear gaze scanned the room and caught sight of him as fast as he saw her. Blue as the morning sky, her eyes lit up and seared him with the heat of the blazing sun he’d just escaped. The cold blast of air-conditioning was the only thing that stopped him from going up in flames.

  Run. He should run. Though he closed the door behind him, he should have stuck with his initial decision to avoid her. He’d trapped himself, and, unless he received an urgent call from the jailhouse, he was obliged to take a seat and gulp down coffee like that was the reason he was there.

  The crackle of empty static from his radio teased him as he weaved his way through the tables to where Kate sat, while he prayed for a convenient murder to rescue him.

  The brilliance of her smile cast the rest of the Shack in shadow, and he knew he was doomed.

  “Hey.”

  “Hi.”

  He scooted into the booth. His knees crashed into hers as he tried to squeeze in the mean gap between the bench and table, the very reason he rarely used The Shake and Bake Shack. The only giveaway sign as she jiggled in the seat opposite, shuffling across to the middle to make room for him, was the quick wince as her knees bumped into his twice more.

  “Sorry.”

  He raised one eyebrow, quirked her a quick grin, and jostled a little more until he could stretch his long legs out on either side of hers.

  “Sorry.”

  Amused that she seemed to think it was her fault, he raised his head in time to thank the waitress for the coffee she brought him.

  “Anything else I can get you, Sheriff?” Black kohl-ringed eyes blinked an invitation at him from the woman who was barely out of pubescence. He tried not to sigh, but if word was still out there that he wanted a wife, he was going to have to be far more forceful when he next met with his grandmother.

  “Sure, I’ll have cherry pie.” Determined not to encourage the girl, he flicked her a polite smile before taking his Stetson off and placing it on the table next to his elbow.

  Kate’s knowing gaze met his. “I’m pleased to see you.”

  A quick thrill buzzed through him.

  “I wanted to thank you for all the help your office has given the hospital so they could open again so soon.”

  Disappointed, he kept his features blank. “Just doing our job.”

  She picked up her cup and blew the top in a gentle waft while she scrutinized him through the steam. He dipped his gaze to her lips as they parted as if she was about to say something more, but the sharp clatter of a plate hitting the table jerked him around in time to stop the quick slide of cherry pie before it launched into his lap. The fast move had his fingers dripping with red goo, but the kohl-eyed waitress had already made off, her attention centered on Sean, the youngest of hi
s deputies and one of Bill’s five brothers.

  He'd become paranoid. He swiped up a paper napkin and wiped the sticky cherry from his fingers. Not all women had their sights set on him, and young kohl-eyes evidently preferred his deputy.

  “Seems like you may have lost your touch.” Kate’s lips twitched into a smile, and he realized she’d been aware of the girl’s attention… and rapid loss of it. Kate placed her coffee cup back on the table and scooped her braided hair around and over one shoulder. Try as he might not to stare, he couldn’t help but track the length of it over her breast.

  “I’ve been invited to Lou’s Bar tomorrow night.” He dragged his attention back to her face, surprised at her quick change of conversation. “I wondered if you’d be there.”

  Suspicion gave an ugly tug. “Have you met my grandmother?”

  Her soft snort brought a smile to his lips. “I don’t need anyone to choose my wedding dress, thank you. It was just an inquiry, not an invitation.”

  Shame. He picked up his fork and sank it into the pie as the dark red cherry oozed out. Disappointment squirmed. He might have taken her up on it, if it had been an invitation.

  She picked up her coffee and took another sip. If he wasn’t working, he may well have pitched up at Lou’s Bar out of curiosity.

  The trill beep of her pager went off, and she yanked it from where it was attached to her belt. “Got to go.” Smooth and elegant, she slipped from behind the table, barely sliding her naked leg against his trousers, but the heat of contact shot straight to his belly to leave him breathless. Before he recovered his wits she’d flipped coins on the table for her coffee and was gone.

  He scooped cherry pie into his mouth and chewed as she disappeared from sight. Too attractive by far with her thick rope of hair, never quite neat. She was a temptation he could sorely do without, but he’d love to see her even more ruffled. He took another bite of pie and craned his neck to see if he could spot her going down the street, but she’d already disappeared from view.