Sandy Sullivan

by Doctor Me Up

  "Hi, Daddy." The warmth of her father's embrace began to heal the crack in her heart forged by her mother's passing and Ari's betrayal.

  "I'm so glad you're home, sweetheart."

  "Me too even if it's not permanent." She looped her arm through his as they walked toward the house.

  "How long are you staying?"

  "I've taken a month to be here with you to enjoy everything before I have to be in Billings for my residency."

  "Have I told you lately how proud I am of you? My daughter the doctor."

  "Yes, but you can say it a few more times." They laughed as they stepped on the porch and he pushed her into the rocking chair.

  "I'll get you some lemonade. You look wiped out."

  "I am. It's a long drive with not much else to do but think."

  Her father shook a finger at her as his lips turned down in a frown. "Don't even think about that guy. He's not worth the fuss. If I could have gotten my hands on him, I would have ripped him in half."

  Her deep sigh had to have revealed her turmoil to her father when he studied her face closely. "I know, Daddy. I just thought he was different, but he turned out to be like all the other men." She giggled. "Besides, Cade took care of him for me when he showed up at my apartment demanding his jewelry back."

  He patted her hand, saying, "I'll be right back. I want to hear all about it."

  She glanced across the open pastures with another heavy sigh. Home. Everything would be better at least for the month she planned to stay. Soft grass under her toes, warm sunshine on her face, cooling breezes blowing her hair would calm both nerves and heart. Enough of men. I don't need them. I don't want any of them around. I've got my life and my work. It's enough. A soft breeze picked up a piece of hair, blowing it across her cheek. As she pulled the strand back to tuck it behind her ear, she noticed a pickup truck she didn't recognize near the barn. Dually wheels and shiny chrome made her whistle through her teeth in a small show of appreciation. She always was a sucker for a guy with a truck.

  Did Dad buy a new truck?

  The bang of the screen door pulled her from her musings. She whispered thank you when her dad handed her the glass. "Did you get a new pickup, Dad?"

  "Oh, you mean the one by the barn."

  "Yeah."

  "It's not mine. Belongs to the vet. One of the mares is getting ready to foal. He's keeping an eye on her for me. Doc Alexander retired some months back. Doctor Melton took over his practice." Her father took a seat in the empty chair, sipping from his own glass. "Nice guy. Cade and Nat know him pretty well."

  "Hmm." She sipped her lemonade, glancing back at the barn. New vet.Colleague of sorts. "I should probably introduce myself."

  "Sure. He's a few years older than you."

  "I'm not looking for a man, Daddy."

  He held up his hands. "I didn't mean anything by it, Elizabeth. Just making conversation. Come on, I'll introduce you."

  "Should we take him some lemonade too?"

  "Good idea. It's pretty warm in the barn."

  After she retrieved a big glass for the vet, she headed to the barn with her father at her side. The huge white structure housed their prize horses, the tons of tack required and several stalls for sick cattle. The soft nickering of horses greeted them when they stepped inside.

  "Marcus?"

  "In here."

  "How's the mare?" her father asked as they approached a closed stall to the left.

  "She's progressing nicely. The foal should be here soon. Within the next few hours anyway."

  Her father pushed her with a hand at the small of her back, toward the stall where the doctor sat crouched in the hay with the heaving mare. She couldn't see much—a black cowboy hat, lean hips and firm thighs. "I'd like you to meet someone."

  "Oh?"

  "Marcus Melton, this is my daughter, Elizabeth Weston. She's home for a short visit before she heads off to Billings for her residency."

  He lifted his head, cocked an eyebrow and smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'd shake your hand, but I'm a bit tied up at the moment."

  Her stomach lurched at the sexy grin on his lips. Pretty blue eyes and nice long eyelashes stared back. Did he just wink at me? "No problem. I brought you some lemonade. We thought you might be thirsty."

  "Thank you. You can leave the glass right there. I'll get it in a minute," he said, going back to his work as he checked the mare again.

  "Have you been a vet long?" she asked, thoroughly intrigued by the self-assured man with the firm ass in those Wranglers.

  "A few years."

  "I just finished medical school. I guess that makes us colleagues of a sort."

  The grin appeared again as he looked up. "You can be my colleague anytime, darlin'."

  She glanced at her father, but he only shrugged. Was the man really flirting with her? Why does he remind me of the guy at the ball? "I guess we'll leave you to your work. I can't imagine being with a laboring mare for hours on end." She cocked her head, squinting as she tried to make out some more of his features. His hair looked thick and dark as the ends brushed his shirt collar. Strong hands, firm arms, broad shoulders—things he would need working with animals, she supposed. The lighting in the building left something to be desired if one thought to get a good look at one thing or another. "It was very nice to meet you. Maybe I'll see you around town. I'll be visiting for a while."

  "Sure. Maybe we can have dinner one night. You know, compare notes."

  When they left the barn, she looked at her father saying, "Wow. Definitely an alpha-male there."

  "Alpha-male?"

  "You know. Self-assured, cocky, arrogant."

  "He might be those things, Liz, but Marcus is the best vet I've seen in a long time. He knows his stuff. A couple of mares have already seen his expertise. Those aren't the only females following him around. Almost all the single women and half the married ones seem to need him to take care of their pets now more than ever." Her father scratched his chin. "He almost acted as if he knew you."

  "I've never met him before today, Daddy."

  Her father chuckled, looping his arm over her shoulder. "Well, I'm sure you'll meet him again in town or over at Cade's."

  She shrugged, heading for the house. "I suppose. For now, I need to unpack my car. Wanna help?"

  * * * *

  Marcus leaned back on his haunches as he listened to the fading footsteps. His body screamed for release from the torment of her voice on his libido. Celibacy sucked. He'd been in its clutches for too long now.

  Holy hell! I didn't realize she was coming back to town. Sweat trickled from under his cowboy hat, leaving a trail of wetness along his temple until he took off the felt, wiping the moisture away impatiently.

  "Gettin' her into bed would solve all my problems. Yep. A nice roll in the hay would get her out of my system so I can get back around to being single and available."

  He stumbled to his feet, wiping his palms on the towel lying across the stall gate. The mare was doing fine. He didn't really need to stay here, but if he walked outside and saw her again, he'd probably embarrass himself gawking like a teenager. Get a grip, man. She's just a woman.

  "Just a woman. Just the woman I've been dreaming about for the last eight months—the woman who can tie me up in knots with one look from those bottomless blue eyes."

  The sound of her laughter drifting into the barn on the breeze sent goose bumps down his arms and brought his cock at full attention. Damn it! "Why isn't she in Los Angeles? Neither Cade nor Natalie mentioned her coming home." He started to pace across the stall. "She's married or engaged at least, so it doesn't matter. She's off limits." He inhaled sharply, raking his fingers through his hair as the scene from the Halloween Ball came back to haunt him.

  "Can I buy you a drink?"

  She spun to her left, almost elbowing him in the ribs. "Uh, I'm sorry."

  "Don't be. It's not too often I run into a beautiful woman, literally."

  The white wig she wore for her costume emph
asized her ivory skin, making her almost glow in the ballroom lights. Her gown hugged her shape like she'd been poured into it as the tops of her breasts peeked above the neckline, begging for the touch of his lips. The blue of her eyes reminded him of the Montana sky in the middle of summer—crystal blue and clear as a mountain stream. The faint scent of lilacs reached his nose making him want to bury his nostrils in the curve of her neck to inhale her sweet fragrance.

  "Do I know you?"

  His cock hardened at the tone of her voice with its breathless, low, sexy sound.

  "I don't think so. I'm sure I would have remembered someone like you."

  "Are you from here?"

  "Yes."

  "I grew up here. I know everyone within a hundred miles or at least I used to."

  "Obviously not." He reached for a glass of punch from the table, handing her the plastic cup. "You look parched."

  "Thank you."

  They sipped the cool liquid in unison, as his gaze moved over her face to take in everything about her.

  She glanced away as she blushed at his perusal, he assumed.

  "What was that thought, beautiful?" he asked, one finger sliding down her bare arm.

  "Nothing, why?"

  "You frowned." He chuckled. "You could give me a complex with one of those looks."

  "Well, we can't have that now, can we?"

  "Come." He took her punch from her fingers and set both their glasses on the table. "Dance with me, please?"

  Tugging her toward the space set aside for dancing, he quickly swept her up in his arms and swung her around the floor.

  "You must have moved here recently," she said. Her dress swirled around their feet, playing peek-a-boo with his dark slacks and cowboy boots.

  "What makes you say that?"

  "Three things. One, as I said, I know everyone in Red Rock. Two, you waltz. No one here waltzes. Three, I'd remember those eyes if I'd seen them before."

  "Thank you for the compliment."

  "You're welcome." They continued to dance to the slow music, her right hand clutched in his left, her other hand on his shoulder with his at the small of her back. Her beautiful eyes kept him spellbound.

  He tipped his head in a silent acknowledgement. "You're correct in your assumption. I moved here about a year ago."

  "Ah. That explains why I don't recognize you. I moved from here several years ago."

  "Yet you return?"

  "For a visit, yes. My family is here."

  "Where do you live now?"

  "Los Angeles."

  "Too bad." He swung her in a wide circle, waltzing her out the side doors onto the balcony of the hotel, into a semi-dark corner. "It's a pretty night and warm for October, although the air is still crisp."

  "Yes, it is. It's usually much colder this time of year." Goose bumps rose on her bare shoulders and she rubbed her arms to ward off the chill.

  "Cold?" he asked, although he didn't wait for her response before he slipped his jacket off to drape it around her.

  "Thank you. It's a little chilly without a wrap of some sort."

  "What do you do in Los Angeles?"

  "I work at an international shipping firm while I pursue my degree."

  "Degree in what?"

  "Medicine."

  "Ah. A doctor, eh?"

  "Yes. I plan to specialize in family medicine."

  "Noble profession. Doctors, I mean."

  "What do you do? You don't look like a rancher." Her gaze swept over him from the top of his thick hair to the tips of his boots.

  "Ranching, no. But, I think I'll keep myself a bit of an enigma to you."

  "Why?"

  "Mystery is intriguing, is it not?" he whispered, his finger sliding along her jaw.

  "True."

  He couldn't breathe, couldn't think beyond the feel of her skin beneath his fingers. The heat, the need, and the desire reflected clearly in her gaze. She wanted him. No doubt. With lips parted, she invited his kiss with an unspoken word.

  For several moments, he stared into her eyes, lost and unaware of anything or anyone else around them. When he bent his head, she closed her eyes as if she wanted to take in everything about the kiss, his heart stopped beating, resuming with a slam against his ribs the moment their lips touched. The need to deepen the kiss to mind-blowing consumed him. The soft brush of his tongue on her bottom lip opened her mouth on a sigh. Tongues entwined, sliding over each other, both trying to taste the other and absorb the moment of their first kiss. He deepened it, exploring her mouth, tasting everything she had to give with every stroke of his tongue.

  Brushing his fingertips against the flesh of her breast swelling above the neckline of her gown, he thought he'd die to feel the weight of them in his hands.

  He left her mouth to skim along her jaw until he flicked her earlobe with his tongue. A soft nip to her shoulder made her sigh as she leaned into him.

  "I wish your hair was down. I bet it’s gorgeous flowing around your shoulders," he murmured, kissing the stinging spot left by his teeth.

  The roaring in his ears muffled all sounds until the second call of her name. "Elizabeth?"

  He lifted his head, smoothing his thumb over her bottom lip as he smiled. "Someone looks for you."

  "Apparently."

  "Thank you for the dance and the kiss. We'll meet again."

  "You're welcome," she whispered, as he took two steps back while she shrugged out of his jacket to return the garment to him.

  He'd winked and smiled before he turned to walk away.

  Reliving that moment had tortured him for the last eight months. Her perfume still enveloped his jacket as it hung in his closet. Cade and Natalie wanted to introduce them, but he refused not wanting to break the enchantment of the night with the real world intrusion.

  Marcus Melton wasn't a debonair man able to woo a woman off her feet with sweet words and soft kisses. He was a country veterinarian used to being elbows deep inside a horse or a cow, not some rich bastard who wore tuxedos or drove a fancy car. His fancy sports car came in the form of a pickup truck. His tuxedo consisted of a western shirt, jeans and worn cowboy boots.

  The night of the ball, his world stopped and started in the beautiful blue eyes of Elizabeth Weston. He hadn't been the same since.

  Chapter Two

  Elizabeth made several trips back and forth to her car. All of her worldly goods sat in the back seat, front seat or trunk. When she left Los Angeles, she left for good. To hell with Ari and to hell with that town. Right after the blowup at the airport, she'd gone to his office, quit her job and packed her things. The entire office gasped when she informed them she was leaving, but no one seemed surprised when she told them why.

  Fucking asshole. Everyone in the office probably knew all about his infidelity but no one could bother to inform the girlfriend."Doesn't matter. I'm done with men."

  She glanced at the barn squinting to see better as Marcus came out to stop at his truck. After a brief moment, he looked up and their gazes locked. He was taller than she originally thought. Well over six feet of muscle from his bulging biceps to his firm thighs. Wranglers encased his lower half, hugging the curve of his ass, over his legs, down to his feet, molding to each long, lean line of his body.

  A shiver rolled through her, pissing her off. Desire was something she didn't want to feel for anyone at the moment. The vet wasn't her type at all. Sure, he seemed to have a nice body, but he wasn't cut for a business suit or tuxedo. She enjoyed a man with the cloth of a jacket molded to his ripped chest. How a dress shirt would sculpt to every plane as if he'd been poured into his clothing. Linen slacks encasing his firm thighs, hiding the body beneath until you unwrapped it like a Christmas present. The last thing she needed to do was get involved with another man so soon after her breakup with Ari.

  The kiss of the mysterious masked stranger at the Halloween Ball came back to haunt her. Her nipples beaded into tight nubs. Goose bumps raced across her arms. The man knew how to dress. Boy did he kno
w how to kiss. Her toes curled in her shoes as she crossed her arms over her chest to hide her reaction to the memory.

  "Are you leaving, Marcus?" her father asked, walking down the stairs on the front of the house.

  "For now. I'll be back later though. I have a couple of patients to see at the office."

  Her father moved to Marcus's side, but she could still hear their conversation.

  "The mare still has a few hours of laboring left before the foal arrives, but if there is any trouble, call me and I'll be back immediately."

  "How about staying for supper?"

  The frown on his face made Elizabeth wonder at the cause. "No, I couldn't really. I wouldn't want to impose on your daughter's first night home."

  "Nonsense. I'm sure Liz would love to have you." Her father looked her way. "Right, honey?"

  "Of course. You're more than welcome, Doctor Melton."

  He looked thoughtful for a moment like he wanted to refuse. "How can I turn down such an invitation? Thank you." After he opened the truck door, he glanced back and said, "I'll see you two in a few hours then."

  "I'll keep an eye on the mare."

  "Thanks."

  Elizabeth watched his truck disappear down the driveway, wondering about the strange reaction she had to him.

  The phone rang in the house and her father jogged up the porch steps to answer it as she grabbed the last of her things from the car. "Honey, it's Natalie."

  "I'll be right there, Daddy. Tell her to hang on."

  With her stuff clutched to her body, she headed for the house and the lecture she knew was coming from her sister-in-law. At every turn, Natalie made sure to tell her how much of an asshole Ari was and how he hadn't been good enough for her anyway. Unfortunately, she couldn't dispute any of her reasons and actually agreed with most of Natalie said.

  "Hey, Nat."

  "How was the drive?"

  "Long, tiring, boring, exhausting. What else would you like to know?"

  Natalie laughed. "At least you're home. You can sit back, relax, and enjoy your month here, get your bearings back. There are several nice men around Red Rock."

  "I'm done with men."