The Southern Comfort Series Box Set

by Clark O'Neill, Lisa

  “Okay, enough already. We don’t have a lot of time, and right now I’m more interested in hearing why you felt the need to barricade yourself in here with a gun.”

  Lou Ellen’s finely stenciled brows knit together as she picked up the Winchester. “Let’s just say I’m not a fan of uninvited guests.”

  Ava had a sinking feeling that she knew what Lou Ellen was talking about. “The goon in the T-Bird?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Shit,” Ava said, abandoning all hope that seeing him tonight had been a coincidence. “What happened?”

  “About ten minutes after you and Katie left, the little yapper you have out back in the kennel started to put up a real din. Naturally, being cognizant of my responsibilities, I went out to investigate the cause of the distress.”

  Ava interpreted that to mean that Lou Ellen went out to tell the cocker spaniel to shut up.

  “At first I didn’t notice any detectable problems, but after I’d… consoled the animal and decided to go back inside, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. When I turned, he was there, leaning against that oak at the back corner of your property. He had the blade out again, trimming his nails, casual as you please.”

  “Oh, Lou Ellen.” Ava’s hand flew to her mouth as any number of horrible scenarios played in her head. Just because the goon – most likely – would hesitate before slitting her throat, it didn’t mean that he would think twice about doing a little carving on Lou Ellen. And the guilt that came with that knowledge gripped Ava’s heart like a vise.

  If anything happened to the older woman, she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

  “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “Because it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I took the yapper inside with me and put her in one of the cages, then got my shotgun and my liquid fortitude out of my car. By the time I came around back again he was gone.”

  “I’m so sorry, Lou Ellen.” Ava cursed the goon, her uncle, and herself for dragging her friend into this.

  “No sugarplum, sorry is a grown man who gets his kicks out of threatening women with his big, scary knife.” She sniffed her disdain. “Compensating, if you ask me.”

  Ava’s laugh was weak, but admiration had taken the sharpest edge off her anger. “You’re one hell of a woman, Lou Ellen Calhoun.”

  “Honey, tell me something I didn’t know.” She swung her free arm around Ava’s shoulder. “You gonna be okay here tonight?”

  “I’ll be –” Ava broke off as the door handle began to rattle.

  “Okay, your pansies should live to see another day,” Jordan said as he came back into the room. He took in the women’s positions and Ava’s strained expression. “Is there a problem?”

  “Nothing that a big strong man such as yourself shouldn’t be able to handle,” Lou Ellen proclaimed, to Jordan’s amusement and Ava’s dismay. “And since it seems to me that my continued presence here is superfluous, I’ll bid you both good night.” She hefted the shotgun over her shoulder. “Take care of yourself tonight, Ava. Jordan, I assure you, the pleasure’s been mine.”

  “Well,” Ava said when she and Jordan were uncomfortably alone. “Thanks again for the ride.” She moved to show him toward the door but he grabbed her by the arm.

  “Are you planning on staying here all night?”

  Ava gave his restraining hand a pointed look before raising her eyes toward his. “Not that I see where it’s any of your business, but yes. As a matter of fact, I am. I have two patients recovering from surgery, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving them alone.”

  “I’ll keep you company.”

  Her brow winged up. “Like hell you will.” She started to move past him but he tightened his grip on her arm.

  “Look, Ava, I’m aware of the fact that, for seemingly inscrutable reasons, you’re uncomfortable having me around. But the fact of the matter is that something obviously has you spooked enough to try to wreck my car, and for your landlord to guard your clinic with a shotgun. For equally inscrutable reasons, that worries me. I don’t like the idea of you being here all by yourself.”

  And the fact that he had sensed there was a problem worried Ava. It was in her best interest to keep that sort of thing as far off his radar as possible. With that goal in mind, she covered her irritation, and her nerves, with a smile. “As flattering as it is for you to go all white knight for my benefit, I can assure you there’s no need to worry. Lou Ellen’s merely… eccentric. And I can take care of myself.”

  JORDAN looked at the woman in front of him, all five feet three inches of her, and thought she might very well be capable, indeed. There was a toughness about Ava Martinez, despite all the soft feminine curves, that hinted of personal battles hard won. Regardless of that, Jordan had spent the day looking at evidence of what one depraved man could do to a woman. And being a slave to his protective nature, wasn’t about to leave her alone.

  “Humor me,” he cajoled. “My chain mail gets rusty if I don’t use it often enough.”

  Detecting that he may have put a chink in her own armor when her lips twitched, he pressed his advantage. “And you’d be doing me a favor. If I stay here, it won’t put me in the awkward position of kicking Clay and your friend out of my bed.”

  The lip twitch turned into a frown. “And what makes you think that Katie’s just going to fall into bed with a man she just met?”

  “Well, no offense.” He tugged innocently at his ear. He thought no such thing. “But she was sort of… rubbing against him for the best part of the last hour. Just making an educated guess.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Men are such pigs.”

  “First a knight, now a pig. I’ve really come down in the world. But since you’re a veterinarian, the fact that I’m swine shouldn’t pose too much of a problem.”

  When her smile threatened again, Jordan ran his hand down the arm he was still holding. “Can I stay? I promise not to wallow in the mud.”

  FOR the first time in her determination to be rid of him, Ava wavered. Despite the fact that she had what she considered a very strong backbone, she had to admit that the goon in the T-Bird was beginning to make her nervous.

  Jordan Wellington spelled bad news for her in almost every possible way, but tonight she figured he just might be the lesser of two evils.

  Plus, she had to admit. He was awfully damn cute.

  “Okay, Porky. You can stick around.” And when he grinned, dimples flashing, and Ava was tempted to just eat him up, she figured it was a damn good thing that she happened to be a vegetarian.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  IT was stupid. Yes, it was stupid, and ill advised, and an all-around bad idea, and there was every probability it would blow up in her face. But it was hard to remember that fact when Ava was having so much fun.

  There was no denying that aside from having a great personality, a keen mind, and a body that made her want to pull on her hiking gear and launch an expedition, Jordan Wellington was fun to be around. She looked at him over the stingy remains of the pizza – half loaded, half plain – that sat between them on the cot.

  “I swear,” Jordan commented as he tossed the crust from his final piece back into the open box. Ava closed the lid, stretching over to toss the box onto her desk because the cot had chewed up the tiny bit of floor space that wasn’t stacked with product samples and files. “I don’t know where you managed to put all that in your tiny little body.”

  “Give me a break,” Ava shot back around her final mouthful of cheese. “I had a carton of yogurt and a banana for lunch today, and then the surgery took so long that I didn’t have a chance to eat dinner. Do I look like the kind of woman who makes a habit of skipping meals?”

  “I…” he closed his mouth. “You do realize there’s no safe way for me to answer that.”

  “Tactful.”

  “Cautious. A man doesn’t learn to step carefully around a question like that – or its close relatives, do these jeans make me look fat and do you think sh
e’s prettier than me – he’s going to trip a landmine every time.”

  “Why do you think we ask?”

  WHEN she smiled – landmine defused – Jordan tried to find more room for his long legs by crossing one bare foot over the other.

  He’d ditched his shoes a couple of hours ago, and was working his way up to losing the pants. Not that he had any ulterior motive in mind. He simply could not be comfortable sleeping in his clothes.

  He hoped to convince Ava that she wouldn’t be comfortable in hers, either.

  “So do you do this often?” he asked, as an alternative to moving forward with that portion of the night’s program. If he didn’t think about something other than Ava Martinez naked, his pants were bound to become even more uncomfortable.

  “What? Sit in my office in the middle of the night and eat pizza with random guys?” She licked sauce off her fingers and nearly caused Jordan to break out in a sweat.

  “First of all, I’m not random. I’ve seen you three times in as many days, so we practically have a relationship. But I meant do you often stay overnight to keep an eye on your patients?”

  “Probably once a week.” She brushed her hands together as the last piece of crust disappeared into her mouth. “I try to schedule most of my surgeries on a single day, so that I only have the one night to contend with. But there are emergencies, like today, so I can’t always plan.”

  “It’s so cool, what you do.” Jordan thought of the dog she’d operated on today, which he’d helped Ava move into a cage after the animal had woken up. Then he thought about Finn and hoped that Clay would remember to let him out. “I guess I never really considered the fact that veterinarians are actually doctors.”

  Ava snorted, and pulled her legs up onto the cot beside her. Pretty legs. Really, really pretty legs. “Let me guess. You thought I spent my time vaccinating cats and tying little bows in poodles’ topknots.”

  “Something like that,” Jordan admitted uncomfortably.

  “Typical. Sort of like saying that lawyers only chase ambulances.”

  “A practice I’ve sworn off. It was hell on the feet.”

  Ava cast him a sideways glance. “So tell me, Mr. Assistant District Attorney. Are you any good?”

  “I’ve been told that I’m spectacular. But I’ll be happy to demonstrate if you’d like to find out for yourself.”

  Jordan chuckled at her bland stare. “Oh. I take it you were referring to my professional skills.”

  “I believe that was the topic.”

  “Right. Well, yeah. I’m damn good, if I do say so myself.”

  “You know, you’re a very cocky man.”

  Jordan flicked a crumb off his thigh. “I believe a more appropriate term would be self-assured.”

  “That’s the third time you’ve nitpicked my word choice. What are you, a damn thesaurus?”

  “As we’ve already discussed, I’m a damn lawyer. Playing with words is what I do.”

  “I see.” Ava shifted so that she was facing him, legs tucked to the side. The cot frame creaked ominously, and a metal brace popped out of nowhere to stab Jordan’s butt. The thing clearly hadn’t been intended to hold two. Glancing over, he considered that a gentleman might point out that he could see straight up Ava’s dress and into the Promised Land, currently covered by a very sexy pair of black lace panties.

  “And here this whole time I’ve been under the impression that you presented the evidence brought forth against a defendant in a criminal investigation.”

  “What?”

  “Being a prosecutor? Hello?”

  “Oh. Right.” Jordan guessed he wasn’t a gentleman, after all. He struggled, with a questionable degree of success, to keep his attention on the conversation. Flicking one last appreciative gaze toward her legs, he forced himself to look into her eyes.

  “You’re correct on the most basic level. But as my brother Jack, who’s a defense attorney by the way, always says: there are two sides to every crime. Evidence, however concrete it may be, is often open to interpretation based on circumstance. As a prosecutor, I choose my words very carefully when I present the evidence, so that it is most likely to be interpreted in a manner which falls into accordance with the current law.”

  “That’s an interesting way to put it.”

  “Laws change,” Jordan explained. “Societal mores are fluid, and laws generally reflect their times. Eighty odd years ago, hemp was poised to become the country’s first billion dollar crop, and twenty years before that we could have been arrested for the consumption of the alcohol we imbibed tonight. Now there’s a war on drugs, and liquor is perfectly legal. Several hundred years ago you could have been jailed, banished, or maybe even stoned for spending the night with me without the benefit of marriage, regardless of the fact that we may or may not have had sex.”

  “It seems the law doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with justice.”

  “Sometimes it doesn’t,” Jordan admitted. “Especially when it’s used to support some questionable government or corporate agenda. But a very wise man told me just yesterday that I can do no more than practice the law to the best of my ability, and leave justice in the hands of a higher authority.”

  “Interesting advice.”

  “Yeah. My dad’s full of it. Advice, that is.” He looked at Ava thoughtfully. “You know, I’ve told you quite a bit about my family over the past couple of hours, but you’ve yet to tell me one thing about yours.”

  AVA did her best to swallow past the lump in her throat. And berated herself for allowing him to stay, for starting this conversation. “What do you want to know?”

  “Anything. Everything.” He waved a hand in the air. “Brothers and sisters?”

  “Nope. It’s just me. There were some complications when my mother had me, and she ended up having a hysterectomy. Otherwise, I probably would have been the first of many. Big families run in the blood. My mother’s sister has ten children.”

  “Yikes. And I thought five was a lot. Are you close to your cousins?”

  Ava recalled the way her nervous aunt had all but shunned her during childhood, worried about the effect a Martinez might have on her children. “Not really.”

  “That makes you sad.”

  When she merely stared at him he touched a finger beneath her eye. “You got a sort of wistfulness here, when you said it. My father’s an only child also.” He took his finger away. “So I don’t have any cousins stateside. But the Australian branch of my family, my mother’s – my dad met her during a semester abroad, fell like a stone, but that’s a story for another time. Anyway, they breed like rabbits. You know, I seem to be using an awful lot of animal similes tonight.”

  Ava grinned. “Well, you know what they say about being in Rome.”

  “Yeah.” He ran his gaze around the room. “So did you always know this was what you wanted? Being a vet, I mean.”

  “For as long as I can remember. I was forever bringing home an orphaned this or a wounded that. It horrified my poor, long-suffering mother to realize that all of those pink frilly dresses she’d bought were being wasted on a tomboy. She had visions of tea parties and ballet lessons, and I was busy raising a family of frogs in the bathtub.”

  Jordan laughed. “That sounds like the stuff my brother Justin used to pull. But as he’s an MD and not a veterinarian, he used us as his guinea pigs. Of course, that meant he was obliged to bloody one of us before patching us up. But anyway, despite the trials and tribulations, I’m sure your mother’s proud of you now.”

  “She was,” Ava admitted, and couldn’t quite keep the thickness from her voice. “Very.”

  “I’m sorry.” His tone gentled. “I didn’t realize you’d lost her.”

  He had no idea how appropriate his word choice actually was. Her mother had disappeared from her church parking lot and hadn’t been seen for almost two years.

  “What about your father?”

  “You know.” She looked down her nose. “You’re very nos
y.”

  “Curious.”

  “There you go again, playing thesaurus.” But she was relieved that the conversation had turned back to safer ground. “Let’s hear the definitions, Lawyer Boy.”

  “WELL, nosy is a next door neighbor who buys a pair of binoculars and pretends to watch birds while in reality hoping to get a glimpse of what you’re doing in your backyard. Trust me, I know whereof I speak.” Jordan thought of the way Mrs. Phillips had hawked him and his brothers when they were growing up, waiting for a chance to tattle. Of course, her choice of veterinarians had redeemed the woman somewhat.

  “Curiosity,” he tilted his head toward Ava, “is what leads two people who are interested in one another to find out all they can about the other party. It’s also known as getting to know each other and, more specifically, dating. Being a veterinarian – and an incredibly attractive woman – I would think that you would know a thing or two about mating rituals.”

  Her brow shot up. “That’s what you think this is? A… mating ritual?”

  “Doc,” he mirrored her expression. “We’re sitting on a bed. And despite the fact that it feels like at any moment it’s going to collapse under our combined weight and is adorned with Mickey Mouse sheets – it’s still a bed, and as such is a traditional forum for the whole mating thing. It’s…” He checked his watch “nearly one o’clock in the morning, neither one of us has made any sort of overture indicating we’re interested in sleep, and since the first moment I laid eyes on you I’ve been… Well, let’s put it in some terminology you’ll understand: I’ve been quivering like a stallion anxious to mount a ready mare.”

  He didn’t want to rush her, but the leash he’d kept on his libido was definitely ready to snap. “Cut me some slack here, Ava. If I don’t touch you soon I’m going to break down and weep.”

  “Jordan, it’s not you. What I mean to say,” she continued when he winced “is that it’s just… it’s that I…” He met her eyes, watched her bite back the refusal that trembled on her lips. “Oh, what the hell. I’ve never liked to see a grown man cry.”

  With a noise of thanksgiving, Jordan pulled her into his arms.