Her Kind of Doctor

by Stella Bagwell

  “Timothy is a type of grass. It makes hay for cattle and horses and other livestock. Sometimes ranchers like to mix it with alfalfa. That’s why Grandfather raises both kinds. There’s a demand for each.” She tilted her head and gave him a curious look. “Was there not any farming where you grew up?”

  He shook his head as memories of his old hometown drifted to the forefront of his mind. “Not really. We lived in a small town, where most of the jobs were related to the nearby coal mines. Not many folks owned large pieces of property. There might have been a few outside of town that owned cows or farm animals. But coal was king there. Unfortunately.”

  Frowning, she put down her fork and looked at him. “Why do you say it like that? Did your dad work in the mines?”

  Luke wished they’d not gotten on to the subject of his past. He’d spent years trying to forget those struggling times. Talking about it stirred up too many heartaches. But it was only natural for Paige to ask questions. And it wouldn’t be fair to her for him to shy away from the answers. No matter how much of a sick taste they left in his mouth.

  “He worked for the coal company, but not as a miner. He was a mechanic. He kept the trucks running that were used at the mines. I remember as a child how he used to come home dog-tired, his clothes black with grease. He earned a pitiful salary and yet I felt relieved he wasn’t a miner. Because even then I realized the dangers of working underground. I didn’t want him to die in an explosion or from some sort of lung disease. But in the end, I—I lost both him and Mom for reasons that had nothing to do with his job.”

  “I remember you said they died in a car accident.”

  Yes, he’d told Paige that much. But he’d not explained why they’d been driving late at night on a foggy mountain road. How would Paige feel about him if she knew his parents had desperately wanted him to come home and open a practice in their hometown, but he’d refused? Would she understand that he’d not wanted to work sixteen hours a day for little more than appreciation from his patients? Or that he’d considered his job and life with Andrea back in Baltimore more important than anything.

  You’d better enjoy today, Luke, before you spring all that truth on her. Because once she knows what a selfish bastard you were back then, she might never want to be with you again. Even in the ER.

  He released a long breath and said, “From what the highway patrol told me, the mountain road my parents were traveling was very foggy and Dad didn’t see the oncoming curve.”

  Her expression sober, she said, “Working in the ER makes you see just how a person’s life can change in an instant. Whether it be from an accident or a medical incident.”

  He let out another long breath. “Yeah. Telling a family member or friend that their loved one didn’t make it—I’m supposed to be the strong professional, but there are times I can barely get the words out.”

  “I would never be strong enough to handle that job,” she admitted.

  “I wouldn’t say that,” he replied. “I have a feeling you’re strong enough to do anything you set your mind to.”

  She leaned attentively forward and Luke couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting down the long creamy line of her throat. She was wearing some sort of mint-green sundress that made a V against her chest and tied at the back of her neck. A hint of cleavage showed at the bottom of the deep neckline and suddenly he was imagining how she might look without the cotton fabric covering those lush curves.

  “Were any of your family doctors?” she asked. “I’ve often wondered what made you want to be one.”

  Her question jerked his meandering thoughts back to the present and he let out a mocking grunt as he answered, “My family, doctors? We barely had enough money to keep groceries in the cupboards. My sister and I wore secondhand clothes to school. In high school I took a job as a grocery stocker in my spare time just to earn enough money to buy an old used car. No. Doctors didn’t hang from my family tree.”

  Her brows lifted with curiosity. “Then what happened? How did you become Dr. Luke Sherman, MD?”

  Losing his appetite for the remaining food on his plate, Luke rose to his feet and walked a few steps over to the waist-high rail that bordered the terrace.

  “A teacher in high school steered me toward the idea—because I was good in chemistry and science. I’d already seen plenty of friends and neighbors in desperate need of a doctor’s care, so the idea of helping people get healthy appealed to me. But to me and my family, becoming a doctor might as well have been flying to the moon.”

  She left the table and came to stand next to him. “You must have managed to get a few scholarships or grants.”

  “I did get those things. But mostly I had Uncle Styles—Dad’s brother. He took me into his home and helped me with college expenses. Compared to my parents, Uncle Styles was wealthy. You see, he’d left West Virginia years before and made a better life for himself. That’s all I’d ever wanted, too. I wanted to get out of my hometown and never look back. Somehow, someway, I was determined to make something of myself so that I could help my parents.”

  Moving closer, she looped her arm through his and the contact helped to warm the chill that always seeped through him when he thought of his family and those struggling years.

  “What about your parents, Luke? Why didn’t they follow your uncle’s example and move away, too?”

  He gazed toward the lake, where evergreens shaded the peaceful shoreline. In spite of the incredible beauty around him, his parents would’ve felt very out of place here. And they wouldn’t have understood why he was here, rather than his old hometown.

  “Believe me, Paige, I asked them that question more than once and their answer was always the same. They were home in a community full of friends. They had each other and me and my sister. That was all they ever seemed to want.”

  “They must have loved each other very much,” she said softly, then glanced up at him. “That love meant more to them than things or wealth. I can understand how they felt, Luke. I lived in luxury with David, but it was an empty life because he didn’t really know what love was. I doubt he’ll ever know.”

  Her comments made Luke wince. There had been many times he’d wondered if he knew what love meant and whether he’d ever actually felt it. Once he’d learned Andrea would step on anyone who got in the way of her lofty goals of money and social standing, he’d divorced her. But on the opposite hand, Luke wasn’t sure he could give up everything he’d worked to obtain just for someone to love him. Was that because he’d never felt the real thing?

  “I don’t believe it was wrong for me to want a better life for my parents. I’ve already explained how hard my dad worked. Well, it was no better for my mother. She worked in a dry cleaners and would come home wringing wet from the heat, then head to the kitchen to cook our meals.” Frowning, he shook his head. “They didn’t want money from me. Oh, once I got past my internship, they accepted it. But after they died I learned every penny was still in a savings account. That cut me deep, Paige.”

  “You tried. That’s all you could’ve done. And I’ll tell you something, Luke, my grandfather would be no different than your parents. His wants are simple. And I’m glad. I wouldn’t want him to change for me or anyone else. Because he’s happy. And that’s all any of us ever truly wants, isn’t it? Just to be happy.”

  His expression wry, he turned to her. “Why do I always make things so complicated and you come along and make them so simple?”

  Her lashes fell, hiding the expression in her eyes, but it was plain something had suddenly brought a touch of sadness to her face.

  She said, “Probably because I’m a simple person, Luke. Much too simple for you.”

  Groaning, he circled his arms around her and pulled her close. “Paige, that’s a ridiculous thing for you to say.”

  She tilted her head back and though she was trying to smile, he could see her lips quivering from the effort. Her vulnerability tugged at Luke in a way that startled him and it suddenly dawned on him
that this wasn’t just a sexy woman in his arms. This was Paige. A woman he wanted to make happy and protect.

  “It’s not ridiculous,” she countered. “Yes, we work together in the field of medicine. But that’s where it stops. Our lives are…basically different.”

  He shook his head, then pushed a hand into her thick hair. Beneath his fingers, the coarse waves snapped with a life of their own and as he leaned his head closer, the faint scent of violets drifted to his nostrils. The simple, charming scent fit her perfectly.

  “That’s not entirely true,” he murmured. “Besides, everyone knows that opposites attract.”

  The crease between her brows disappeared as her smile deepened. Then her hands flattened against his chest and began an upward climb toward his shoulders.

  “Hmm. Maybe there is something to that old adage. But we’ve worked together for a long time. I never imagined you like this—with your arms around me.”

  Desire was already stirring deep within him and he’d not yet kissed her. The notion wreaked havoc with his senses. “And I never envisioned having you in my arms.”

  “What does that tell us, Luke?”

  His arms wrapped her closer as he lowered his mouth down to hers. “It means we were both incredibly blind and numb, my sweet.”

  But he was seeing plenty now and feeling things he’d never expected to feel. He just didn’t know if it was going to lead him to a happy place, or a deep, dark pit. One he could never climb out of.

  Chapter Nine

  The taste of Luke’s mouth was just as delicious as she remembered and as Paige closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, she didn’t care if he could see how much she wanted him. She was tired of being cautious. Weary of not allowing herself to grab the pleasures this man could give her.

  And, oh, he was definitely giving her that and more, she decided, as his arms tightened around her and his lips began a heated search that left her knees shaky and her lungs burning for oxygen.

  Just when she thought she was going to wilt, he lifted his mouth from hers just long enough for her to suck in a deep breath and then the kiss started all over again. Only this time he was using more than his lips to send her senses reeling off toward the blue sky. His tongue was delving deep into her mouth, exploring the ribbed roof, and the edges of her teeth. At the same time, his hands were roaming over her back and buttocks, drawing her tighter and tighter against his hard body.

  Desire, in the form of a thousand burning arrows, shot straight through her, scorching every cell in her body. She’d never felt such a reckless need in her life and the more he touched her, the wilder it grew.

  When his mouth finally tore away from hers, she opened her eyes to see he was breathing hard and his narrow, hazy gaze was combing her face.

  “Paige, we’ve either got to stop right now or carry this inside—to my bedroom.”

  He was giving her a choice. Giving her a moment to gather her senses and think about what he was asking of her. But Paige didn’t need another moment, another day or even a week to decide whether she wanted to be in Luke’s bed. Her body had already made the decision for her. She couldn’t pull away from him now. No more than she could ask herself to stop breathing.

  Wrapping her hand around his, she said, “Let’s go inside.”

  A mix of relief and triumph flickered in his eyes before he placed a swift but promising kiss on her lips. And then he was leading her off the deck, through a spacious kitchen and down a passageway, where partially opened doorways gave glimpses of perfectly decorated bedrooms.

  At the end of the hallway, they entered a master bedroom furnished with a cherry-wood four-poster and a dresser so massive it would probably hold every stitch of clothing she possessed. Although the drapes along one wall were open, the room was shaded from the western sun by a copse of pines and fir trees. Beyond the trees, a patch of deep blue lake merged with the azure-blue sky.

  The outside view was incredible, but it couldn’t compare to the feelings surging though her as Luke led her to the side of the bed, then tilted her face up to his.

  “When I asked you to come here today for lunch I was afraid you’d say no. After what happened the last time you were here I imagined you were probably thinking sex was all I wanted.”

  “Isn’t it?” she asked bluntly.

  “Is that what you really think?”

  Cradling his face with both hands, she murmured, “I’m feeling so many things right now, Luke, I’m not sure what I think. The only thing I’m sure about is that I want you—more than you can imagine.”

  A groan slipped out of him as he buried his face in the side of her neck. “And I want you. That’s a start for us. Isn’t it?”

  She slipped her arms around him. “Yes,” she said thickly. “It’s a start.”

  He moved his face back to hers and began kissing her again. At the same time, his fingers found the knotted fabric at the back of her neck and began to loosen it. Once the straps of her dress fell away and the fabric slipped to her waist, he unhooked her bra and tossed it aside.

  “This should be happening in the dark,” she said in a breathless rush. “Then you wouldn’t be able to see all my…flaws.”

  He stepped back, his hungry gaze gliding over her full breasts and narrow waist. A few weeks ago she would’ve died with mortification if Dr. Sherman had seen her naked. But this wasn’t that tyrannical doctor. This was Luke. And everything about being with him felt easy and perfect.

  “Pink and perky perfection,” he murmured. “That’s all I see.”

  She attempted to laugh but her overloaded emotions turned the sound to a throaty gurgle. “You must have forgotten to put in your contact lenses this morning.”

  His head bent until his mouth was planting wet kisses along her collarbone and the pads of his thumbs were teasing her budded nipples.

  His mouth nuzzling the slope of her breast, he said, “I don’t wear contact lenses.”

  “Then you probably need to. But right now you’re wearing far too many clothes,” she said, her voice so full of need she hardly recognized it.

  “So are you.”

  She was aching for his lips to latch onto her nipple, but instead, he lifted his head and began to hurriedly peel away the remainder of her clothing. Once her dress and panties were in a pool at her feet, she stepped out of them, then reached for the buttons on his shirt.

  While she worked to undo the buttons and push the fabric off his shoulders, he dealt with his belt and jeans, but left on a pair of dark gray boxers. As soon as the clothing and his shoes were kicked aside, he tugged her back into his arms and fastened his mouth over hers. Beneath the thin fabric of the shorts, Paige could feel his hard erection pressing against her belly and the knowledge thrilled and empowered her. Luke wanted her. Needed her.

  The kiss went on and on as his hands explored the curves of her breasts and slopes of her hips. The fire inside Paige grew to such proportions she thought she was going to melt right at his feet.

  Tearing her mouth from his, she gasped for air. “If you keep this up you’re going to have a fainting patient on your hands.”

  An amused growl sounded deep in his throat as he planted his hands on both sides of her waist and eased her back onto the wide bed.

  “Then I’d better get you in bed,” he said huskily. “I don’t want to have to start doctoring you now.”

  “You don’t?” she asked as she reached for his hand and pulled him down next to her.

  Stretching his long, lean body next to hers, he nuzzled his face against the curve of her throat. “No,” he murmured, his lips making feathery circles over her heated skin. “I’d rather be loving you. Every precious inch of you.”

  Loving you. She knew he meant those words only in a physical way. Yet just hearing him say the word love evoked a longing deep within her. Because at some point, she’d come to recognize she didn’t just want this man’s body. She wanted his heart.

  Wrapping her arm around his waist, she
rolled toward him until her bare breasts were crushed flat against his chest and the juncture of her hips was aligned with his hard manhood.

  “Mmm. I already feel better,” she murmured. “In fact, I think I’ve caught my second wind.”

  His mouth returned to hers and the depth of his kiss caused a burning ache to spread throughout her body. Then finally, she wedged a hand upon his shoulder and pressed him back against the mattress.

  Her lips swollen and tingling, she whispered, “Let me love you.”

  His groan of surrender was all it took for Paige to bend her head and taste the side of his neck. His skin was hot and salty and carried the evocative scent of man. She drew in the heady odor, while her lips took a downward path to his shoulders and on to his collarbone. By the time she’d laved both flat nipples with her tongue, he was growling deep in his throat, his hands clutching both sides of her head.

  “Oh, babe, if you go any farther, I—”

  Before he could finish, she slipped her hand into his boxers and wrapped her fingers around his shaft. “I want to touch you. To know every part of you.”

  She moved her hand up and down the sensitive skin until his fingers caught her wrist. As he gently guided her hand away, she lifted her gaze to see a mixture of pleasure and torment gripping his face.

  “I’m too ready, my sweet. You’re going to make me lose control.”

  “Oh, yes, Luke! That’s what I want! I want you to lose control inside of me!”

  Her husky plea came out in a breathless rush and he reacted quickly by flipping her onto her back and parting her legs with his knee.

  The anticipation of connecting her body to his was humming through her when he suddenly paused and looked down at her.

  “Are you on the Pill?”

  It took a fraction of a moment to focus on his question. When it finally sunk into her as to what he was asking, she frowned and shook her head. “Why, no. I don’t have any reason to be.”

  She’d not stopped to think how revealing her answer had been until she’d said it. And from the look on his face, he appeared surprised to hear she’d hadn’t been sexually active. Until now. Until him.