Her Healing Cowboy (Harland County Series Book 5)

by Donna Michaels

Shayla snorted. “Nice try, sis, but I saw you openly flirting with Brandi’s youngest brother, Keiffer. The two of you were looking mighty cozy.”

  Color rose in Caitlin’s face, again.

  “Ah, judging by that shade of crimson, I’d say you two did more than flirt.”

  The young woman shrugged. “He made me forget to be miserable. It was nice to feel wanted.”

  Envy pierced Holly heart, followed by guilt. Shame on her. Caitlin deserved to be happy. The pretty college student’s ex was in the air force and had broken off their relationship before he headed to his duty station overseas.

  “Good for you,” she said with a nod. “I’m glad to hear you had fun.”

  “Doc Turner looked like he was having fun, too,” Shayla remarked. “Those Pennsylvania girls were all over him at the reception.”

  Without her permission, her gaze drifted back to the hot guy in the sand, muscles rippling as he jumped up and spiked a ball.

  Women in the county fawned over him, and she attributed the appeal to his oozing testosterone, lean muscles, ready smile…and profession. She was immune, although her body disagreed. She ignored her body. The man was dangerous with a capital D, and she was not in the market for danger. Or a doctor. Thanks to her father, and her ex, they were low on her list of guys she wanted to date. So low in fact, they weren’t even on the list.

  Like the others playing volleyball, he wore dark, wraparound sunglasses, but she knew his eyes were as blue as the sky, and just as brilliant, keen, never missed a thing.

  Sun glistened off the sweat clinging to a mouthwatering, muscled torso sprinkled with a smattering of dark hair. No man had the right to look that good.

  Her chest tightened for some unknown reason.

  She probably should’ve made smaller sundaes.

  “True.” Caitlin nodded, scraping the last of her ice cream from the cup with her spoon. “Jace does tend to have that affect on women. He’s really such a nice guy.”

  Shayla leveled her sister with a direct stare. “You should know. You’ve been out with him a few times.”

  Holly attributed the sudden knotting in her stomach to the smaller sundae scenario and refocused on the conversation.

  “Just as friends. He’s not interested in me that way.” The brown-haired beauty glanced at her and smiled. “Now, Holly, that’s another story.”

  She scoffed. “What are you talking about? He’s not interested in me, other than what flavor I scoop into his dish.”

  Although, there were times when she admittedly wouldn’t mind indulging in some private taste-testing with the gorgeous man, despite the fact his occupation left a sour taste in her mouth. But, those were times when she was weak and his sexiness fogged the sense from her damn brain, allowing need and lust to take over.

  Stupid body.

  “I think he likes all your flavors, Hol.”

  She snorted. “You’re so full of it, Shayla.”

  “No, it’s true,” Caitlin insisted. “His gaze lingers on you when you’re not looking. Kind of like how yours is lingering on him right now.”

  “What?” She blinked, transferring her attention off the ripped doctor and back to her grinning friends. “I-I was just trying to see who he was playing volleyball with, that’s all.”

  “Right.” Shayla smirked.

  Caitlin glanced around her sister to the beach, then fanned herself. “What a view. He’s playing with Tanner, Jesse, and a few of their Guard buddies. Wow…that’s a lot of muscle.”

  “Indeed,” she agreed, her gaze straying back to the hot doc.

  “Well, I hate to pull you from your viewing pleasure, sis, but we’ve got to go pick Amelia up from the McCalls’,” Shayla said, rising to her feet. “Thanks for the dessert, Holly. It was kid approved.” The pregnant woman laughed, tapping her barely swelled belly.

  She chuckled as she stood and gathered their empty containers onto the tray. “Anytime. It was nice to have someone to take my break with, but I’d better get back, too. Hate to leave Donny unattended for too long.”

  Shayla nodded while Caitlin smiled.

  “Thanks for giving him a job. How’s he working out?”

  Holly knew the two carpooled to college together, and even though she’d been forewarned about the young man’s knack for disaster, she’d hired him part time anyway. “Not bad. He’s had a few missteps, but he’s coming along.”

  Too bad the same couldn’t be said for the five gallons of vanilla bean melting in the dumpster out back. She was certain Donny no longer confused an almost shut freezer with a completely shut one.

  “You’re a patient woman,” Shayla said with a shake of her head. “But I do feel better knowing he’s an ice cream scooper and no longer a Harland County deputy.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah, I just can’t even fathom how that came to be.”

  “His dad,” Caitlin replied, adjusting the strap on her denim and lace, cross-body purse as she stood next to her sister. “But, he says his parents are coming around to his new career choice.”

  “That’s great to hear.”

  “Yes.” Shayla nodded. “He’s a wickedly gifted artist.”

  Dumping their trash in the nearby garbage can, Holly heartily agreed. “I know. I commissioned a seascape from him for the shop,” she said, turning to face her friends, empty tray in hand.

  Having thumbed through Donny’s sketchpad a few weeks back, she’d been stunned by the bumbling kid’s talent and had hired him on the spot. He’d needed money while he was in college, and she wanted to make sure he stayed in college to hone his craft, and major in what he wanted to major in. Offering him a part time job and commissioning a landscape set right with her. She liked to help people who deserved a chance, and Donny certainly fell into that category. The young man was pursuing his dream, studying for a degree he chose. Unlike Holly, who earned a degree in a profession that wasn’t her first choice.

  “I can’t wait to see it.” Caitlin beamed.

  She nodded. “Me, too.”

  “Same here, but I’d also like to see my little girl, so we’d better get a move on before Mrs. McCall decides it’s a good idea to propose keeping Amelia for another night.”

  Mrs. McCall was the mother of two very handsome sons. Cole was the down-to-earth CEO of a billion dollar Software Company married to the new local sheriff, and Connor was a big, Marlboro man of a cowboy whose dimples made her customers giddy and jealous because he was married to the sheriff’s gorgeous sister. Once a week, Mrs. McCall and Mrs. Masters, the mother of their wives, stopped by The Creamery for strawberry sundaes. The pretty, older women were about the same age as her mother, although, life hadn’t been as kind to her mom, and it showed.

  Holly shook off the sad thought and smiled at her friend. “She’s just getting in some practice before her first grandbaby arrives.” She walked with the sisters toward the parking lot, grabbing empty trays off the rack above a garbage can along the way.

  “I know.” Shayla nodded. “But Kerri is due two weeks before me, in the middle of March, so there’s lots of time left to spoil my daughter.”

  “Oh, I somehow don’t think that’s going to stop once you and Kerri have your babies,” she said, having observed both Mrs. McCall and Mrs. Masters with her friend’s sweet little three year old during some of those regular visits.

  Shayla smiled. “I agree, but Caitlin and I want to see the latest princess movie, and it’s always best to have a child with you for cover.”

  Laughing, Holly bid her friends good-bye before turning back to clean off the rest of the empty outdoor tables. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop her gaze from wandering to the men playing volleyball on the beach several yards away. The more they gave to the game, the more she was drawn in, her fingers itching to capture their zest on camera. But, she wasn’t there to take pictures; she was there to serve ice cream. Besides, all she had was her phone. Her state of the art camera sat safe and sound at her uncle’s ranch waiting for her to have some time off.
She couldn’t wear it around her neck while dishing out banana splits, or take the chance someone would walk off with her prized possession. She’d scrimped and saved for two years to purchase the beauty.

  She studied the beach and the cowboy guardsmen, muscles gleaming in the sun…

  Screw it.

  Holly set the trays on a table, fished out her cell, and began clicking away, wishing her smart phone had better zoom to capture the trickle of sweat curving down the beautiful sinew of the doctor’s back. Just as she was finishing up the last few shots, he stiffened and turned around, his gaze zeroing in on her…and the phone in her hand.

  Busted.

  Heat rushed to her face, and she sensed his wry amusement when he lifted his hand and waved. Shoot. He probably thought she’d been taking pictures of him.

  Okay, she had, but not like it seemed. She’d captured the ripple of muscle. Trickle of sweat. Concentration in the brow. The tattoo on the inside of Tanner’s left bicep. The doctor’s tanned hand as he spiked the ball. His broad shoulders, and ridges in his chest. The sprinkling of hair criss-crossing down washboard abs in an enticing happy trail to the top of navy board shorts…

  Ah, crap. She’d been taking pictures of him.

  Now, all six of the nearly naked men were grinning and waving at her.

  And heading her way.

  Double crap.

  Heart thudding hard in her chest, she shoved the phone back in the pocket of her shorts, grabbed the trays, and rushed inside the shop. With luck, she’d be elbows deep in water, washing off the trays in her hand by the time the men arrived.

  “Hey, Hol, how about six of your smoothie specials?” Tanner’s playful tone hit her ears a minute later.

  Relief washed through her, relaxing muscles faster than the sigh that burst a batch of bubbles in the sink in front of her. She could deal with Tanner. Earlier that summer, she’d bonded with the volunteer fireman/ranch hand/guardsman over the fact they shared a daredevil gene when they’d met windsurfing on a stormy Sunday.

  “Me and the guys kind of worked up a sweat.”

  “I know,” she muttered, wiping her hands, wishing she could wipe away the blush heating her face. “Six Mango Pineapple Beach Blasts coming right up.”

  “Thanks. We’ll be at the shaded table in the corner,” he said, before she had the chance to even turn around and ring up the sale, or beg him to wait.

  She glanced sideways at Donny. He was in the middle of a large order for a family of five. Dang. No hope of asking him to deliver the smoothies.

  With another sigh on her lips, she filled the blender with fresh pineapples, mangos, and mango sorbet, blended until smooth, then repeated until she filled six large cups. She dumped the remaining drink into another cup for herself for later. There was no escaping her penance. Best to go take her medicine from the doc.

  Smile tugging her lips, she loaded the smoothies onto a tray and set out to do the walk of shame to where the men sat talking and laughing, having donned shirts, but ditched the sunglasses.

  As she reached their table, she decided that was a good thing. It would’ve been way too distracting to have that much prime muscle up close. She had the photos to prove it.

  Maybe only the doctor had noticed her taking pictures.

  “Ah, here she is, Ms. Shutter-bug,” Tanner joked.

  So much for wishful thinking.

  She should’ve known the shrewd, volunteer firefighter would’ve noticed her taking photos. Tanner had been her tour guide and outdoor companion the whole summer, often teasing her about the amount of photos she took. Still, she enjoyed her outings with the smart, witty man who treated her like a sister. It was a refreshing change from the guys hitting on her ever since her boots had hit Harland County soil.

  One of the cowboys winked. “Did you get all the shots you needed? Because I’d be glad to pose for you any day, sweetheart.”

  “Yeah, me, too.” The one Caitlin had called Jesse smiled.

  “Count me in.”

  Switching gears, she smiled as she set the tray on the table and watched as six eager hands each grabbed a cup. “Thanks, guys, but I think I got all the shots I needed.”

  “Are you sure?” Another asked, leaning forward. “Because you didn’t even see my good side.”

  Tanner snickered. “You don’t have a good side, Harper.”

  “Yes he does,” Jesse kidded. “He’s sitting on it.”

  Laughter spread around the table, tugging another smile from her lips. The guys had an easy comradery that confirmed Caitlin’s earlier observation that the men were all in the National Guard together.

  “Okay. Let’s give Ms. Phillps a break. I’m sure she has better things to do than put up with you clowns,” the doctor finally spoke up, warm blue eyes holding her attention while his deep tone did crazy things to her pulse. “There are plenty of other men still on the beach, and we’re keeping her from photographing them.”

  “Good one, Captain,” Harper said, high-fiving the guy next to him.

  But Jace Turner didn’t feel like celebrating as he watched the beautiful woman with the most incredible green eyes clam up, swivel around, and stomp away. Something inside his chest knotted and squeezed tight. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. He’d mistakenly thought she’d be open to more teasing.

  Apparently, not.

  Holly Phillips was the niece of one of his patients, and they rarely spoke outside of a professional setting, but that didn’t stop him from admiring her beauty, strength, and compassion. Because, oh yeah, she definitely had all three.

  Her hair was a mass of black silk that barely touched her shoulders and swung about her delicate face in angles that should’ve looked unkempt, but instead, gave her a wild, exotic air that kick-started his pulse and tempted his fingers to touch. With a bottom lip a little fuller than the top, her mouth was too wide for her heart-shaped face, but wreaked havoc in his dreams, making him want to nibble and taste. Then there were her gorgeous eyes, stunning, mesmerizing, in a light shade of green as clear as a Bermuda shore and rimmed by thick, dark lashes.

  “Way to chase the hot girl away, Doc,” Harper teased.

  Holly was indeed hot, but way too curvy and lush to be called a girl. She was all woman with the quintessential hourglass figure, despite her height at around five-foot-eight-inches tall. But he declined to correct the guy, choosing to drink his smoothie instead.

  “None of you stand a chance with her anyway,” Tanner said. “She has way too much taste.”

  “Then why did she go out with you?” Jesse asked, between slurps.

  Jace’s heart lurched unexpectedly. He hadn’t had movement like that in his chest over a woman in a long time. Not since high school when his hormones had run rampant.

  “You’re seeing Holly?” The question was out before he could stop it, and he was damned if he knew why. She wasn’t his type. Too sour and closed up. At least, toward him. He tended to go for warm and friendly. So he didn’t understand his fixation with Holly Phillips. Ever since she stepped into his office with her uncle four months ago, he’d felt a jolt to his solar plexus.

  A dark brow rose. “Oh, it’s Holly now, is it?” The damn guy snickered. “Just a minute ago it was Ms. Phillips.”

  “Cut the crap and answer the question, Tanner.” He ignored the other gazes now trained on him as the guys apparently found his conversation more interesting than their drinks.

  “Yes, we’ve gone out a few times, but no, it’s not like that. We’re just friends.”

  Jace wanted to believe his buddy, but wasn’t inclined to trust that the lady magnet could go out with a woman on a strictly friendship basis. Females of all ages found the elusive cowboy irresistible.

  “It’s true,” Harper insisted, then punctuated with a burp. “I’ve seen them parasailing several times this summer. If Tanner was getting a piece of that, then he wouldn’t have kept going out with her. You know how he has that three date rule, Captain.”

  His teeth were s
till clenched tight over the “getting a piece of that” remark, but began to loosen as the truth of the rest of the statement sunk in. His buddy was the biggest commitment-phobe of the bunch. If the relationship avoider had been seen with Holly the whole summer, then there definitely wasn’t any sex involved. Time and again, he’d watched Tanner cross that threshold, but after the third date, the loner walked away.

  At least his friend was upfront with the women he dated. Jace wouldn’t have been friends with him for the past decade, otherwise. And since he had a similar rule, they got along fine. They also never dated the same woman. So, if Tanner was seeing, or had seen Holly in that sense, then Jace would steer clear, jolt or no jolt.

  That’s if he was inclined to pursue the woman with the hands-off attitude, which he wasn’t.

  Although, lately, he didn’t need a rule. He didn’t date. Sure, there had been plenty of opportunities, but between work at the co-op practice, helping his mother and sister on the ranch, and his weekends with the guard, he had no time for a social life.

  “Why does it matter, anyway, Jace?” Tanner stared at him from across the table with that serious brown gaze that had new recruits, both in the guard and at the firehouse, shaking in their boots. “You’re resigning your commission come spring, right? Or did you change your mind?”

  Harper’s head snapped up. “Really, Cap? You’re leaving the guard?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, it’s time.” Now that his contract with the National Guard was under the one year mark, he planned to leave Harland County next May.

  Another reason to avoid getting involved with a woman now.

  “You’re joining Doctors Without Borders,” Jesse stated in his trademark quiet tone.

  Again, he nodded. “Yes. My mom and sister seemed to be settling into a good routine and should be able to handle the ranch while I’m gone.”

  He’d always planned to join the humanitarian organization that provided medical care to nearly seventy countries worldwide, saving lives threatened by violence, catastrophe, or neglect, and treating people regardless of race, politics, or religion. Since he’d encountered the group in Iraq, that drive had grown even stronger.