“What are we going to do about Copper?” Ethan chuckled and pressed her close to his side.
“We can’t seem to keep him from breaking into your backyard, but I can’t chain him up.”
“Of course not. How about we cut a doggy door flap into the fence? That way he has easy access to both yards.”
“We enable the break-in artist?” She leaned into his shoulder and stole a glance at him.
“This is his yard.” Ethan kissed her with a quick, but thorough touch. “Mateo and I are the strangers.”
“Copper didn’t get the rental memo.” Sam laughed and ran a hand along Ethan’s chest and reveled in the dips and ripples of his hard pectorals and washboard abdominals.
Ethan returned the favor and traced his thumb from the peak of her collarbone, down between her breasts, and then circled their lower curves. He tapped the brown tip, and it puckered. His mouth followed his fingers, and Sam dove into the tidal wave of sensation.
***
A pale, rosy dawn peeped through the long, oval glass inset of Ethan’s front door. Shadows cloaked the hallway as Sam walked a pace behind Ethan. There was a stiffness to his posture and heaviness in his tread on the cold oak floor. She hugged her arms around her middle to soothe the knot in her belly. He turned and studied her. His gaze unreadable.
“Thank you.” Ethan bent and kissed her forehead.
A chill settled into Sam’s chest. There was a ring of finality in Ethan’s tone, and there was no heat in his touch. As if they’d burnt it out during the night.
She glanced up, and his mouth was set in a thin line. As if he’d set his course and was sailing in that specific direction. He blinked, but his expression was detached.
“Come on, Copper.” Sam glanced at the pup perched on the sofa where she and Ethan had made love hours and worlds ago. “Let’s go get you some breakfast.”
Ethan followed her to the front door. He cleared his throat. “I’ll work on that doggy door this afternoon.”
“Copper will like that.” She winced at the matching coolness in her voice.
Ethan tilted his head to the side, and a quirk of a smile spread. He pulled her into his arms. The stiffness in her limbs dissolved, and she placed her hands against his pecs. His heart beat against her palm. The tempo increased.
Their lips clung, her world spun, and he was the tether that lashed her into place. Sam stepped away, steadying herself by gripping the doorknob.
Ethan stared at her. His expression unreadable.
“I—”
Sam put a finger to her lips with a quick shake of her head. There was no need for words. He couldn’t make any promises, and she feared her foolish tongue.
She slipped through the door with Copper at her heels. She listened for the click of the door. She was halfway down the walk when it snapped closed. She set her chin and let it lead the way home.
As Sam tiptoed across the front yard with the dawn sky a barely lit deep gray, she shivered against the cold, damp air. She scanned the neighborhood for any signs of life, but mercifully no one appeared to witness her dash back home with Copper prancing beside her. It wasn’t quite a walk of shame, but doubt burrowed into her heart.
Safely inside the house, Copper trotted to his food dish. Sam measured out his serving of kibble, cleaned out the coffee maker, and prepped a fresh pot of coffee. She nibbled on the corner of her lip. She was due to visit Nana this morning, so there was no time for a much-needed nap.
She was going to have to make do with the briefest of naps that she and Ethan had allowed themselves last night. Sam stretched her fingers toward the ceiling and arched her back like a preening feline. She was ready to purr. She closed her eyes, and she could almost feel Ethan’s mouth, hands, and granite erection teasing every inch of her body.
Decadence. Sheer indulgence.
The coffee maker sputtered and squawked. She groaned. Yes, she was back to reality.
She’d had her night of passion with Ethan. She’d slaked the thirst of her girlish adoration, right? That was all she’d done. It was simple, straightforward. It was just sex. She knew there was no future with Ethan. He’d made that perfectly clear.
He wanted no complications. No commitments. It sounded so dreary when she put it that way. Their lovemaking had been off the charts. More like a supernova or an exploding volcano.
She shook her head. Passion and lust were a far cry from making love. She’d better get that right in her head. She sipped on her coffee and let Copper out the back door to do his business.
She lifted her chin. She only had an infatuation with the idea of Dr. Ethan Cordero. She barely knew the man, so her heart was safe. She’d indulged her libido, and that was that.
It had better be because Ethan’s determined expression boded ill for any foolish lovey-dovey fantasy.
Sam refilled her cup and marched upstairs to the shower. She could handle it. She’d just play the cards that were dealt to her and roll with it.
CHAPTER TEN
THE DRIVE FROM the hospital to his father’s ranch was too long. He had way too much time to think about the emergency surgery gone wrong, the backlog of patients that had hit his office like a tidal wave, and then Sam.
He hated losing patients on the operating table. It didn’t matter that the wounded man had been riding his motorcycle without a helmet and that a combination of black ice, an elk, and a drainage ditch wasn’t going to end well.
As he wound through the back road curves, flicking his beams from low to high, he ran through each step of the operation. He checked his memory for sounds, sensations, smells, and images.
The man had suffered an acute subdural hematoma, and the craniotomy had proceeded like clockwork, but cardiac arrest had hit as he’d finished the last sutures. Flatline. Ethan cursed, and ran through each of the steps of the surgery in his mind, for the seventh time.
He expelled his breath in a whoosh and rolled his neck. As much as he wished he could control every step and each move, there was always the element of random. He’d review the surgery with his team and get their feedback. Had any of them noticed anomalies? He walled off his worries.
It was always work. In only a month, his appointment calendar was filled to bursting. So much for easing into his new position and slowly building up his practice. Ethan frowned. Now, he’d already missed picking up Mateo from school. Thank goodness he could count on his dad and that Mateo loved his Pipo. At least Felicia wasn’t breathing down his neck and adding to his guilt and frustration and feeling like a failure of a parent.
Ethan pulled into an empty carport spot next to the detached garage at on the side of his father’s house. It all looked the same as when he was growing up. The color of the outbuildings were all a matching drab olive with creamy white trim, and the long, low ranch-style house was the same white, but with the olive as the trim. It was fresh and crisp as if it had been painted in the last year or two.
The stand of cedars was noticeably taller. He smiled. His mother had hosted many a summer barbecue in the shade of those trees. He could almost hear her laugh.
He frowned. Life was fragile. Breast cancer had stolen her much too soon. Carelessness had seized Felicia. And bad judgment and ill luck had cut his patient’s life short. A shred of dread raced up his spine. Mateo had been so close to the edge.
The accident that had taken Felicia had lacerated Mateo’s liver, broken ribs, and pneumothorax that had led to a collapsed lung. The extent of his injuries hadn’t become clear until the rescue team had freed Felicia from the wreckage, then shock had hit Mateo, and the boy had crumpled to the ground.
Enough. It was pointless to dwell on what could have been. Mateo was fit and strong now, and his son was learning to live without his mother. At least Mateo smiled more often now, without Felicia’s crazy mood swings and violent outbursts sending him into emotional hiding.
Life was better here in Oregon. He and his son were both making the adjustment. The house was cozy and convenient. He liked
his neighbors. Especially one.
He closed his eyes and imagined Sam’s soft body sliding against his. Running his hands down her back and gripping a handful of curvaceous cheek.
Their heat had been instant and urgent. He’d been so sure that he’d quench his thirst with one long, lingering body kiss with Sam. His cock hardened. Once wasn’t enough. He wanted more.
Ethan scowled. That wasn’t in his game plan. Hot neighbors were out of bounds. Austin’s youngest sister should be out of the question. He’d laid out his four-year strategy. Mateo was his first and foremost priority. Then work. Then his father. Dating and relationships were unnecessary, and as a matter of fact, they were a messy complication that didn’t further his agenda.
Once Mateo was off to college or whatever the next step after high school might be, then he would worry about all the rest. He didn’t have any energy left over for dating or worse, a relationship.
A man needed sex, right?
Ethan ignored the horny bastard in his pants. Casual dates might be okay, but Samantha Barrett was no hookup chick. They had too much history. He’d watched her grow up. Dammit. This was nuts. He’d already blown it.
Ethan tromped along the brick herringbone-patterned pathway from the garage to the house. He’d worry about Sam later.
The sounds of a movie or TV show filtered through to the kitchen from the attached family room. Laughing voices eased the burden weighing on him. Mateo giggled with childish glee that he hadn’t heard in a few years. His dad chuckled, and then a third, light bell of a laugh joined in. A guest? He hadn’t noticed an extra car. It was probably parked in the circle drive at the front of the house.
“Hey, Dad! Hey, Mateo!” Ethan called.
Three heads turned his direction. Gray, blonde, and black. He stopped in the doorway. Sam was cozy and nestled between Pipo and Mateo. A happy look lingered in the upward crinkle of her cheeks and eyes. She waved.
For a nanosecond, all was right in the world. Homey, domestic. Sam was the girl next door, but sexy as all get out. In a simple, understated way. Her expression was honest, open.
She’d slipped right into his life and Mateo’s, with no fanfare or drama. She’d slid right into his arms as if she’d been waiting all her life for the moment. She fit like a glove. Their bodies hadn’t needed any introduction before the flames had soared into a conflagration.
Pipo paused the TV program and waved as Mateo craned his neck to see who’d arrived.
“Did you know that Miss Barrett knows Pipo?” Mateo asked.
Sam gave a sheepish smile.
“Are you hungry? The chili on the stove is still warm.” His father’s tone was relaxed and inviting. As if it was an everyday occurrence to invite his lovers over for dinner.
“Thanks, I’ll grab some.” Ethan stalled for time to collect his wits. He racked his brain for a reasonable explanation for Sam’s presence, but he came up with nothing.
“Pipo, can I have seconds? My stomach growled,” Mateo asked.
Pipo and Sam laughed in unison.
“A male teenager never gets full,” Sam said. “My three brothers never left anything in the fridge or pantry for us girls.”
“I remember those days well. Ethan, Brandon, and Patrick ate continuously but never seemed to get full. I swore my check only went towards food for my three boys.”
“I was a growing boy.” Ethan patted his belly with a grin. “Anyone else?” He had no takers, so he pulled two bowls from the cupboard and served one for Mateo and one for himself.
Sam rose. “I’ll just get some more ice water. Can I get you anything, Mr. Cordero?”
“You know I only answer to Pipo. Don’t make me tell you again,” Pipo waggled a finger at Sam and laughed. “Austin’s little sister is family.” He turned back to the TV. “I’m fine. I’ll wait for dessert.”
With a playful smile, Sam glided past Ethan. Her perfume hinted at spring flowers and pert citrus. Her golden hair bounced on her shoulders, and he yearned to wrap a strand around his finger and inhale her scent. She was close enough to touch, but she was forbidden fruit at the moment.
“How did you end up here?” The question slipped out before he could bite it back. So much for playing it offhand. Even he could hear a hint of accusation in his tone.
“While I was waiting for Pipo to pick me up from school,” Mateo jumped in, “Sam stayed and talked to me the whole time.”
“I invited her to join us for dinner,” Pipo added.
“My nana already had plans to play cards with her roommate at the hospital, so I figured a date with Mateo and Pipo was far superior to leftover mac n’ cheese all by my lonesome.” Sam put an emphasis on the name, Pipo, and lifted her chin with a saucy tilt in Pipo’s direction.
“It was good of her to look after Mateo. He’s lucky to have her as a teacher. She was always one of my best students.”
Sam blushed and waved him off.
“I’d forgotten that Sam was in your classes,” Ethan said.
“You know your father inspired me to become a teacher, right?” Sam said. “We all loved him as our principal, but I was even luckier that he guided me through trigonometry and calculus.”
“I wrote her a recommendation letter, too.”
Ethan studied his father, then Sam, and finally a quick glance at Mateo who cheerfully stuffed his gullet with heaping spoonfuls of steaming chili.
Sam ducked her head as she sailed past him with her water glass. She didn’t try to touch him or even let her sweater brush against his arm, but it didn’t matter. In his mind’s eye, she was naked and bent over the couch while he cupped the generous mounds of her breasts. Heat flared beneath his zipper, and he shifted behind the island counter to shield his obvious attraction.
Hell. Just a look from her set his blood to a full boil. Her girl-next-door veneer hid her wild side, but he knew better.
“Are you going to join us on the sofa?” Sam asked. “We’ll make room for you. Or I can sit in the rocker so you can sit next to Mateo.”
Pipo beamed at her. Ethan’s brow furrowed.
“No. Dad can sit over there,” Mateo said. “I want to sit next to you, Miss Barrett.”
“That’s sweet of you, Mateo. Why don’t you call me Sam? We’re neighbors, and now I know that we’re family friends for sure. Do you think you can remember to call me Miss Barrett at school, but Sam at home?”
“I like Sam. It’s easier to say than Miss Barrett.”
A queasy itch flared on the back of his neck. As Mateo chattered about an amusing incident in social studies, the boy’s voice faded to a hum. Sam nodded and smiled at the story, and Pipo almost glowed.
In the space of a few hours, Sam had infiltrated his family. He didn’t do the boyfriend-girlfriend thing. No strings attached was his style now, right? This wasn’t going to be some kind of friend with benefits relationship.
By the looks on Mateo’s and Pipo’s faces, they were already falling under the sway of the captivating Miss Samantha.
He needed a new plan of attack. He was going to have to distance Mateo from Sam. She was too nice. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings or make her feel used, but there couldn’t be any sexual relationship between them. Mateo was his sole priority.
Besides, Mateo was at an impressionable age. A vulnerable young man who’d recently lost his mother, looking for a maternal role model. Or worse, he might even crush on his gorgeous teacher. The last thing Mateo needed was to get his heart demolished by some foolish fantasy.
Not that he, himself, was in any danger of getting attached. It was only Mateo that he was protecting.
Ethan blinked. The room came back into focus, and his father moved into the kitchen to slice up the apple pie cooling on a rack next to the oven.
Pipo shot him a long look but said nothing. Ethan rinsed out his bowl and spoon and stowed them in the dishwasher.
“Ice cream or whipped cream?” Pipo asked.
Ethan was definitely not thinking about licking fluff
y cream off Sam’s delectable, ripe nipples. He coughed and ducked to the side of the island.
By the time he delivered the desserts to Sam and Mateo, he’d silently recited a list of all the bones from the scapula down to the metatarsals. He’d schooled his features into a bland, cool facade, and his woody was ancient history.
He kept his replies to all questions and banter at a bare minimum and maintained a detached politeness even when Sam crossed and recrossed her shapely legs encased in sheer black tights and her black and white polka-dotted skirt hiked thigh high.
As Sam’s expression morphed from animated and charming to speculative and then pensive, relief coursed through his veins. She just might be taking the hint. A little coldness right now should end this before it got started.
Guilt gnawed at his conscience. They’d started something all right. That had been a wildfire torching down the house on Saturday.
No. Sam wouldn’t be injured. A one-night stand might hurt her pride a little, but she’d live through it. A chill settled over his heart. It was high time he slipped into detached doctor mode.
Mateo was more important. He wouldn’t risk his son to another nightmare of a relationship. Sam had to go.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“NANA DEAR, WOULD you like to go for a walk with me and Copper?” Sam leaned down and kissed her grandmother on the cheek.
“No. I’m almost done with this preemie cap that I’m knitting for the prenatal ward,” Nana said. “I told Tess Polodnik that I’d have four of them done by Monday, so I’d better keep after it.” The older woman had been home for one day and was already elbow-deep in her yarn and projects.
“I’m going to take advantage of this burst of sunshine. I love the February tease of warm weather. It makes me think that spring is almost here.”
“It’s the same day every year,” Nana said with a chuckle.
“Most years on the twentieth of March, but not every year.” Sam laughed and slipped back to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. She didn’t want to juggle Copper’s leash and a bottle of water, so she’d drink up now.
Tempting Doctor Forever (Barrett Ridge Book 2) Page 6