Kitabı oku: «The Best Catch in Texas», sayfa 3

“I just wanted to thank you again, Nicolette. You’ve made this whole night easy for me. And enjoyable.”

There was no flirtatious light in his eyes now; only warm sincerity, and Nicolette found that idea even harder to deal with.

She looked down and away from his brown eyes. “It’s no problem. I’m just glad Dan is improving.”

“I’ll probably release him around noon. Before that, I’m going to put him on medication that will hopefully keep this sort of incident from happening again. I don’t know if he’ll agree to have regular checkups in the future. Maybe you can help me on that count.”

“I’ll do my best,” she said. Lifting her eyes back to his, she did her best to give him a friendly smile. “You’d better wind your night up, too, and rest before morning comes. See ya around, Doctor.”

Nicolette walked away before he could make any sort of reply, but she could feel him watching her walk down the dimly lit corridor. It was a great relief when she was finally able to turn the corner and step into the elevator.

Chapter Three

The next morning when Jacki entered Nicolette’s office, she paused at the corner of her boss’s desk and sniffed with appreciation.

“Mmm. Something smells delicious.” Spotting a flat box with ribbon tied around it, the red-haired nurse picked it up and sniffed at the white cardboard. “It’s in here. What is it? May I have some?”

“It’s Cook’s famous pecan and chocolate chip cookies. And no you can’t have one. Neither can I. She’s sending them to Dan.”

Jacki smiled slyly as she placed the box back on the desk. “Oooh. Do I smell romance along with the cookies?”

Nicolette finished the last notation on the medical chart in front of her before she looked up at Jacki. “Cook has known Dan for many years. She calls him an old codger, but I think she has a soft spot for him. As for romance, I doubt it. Since her husband was killed in the Viet Nam war, she hasn’t shown too much interest in men. Besides, she’s in her early seventies now.”

“So what? A woman’s never too old for romance. Did you ever think about that?” Jacki asked pointedly.

Hoping her expression was vacant, Nicolette closed the chart and handed it to her nurse. “I don’t consider myself too old for romance, Jacki. I’m just not interested.”

Jacki shook her head shook in disbelief. “Why not? Just because your husband was a—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Nicolette said firmly. “What is this, anyway? First my mother and now you start in on me about being single. Is something floating around in the air?”

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not about you being single. It’s about you being alone.”

Rolling her eyes, Nicolette leaned back in the desk chair and gestured at the pile of medical charts on her desk. “I’m hardly alone, Jacki. I’m with people from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.”

Jacki shot her a droll look. “It’s not the same and we both know it.”

Jacki was right. It wasn’t the same, Nicolette thought. But it was better than being deceived and manipulated and stomped on by a man.

“I’m happy as I am, Jacki. Let’s leave it at that. Now, how many patients do I have left before lunch break? I need to take these cookies over to the hospital to Dan before Dr. Garroway releases him.”

“There are two. Mr. Mayfield and Mrs. Gates.”

Nicolette rose from her chair and straightened her lab coat. “Good. Let’s deal with them and then we’ll break for lunch.”

She left the room and Jacki followed closely on her heels. “Uh, Nicci, you haven’t told me what happened last night with Dr. Garroway. You only said he called you for help.”

Nicolette had been trying her best to put last night out of her mind, but so far she’d made little progress. From the moment she’d crawled out of bed, she’d thought about the new doctor and all the things he’d said to her. Even the brief moments he’d touched her seemed to be etched in her memory, playing over and over like an unwanted song.

“Nothing happened last night. I talked Dan into taking his medicine. Dr. Garroway thanked me for my help. That pretty much sums up the whole thing.”

Jacki threw up her hands as the two women headed for the nearest examining room. “But you must have talked to the man! What was he like? Did you learn anything about him?”

Nicolette paused to toss an impatient look of warning at the nurse. “Yes. I learned he’s not quite what he appears to be.”

Jacki opened her mouth to press for more, but Nicolette didn’t give her the chance. After knocking lightly on the examining room door, she stepped inside and went to work.

It was ten minutes until noon before Nicolette finally managed to leave the clinic and head to the hospital. She half expected to find Dan gone, but the older man was still there, dressed and sitting on the side of the bed.

He gave Nicolette a broad smile as she kissed his cheek.

“You look much better today,” she said with genuine joy and then teased, “Are you ready to leave this place? Or would you like to stay a little longer?”

“Don’t press me, girl. I’ve had all of this pokin’ and proddin’ that I can stand.”

She chuckled. “Now you know how those cows feel when you vaccinate and brand them and cut off their horns.” She placed the box of cookies next to him. “Looks like Dr. Garroway has you on the mend. Are you taking your medicine like he says?”

Dan nodded and leaned his head thoughtfully to one side. “Yep. I don’t like it, but I guess I can do it. You know that young doctor ain’t too bad after all. He says he has some cows and horses and wants me to take a look at ’em for him. Guess the whippersnapper knows where to come to for advice. I’ve decided to trust him—unless he does somethin’ to change my mind.”

So the new doctor had charmed Dan, Nicolette thought with surprise. The old wrangler was a tough character. If Ridge could win him over, then she needed to be on guard.

Nicolette gestured to the box of cookies. “Cook sent you a little get-well gift. Maybe when you get home you ought to call her and thank her.”

The old man turned a suspicious eye on the box. “What the hell did she do that for? She knows I don’t like her.”

Nicolette shook a shaming finger at him. “Don’t be lying, Dan.”

His expression suddenly sheepish, Dan shifted on the edge of the mattress. “Well, maybe that wasn’t the truth. But the old woman…makes me uncomfortable.”

Nicolette tried not to smile at the idea of Dan calling someone twenty years his junior old. And then she suddenly thought of Jacki’s comments that women were never too old for romance. Maybe the same held true for men.

She cast him a sly glance. “Cook’s pretty and she gets you stirred up. That’s closer to the truth, isn’t it?”

Dan pursed his lips as though he was going to argue, but then he suddenly let out a deep chuckle. “Well, old Hattie is some looker.”

They were both still laughing at his admission when a nurse arrived with a wheelchair to take him downstairs. Nicolette placed the box of cookies on his lap and walked along with him. Outside, he climbed spryly into the vehicle with his housekeeper, and Nicolette promised to see him soon, then waved the two of them off.

Moments later she was walking across the parking lot toward her car when someone from behind called out her name.

“Nicolette! Wait up!”

She recognized his voice even before she turned to see Ridge Garroway hurrying toward her. The sight of him in dark slacks and a gray-and-white-striped shirt was enough to make her stare and wish, just for a moment, that she had a whole and trusting heart.

“Hello, Ridge,” she said when he finally reached her.

Grinning, he swiped a hand at the blond hair blowing across his forehead. “Been seeing Dan off?”

She nodded. “I was glad he was looking so much better.”

His eyes roamed her face with appreciation. “I’m glad to see you looking more rested.”

And she was glad to be seeing him again. It was an awful admission, even if she was only making it to herself.

Feeling awkward now, she glanced pointedly at her watch. “Well, I only have a short time left for lunch. I’d better be going.”

“That’s why I called out to you,” Ridge told her. “I’m on my way to lunch, too. I’d like it very much if you’d join me.”

Oh no. It would be risky, even foolish to spend one moment more in this man’s company than was necessary. On the other hand, when exactly had she turned into such a coward? Ridge Garroway couldn’t eat her. He couldn’t hurt her. Not unless she allowed him to. And she was a grown woman. She had more sense than to let him get that close.

Before she could change her mind, she blurted out, “Well, if you’re inviting, I suppose I could. This once.”

“Great!” He said and quickly reached for her arm. “My truck is right over here.”

The June day was already hot, with a humid breeze whipping from the southeast. The wind was picking at the fluttery pink hem of Nicolette’s skirt and threatening to toss it over her head. She held it down firmly with one hand as Ridge helped her into the passenger seat of his red Ford truck.

“Do you have a favorite eating place?” he asked as he buckled his seat belt and started the engine.

Nicolette looked at him blankly. How could she think of restaurants when he was sitting so close beside her, his blond hair mussed, a sexy smile dimpling his cheeks? He was enough to turn a woman’s senses upside down.

“No. Just go wherever you were planning to go. I’m not a picky eater.”

“All right, we’ll be there in less than two minutes.”

The lunch hour traffic was heavy on the main thoroughfares, but they traveled less than two blocks before Ridge turned onto a side street and parked in front of an older wooden building painted a dull turquoise trimmed in pink.

“This is one of the best Mexican restaurants I’ve found in the whole town. Okay with you?”

“Fine,” she said, while asking herself how she’d ended up here with the very man she’d planned to avoid. She shouldn’t have been so impulsive, she thought with a bit of self-disgust. She should have gone back to the clinic and eaten a sandwich at her desk. But in spite of what she’d told Jacki, she was tired of being alone. And Ridge Garroway made her feel alive. More alive than she’d felt in years.

He helped her out of the truck, then kept his hand at her back as he ushered her into the little restaurant. Her flowered blouse was made of thin voile and she could feel the heat of his fingers spreading up and down her spine as they walked to a vacant booth in the back of the room.

The plate-glass windows on the west side of the building were covered with woven shades to block out the hot sun and leave the dining room cool and dimly lit. It took Nicolette’s eyes a few moments to adjust as they seated themselves and waited for someone to bring menus.

“You eat a lot of Mexican food?” she asked.

“Actually, I eat too much of it. It’s my favorite. So I try to exercise more to keep the calories and the cholesterol in check.”

She smiled faintly. “What a novelty, a doctor who tries to practice what he preaches.”

His eyes glided over the part of her that wasn’t hidden beneath the tabletop. “You look like you keep in great shape. Do you go to the gym?”

Nicolette wrinkled her nose with distaste. “Never. I don’t like gyms. I think natural exercise is the best. So I ride horses whenever I can. And I walk as much as possible.”

“You know, I’ve got to confess that last night at the hospital, I wondered why you showed up in jeans and boots. It’s not usual attire for women in the medical profession.”

A wry smile touched her lips. “Sorry. Those were the most available things in my closet and I was in a hurry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

He tilted his head back and laughed. “I wasn’t offended, Nicolette. I was intrigued. And by the way,” he added, as he settled a twinkling gaze back on her face, “you looked as sexy as hell.”

Heat poured into her cheeks and she cleared her throat with plans to remind him not to get so personal. But the waitress appeared before she had a chance to say anything and for the next few moments the two of them were busy choosing drinks and food.

Once the waitress was gone, he said, “I think you’ll be glad to hear that Mr. Nelson has agreed to take his daily medication and come in for routine checkups. Hopefully I can keep him on the right track.”

Nicolette sipped from a glass of water the waitress had left behind. “He told me that you want him to take a look at his livestock. That was a nice gesture. It made him feel important. Now that his wife has passed on, the man doesn’t have anyone, except for his housekeeper.”

“I wasn’t doing it just to make him feel important,” he said. “He has years of experience and knowledge with cattle and horses. I would value his opinion and advice and be glad to pay him for it.”

Once again he’d revealed that he wasn’t above asking for help. Apparently he wasn’t one of those guys that thought he knew more than everyone else on every subject under the sun the way her ex-husband had. During their marriage, Bill had worked as an executive for an insurance firm in San Antonio and he’d been good at his job. Yet the man had been hopelessly lacking with manual tasks of any kind. Even so, he’d found it offensive if she’d suggested he get help from a mechanic for an ailing car, or a plumber to replace a leaky faucet.

“I’m sure Dan will be more than glad to help you,” Nicolette commented.

He started to make some sort of reply when he suddenly frowned and reached to his shirt pocket for his vibrating cell phone.

“Excuse me,” he said as he flipped open the phone to identify the caller.

Nicolette watched the frown deepen on his face as he snapped the phone shut and drop it back into his pocket.

“Not an emergency?”

“She probably thinks it is,” he answered. “That was my mother.”

“Oh. Well don’t let me intrude. If you need to talk to her it won’t bother me.”

He sighed. “Thanks, but it isn’t necessary. I already know what the call is about. A big fund-raiser is being held back in Houston this coming weekend for a congressman in my parents’ district. She wants me to attend and refuses to accept that I won’t be there.”

She studied him thoughtfully. “You don’t like politics?”

He released a humorless laugh. “Politics has nothing to do with it. I don’t want to spend my free time at big social galas of any sort. I have more important things to do.”

Nicolette was digesting his comment when the waitress arrived with tortilla chips, hot salsa and tall drinks of iced tea. After the young woman had served them, Nicolette plucked a chip from the basket and dipped it into the salsa.

“Do you have siblings?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “I wish. It’s hell being an only child.”

Nicolette munched the chip, then said, “I wouldn’t know what being an only child would feel like. I have a younger brother and sister. So my mother spreads her attention among all of us.”

“Lucky you,” he muttered and his features tightened as he reached for his tea. “Don’t get me wrong, Nicolette. My mother is a loving person in her own way. But she can be smothering. It was really hard on her when I left for college and medical school. She, uh, you see, my father is always working. Always. So I guess she used me to fill the vacant spot.”

Nicolette was beginning to get the picture and it wasn’t a pretty one. “What do your parents think about you moving to this area?”

A sardonic expression twisted his features. “My father refuses to say more than hello to me. And my mother still believes I’ll change my mind and return to Houston. One of these days she’s going to realize that will never happen.”

“You sound sure of that.”

His brown eyes hardened with conviction. “Never been more sure of anything, Nicolette. When you grow up watching your parents do everything wrong, you grow up determined to be different.”

She could feel the undercurrent of tension in his voice and it told her the issues he had with his family were not small matters. The urge to ask him more questions surged up in her, but she bit them back. It wouldn’t do to let him think she was that interested. She didn’t want to give him any reason to think she was looking at him as a man rather than a doctor and colleague.

Thankfully, the waitress arrived with their meal, and they spent the next few minutes digging into their food and exchanging small talk about the clinic.

In spite of it being eons since she’d sat across the table from a man other than her brother or cousins, Nicolette began to relax. It was nice to be out, to be talking, to have a man looking at her as though she were lovely and interesting.

“Tell me, Nicolette—”

“Nicci,” she interrupted. “Everyone calls me Nicci, so you might as well, too. My name got cut short as a child and it stuck.”

He grinned and his eyes twinkled teasingly as they roamed her face. “Little Nicci. Sounds tomboyish. Were you?”

Her cheeks warm, she chuckled softly. “Terribly. I cried when Mother made me wear a dress to church.”

“Well, you obviously grew out of it,” he said as he recalled her long, beautiful legs exposed beneath the hem of her skirt and the sexy high heels on her feet. She was the essence of femininity and every inch of her pulled on him like a mighty magnet.

“I grew out of a lot of things,” she replied with a sigh.

Ridge shoveled up the last bite of enchilada and while he ate it, he studied her expression, which had suddenly become sober. Even though she smiled and laughed and joked at times, he could feel sadness emanating from her, as though her spirit had been broken. He hated that notion and realized he’d like to heal her heart.

“What made you decide to become a physician’s assistant, Nicci?”

She pushed the last few bites of food around on her plate. “I always wanted to help people, and in high school I decided I wanted to become a nurse and work as a missionary. But while I was in nursing school, I realized I could be of more help if I could actually doctor the needy. So I went a step further with my education.”

Ridge studied her downcast face and the way her brown hair waved against her cheek. She had a thick, glorious head of hair. The color was as rich as ground coffee beans and glistened like moonlight on water. Several times he’d caught himself wanting to reach out and touch the strands, to see for himself if they were really as silky as they looked.

“What happened with the missionary work? I mean, you’re obviously living and working here,” he said.

The corners of her mouth turned downward. “I met Bill in college, and after we married my plans…got changed. I have done some relief work in Mexico and the Philippines, though. And maybe someday I’ll go back to do more.”

Her gaze lifted and as her eyes met his he felt a physical jolt. The sensation stirred him and had him wondering what it would be like to have her touching him intimately, to have her soft drawl whispering in his ear.

She asked, “Have you ever done any relief work?”

Clearing his throat, he said, “Only here in the States.” Then he added mockingly, “My parents think I’m doing relief work now.”

She frowned with confusion. “Excuse me?”

He wished he could laugh. He wished he could forget the sight of his parents staring down their noses at him, trying their best to make him feel guilty and ungrateful. It hadn’t worked. He wouldn’t let it work.

“The fact that I’m practicing here in a small city,” he explained. “Instead of in Houston where the money and prestige are. They think I’m making peanuts and wasting my education.”

Still frowning, she said, “Money and prestige have nothing to do with healing people.”

He gave a half grin. “I’m glad someone around here besides me understands that.” He threw down his napkin and reached for the ticket the waitress had left on the outer corner of the table. “If you’re finished, we’d better go. I have a one-o’clock appointment.”

Nodding, Nicolette reached for her handbag. “I need to be getting back, too.”

Ridge paid the bill and the two of them left the restaurant. As he drove them the short distance to the clinic, he asked, “Your brother and sister, what do they do?”

“Lex helps our cousins, Matt and Cordero, run the ranch. He mainly manages sales and shipping. Matt is general manager and Cordero is in charge of the horses. Of course, most of the time all three of them labor with the rest of the wranglers. As for my sister, Mercedes, she’s presently in the Air Force and serving at Camp Justice over in Diego Garcia.”

“Must be nice to be a part of a big family,” he mused out loud. “I’d like to meet them someday.”

Nicolette could just imagine the buzz she’d create if she invited Ridge out to the ranch. She’d fiercely resisted her family’s nagging to find herself a boyfriend. If Ridge showed up for supper they’d think she’d either gone totally crazy or that she’d soon be sporting an engagement ring.

She glanced over at his rugged profile, then allowed her gaze to drift downward over his lean torso and long legs. The sight of him reminded her of all that she’d been missing and everything she’d been trying to forget. Yet the hollow feeling in her chest wasn’t enough to make her look away or to keep her from saying, “Maybe you’d like to come out to the ranch for supper sometime?”

By now they were at the clinic. He pulled into the nearest parking slot and turned off the engine before he turned in the seat to look at her.

“Are you serious?”

No, she was crazy, Nicolette thought. This man was nine years younger than her. Anything between them would be wrong and never work. But she’d offered the invitation and she wasn’t about to go back on it now.

“Yes, I’m asking you out to the ranch for supper. You said you’d like to see it and meet my family. Here’s your chance,” she said with a cheery casualness she was far from feeling.

He let out a long breath, and then a wide smile spread across his face. “You’ve surprised me, Nicci. I’m almost wondering if this is some sort of trick.”

“Trick? Why would I do something like that to you?”

A deep, rough chuckle rumbled up from his chest. “Nicci, Nicci,” he said with wry censure, taking hold of her hand, “you know you dislike me for taking Dr. Walters’s place.”

Nicolette turned her head away from him as streaks of sizzling heat jumped from his fingers into hers. “That’s not right. I mean, I loved Dr. Walters and I hated to see him go. But it’s not your fault that the man retired.”

“Hmmm. Well, I got the impression last night that you—” his voice lowered to a purr “—didn’t want anything to do with me personally.”

Her expression wary, she looked back at him. “Is that what this is, personal?”

His hand slid up her arm until his warm fingers were curved around the side of her neck. Nicolette’s insides began to burn and melt, and she wondered why she didn’t have the strength to get out of the truck and away from him.

“It is for me,” he murmured. “From the moment I first laid eyes on you, it became personal.”

She tried to suck in a deep breath, but all her lungs could manage was a shallow sip of air.

“Ridge, I’m nine years older than you.”

His face dipped closer to hers. “Who’s counting?”

She nervously licked her lips. “I am. And besides that, I’m not interested in…romance. Not with you or any man.”

“Well, I’m just going to have to do my best to change your mind,” he whispered.

Nicolette saw his kiss coming, but she didn’t have the strength to turn her head or pull away. Instead, just as his mouth was about to settle over hers, her eyelids fluttered down, her lips parted.

The contact was just long enough to allow her to taste him, to feel the hard contours of his lips molding against hers. Then it was over and she was staring at him in lost wonder.

“When do I show up for supper?” he asked. “Saturday?”

From the corner of her eye, Nicolette caught a flash of movement in front of the truck. Instantly she jerked away from him to see a group of nurses walking across the parking lot. At least two of the women were glancing their way, and she could only guess at what they were thinking.

“Now look what you’ve done!” she exclaimed. “Those nurses probably saw us kissing. By this evening, gossip about the two of us will be all over the clinic!”

“Good,” he said with a grin. “I want everyone to know that you’re going to be my woman.”

His woman! What was he, some sort of modern-day caveman? No, she would never belong to any man again, Nicolette silently vowed. And the sooner she got that message across to Dr. Ridge Garroway, the better off they’d both be.

Skewering his chest with her forefinger, she said in a gritty voice, “Look, Doctor, get this through your head now. I will never, ever be your, or any man’s, woman! Your friend, maybe. But never your woman!”

Unaffected by her harsh outburst, Ridge gently patted her face and gave her a wicked smile. “We’ll see, Nicci. We’ll see.”