Why did he have to be so charming? And so ridiculously handsome?
If he’d looked like the back of a horse with a personality to match, she wouldn’t be desperately trying to find a match at this thing. She’d still feel as if she had time to find someone perfect if he hadn’t come along and been perfect.
“So, is Prince Charming joining us this morning? Or is he grounded for staying out too late last night?”
And just like that, he was a little less perfect.
“Did you come here just to torment me? Or are you here to fall in love?”
Her question seemed to freeze the air around them for a second, but then that easy grin made another appearance and the moment passed.
“To answer your first question, it’s my day off, and I’m here in my capacity as town doctor out of the goodness of my heart. All sorts of things can happen on a hike.” He paused before the grin became wolfish. “Tormenting you is just as added bonus.”
“Bite me,” she whispered, just as Paige called the group to attention.
His bark of laughter rang out around the parking lot at the start of the trail they’d be taking, causing everyone to turn and look at them.
To Beth’s relief, Gerald hadn’t made an appearance this morning. She was already feeling guilty about the way his face had fallen when she’d let him down as gently as she could. If he’d turned up this morning, she’d probably have felt bad enough to spend the day with him.
Paige and Sheriff Callahan started talking the group through the trail, the health and safety briefings that Beth knew like the back of her hand, as did most of Rocky Valley’s residents, so she let her eye wander around the group.
It was another good turn-out. She recognised plenty of faces from last night. She also noticed that others were missing. Namely her brothers, the Wakefield twins, and some of the women they’d been talking to last night.
Wasn’t it just typical that her brothers, who had never shown an interest in relationships, could swoop in and treat the festival like a hunting ground, yet there were men here who were clearly taking it seriously being left partnerless?
Nobody in the group particularly caught her eye, but she refused to let that put her off. Her soulmate could be standing right here right now. And just because she wasn’t immediately attracted to any of the participants didn’t mean that a conversation by the river or a chat at tonight’s speed dating event couldn’t change all that, couldn’t reveal the man she was meant to be with, right under her nose.
“You ready?”
Beth blinked as Josh’s voice interrupted her over-active imaginings, and she realised that the group had started out.
He held a hand out to her, but she ignored it and brushed past him.
What if the man she was meant to be with was right under her nose — and he didn’t want her?
It wasn’t the best feeling in the world having Beth stomp away from him, but he couldn’t complain about the view. This desire for her was getting out of hand. He knew it, but he couldn’t stop it.
Why did he find everything about her fascinating or sexy as hell?
She was so tiny that even with her nose stuck in the air, she barely reached his shoulder.
He laughed to himself as she stumbled over a rock in her rush to reach the group and leave him behind.
Josh had spent his whole life surrounded by women who spent a year’s salary on looking perfectly put together. Yet Beth Carroway in denim cut-offs and a white t-shirt, with her curls bundled into a messy ponytail, left them all in the shade.
She was rattier than usual this morning, her natural bubbliness a little subdued, and he found himself desperate to bring it back. Even though nine times out of ten he’d been the reason for it. He’d hoped that the coffee would be a peace offering after he’d laughed at her disastrous date last night. But how could he confess the jealousy that ate at him every time she talked about this damned matchmaking festival? How could he explain the relief when that kid had shown up with his daisies, instead of someone who stood a chance with her?
He couldn’t.
First, because it was unfair to her. And second, because he didn’t fully understand it himself.
Last night Josh had sat at his window staring at the darkened bakery, thinking about her. About how good she’d looked in that little black dress… about how her eyes deepened to a winter ocean when she was angry with him… about how she’d felt in his arms…
And he knew, terrifying as the thought was, that if he’d never met Elaine, if he’d never experienced the horror of his first marriage, nothing would have stopped him falling head over heels in love with the feisty bundle of blond.
But he had met Elaine, and he had gone through what he had, and whether it made sense or not, it had changed him too much to allow him jump headlong into anything. Even knowing that didn’t stop him from turning up to these things just to torture them both, though.
The guilt that always slithered under the surface suddenly slammed into him. What was he playing at? Why couldn’t he just let her find happiness and be happy for her? Be the bigger man and walk away?
He looked up to see that Beth had caught up with the group, watched as one of the men dressed up like an overgrown Boy Scout sidled over to her side, practically drooling as he neared. And all thoughts of being the bigger man and doing the decent thing disappeared.
He would be able to walk away, he told himself as he picked up the pace, as soon as someone worthy of her came along.
But she wasn’t going to find what she was looking for in this group.
He’d hang around a bit longer just to make sure she didn’t fall for the wrong sort of man.
Chapter Thirteen
“And that’s how I became an actuary.”
Beth had never been so tempted to throw herself down a ravine in her entire life. She hoped that she managed to pull her expression into a semblance of interest, but honestly, she felt as if her entire soul had died during this conversation, and she wasn’t even sure she had control over her features anymore.
It didn’t help that the whole time she’d been listening to the man beside her drone on in the world’s most painfully boring voice, Josh Larson had been there in the background, watching, listening, smirking.
She’d love nothing more than to wipe that smug look of his face.
Her eyes travelled to him again since she apparently had no control over them either, and she felt a hot spurt of temper at his cocky wink.
He knew.
He knew there wasn’t a single man among this group who could hold a candle to him.
None of them looked as good…
None of them were as funny… or charming… or drop-dead gorgeous…
It was so unfair.
The group had stopped for lunch at one of the many beauty spots that ran along the river. It had been an easy two-hour hike to get to it. Anything strenuous would have made easy conversation impossible.
At the time, Beth had felt like a genius for making that point. Now she wished she’d suggested abseiling, if only so John the actuary would have to shut up and concentrate on not dying.
She was being unreasonable. John was a perfectly nice man. Ok, so he didn’t inspire any real emotion in her. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe she needed steady, dependable. Not boring, as such but — solid. No surprises.
“I did consider buying new, of course. I have a bit of a rebellious streak in me.”
Beth frowned as John’s voice penetrated her wandering thoughts. What was he talking about? She couldn’t for the life of her remember what he’d been saying. She’d zoned out ages ago.
“But, of course, common sense won out. Do you know how much a car depreciates in value the second you drive it off the lot?”
Ok. She couldn’t take any more. Beth jumped to her feet before he could subject her to the ins and outs of car purchasing. “I — ah — I just want to — to refill my water bottle,” she lied.
She turned and pr
actically ran down the short incline to the river before he could offer to join her. She didn’t think her brain would recover from having to listen to any more of his fascinating conversation.
“Enjoying yourself?”
Like clockwork, there was Josh.
But Beth was so relieved to have someone who wasn’t John the actuary to talk to that she didn’t even snap at him.
“Do you know how much a car depreciates in value the second you drive it off the lot?” she blurted at him.
He frowned in confusion. “Er — no,” he said.
“Good. Then you can stay.”
“He wasn’t actually talking about that, was he?”
“You should know,” she answered, sitting on a large, flat rock and stretching her legs out to the water. “You were standing close enough to hear.”
“Yes, but I zoned out around the Yale acceptance letter.” Josh grimaced, earning himself a reluctant smile.
“So did I,” Beth answered. “I just dipped in and out.”
“Well…” Josh sat beside her, his legs extending way farther than her own. “…I think you can safely speed past him on your speed date tonight.”
“How do you know about the speed date?” she asked, turning her head to look at him.
His gaze stayed on the river. “It’s hard to avoid,” he answered with a shrug, but she thought there was a slight edge to his voice. “The whole town has been in a frenzy about this festival for weeks.”
“And let me guess, you still think it’s stupid?”
He turned to look at her, his eyes like chips of ice in the bright sunlight.
“I think it’s — naïve,” he said carefully.
Beth flinched slightly at his words.
Naïve. That was how he saw her. Some naïve, gullible country girl.
Josh had attended an Ivy League college. He’d worked as a doctor in a city hospital. His family, Zoe had said, were nearly royalty in Chicago. His mom was one of those ladies who lunched and sat on charity boards.
She could just imagine how foolish he’d think something like this was.
Beth the baker, having to throw festivals just to get a date.
No wonder he doesn’t want me, she thought miserably.
“Well, we can’t all be a sophisticated city slicker, can we?” she bit, her voice acerbic.
He blinked as if surprised by her words before he sighed, and that pain she’d seen on his face before flickered in his eyes.
“It’s not sophistication, Beth,” he said quietly. “It’s cynicism.”
“What has you so cynical?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
His mouth twisted with more bitterness than she’d ever seen there.
“Life experience,” he answered with a hollow laugh. “But I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details.”
He made to move away, and without thinking it through, Beth reached out and grabbed his hand. The feeling of his warm skin beneath her own sent a crackle of electricity up her arm, and she knew that stuff like that didn’t happen all the time. Just like she knew that he felt it, too. She could tell by the darkening of his eyes.
It was incredible. And real. So, why wasn’t it enough for him?
“You won’t bore me, Josh,” she said. “I want to know.”
They stared at each other, trapped in exchanged gazes, everyone and everything else forgotten.
Beth didn’t think he’d answer. Thought he’d reject her as he had so many times before.
Finally, he opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Paige called out that it was time to go, and the tentative connection between them shattered.
Beth took her hand from his, feeling strangely bereft. She felt like an idiot for being upset. And she’d hate it if he saw how much just holding his hand had affected her, so she pasted a bright smile on her face and jumped to her feet.
“Let’s go,” she said with false brightness. “I’m gonna need all the time I can get to beautify myself for tonight.”
She turned to walk away before he saw just how fake her smile surely looked, but she’d only gone a step or two before she stood on a stone and stumbled. A pain shot up her leg, and she gasped as she fell, coming down hard on her ankle.
“Beth!” Josh’s voice sounded above the general furore her fall had caused, and he was beside her in an instant, his eyes filled with concern that she didn’t think was only professional.
“Oh my gosh, Beth are you ok?” Only seconds later, Paige was hunkering down beside Josh.
Beth felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment at the fuss she was causing. “I’m good,” she insisted. “I just tripped. But it’s fine, honestly.” Planting her hands on the rock, she tried to stand but the second she put weight on her ankle, the pain shot through her again, and she fell to her butt, gasping for air.
“Not fine then,” Josh said, earning himself a scowl. “Isn’t it lucky that there’s a doctor on hand?”
She wanted to say something cutting, but she was in too much pain, so she just sat there seething.
“Should we call for help?” Paige asked.
“No!” Beth answered before Josh got the chance. “Honestly, I’ve just twisted my ankle. Please don’t bother anyone.”
“We don’t know what you’ve done yet,” Josh said with irritating calm. “I need to grab my bag. Stay here and don’t move.”
“Good thing you told me that,” Beth said like a child. “I was just about to run a marathon.”
Her little tantrum only seemed to amuse him, which only made her mood blacken. She was embarrassed and sore.
“Beth, oh dear. Have you sprained your ankle?” John the actuary popped up behind Paige, tsking and shaking his head. “You know, 25,000 Americans a day sprain an ankle. And interestingly—“
“Paige,” Josh was back and interrupting John before Beth had a chance to tell him where he could shove his interesting facts. “Why don’t you lead the group back to the parking lot. I’ll fix up the patient here and get her home safely.”
Paige looked at Beth, raising her brows slightly.
Beth knew Paige was trying to gauge how she felt about it. She nodded slightly letting her friend know it was ok.
Not that she had much of a choice.
Within minutes, the group had packed up and were heading away.
“This really isn’t necessary,” Beth said, her cheeks scalding and her heart nearly slamming out of her chest. Josh ran a hand down her calf as he lifted her foot gently to examine it, and Beth thanked the Lord and every angel she could think of that she’d shaved her legs yesterday. “Why are you doing that?” She gulped as he began to unlace her boot.
“Because you can’t walk,” Josh said matter-of-factly.
“I can,” she said sulkily. “Just give me a couple of pain pills, and I’ll be on my way.”
“No,” he said firmly. “We’ll stay here until I’m sure it’s safe for you to move it.”
“I don’t have time for this. Why are you making such a big deal out of it, keeping me here against my will?” she snapped churlishly.
“Because I can’t get enough of that sunny personality,” he countered drily. “Now will you stop acting like a five-year-old long enough for me to examine you? I think I have some stickers I use to keep kids occupied if that’ll help?”
Her rude hand gesture just seemed to amuse him further, so she sat there mutinously quiet while he examined her leg and tied her in even more knots than usual.
Chapter Fourteen
Josh did a pretty good job of keeping his worry in check while he thoroughly examined Beth’s ankle. The rest of him proved a little more difficult to control.
He could tell by how pale she was that she was hurting, but she sat there tight-lipped while he checked for breaks or a sprain. It didn’t take more than a few minutes, but he prolonged it as long as possible like a lovesick teenager.
Her skin was like satin. And he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight rememberi
ng the feel of it… imagining the rest of her feeling the same…
“Josh?”
Jolted back to the present and away from dangerous territory, he rummaged in his bag for a couple of painkillers.
“Being the amazing physician I am, I was able to save the foot,” he said as he handed her the pills and a bottle of water.
She rolled her eyes but dutifully swallowed the meds.
“I guess I’m lucky that you were here then,” she said wryly.
“There’s some slight swelling, so I’d say you’ve got yourself a minor sprain,” he said. “The good news is you won’t lose a limb any time soon.”
“The bad news?”
“You’ll have to ice the swelling. And stay off it.”
Her eyes widened in dismay, and a rogue curl fell over her cheek.
Without thinking, he reached out and smoothed it behind her ear, watching in fascination as her cheeks turned pink.
“I-I can’t stay off it,” she mumbled hoarsely before clearing her throat. “The speed dating thing is tonight.”
“Well, I don’t know how speedy you’ll manage to be with a sprained ankle,” Josh said, removing his hand from her before he did something stupid.
“I can’t not go,” she said miserably.
He wanted her to stay home tonight — as a doctor and a red-blooded, jealous male. But she looked so upset that his heart twisted.
“Let’s get you home,” he said. “It doesn’t start until eight, right? We’ll see how it is in a few hours.”
She smiled up at him, and he had to remind himself that smile wasn’t for him. It was for some man who would be able to give her what she needed.
“Come on, invalid.” He stood and gently pulled her to stand. Much as he’d like to pull a Thor and carry her all the way down the trail, he knew it was beyond his abilities. Scouting the area, he found a stick that could help hold her weight. Then he put an arm around her, and they started their slow descent. He kept her close the entire time and tried not to think about how perfect she felt beside him.
The painkillers had taken the edge off the throbbing in her ankle. Beth stared out the window as the scenery gave way to the edges of town. There was Sheraton, the hotel where Josh had been staying when he first came to town. The place he’d first kissed her and very possibly ruined her for all future men.
Can’t Hurry Love Page 8
