by Lori Foster
It was his turn to snort. “A woman who looks like you?”
“Is that a compliment?” She smiled. “Thank you.”
“A woman who flirts as much as you do?”
She shrugged. “You say flirting, I say being nice. But—” She slowed to turn the corner. “I haven’t been kissed many times at all.”
Not knowing what to think of that, Tucker said, “Define many.”
“If you must know...” Suddenly, she clammed up.
“Yes?”
Muttering now, she said, “I’m selective, that’s all.”
“How many, Kady?”
“Let’s just say I could tally them all with the fingers on my own two hands.”
“Ten?” No way. He wasn’t buying it. “So none of your boyfriends were into kissing?”
“What boyfriends?” she replied easily enough. “I haven’t had a boyfriend, not since high school.”
He was definitely calling bullshit on that one. “I’ve seen you on dates.” And it always bugged the hell out of him. “You can’t deny it. You and...” He couldn’t think of the clown’s name. “...that one doofus—you were at the last fishing competition together.”
Her mouth twitched. “Denny is not a doofus.”
“Has a hell of a ring to it.” He repeated thoughtfully, “Denny is not a doofus.”
“He’s not. Actually, he’s a terrific guy, but he was never my boyfriend. We went to the competition dutch. As friends.”
Denny was a doofus, but he was still a man, and Tucker couldn’t believe the guy didn’t try for a kiss at the very least. “There’s no way—”
“How many women have you kissed?”
He verbally tripped, surprised that she’d turned things around on him. “Hell, I don’t know.” At least she’d only asked about kissing, not sex.
“Too many to count?” she challenged.
“It’s not that there were so many, but since I started kissing girls in grade school, recalling them all might be tough.”
“Grade school?”
Tucker shrugged. “It’s nice.” Maybe he should show her. “Let’s just say—”
“Oh my God.” When she braked, the van swerved, but she expertly maneuvered the vehicle, her hands moving fast on the wheel. This time she tapped the brakes and brought the van to a halt at the side of the road.
Tucker didn’t have to ask her what had happened.
There, caught in the headlights in the middle of the road, was a small yellow dog, covered in mud, shivering and staring at them. The rain had let up, but the dog was already soaked.
The van idled. “No collar,” she whispered.
Twisting, Tucker reached for the door handle with his right hand. “Stay put.” But as he got out, the dog whined and took several steps to the side of the road...then stopped and waited again.
By the looks of her, not only was the dog female, but she’d recently given birth. His heart twisted. God, it was a miserable night for such a thing.
“It’s okay, girl,” he crooned, inching closer.
The dog didn’t look scared, but she did sidle away again, all the while watching Tucker expectantly.
“Where you going, sweetie?”
She waited.
“Want me to follow?” He did, slowly, crouched low, one hand stretched out.
The dog moved again, and he heard it—whimpering from a bush.
Behind him, a door opened and closed, and then Kady was there, the muddy towels in her hands. “Should I try to catch her?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Her hand touched his forearm. “We can’t leave her.”
“No, we won’t.” He slowly moved forward. “Whatcha got there, girl? You wanna show me something?”
The dog waited until he was close and then burrowed under the bush. Tucker was wondering what to do, how he was going to crawl under there with his injured shoulder, when the dog emerged again, a fat, wiggling, wet ball of fur in her mouth. She set the baby in front of him and went under the bush again.
“Ooooh,” Kady cried softly.
He knelt on the wet ground. The baby couldn’t be more than a day old. It blindly searched for its mama.
“Do you have a box in the van?” Tucker asked. “Something we can put them in?” He had no doubt there were more puppies.
“Yes, I think so. Be right back.” She ran off, her sneakers making slapping sounds on the wet pavement.
The dog brought out another puppy, then two more. Tucker carefully moved them onto the towels, being as gentle as possible. “That’s a good mama,” he praised the worried dog. “Such a good mama.” He carefully stroked her head and she let him, worriedly sniffing the puppies and the towel and watching him, hoping, he knew, that he’d give her some help.
Kady cautiously returned with the box. She’d lined it with her discarded clothes from earlier. “Hey, baby,” she said to the dog, her voice soft and sweet.
The dog scooted closer to Tucker.
“Aww,” Kady whispered. “She likes you.”
“Hopefully she likes you, as well.” He wasn’t sure he could manage that box, damn it, not with his arm already thumping. “Poor thing is soaked through. We need to get her and the pups out of this weather.”
“At least it’s warm.” Kady, too, knelt in the mud and began carefully moving the animals into the box. The worried mama fretted, going back and forth, getting near the box, then darting away.
“Come here, mama.” Tucker slowly drew her closer to him, tucking her against his body with his right arm and standing. At the same time, Kady stood with the box, keeping it where the dog could see her babies.
As they headed back to the van, Tucker ignored the pain in his arm and patted the dog, speaking to her gently. Once inside, Kady closed the van doors and set down the box. The dog wiggled free from his hold, then scampered awkwardly into the box with the whining babies.
“Good girl.” Tucker gave her a little more praise, then said to Kady, “Let’s get them home.”
She tipped her head, smiling at him. “Home to your house?”
“Yeah.” Where else would he take them? No vet or animal shelter would be open at this time of night. “The poor dog has been through enough. She needs a nice dry bed and some rest.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.” She headed up to the front of the van, Tucker close behind her. “You’re just the sweetest, Tucker, do you know that? If I wasn’t worried you’d faint, I’d be tempted to kiss you again.”
He stalled, half in, half out of his seat.
She patted his thigh and started the van. “Obviously fainting is a possibility, so relax. I already got the message loud and clear.”
What message? He hadn’t given her a damned message!
He would have liked to discuss it more, but she pulled into his driveway and the dog took priority.
Later though—like maybe sometime in the light of day, with other people around and his control locked firmly into place—he’d ask her about her lack of boyfriends, the number of kisses she’d had in her lifetime and exactly what message she’d gotten from him.
He had a feeling she’d drawn some wrong conclusions. That might be for the best, all things considered, but he couldn’t let her think he didn’t want her.
He did, and he didn’t mind her knowing—as long as she understood that nothing would come of it.
* * *
KADY SHOWED UP bright and early the next morning after not sleeping a wink all night. All through the remainder of the evening, she’d worried about the dog and her puppies, fretted over Tucker’s injured arm and relived—repeatedly—that kiss.
Bright sunshine promised a scorching, humid day. After the rain the night before, everything was so green. Vivid, beautiful green.
She loved Buckh
orn, the people, the mature landscape, the wide-open skies. Even the vacationers.
Most of all she loved Tucker...not that the butthead ever noticed.
As she went up the drive, his house, nestled in the tall shade trees, looked quiet. It was an older home located midway between town and the large vacation lake. His lot was bigger than some, but still sitting smack-dab in the middle of the neighborhood with neighbors on both sides and behind him.
Had he gotten any sleep? Had his arm pained him, or the dog kept him awake?
Had he thought of her? Of their kiss?
Kady wrinkled her nose in doubt and, bypassing the front porch, went around to the side door that opened into his kitchen. She didn’t mean to overstep; most people in the area went to the kitchen door to visit. As she passed the breakfast-room window, lacy curtains—probably left by a previous owner, which would make them years old—fluttered and she caught glimpses of Tucker moving around.
In his boxers and nothing else.
He had a cup of coffee in his right hand, mussed hair standing on end, beard shadow darkening his jaw, and he appeared to be talking to someone.
She really, really hoped it was the dog and not another woman.
She went up the small stoop and knocked on the door.
There was silence, and then the door curtain jerked to the side and Tucker stared at her with his beautiful green eyes wide. Kady stared back.
Oh, what that man did to her.
His effect could be downright lethal, and if he ever figured it out, she might be in trouble.
Or bliss.
She was willing to bet on it being bliss.
He walked away from the door and was gone so long, she started to wonder if he’d slipped out the front door. But then he returned wearing uniform pants and awkwardly trying to put on his shirt.
Stubborn, stubborn man. Kady tested the door, found it unlocked and let herself in.
“Here,” she said when he halted to stare at her again. “Let me help.” To keep him from objecting, she went right on talking. “And why aren’t you wearing your sling? You know you should be. That’s it, just keep your arm still...there. I’ll button it up for you.”
Belatedly, he regained his senses and stepped out of her reach. “I can do it.” Watching her, he did up the buttons one-handed and then grabbed for his coffee cup again, gulped back half and finally met her gaze.
Kady smiled. “That coffee smells good.”
“Is that a hint?”
“Seemed necessary since your good manners are nowhere to be found.”
“I was up all night with the dog.” He turned away, got down another mug from an upper cabinet and filled it. “There’s milk in the fridge.”
“Sugar?”
He looked around as if he weren’t sure, then finally located a sugar bowl in another cabinet.
“Where is the dog?”
“Well.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Kady noticed that he kept his injured arm folded close to his body.
“Well?” She sipped her coffee. It was awful. Clearly, domesticity was not his forte.
“I tried putting her in the kitchen last night, but she didn’t want to stay there.”
Slowly, Kady lowered her cup. “You didn’t let her back outside...?”
Leveling a look on her, Tucker said, “You know I wouldn’t.”
She let out a breath. “No, you wouldn’t.” Silly of her to think so for even a second. Tucker was a gentle, caring, protective man. She wouldn’t care so much about him otherwise. “So where did you put her?”
“She put herself in my bedroom—one pup at a time. And no matter how I tried, I couldn’t dissuade her.” He grinned, shook his head and looked toward the hall. “That poor girl was hell-bent on sharing with me. I guess I should be grateful they’re under my bed and not on it.”
Kady couldn’t wait to see them, but first... She sidled closer. “You didn’t get any sleep?”
He backstepped. “Not much, but it’s fine. I have a short day.”
“Me, too. And I want to help you.”
His eyes narrowed with wary suspicion. “Help me?”
“With the dog, or your shoulder, or whatever.” She closed the space again and reached out to touch his chest. He felt warm through the shirt, firm, and she spread her fingers a little.
“Kady...”
Softly, she said, “I keep remembering that kiss.”
His voice went rough. “You shouldn’t.”
She looked up at him, and was a goner. Dark lashes shaded those vivid green eyes. His strong jaw flexed, and his lips firmed.
She leaned into him, whispering, “Tucker?”
His nostrils flared, he bent closer—and then suddenly he jerked away, turning his back to her, his posture rigid.
That rejection felt like a blow, but damn it, she wouldn’t let him know. Kady gripped the counter, took a breath, ordered her thoughts and tried to drum up her patented, sunny smile.
“You mentioned a lack of kisses.”
Unsure she’d heard him correctly, she stared at his back. His voice had sounded like gravel, and when he looked at her over his shoulder, she saw color high on his cheekbones.
“What?”
He waved his right hand. “You said you haven’t been kissed that often. I thought about it last night—”
Oh, yay!
“—and then I started wondering...” His voice faded, and he gave her a frown.
He rarely frowned like that, so she took the show of emotion as a good sign. “Yes?”
He seemed to make up his mind, locking his gaze on hers and taking a step toward her. “Are you insinuating that you’re a virgin?”
* * *
TUCKER HELD HIS BREATH, unsure which answer he’d prefer. In his head, he knew it didn’t matter...unless something had happened to make her avoid sex. And that thought squeezed his heart. Had something in her life made her fearful of intimacy?
If so, he’d like to make her first experience the best possible.
All through the night, the idea of her being a virgin had taunted him—then he’d scoffed at himself and called himself a fool. She was twenty-five, gorgeous, smart, independent and confident—but also a flirt, and he’d be willing to bet every guy in Buckhorn had called on her at one time or another. Nothing seemed to faze her, and she had no problem speaking her mind, so—
“I never wanted anyone but you.”
Those words, said with such an innocent expression, staggered him. An invisible vise squeezed his throat, and he croaked, “Is that a yes?”
“Don’t make a big deal of it, okay?”
“No, no I’m not.” He couldn’t take his gaze off her. She’d waited because of him?
“Don’t you dare judge me, Tucker.”
Her growling tone snapped him out of his surprise. “Why would I? You’re not defined by your experience—or lack of it. I just...” He shook his head, at a loss for anything else to say.
A flush tinged her cheeks and she started for his hallway, her stride long and fast as if she wanted to flee. “Is your bedroom back here? I want to see the dog and her babies.”
No. Her getting near his bedroom wasn’t a good idea. “Kady, wait.”
“I can hear them,” she called back, quickening her pace.
Right behind her, he watched her peer at the rest of the house as she breezed past the living room/dining room combo on the right, then the hall bathroom on the left, his guest bedroom, and finally his bedroom with a small connecting bath. The house was small, and it took almost no time for her to be in his room.
Standing beside his bed.
Looking at his mattress.
“Wow.” She smoothed one small, soft hand over the corduroy comforter. “It’s big.”
“A king.” And
seeing her there by it, touching it, did funny things to him.
Blue eyes glanced his way. “Do you make your bed every day, or were you expecting company?”
He shook his head, although honestly, he’d been half expecting her. Yesterday she’d proven bold and determined. He still wasn’t sure if he was glad, or disappointed, that she was here now. “I like things neat,” he said by way of an explanation.
“Interesting.”
“You think so?” Shaking out the beige comforter and rearranging the pillows wasn’t a big deal, and took him only a minute or two.
Most of his house was decorated for comfort and convenience, not fashion. He’d bought it furnished when he’d first moved to Buckhorn, and had changed only a few things. There was very little clutter, but then he was a simple man who didn’t need a lot of fuss.
She put both hands on the mattress and pressed as if testing it. “Firm.”
Now why the hell did that make his dick twitch? “Kady...” he warned.
He couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like she bit back a grin. “That must be an expensive mattress. I’m jealous.”
Before he could come up with a reply to that, she kicked off her low-heeled sandals and went to her knees, the skirt of her summery floral dress floating around her before settling gently against her thighs. She lifted the edge of the comforter and peered underneath.
Holding back near the door frame, Tucker watched her.
The feminine outfit was typical for Kady when she expected to be on the air. On business days, she normally wore her beautiful blond hair in a casual updo, but today she had it loose, and now, as she knelt on the floor, it swung forward to hide her face.
Not that he was looking at her face with her in that position, her ass right there as if to tempt him.
“Ooooh,” she whispered in breathy awe, her head under the bed. “Tucker, they’re beautiful.”
He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips, but he did manage to resist joining her on the floor. “Yes, they are.” He’d put a big, soft blanket under the bed once he realized the dog was settling in there. He’d already cleaned and dried her and the babies as best he could, but for a few hours after, she’d patiently continued to groom them.
