“No, I just came by to see if your new nurse wants to be sprung for lunch. Marta sent me to serve as a one-man rescue team if need be.” He purposely sidled up to Alison. “How’re you holding up, darlin’?”
Alison’s eyes swept over the men before answering. “Terrific. I like keeping busy.”
“Then you’re in luck,” Shayne told her. “Because we hardly ever lack for something to do around here.” He looked at Ike and Luc, then indicated the door. “Now, if you two department store mannequins will clear out and leave the professionals to the work at hand—”
But Ike merely slipped an arm around Alison’s shoulders. It surprised him when she stiffened, since she’d been playing along up to now. “You don’t want to be accused of working this poor girl to death, now, do you?”
“Woman,” Luc interjected. “They like to be addressed as women.”
Alison moved aside and turned to face the two cousins. “‘They’ like being addressed by their name even more. And ‘they’ hate being referred to in the third person when they’re standing right there in front of you.”
Luc saw her point and acknowledged it. She was right. “Sorry.”
“Hey, she’s got you henpecked already,” one of the men in the far corner of the room hooted. He nudged the man next to him. “Looks like he’s got this married routine down pat.”
Ike raised an amused brow. “Well, if he doesn’t, he knows that he can come by your place and take notes, right, Paddy?”
The men around him laughed. Annoyed, but unable to dispute what was being said, Paddy shut his mouth.
Moving her slightly aside, Luc turned his back from the reception area and lowered his voice so only Alison could hear. “Seriously, if you’d like to stop for something to eat, we could go back to the Salty now.” He glanced toward Shayne who was busy ushering the next patient in. “You get to have a lunch hour.”
“No, thanks anyway. I’ll eat later. There’s too much to do.” She wanted to get the feel of the place, to turn the clinic’s routine into her own. This was her very first medical office out of nursing school, and she wanted to leave her mark on it. Most of all, she didn’t want to have Shayne regret hiring her.
Luc nodded, leaving. “Up to you.”
He returned fifteen minutes later.
Luc had gone back to the general store where he’d taken some of the goods he stocked and made her a salad with a side order of a beef-and-turkey sandwich. He’d been toying with the idea of putting in a lunch counter in the general store’s alcove. Not to compete with the Salty but to act as a compliment, allowing people a quiet place to eat if they wanted it. He knew some of the women in Hades would welcome a place to eat out away from the boisterous noise made by the miners when they frequented the Salty. Expansion, he’d come to realize, had its place within the scheme of things, even in a place like Hades.
He brought her lunch and a can of soda pop on a tray. Because he didn’t want to deal with any comments from the men in front, Luc used the back entrance to the clinic. Walking in, he surprised Shayne who’d just stepped out of one of the examining rooms.
Shayne saw the tray and smiled. “You can use my office if you’d like.”
He didn’t want to give Shayne the impression that he was waiting for her. For that matter, he didn’t want Alison to think that, either. He was beginning to see that that sort of thing made her uneasy.
Stepping into Shayne’s office, he set down the tray and backed out again. “Just tell her it’s there when she needs it. I’ve got to be getting back.”
Shayne nodded. “Whatever you say.”
This, he thought, watching Luc leave, was going to take time. But then, all good things did. He grinned to himself. Wait until he got home and told Sydney. For once, he was going to have the drop on her when it came to gossip.
Chapter Eleven
“Of course he likes her. Any fool could see that.” Stopping to look at him, Sydney patted her husband’s face with affection. He was so cute when he tried to be in the flow of things. “Not that you’re a fool, darling, but you can be pretty oblivious to what’s going on around you at times.”
He followed her around the kitchen as she got dinner ready. It was Asia’s granddaughter’s birthday and Sydney had given their housekeeper the day off. Indignity at the slur goaded him. “Name one.”
Sydney closed the refrigerator and raised her eyes to his. Humor danced in them. “All right. The way I felt about you.”
She had him there. He frowned, refusing to go down without a fight. “Name another.”
She laughed and kissed his lips quickly before turning back to the roast she had promised the kids. “Don’t get me started, Shayne, I’ve got too much to do.”
Shayne sank down on a chair, automatically taking the potatoes that were destined to eventually be mashed, and began peeling. “So everyone knows?”
Sydney shook her head. “No, not everyone. I don’t think he knows.”
“He?”
“Luc.”
“Oh.” That didn’t make much sense to him, but he figured he was out of his depth here. Deciding not to touch his wife’s observation with a ten-foot pole, Shayne continued peeling the potatoes instead. It was safer that way and a great deal less confusing.
She should have worn a hat, like Sydney suggested. It was just that wearing hats had never been something she’d done, even in the winter. And this was summer, after all. Summer with the summer sun beating down on her head, making her almost unbearably hot.
Alison passed the back of her hand against her forehead, wiping away the perspiration that had formed, and frowned at the fishing line. It had been hanging this way, off the pole and into the water, perfectly still, almost limp, for what felt like forever. Long enough for the sun to probably turn her chestnut hair to an off-blond.
She glanced at the man who was sitting only a few feet away from her. Half lying was a more accurate description. Luc looked as if the fishing pole he held in his hand was merely an afterthought, not the primary reason they were supposed to be out here.
When she blew out an exasperated breath, he looked over in her direction.
“Are you sure I’m not doing anything wrong?”
A smile slowly curved his mouth. That was the city in her, he thought, wanting everything done yesterday. That wasn’t why they were here. He’d thought coming here would be a pleasant change for her from the hectic clinic. After almost two weeks of getting acclimated, he figured she could do with the break.
“It takes patience.” For her benefit, he sat up. “Sometimes the fish bite and sometimes they don’t.” He indicated the empty spot beside him on the grass. “I haven’t caught any, either. You were the one who wanted to try this.” He’d suggested it, leaving it in the realm of “someday.” Alison had been the one to turn “someday” into “now”—just like he knew she would.
“I know, I know.” She wasn’t blaming him. “I just thought it’d be more productive, that’s all.”
Productive. It was a word he associated with the world outside this small piece of earth. Something Janice might have espoused, he thought. It wasn’t that he didn’t like being productive, or progressive, it was just that he saw no reason to let himself be ruled by it.
He nodded at the stream. A range of mountains stood reflecting themselves on the other side. All in all, it was an idyllic scene. One that inspired peace within the viewer.
Most viewers, he amended, looking at Alison again.
“This is part of that laid-back thing I was telling you about the other day. You’re supposed to enjoy relaxing.” His eyes indicated his pole. “The fishing is secondary.”
She liked succeeding at what she tried. Almost needed to. She ran her tongue along her lower lip. He probably thought of her as pushy, but she couldn’t help it. “What if I needed to catch fish to eat?”
His eyes swept over the barren space reserved for her catch. Humor deepened. “Then you’d have a problem.” He wanted her to enjoy he
rself, not to become frustrated. That negated coming here. “Look, if you’d rather just call it a day—”
She held her hand up, stopping him. She shouldn’t have said what she had.
“No, you’re right. I’m here to enjoy myself and see what people in Hades do for recreation besides sit around at the Salty—or gather in the doctor’s waiting room to look over the newcomer.”
Word had it that that was dying down. So far, from what he’d heard, Alison hadn’t accepted any of the invitations that had come flooding her way. The verdict was that she was shy and would come around eventually. If there was one thing the men in Hades had, it was patience.
“They do a lot more of the former than the latter.” Although, truth be told, he could understand spending hours staring at her. She moved like poetry and made a man think things he shouldn’t.
She gave a vague lift of her shoulder. She couldn’t really complain; everyone had been exceptionally nice to her. “Guess it’s only natural to be curious about a stranger.”
She wished she didn’t feel so unsettled when he looked at her. After all, it was normal to look at the person you were talking to. It was just that she could almost feel his eyes on her face, on her skin…
Alison shook herself free of the feeling. “So tell me about your plans for the general store.”
He could almost see her shifting gears and wondered why she felt the need to.
“Nothing much, just what I said the other day.” He didn’t normally like to put his plans into words until he was absolutely sure about what he was doing and more than halfway there. But he’d found himself telling Alison about his idea over dinner the other night when Sydney had invited him over. “I was thinking of putting in a lunch counter for mothers and their kids.”
From what she’d seen so far, unless patrons came from the Inuit village beyond the outskirts of town, that didn’t amount to exactly a large crowd.
“Won’t do much business,” she commented.
He didn’t have to consider his answer. “Enough. Besides, the object isn’t to ‘do business’ or make money, it’s to give people a choice.” Years ago, he remembered hearing his mother complain that there wasn’t anywhere for a woman to go to be with other women without having a man at her elbow. This could be that kind of place. “Ike and I practically grew up in the Salty.” He saw the interest in her eyes and heard himself continuing. For a private person, he’d been doing an awful lot of talking these days. “Our fathers were brothers and they liked spending their time there with their friends. If we wanted to spend any time with our fathers, we came along.”
It had seemed like a nice enough place, but there was still that connotation hanging on to it. “And your mothers didn’t mind?”
The question caught him off guard, then he realized what she had to be thinking. “It’s not a bar, it’s a saloon.” There was a world of difference between the two. “Like a pub in England. A place for friends to get together and talk, play a little pool, shoot some darts, things like that.”
She couldn’t help laughing. “You almost make it sound like a public service.”
That was one way to describe it, he supposed. “Maybe.”
She shifted on the bank, the muscles in her rear beginning to cramp a little. Without realizing it, she shifted closer to him.
“Then why have the counter in the general store?”
What he was proposing made her think of photographs she’d seen of the old-fashioned five-and-dime with its lunch counters tucked away in the corner. She saw no need for it if the Salty was as genial a place as he maintained.
“The Salty’s for everyone, but since we’ve got a lot more men than women, it’s more of a guy’s hangout. The counter, like I said, would be for women when they want to get together away from men.” He figured that would make the most sense for her.
She could relate to that far more than he’d suspect, she thought. Cocking her head, she studied his face. The man was full of surprises. “Nice of you to think of something like that.”
He merely shrugged and looked away. Compliments always made him uncomfortable. He saw her line moving. “Hey, I think you’ve got a tug on the line.”
Even as he alerted her to it, Alison felt the line go taut, felt the hard pull on the pole. It almost got away from her.
“I do!” Bracing, she found that it wasn’t enough. Whatever was on the other end was strong. “Wow.” Holding tight, she was being dragged down the remainder of the bank. “This one’s putting up a fight.” Unease set in even as she gained her feet. She couldn’t seem to stop moving. “Luc?”
He was behind her in a second, his arms going around the pole. And her. “Let go. I’ll bring him in for you.”
She wasn’t even aware of the light laugh that escaped. Alison held on harder. “Not on your life.”
He heard the excitement in her voice and understood. There was a thrill, being pitted against nature, vying for supremacy. But he also understood that she’d be dragged into the water in another minute. This wasn’t a minnow she’d caught, it was something that had the strength to fight for the all-important victory.
Closing his hands around hers, Luc added his strength to Alison’s. And tried not to notice that her hair was brushing against his face. Coupled with the light scent she dabbed on every morning, it was making him feel just the slightest bit light-headed. Desire whispered along the fringes of his consciousness. Telling himself he was just having some sort of allergic reaction to the perfume didn’t seem to work.
“Pull!” she yelled at him.
“I am!”
Muscles on his biceps hardened. With his arms bracketing her, it was hard for Alison not to notice. Harder for her not to be affected. With effort, she concentrated on the fish and not the man. “Pull harder, we’re losing him!”
His body was as stiff as he could make it, holding fast. “No…I don’t…think so.”
But they were still moving toward inevitable contact with the water. Alison yelped in surprise when she finally felt it along her shins. Everything within her reacted. The snows on the mountains had only recently melted and run off, making the stream close to icy cold.
Luc heard her teeth chatter. “Reel it in,” he ordered. “Reel it in!”
“I am reeling!” Alison insisted through clenched teeth.
His hands wrapped even more tightly around hers, Luc pulled the pole back as hard as he could. Alison’s foot slipped and they both wound up toppling over backward onto the bank with Alison coming down on top of him. Luc let go of the pole to try to cushion her fall and somehow managed to wind up holding her instead. The shock of contact was more pronounced than the cold water had been.
Her body felt soft and was made of pure temptation. Giddy, self-deprecating laughter echoed and swelled, then faded away into the air as their eyes met.
There was no more room for laughter.
It was hard to say who kissed who first. Luc would have liked to think it was mutual, but he might have been the one to set it in motion.
It didn’t really matter.
Whichever way it played, he found his lips crushed against hers. And found liquid fire in his veins. He’d seen an oil fire burning once, and this was like that. Wild, bright and giving all the signs of being out of control.
Except that he knew it couldn’t be. There was something about her, something that told him she wasn’t ready, no matter how sweet her body felt against his, no matter how inviting this kiss was. He would have thought that he wasn’t ready, either. Something inside of him made that a contradiction.
But it took two. And he had never forced a woman to do anything. It wouldn’t have occurred to him to even try, no matter what was at stake.
Her head was spinning again. She’d hit it against his chin when they came down, but that didn’t have anything to do with it. It was spinning because he was kissing her. Because he’d started that strange chain reaction within her that made her entertain lies. Lies like she could actually fol
low this through to its natural conclusion. Without freezing.
She knew that wasn’t possible. Believing that it was had been what had led her into her marriage. She’d learned fast, hadn’t she?
Slowly, her heart hammering wildly, Alison drew back, her hands against his chest, her lungs struggling for air. She shook her head, an Olympic swimmer shaking water off after a race. Except she hadn’t won. She hadn’t even come close.
She fought hard not to let Luc see what was going on inside her. A smile frozen to her lips, she scrambled quickly to her feet.
Looking toward the stream, she saw her pole disappearing under the water. The fish had won. Not that she would have kept it if she’d been the one to win the battle. She’d meant to throw it back all along. There was no way in the world she could have looked down at the fish struggling on the bank and then gone on to eat it. She would have eaten dandelions first.
Carefully she dusted off her hands on her jeans. “Looks like I owe you a pole.”
She owed him more than that, he thought. Another man would have tried to cash in on the promise he’d tasted on her lips. Pushed just enough to make it a reality. It had been there, within his grasp. He didn’t know all that much about women, but he’d known that.
But he wasn’t another man, he was Luc, and he understood fearing to tread over ground that had once been crossed. Her husband had probably soured her badly on the subject of relationships and she didn’t want to make the same mistake again. He could respect that. Hell, wasn’t he in the same boat?
Maybe not, he amended, looking into her eyes.
“Forget about it. I lost my grip on it, too.” And on himself, as well, he added silently. His own pole was lying lax on the ground where he’d dropped it. “Looks like we’ll have to starve to death.”
She laughed, glad he’d changed the subject. Grateful he hadn’t pressed his advantage. Or said things the way Derek had.
You’re nothing but a tease, you know that? A heartless bitch-tease. He hadn’t understood and she couldn’t explain it to him. Hadn’t the words in the face of his scorn.
Found: His Perfect Wife Page 14
