‘You reckon you’ve got what it takes to unlock this banged-up cynical heart of mine, Dr Courtney?’ He was mocking her again. She could see it in the way the corner of his mouth was tilted and his eyes glinted at her in the darkness.
She gave him a pert look to disguise how tempted she was to take him on. ‘I’m guessing I’d need a lot more than a month, that is if I could be bothered, which I can’t.’
He brushed an idle fingertip underneath the base of her upraised chin. ‘I would like nothing better right now than to take you inside and show you a good time.’
Izzy suppressed the shiver of longing his light touch evoked. ‘What makes you think I’d be interested?’
His gaze moved between each of her eyes. ‘Have you slept with anyone since your fiancé?’
‘No, but I hardly see how that’s got anything to do with anything.’
His fingertip moved like a feather over her lower lip. ‘Might explain the fireworks the other night.’
‘Just because I got a little excited about a kiss doesn’t mean I’m going to jump into bed with you any time soon.’ She knew she sounded a little schoolmarmish but she desperately wanted to hide how attracted she was to him. She had never felt such an intensely physical reaction to a man before. His very presence made every nerve in her body pull tight with anticipation.
His tall, firm body was not quite touching hers but was close enough for her to feel the warmth that emanated from him. He planted a hand on the veranda post just above the left side of her head. ‘Thing is...’ his eyes went to her mouth again ‘...everyone already thinks I’m doing you.’
A wave of heat coursed through her lower body as his eyes came back to burn into hers. The thought of him ‘doing’ her made her insides contort with lust. She could picture it in her mind, his body so much bigger and more powerfully made than her ex-fiancé’s. Somehow she knew there would be nothing predictable or formulaic about any such encounter. She wouldn’t be staring at the ceiling, counting the whorls on the ceiling rose to pass the time. It would be mind-blowing pleasure from start to finish.
‘It’s just gossip... I’m sure it’ll go away once they see there’s no truth in it...’ If only she could get her voice to sound firm and full of conviction instead of that breathy, phone-sex voice that seemed to be coming out.
‘Maybe.’
She saw his nostrils flare as he took in the fragrance of her perfume. She could smell his lemon-based aftershave and his own warm, male smell that was equally intoxicating. She could see the shadow of stubble that peppered his jaw and around his nose and mouth and remembered with another clench of lust how it had felt so sexily abrasive against her skin when he’d kissed her.
A wick of something dangerous lit his gaze. ‘Ever had a one-night stand before?’
‘No.’ She swept her tongue over her lips. ‘You?’
‘Couple of times.’
‘Before or after your fiancée?’
‘Before.’
Izzy couldn’t drag her gaze away from his mouth. She remembered how it had tasted. How it had felt. The way his firm lips had softened and hardened in turn. The way his tongue had seduced hers. Bewitching her. Giving her a hint of the thorough possession he would take of her if she allowed him. ‘So...no one since?’ She couldn’t believe she was asking such personal questions. It was so unlike her.
‘No.’ He took a wisp of her hair and curled it around one of his fingers, triggering a sensual tug in her inner core. ‘We could do it and get it over with. Defuse the bomb, so to speak.’
She moistened her lips again. She could feel herself wavering on a threshold she had never encountered before. Temptation lured her like a moth towards a light that would surely scorch and destroy. ‘You’re very confident of yourself, aren’t you?’
His gaze had a satirical light as it tussled with hers. ‘I recognise lust when I see it.’
Izzy felt the lust she was trying to hide crawl all over her skin, leaving it hot and flushed. She took an uneven breath, shocked at how much she wanted him. It was an ache that throbbed in her womb, prickling and swelling the flesh of her breasts until they felt twice their normal size. ‘I’m not the sort of girl who jumps into bed with virtual strangers.’ Even if he was the most attractive and intriguing man she had ever met.
His eyes held hers for a semitone of silence. ‘You know my name. Where I live. What I do for a living. You’ve even met my father. That hardly makes me a stranger.’
‘I don’t know your values.’
His mouth kicked up wryly in one corner. ‘I’m a cop. Can’t get more value-driven than that.’
Izzy gave him an arch look. ‘I’ve met some pretty nasty wolves in cops’ clothing in my time.’
His hand was still pressed against the post of the veranda, his strongly muscled arm close enough for her cheek to feel its warmth. His warm breath with its hint of summer wine caressed her face as he spoke in that low, deep, gravel-rough voice. ‘I only bat for the good guys.’
Izzy could feel herself melting. Her muscles softened, her ligaments loosened, her hands somehow came up to rest against the hard wall of his chest. His pectoral muscles flinched under the soft press of her palms as if he found her as electrifying as she found him. His eyes were locked on hers, a question burning in their grey-blue depths. An invitation. ‘I don’t normally do this sort of thing...’ Her voice was not her own. It was barely a whisper of sound, and yet it was full of unspoken longing.
His eyes lowered to gaze at her mouth. ‘Kiss men you hardly know?’
She looked at his mouth, her belly shifting like a foot stepping on a floating plank. He had a beautiful mouth, sensual and neatly sculpted, the lips neither too thick nor too thin. ‘Is that all we’re doing? Kissing?’
His gaze became sexily hooded. ‘Let’s start with that and see where it takes us.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
HIS MOUTH CAME down and covered hers in a kiss that tasted of wine and carefully controlled need. It was a slow kiss, with none of the hot urgency of the other night. This one was more languid, leisurely, a slow but thorough exploration of her mouth that made her pulse skyrocket all the same.
Her heart beat like a drum against her ribcage, her hands moving up his chest to link around his neck. He was much taller than her, so that she had to lift up on her toes, bringing her pelvis into intimate contact with his. The pressure of his kiss intensified, his tongue driving through the seam of her mouth in a commanding search of hers. She felt its sexy rasp, the erotic glide and thrusts that so brazenly imitated the act of human mating. Carnal needs surged like a wild beast in her blood; she felt them do the same in his. The throbbing pulse of his erection pounded against her belly; so thick, so strong, so arrantly male it made her desire race out of her control like a rabid dog slipping its leash.
She pressed herself closer, loving the feel of his chest against her breasts, the way the cotton of his shirt smelt, so clean and laundry fresh with that sexy understory of male body heat.
His tongue played with hers, light and teasing and playful at first, determined and purposeful the next. He drew her closer with a firm, warm hand in the small of her back, the other hand skimming over her right breast, the touch light but devastatingly arousing. Izzy liked it that he hadn’t made a grab for her, squeezing too tightly or baring her flesh too quickly. His fainéant touch caused a sensual riot in her body, making her ache to feel his calloused palm on her soft skin. She made a murmur of assent against his mouth, reaching for his hand and bringing it back to the swell of her breast. He cupped her through her clothes; his large palm should have made her feel inadequately small but never had she felt more feminine.
His mouth moved down from hers, along the line of her jaw, lingering at the base of her ear where every sensitive nerve shrieked in delight as his tongue laved her flesh. ‘You like that?’ His voice came from deep within him, throaty, husky.
She sighed with pleasure. ‘Hate it.’
He gave a little rumble of la
ughter as his lips moved to her collarbone. ‘Let’s see how much you hate this, then.’ His hand released the zipper on the back of her dress just enough to uncover one of her shoulders. The feel of his lips and tongue on the cap of her shoulder made her spine soften like candlewax. For a man who hadn’t had sex in a while he certainly hadn’t lost his touch. Izzy had never been subjected to such a potent assault on her senses. Her body was a tingling matrix of over stimulated nerves, each one screaming out for assuagement.
He moved from her shoulder to the upper curve of her breast showing above her lowered dress. His lips left a quicksilver trail of fire over her flesh, causing her to whimper as the need tightened and pulled inside her.
He tugged her dress a little lower, not bothering to unclip her bra; he simply moved it out of his way and closed his mouth over her tightly budded nipple. The moist warmth of his mouth, the graze of his teeth and the salve of his tongue as he nipped and licked and sucked her in turn made her shudder with pleasure.
Izzy splayed her fingers through the thickness of his hair, holding him to her, prolonging the delicious sensations for as long as she could. His hand on the small of her back moved around her body to possess her hip. It was a strong alpha type of hold that thrilled her senses into overload. Her inner core moistened as he brought her hard against him.
He left her breast to lick the scaffold of her collarbone in one sexy sweep of his tongue. ‘We should stop.’
‘W-we should?’ Izzy had to remind her good girl to get back inside her head and her body. ‘Yes. Right. Of course we should.’ She pulled her dress back up over her shoulder but she couldn’t quite manage the zip with her fumbling fingers.
He turned her so her back was towards him, his fingers an electric shock against her skin as he dragged the zipper back up. His body brushed hers from behind, his hands coming to rest on the tops of her shoulders as if he couldn’t quite bring himself to release her just yet. The temptation to lean back against his arousal, to feel him probe her in that sinfully erotic fashion was overwhelming. Just the thought of him there, so close, so thick and turgid with want, was enough to make her flesh hot all over.
‘Um...you can let me go now.’ Her voice was still that whisper-soft thread of sound.
His hands tightened for the briefest of moments before they fell away. He stepped back, the floorboards of the veranda creaking in protest as if they too felt her disappointment. ‘You want a top-up of your drink before dinner?’
Izzy couldn’t believe how even his tone was, so cool and calm and collected as if his senses hadn’t been subjected to the biggest shake-up of all time. ‘I’d better not. What I’ve had so far seems to have gone straight to my head.’
Even though most of his face was in shadow she caught a glimpse of a half-smile before he turned and went back to the kitchen to see to their meal.
Izzy looked at Popeye, who was looking up at her with bright button eyes. ‘Don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t going to do it. I’m not a one-night stand sort of girl.’
Popeye barked and then jumped off the cane chair and trotted after his master.
* * *
Zach planted his hands on the kitchen bench and drew in a long, slow breath to steady himself. It had been a long time since he had let hot-blooded passion overrule common sense. That was the stuff of teenage hormones, not of a thirty-three-year-old man who had responsibilities and priorities.
But, damn it, Izzy Courtney was tempting. His body was thrumming with need, his mouth still savouring the sweetness of hers. Was he asking for trouble to indulge in a fling with her while she was here? It wasn’t as if either of them would be making any promises. She had an end point in sight. She had plans. Commitments elsewhere. He had responsibilities he couldn’t leave. Wouldn’t leave.
The trouble was he liked her. Not just sexual attraction. He actually liked her. She was intelligent, hard-working, committed to serving the community. Everyone was talking about how well she was fitting in. He hadn’t heard a bad said word about her.
Zach heard the sound of a mobile phone ringing. He glanced at his phone lying on the bench but the screen was dark. He wasn’t on duty tonight, Rob Heywood was.
Izzy came in from the veranda with an apologetic look on her face. ‘I’m sorry, Zach. I have to leave. Caitlin Graham’s little girl Skylar has fallen off a bed while playing with her older brothers and cut her forehead. It might not be much but with little kids you can never be sure. I’m going to meet them at the clinic.’
Zach snatched up his keys. ‘I’ll drive down with you.’
‘But I’ve only had a couple of sips of wine.’
‘It’s not that. We can take both cars.’ He turned off the oven on his way past. ‘Caitlyn’s new boyfriend, Wayne Brody, is a bit of a hot head, especially if he’s been drinking.’
Izzy’s eyes widened. ‘Are you saying Skylar might not have fallen out of bed?’
Zach kept his expression cop neutral. ‘Best we take a look at the evidence first.’
* * *
Zach and Izzy arrived at the clinic just as a young woman in her early to mid-twenties was getting out of a car that looked like it could do with a makeover. But then, Caitlyn Graham looked the same. Her skin was weathered by a combination of harsh sun and years of smoking, the tell-tale stain of nicotine on her fingers mirroring the rust on her car, her mouth downturned at the edges as if there wasn’t much in her life to smile about. There was no sign of the boyfriend Zach had mentioned, which made Izzy wonder if what he had alluded to had any grounds in truth. Caitlyn carried a whimpering two-year-old girl in her arms and two little boys of about five and seven trailed in her wake, the younger one sucking his thumb, the older one carrying a toy dinosaur.
‘I’m sorry to drag you out but I think she needs stitches,’ Caitlin said, hitching her daughter to her other bony hip as she took the five-year-old’s hand. The little girl buried her head against her mother’s thin chest and gave another mewling cry.
‘Let’s go inside and take a look.’ Izzy smiled at the boys. ‘Hi, guys. Wow, that’s a nice triceratops.’
The seven-year-old gave her a scornful look from beneath long spider leg eyelashes. ‘It’s a stegosaurus.’
‘Oh, right. My mistake.’ Izzy caught Zach’s glinting glance as she led the way into the clinic.
On examination little Skylar had a gash on her forehead that had stopped bleeding due to the compress her mother had placed on it but still needed a couple of stitches to ensure it healed neatly. There were no other injuries that she could see and the child otherwise seemed in good health.
‘I’ll put some anaesthetic cream on her forehead before I inject some local,’ Izzy said to Caitlyn. ‘It’ll still sting a bit but hopefully not too much.’
Once the stitches were in place, Izzy handed the little tot a choice of the lollipops she kept in a jar on her desk. ‘What a brave little girl you’ve been.’
The little girl chose a red one and silently handed it to her mother to take the cellophane wrapping off.
‘Can I have one too?’ the five-year-old, called Eli, asked around his thumb.
‘Of course. Here you go.’ Izzy then passed the jar to the seven-year-old with the stegosaurus. The boy hesitated before finally burying his hand in the jar and taking out two lollipops.
‘Only one, Jobe,’ Caitlyn said.
The boy gave his mother a defiant look. ‘I’m taking one for Dad.’
Caitlyn’s lips tightened. ‘It’ll be stale before you see him again.’
Izzy watched as Jobe’s dark eyes hardened. It was a little shocking to see such a young child exhibiting such depth of emotion. Not childlike emotion but emotion well beyond his years. ‘I’d like to see Skylar in a couple of days to check those stitches,’ she said to defuse the tense atmosphere. ‘If it’s tricky getting into town, I can always make a house call.’
‘I can get here no trouble.’
Was it her imagination or had Caitlin been a little bit too insistent?
Izzy shook off the thought. Zach’s comments earlier had made her unnecessarily biased. Not every stepfather was a child abuser. Jobe was a tense child but that was probably because he missed his biological father, who apparently was no longer on the scene. ‘Let’s make an appointment now.’ She reached for the computer mouse to bring up the clinic’s electronic diary.
‘I’ll call Margie tomorrow,’ Caitlin said. ‘I’d better get back. My partner will wonder what’s happened.’
‘You can use the phone here if you like.’
Caitlyn was already at the door. ‘Come on, boys. It’s way past your bedtime.’
Jobe was looking at Zach with an intense look on his face. ‘Do you always carry a gun?’
‘Not always,’ Zach said. ‘Only when I’m on duty.’
‘Are you on duty now?’
‘No. Sergeant Heywood is.’
‘What if a bad guy came to your house? Would you be allowed to shoot him if you’re not on duty?’
Caitlyn came back over and grabbed Jobe by the back of his T-shirt. ‘Come on. Sergeant Fletcher’s got better things to do than answer your dumb questions.’
The little boy shrugged off his mother’s hand and scowled. ‘They’re not dumb.’
‘Don’t answer back or I’ll give you a clip across the ear.’
Zach crouched down to Jobe’s level. ‘Maybe you and your brother could drop into the station one day and have a look around. I can show you how the radio works and other cool stuff.’ He glanced up at Caitlyn. ‘That all right with you?’
Caitlyn’s mouth was so tight her lips were white. ‘Sure. Whatever.’
* * *
Izzy chewed at her lower lip as she began to tidy up the treatment area. Zach came back in from seeing the young family out to the car. She turned and looked at him. ‘Cute kids.’
He was frowning in a distracted manner. ‘Yeah.’
‘You think she would hit Jobe or the other two?’
‘A lot of parents do. It’s called discipline.’
Flirting with the Socialite Doc (Mills & Boon Medical) Page 8
