The Heart of Hill Country

by Sherryl Woods

  Could it be that he was truly a rarity, an honorable man who stood by his word? Did he intend to back off and leave her completely alone except for chance meetings? That prospect left her feeling thoroughly disgruntled.

  “Enough,” she said sternly and marched herself into the animal clinic. Work had always been able to dull the most painful memories. Surely it could take her mind off of Duke Jenkins for a few hours. She had a half hour before regular office hours. She would spend it with Honeybunch.

  Thankfully, the German shepherd was improving daily, though it would be another week or two before she felt confident enough of his health to send him back out to Betty Lou’s. The old woman had hitched a ride with a neighbor every single day to check on her dog. Dani was fairly confident that it was the sound of Betty Lou’s voice as much as her own medical expertise that had kept the dog alive through several touch-and-go incidents.

  “Come here, big guy,” she called softly. The dog’s tail thumped once, and he struggled to his feet. He limped over to the edge of his pen and licked her hand. Dani hunkered down in front of him. “You feeling better? You know, you gave us all quite a scare the night the sheriff brought you in here.”

  Honeybunch’s responding woof sounded creaky from disuse.

  “No, no, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault that creep slammed into you,” she said as she expertly ran her hands over his body checking his injuries. Everything seemed to be healing nicely. His stitches would come out tomorrow and then it would be mostly a matter of letting him get his strength back. His appetite was slowly returning, and he was regaining some of the weight he’d lost.

  “Betty Lou is going to be very glad to get you home again,” she told him. “She misses you.”

  The dog cocked his head at the mention of his mistress’s name, then uttered a plaintive woof that had Dani smiling.

  “Soon, boy. She’ll be here soon,” she promised.

  “What happened to him?” a familiar male voice inquired, causing her to jump.

  She glanced over just as Duke hunkered down beside her, his expression sympathetic as he allowed the dog to lick his hand. He seemed oblivious to the danger of getting dog hair all over his expensive suit. For some reason that pleased her deeply. Nor could she help noticing how strong his hands looked, yet how gently they moved over the injured dog.

  “Hit by a drunk driver,” she told him.

  “Damn fool,” he muttered, never taking his eyes off the dog. “I suppose he left the scene, too.”

  “Of course, but the sheriff caught up with him. A neighbor spotted the car and turned him in. He’d had his license revoked the month before.”

  “But he was still behind the wheel,” Duke said with disgust. “Maybe sooner or later someone will start taking away their cars, instead of their licenses.”

  “My sentiments exactly,” Dani said, standing up and giving Honeybunch a dog biscuit to chew on. She managed to inject a casual note into her voice as she asked, “What brings you by? And how’d you get past Maggie?”

  “Is Maggie that perky young lady out front reading a veterinary medicine textbook?”

  “That would be the one,” Dani said. “Forget I asked. If Maggie was studying, she’d let Martians invade without batting an eye.”

  “I hope I am somewhat less formidable than Martians,” Duke said.

  Dani wasn’t so certain, so she let the comment slide. “And you’re here for?”

  “Kitty litter and cat food,” he responded easily. “Mittens and the others go through the stuff faster than the boys go through a gallon of milk.”

  Dani grinned. “Are you so sure that some of that milk isn’t going into the kittens, as well?”

  “Now that you mention it, no.”

  Since the explanation for Duke’s presence was so patently flimsy, she couldn’t help teasing him about it. “You could have gotten the supplies you wanted at the grocery store, you know. They carry every brand you could want and their prices are much lower than mine.”

  “But then I wouldn’t have had an excuse to see you,” he admitted, his gaze settling on her face and lingering until her cheeks flushed.

  It was what she’d expected, hoped, he would say, but she began a protest just the same. “Duke—”

  “I know. I know. You’re not interested.”

  “And you promised—”

  “I promised we’d be friends, not that I’d avoid all contact,” he pointed out.

  “Is that why you’ve made yourself so scarce the past couple of weeks?” she asked without thinking of the implication of the question.

  Naturally, though, Duke didn’t miss it. His eyes lit with amusement. “So, you did notice. Good. Actually, I was out of town for several days on business. Jordan could have told you that if you’d asked.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” she said. “Do you know what he’d make of my asking?”

  “No more than I am, probably.”

  Dani scowled at him. “Well, don’t let it go to your head. My curiosity was no more significant than if I’d been wondering about the absence of ants at a picnic.”

  “Lumping me in with other pests and nuisances?” Duke inquired.

  Dani shrugged. “If the shoe fits...”

  “A lesser man might be insulted by the comparison and give up. Is that what you’re hoping? If so, you might as well save your breath. I’m a persistent kind of guy.”

  “Your persistence would pay off a whole lot faster if you picked somebody else to pester,” she pointed out.

  “Heck, Dani, surely you know that the chase is half the fun.”

  She frowned at the flippant words. “You see, that’s exactly the problem,” she said with gathering intensity. “It’s all a game to you. You have two sons. You shouldn’t be playing games. In the end they’re the ones who’ll get hurt.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Let me guess. You’re talking from experience, aren’t you? This has something to do with that jerk, doesn’t it? And his kids weren’t the only ones who got hurt. You did, too.”

  His guesswork was on the money. “It’s not important,” she insisted anyway.

  “Tell that to someone who’ll believe it, darlin’. Me, I just figure that gives me an extra obstacle to overcome.”

  She found his cavalier attitude exasperating. “Dammit, Duke, there you go again, turning it into some sort of contest. Maybe we can become friends, maybe not, but we sure as heck aren’t becoming anything more. Have I made myself clear?”

  “Abundantly,” he said.

  She didn’t buy the easy capitulation. “There are a dozen women in this town I could introduce you to this afternoon, who’d be willing to play it your way, no questions asked. Give me the word and I’ll call one right now.”

  “I don’t think so,” he said, his gaze locked with hers. “There are some obstacles to be overcome, but the fact remains that I’ve got my eye on you.”

  She returned his look helplessly. “Why?”

  The simple question seemed to stump him as much as it did her. She had to give him credit for considering his answer before he replied.

  “Chemistry?” he suggested eventually.

  “Chemistry’s a whole lot like fire,” she warned. “You shouldn’t play with it unless you know what you’re doing. In this case, way too many people could get burned.”

  “You could be right,” he admitted. “But I’ve always been a man who liked living on the edge.”

  “If it were only you and me involved, maybe it would be worth the risk,” she conceded.

  “It would be worth the risk,” he retorted emphatically.

  Heaven protect her from the male ego, Dani thought. “You and I are not the only ones involved,” she reminded him impatiently. “That makes the situation intolerable for me. You’re a decent man. Everyone says so. You’re doing right by your
sons under difficult circumstances.”

  “Don’t make me out to be a saint,” he protested.

  She grinned at his irritation. “Hardly that.” She deliberately reached up and touched his cheek, intent on keeping the gesture as casual as a handshake, as reassuring as a pat on the back. Unfortunately, even that simple contact sent a jolt of pure longing straight through her. She pulled her hand back and jammed it into her pocket, then started briskly down the hall, determined not to let him see how shaken she was.

  To her relief, he didn’t follow, but his softly spoken taunt did.

  “It won’t work and you know it,” he called after her.

  She hesitated, but refused to look over her shoulder. “What?”

  “Pretending that there’s nothing between us.”

  She turned then and met his gaze evenly. “There is nothing between us,” she said flatly.

  He shook his head, a smile on his lips. “Darlin’, if you believe that, then I’ve got a spread of land smack in the middle of a swamp I want to sell you. In fact, I can probably convince you it’s suitable for skyscrapers.”

  When she would have snapped out another retort, he held up his hand. “No, don’t say something you’ll just have to take back later. I’ve got time. There’s no rush when it comes to romance. In fact, all the experts say slower is better.”

  He managed to imbue the words with enough seductiveness to set off a stampede of erotic images.

  “What happened to friendship?” she asked, fighting the helpless feeling of being caught up in a whirlwind.

  He shrugged. “It’s a starting place.”

  “It’s the beginning and the end,” she insisted. “Accept that or stop coming around.”

  He shook his head. “There’s that dare again, darlin’.”

  “It’s not a blasted dare!” she shouted, then sighed. “Forget it. Obviously, you don’t have a clue what I’m all about. Unfortunately, I can read you all too clearly.”

  “Can you really?” he said doubtfully. He covered the distance between them in three long strides. He framed her face in his hands and settled his mouth over hers before she could blink, swallowing her protest.

  This time she did fight him. She planted her hands squarely in the middle of his chest and shoved. When that didn’t work, she stomped down hard on his foot. He stopped kissing her then, but he didn’t release her. He kept his gaze fastened on hers until she was the one who finally sighed and looked away.

  “I gather I made my point,” he said softly, his thumb caressing her cheek.

  “What point would that be?”

  “That all the protests in the world won’t convince me that there’s nothing between us. The evidence says otherwise.”

  “Believe what you want to. It doesn’t matter,” she said, forcing herself not to evade his gaze or to react to his touch. “All that matters is that I do not want to become involved with you. Period. End of story.”

  “I’m sure as an Adams you’re used to getting what you want in life,” Duke retorted solemnly. “Knowing Jordan, it’s probably a family tradition. But I’m afraid you’ve finally come up against something you can’t control.”

  “Don’t be absurd. Of course, I can control it.”

  “How?” He grinned. “By avoiding me completely?”

  “That’s one way.”

  “The obvious one,” he said disparagingly. “I would have thought you’d be a little more original, maybe prove yourself under fire, so to speak.”

  Dani’s gaze narrowed. “You are not going to trick me into spending time with you, Duke Jenkins.”

  He grinned unrepentantly and shrugged. “Ah, well, it was worth a shot. I guess I’ll just have to rely on circumstances to throw us together.”

  “What circumstances?” she asked suspiciously.

  “It’s a small town. I work for your father. Your family thinks we’re a good match. I have three kittens. You’re the town vet. Those circumstances.”

  “You’re a manipulative troublemaker, aren’t you?”

  His booming laugh filled the narrow corridor. “Darlin’, coming from an Adams, that sounds a whole lot like the pot calling the kettle black.” He pushed open the half-closed door to the waiting room, then paused and winked. “See you around.”

  “What about the kitty litter and cat food you came in here for?” she blurted.

  “Don’t worry, darlin’. I’ll be back.”

  A half-dozen speculative gazes followed Duke’s exit. Dani figured it would be less than an hour before the news was all over town that she and Duke Jenkins had had some sort of a lovers’ tiff right in the middle of her clinic. Her family would be thrilled.

  She, to the contrary, was not thrilled. She was worried. In fact, she was very close to panic. She might not be the most experienced woman on the face of the earth, but she recognized temptation when it was staring her in the face. She was tempted by Duke Jenkins, all right. Trying to convince him otherwise was going to require all her wits and then some. She wasn’t even going to bother wasting her energy trying to convince herself.

  * * *

  By the time the clinic closed at five and the last pet, except for Honeybunch, had been shuttled home by its anxious owner, Dani had almost managed to put Duke’s visit out of her head. She closed up and wandered down to Dolan’s to get a lemonade and a little friendly conversation with Sharon Lynn. Her cousin could always be counted on to brighten her spirits.

  Big mistake, she realized when she saw her cousin’s eager expression.

  “You sit right here and tell me everything,” Sharon Lynn said at once, automatically filling a tall glass with ice and lemonade and placing it on the counter in front of Dani.

  “Make that to go,” Dani said.

  “Too late. Come on, spill it.”

  “The lemonade?”

  “Very funny. What exactly happened when Duke came to call today?”

  “Nothing happened.”

  “That’s not what I heard.”

  “Gossip is very unreliable.”

  “Usually, there’s enough truth in it to make it fascinating, though. So, tell the truth, did he kiss you again?”

  Dani stared at her in astonishment. “How the heck would anybody know about that? The door was closed.”

  Sharon Lynn grinned. “So, he did. I suspected as much.”

  “Are you admitting that you didn’t know that already?”

  “Well, there was a fair amount of speculation. And Maggie peeked once. She seemed to think she had caught a glimpse of you in his arms.”

  “I am firing her first thing in the morning,” Dani vowed.

  “No, you’re not. She needs the job and she’s good at it. It’s not her fault you and Duke decided to get it on in plain sight.”

  “We did not get it on, as you so charmingly put it.”

  “But he did kiss you?”

  Dani sighed. “Yes.”

  “And you liked it?”

  “No.”

  “Liar.”

  “Okay, I liked it, so what? It’s not going to happen again. I have made myself very clear on that point.”

  Sharon Lynn tried unsuccessfully to hold back a grin. “Did you really? Did you by any chance make that same point out at Grandpa’s a few weeks ago?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  Sharon Lynn continued to smirk. “Guess he doesn’t hear too well.”

  “He’s a man, isn’t he? Have you ever known one to listen to a blasted thing we say?”

  “Actually, Kyle Mason hangs on every word I say.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sakes, stop gloating. We all know you caught the last decent man in the universe or so you keep reminding us.”

  “He is extraordinary, there’s no doubt about that. Not that Duke is any slouch. He’s charming and sexy and smart
.”

  “How would you know all that? You’ve barely met the man.”

  “Not true. He comes in here with his sons all the time.” She glanced up. “In fact, they’re on their way in right now.”

  Dani flatly refused to turn around to look. “Please, please, tell me you are making that up.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “To drive me crazy.”

  “Not me,” Sharon Lynn retorted. “But I’d say someone else is doing a pretty good job of it.” Her smile widened. “Hey, Duke. How’re you doing? Hi, Joshua, Zack. What’s it going to be today?”

  “Ice cream cones,” Zack replied. “Dad said we could have dessert before dinner tonight. Isn’t that cool?”

  “Way cool,” Sharon Lynn agreed.

  Dani felt Duke’s hands settle on her shoulders. A shiver skimmed straight down her spine even before he leaned down and whispered, “Told you so.”

  There was nothing to do but accept the inevitable. Slowly, she swiveled her stool around until she was face-to-face with him. Pure devilment was sparkling in his eyes. His gaze locked with hers and his expression sobered until an exquisite kind of tension shimmered in the air between them. Dani swallowed hard and forced herself to turn away. She smiled at Zachary and Joshua.

  “So what’s this about dessert before supper?” she asked.

  Already licking his double scoop of chocolate ice cream, Joshua paused long enough to say, “Dad says as long as we cross our hearts and promise to eat every bite on our plates, we can do it this way just this once. It’s ’cause Dolan’s will be closed by the time he finishes fixing dinner.”

  “Yeah,” Zachary chimed in. “It takes him a really, really long time to cook, ’cept when he zaps stuff in the microwave.”

  “I see.”

  “Can you cook?” Joshua asked. regarding her speculatively.

  “Dani is the very best cook in the entire family,” Sharon Lynn said before Dani could respond. “Her spaghetti sauce would bring tears to your eyes. As for her pot roast, well, let’s just say that Maritza taught her and Maritza has been Grandpa’s housekeeper for practically forever and he has gourmet taste.”