even more isolated from the town, and a surge of self-righteous indignation swelled in him. “Well, hell, why not? I’ve given up a lot to come here.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Timing is everything, Josh.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I should have come in winter?”
She shook her head, her expression sympathetic. “People have to get to know you.”
He threw his arms up in the air as bewilderment battered him. “What’s to know? I’m the doctor, they’re the patients. End of story.”
“This isn’t an ER in Chicago.”
“You think?”
She shot him a look that inferred he was utterly clueless.
He railed against it. He’d given up so much to come to Bear Paw and he didn’t need to be told how to suck eggs. He took a gulp from his coffee.
Unlike yesterday, when she’d been wearing a voluminous shirt that had hidden her curves, today she wore jeans and a watermelon-colored blouse, which was tucked in behind a leather belt. With her short stature, it made her breasts seem more voluptuous, and like muscle memory, his gaze automatically sought a glimpse of the generous cleavage he’d seen yesterday.
All he saw were green buttons the exact same color as her eyes. Taunting buttons that said, “We’re resting on warm, smooth skin that you can’t see.” An irrational tug of disappointment pulled at his gut and instantly wrestled with the fact that he didn’t want to be attracted to her in any way. Hell, he didn’t want to notice anything about her, so he focused on the fact that she annoyed him to the nth degree.
She and her sorry excuse of a house. “Instead of giving me gratuitous advice, you need to make your house habitable starting now.”
Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “I’m your landlord, Josh, not an employee you can order about. The house is more than habitable.”
Disbelief slugged him as his hand slapped the counter. “It’s got no internal doors.”
“You’re living alone so how is that a problem?”
She had the uncanny ability to make him feel like he was the one making an unreasonable request. Damn it, a house should have internal doors at least on the bathroom. “Of course it’s a problem,” he ground out, struggling to keep his voice calm. “What if someone’s visiting and I want to use the bathroom?”
A soft gasp left her mouth, and her eyes widened to huge pools of rainforest green. It took him straight back to yesterday, straight back to the small and steamy bathroom where she’d leaned in over him. He’d wanted to dive right into their depths and find the source of fire that glowed there.
She shook her head as if trying to shift something and the glow faded. “They’re already on order.”
His wayward mind, lost in the memory of heat and fathomless eyes, scrambled to find purchase. “What?”
Small lines creased across the bridge of her nose. “The doors. They’re on order and will be here in a few days.”
Her reasonable reply released the valve on his head of steam and he was left feeling like the rules had just changed on him. Again. “Right. Good. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m going back to work now.”
“Have a good day.”
He couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
—
BEAU was in town to collect a spare part for the tractor, and normally he avoided the diner at this time of day, but Bonnie had texted him to pick up a cheesecake she’d ordered. Her request had surprised him because she always baked her own and surely she could have asked Katrina to bring it home, but Beau had learned long ago not to question the vagaries of his aunt, his female cousins or women in general. Life was easier that way.
“Beau, you’re just in time. We need a man’s opinion.” Ellen Hanson, the bottle-blond wife of the owner of the town’s only car dealership, put her hand on his arm in a predatory fashion as he passed by the booth.
“My opinion,” he said carefully, using his breathing to try to avoid a
She shrugged her shoulders. “Timing is everything, Josh.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I should have come in winter?”
She shook her head, her expression sympathetic. “People have to get to know you.”
He threw his arms up in the air as bewilderment battered him. “What’s to know? I’m the doctor, they’re the patients. End of story.”
“This isn’t an ER in Chicago.”
“You think?”
She shot him a look that inferred he was utterly clueless.
He railed against it. He’d given up so much to come to Bear Paw and he didn’t need to be told how to suck eggs. He took a gulp from his coffee.
Unlike yesterday, when she’d been wearing a voluminous shirt that had hidden her curves, today she wore jeans and a watermelon-colored blouse, which was tucked in behind a leather belt. With her short stature, it made her breasts seem more voluptuous, and like muscle memory, his gaze automatically sought a glimpse of the generous cleavage he’d seen yesterday.
All he saw were green buttons the exact same color as her eyes. Taunting buttons that said, “We’re resting on warm, smooth skin that you can’t see.” An irrational tug of disappointment pulled at his gut and instantly wrestled with the fact that he didn’t want to be attracted to her in any way. Hell, he didn’t want to notice anything about her, so he focused on the fact that she annoyed him to the nth degree.
She and her sorry excuse of a house. “Instead of giving me gratuitous advice, you need to make your house habitable starting now.”
Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “I’m your landlord, Josh, not an employee you can order about. The house is more than habitable.”
Disbelief slugged him as his hand slapped the counter. “It’s got no internal doors.”
“You’re living alone so how is that a problem?”
She had the uncanny ability to make him feel like he was the one making an unreasonable request. Damn it, a house should have internal doors at least on the bathroom. “Of course it’s a problem,” he ground out, struggling to keep his voice calm. “What if someone’s visiting and I want to use the bathroom?”
A soft gasp left her mouth, and her eyes widened to huge pools of rainforest green. It took him straight back to yesterday, straight back to the small and steamy bathroom where she’d leaned in over him. He’d wanted to dive right into their depths and find the source of fire that glowed there.
She shook her head as if trying to shift something and the glow faded. “They’re already on order.”
His wayward mind, lost in the memory of heat and fathomless eyes, scrambled to find purchase. “What?”
Small lines creased across the bridge of her nose. “The doors. They’re on order and will be here in a few days.”
Her reasonable reply released the valve on his head of steam and he was left feeling like the rules had just changed on him. Again. “Right. Good. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m going back to work now.”
“Have a good day.”
He couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
—
BEAU was in town to collect a spare part for the tractor, and normally he avoided the diner at this time of day, but Bonnie had texted him to pick up a cheesecake she’d ordered. Her request had surprised him because she always baked her own and surely she could have asked Katrina to bring it home, but Beau had learned long ago not to question the vagaries of his aunt, his female cousins or women in general. Life was easier that way.
“Beau, you’re just in time. We need a man’s opinion.” Ellen Hanson, the bottle-blond wife of the owner of the town’s only car dealership, put her hand on his arm in a predatory fashion as he passed by the booth.
“My opinion,” he said carefully, using his breathing to try to avoid a
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