woman had always been impeccably groomed. Every hair in place, makeup perfect down to expertly lined lips with color and gloss. Sky envied that. She kept her black hair shoulder-length, in a cut that fell into place after a quick blow-dry.
Now that she thought about it, during their last appointment, Shelby had been slightly agitated, not to mention rumpled. As if a man had run his hands through her hair and kissed off her lipstick. Uh-oh.
“She wasn’t herself the last time I saw her,” Sky said carefully. “But I made small talk. About how lucky she was—”
“Apparently, Shelby’s luck took her in a different direction. It didn’t lead her to me.” There was bitterness in a tone already liberally laced with anger.
“Oh. Maybe she just got nervous. If you talk to her and reassure her—”
“She left me a note saying she couldn’t marry me, after all, and asked me to take care of canceling all the wedding plans. And this bill for the rings,” he finished, holding out a familiar receipt.
Sky took it from him and her gaze dropped to the figure on the bottom line. It was a lot of money, but the bands she’d created were lovely, and gosh darn it, they matched perfectly. The time and materials involved didn’t come cheap. Now what? Ordinarily she could take back the merchandise and resell it. This set was magnificent if she did say so herself and the profit from it would help in her goal to start another store—maybe in L.A., New York or Dallas.
Before she could respond, the door opened and a male customer entered. With the arrival of the jilted bridegroom, Sky had forgotten this appointment. She’d agreed to design an anniversary gift for his wife.
“I’ll be with you in a moment, Clay,” she said. Then she met the doctor’s gaze. “Look, I can’t discuss this right now. I have a previous engagement.”
“That makes two of us,” he said wryly. “But there’s nothing left to discuss. I just returned the merchandise for refund. Our business is concluded.”
“We’re not finished. I need to give this matter some thought. Where can I reach you later?”
His eyes narrowed, but he said, “I’ll reach you.”
The next thing Sky knew he was gone. The tall, dark, handsome man was no longer a stranger. And she was destined to meet him again. She should have misgivings about it, but she didn’t. Which just proved that she was destined to be the subject of bad country and western songs: “Wanting Men Who Don’t Want Me” or “The Only Ring She’ll Get Is a Wring Around Her Neck.” Because there’d been nothing the least bit romantic or even positive about her encounter with Dominic Rodriguez, except that one small hint of a smile when she’d challenged him about knowing his patients by their ailments.
But for reasons she didn’t understand, she was looking forward to her next, probably last, and possibly explosive encounter with Dr. Dumped.
Shivering in the January wind, Dom waited on the sidewalk outside Sky’s the Limit Designs. It was located on Fourth and Main, just down the street from Black Arrow’s fire-damaged courthouse. She’d worked with the male customer who’d interrupted them until well past closing time.
From his car across the street, Dom had been able to clearly see through the windows as Sky had shown the man several pieces from her jewelry cases. Finally she’d pulled out a pad and made some drawings. The guy had left and she’d locked the door behind him, then put sheetlike coverings over the cases and did something with the cash register.
Dom had left his car and waited outside because—
He’d been on the outside looking in all his life? He shook his head at the ridiculous thought. Maybe as a kid, but not since making a name for himself as a doctor, a plastic surgeon who specialized in skin grafts and scar reduction for serious burn cases. Which didn’t give him immunity since he’d been burned by Shelby a few days before. Odd, but the thought brought less bitterness than he would have expected. Maybe there was good reason for his StoneHeart nickname. Or maybe meeting Sky Colton had blunted the bitterness.
Was that why he’d waited out in the cold instead of coming back tomorrow? Because he didn’t want Sky to get away? That was an equally ridiculous thought. She was a businesswoman. Where would she go? All he wanted was his deposit back and for her to write off the balance of the rings. In a long line of details to be handled following his broken engagement, this was the first. And most likely the easiest.
At least on the eyes. Sky Colton was not what he’d expected. For one thing, she was younger. Anyone dishing out advice to the lovelorn as she had should be at least fifty. And not pretty. A meddling person should definitely not have shiny black hair and gray eyes that turned stormy when she was agitated. Or oddly warm and inviting when she was amused. And finally the irritating buttinski who’d wrecked his wedding plans should not be able to make him smile. He’d caught himself just in time.
He didn’t want to smile. His orderly life was in chaos thanks to Miss Sky Colton. Things were a big mess and not just because he needed to cancel caterers, flowers, printed wedding invitations and the party to announce his engagement. There was the part that affected people he cared deeply for. Plans that had been a lifetime in the making. Frankly he wasn’t sure what to do about it.
After learning that his fiancée had eloped with her chauffeur, he’d been furious. She’d left him a note, along with unpaid bills and deposit receipts for wedding arrangements. But Shelby was gone. That left only Sky as the target for his frustration. He wasn’t proud of himself, of the way he’d behaved toward her earlier.
Part of his skill as a doctor came from reaching out to his patients and being able to connect with them on a human level. To understand what they were going through and ease their pain as he repaired damage to fragile flesh. But after rejection, his rage had simmered for several days without an escape valve. Until today. Sky wasn’t a patient and he’d reached out in anger.
Because of his brooding thoughts, it was several moments before he realized the lights in the shop were no longer illuminated. The door opened and Sky came out, closed and then locked the door.
Dom stepped out of the shadows. “It’s about time.”
“Good heavens!” She whirled around and the streetlight nearby showed her surprise. Pressing a hand to her chest, she took a deep breath then said, “In medical school, didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not heart healthy to sneak up on a person that way?”
“Sorry.” He hunched his shoulders against the frigid wind racing down the neck of his shirt. “Let’s just say my common sense is in the deep freeze along with the rest of me.”
“You haven’t been standing out here all this time, have you?” she asked, incredulous.
“Not exactly. I was in the car for a while.”
“Casing the joint? Keeping me under surveillance? Because you thought I might try to skip town?” There was amusement in her voice.
“Along with medical dramas, I think you’ve been watching too many cop shows.”
“Maybe. This may come as a surprise to you, but skipping town never entered my mind. I’ve got a lot to lose.”
“Is that so?” he asked, wondering if losing a fiancée counted for something in her frame of reference.
“Look,
