“You’re saying the Texas Rangers might come after me if I eat a veggie burger?”
“More likely the Cattlemen’s Association,” Bill said.
“Is a grilled cheese okay?”
“Done,” Bill said, and gave Tyler a competitor’s smile. “And you’d probably rather get a ride home with me, since Tyler drives a motorcycle.”
“The fresh air will do her good,” Tyler said.
“I can drive myself,” Jill said.
“No,” Tyler said at the same time Bill did. “Go get her grilled cheese,” he growled.
Forty-five minutes later she had eaten and was pacing the floor of his office. She batted his hands away when he lifted his stethoscope. “Leave me alone. I’m ready to go.”
“Okay, let’s get your coat.” He ditched his coat and grabbed his suede jacket.
“I really can drive myself,” she said firmly.
“There is no way in hell I’m letting you,” he said just as firmly. “And I’m bigger than you are, so just stop arguing.”
She made a sound of disgust and stomped out of his office. Tyler’s lips twitched. She was a strange combination. She looked so feminine and composed, a little too cool, as if nothing would shake her, but he’d watched her melt with TJ, and she was clearly embarrassed that she’d fainted. She looked as though she should be shaken and stirred, and he wouldn’t mind doing the job. He knew she wouldn’t take him too seriously, and that made her all the more appealing.
He escorted her to his bike in the parking lot, and she shook her head. “I’m not dressed for this.”
Idly noticing the mild temperature and starry night, he pulled a helmet onto his head. “You’re fine. You’re staying at the Winchester Condominiums, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but—”
He stopped her protest by putting a helmet on her head. “It’s not far,” he said with a grin. “Just hold on tight.”
He helped her onto the motorcycle, then slid in front of her. He felt her gingerly put her hands on his back. Tyler pulled her slender hands under his coat and pressed them to his chest. “Trust me,” he said. “You’ll stay warmer this way.”
He felt the inside of her thighs spreading to accommodate his rear end, and a sensual image pulsed through him. Jill, with her silky thighs spreading to accommodate him in a totally different way. He felt a rush of heat and sucked in a breath of air. Then he started the engine.
He drove through the night to her condominium and helped her off the bike. She fumbled with the helmet and he took it off for her. He couldn’t explain it, but there was a hint of lost-girl look in her eyes. He’d seen flashes of that same look several times throughout the evening and he wondered what or who had caused it.
“Let me walk you to your door,” he said.
“That’s not—”
“Don’t waste your breath. My mother would never forgive me.”
“You can tell her I excused you,” Jill said in a long-suffering voice.
Tyler smiled and shook his head. “Not unless we’re planning to hold a séance.”
Jill whipped her head around to stare at him. “She’s dead?”
He nodded.
“I’m sorry. How long?”
“Too long,” he said, remembering the woman who had personified gentleness, humor and love in his life. “She died twenty-three years ago when my sister, Martina, was born.”
Jill stopped midstep on the sidewalk and placed her hand on his arm. “During childbirth. How terrible for all of you. Your sister, Martina? Did she survive?”
He nodded. “Yeah, and she’s pregnant. Not married,” he admitted with a sigh. “Whenever my brother and I ask her about the father, and believe me that is often, she insists the stork is responsible.”
“Do you worry about her?”
“Yes,” he said. “And no. Martina is no fragile flower. She’s tough, and she knows if she needs anything, anything at all, she can call Brock or me and we’ll come running.”
“Lucky lady?” she asked, walking to her doorstep.
“Maybe,” he said and cracked a half grin. “She might disagree with that on occasion.”
She slid her hand through her hair and met his gaze. “Thank you.”
“For catching you when you fell.”
She paused a moment, then nodded. “Yes. You were kind. Pushy,” she said, her lips tilting in a smile, “but kind.”
“Yeah, but my pushy is better than Bill’s pushy.” She looked bone weary. “What are you going to do now?”
“Turn my sound machine to ocean waves and head for the Mexican Riviera.”
“Take your rest. You earned it,” Tyler said. “You did some heart mending tonight with TJ.”
She shook her head and shrugged. “All I did was read to him.”
He lifted his hand to her cheek. “You know it was more. Maybe you weren’t heart mending. Heart stealing.”
She gave him a sideways glance. “I thought we’d decided you didn’t need to flirt with me.”
He chuckled, liking the softness of her skin against his fingers. “Your hair is perfect, your clothes classic. You look like a cool, controlled lady who knows exactly how to rule her world. I don’t know if I can resist the urge to mess your hair and rock your world.”
She dipped her head slightly, and her eyes, well, her eyes dared the devil in him. “Try,” she said, and left him staring at her door.
Jill leaned against the door and let the dark quiet of the condo seep into her. It would have been nice to be held right now. It would have been nice to feel strong arms around her and to hear reassuring words. A high-impact visual of Tyler flashed through her mind, and she tried to shake it off. He was tempting. He shouldn’t be, but he was.
She remembered the strength of his body during the short ride from the hospital, and the combination of fire and gentleness in his blue eyes. He was the kind of man who never let a woman forget she was a woman and he was a man.
In a weak moment, when her defenses were lowered, she could be susceptible.
She shook her head and pushed away his image. She took a few slow, deep breaths to clear the noise from her mind and waited for the other images she’d run from during the past four years….
Seven months pregnant, she’d been certain she looked like a beached whale,
