she knew she wasn’t going to get out of there anytime soon. The place was wall-to-wall people. Laughing and talking and nibbling on food that smelled absolutely fabulous, they were packed in shoulder to shoulder and could hardly move. And nobody seemed to care.
Mary Littlejohn, spying her hovering near the doorway, plowed her way through the bodies and greeted her like a long-lost daughter. “Rocky! I’m so glad you came! C’mon, there’s someone I want you to meet.”
Not giving her time to do anything but sputter a greeting, Luke’s nurse hauled her through the crowd and stopped in front of a middle-aged man who was already deeply involved in a conversation with a woman Rocky recognized as the mayor. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said in an easy tone that was anything but regretful, “but I want you two to meet Rocky Fortune. Rocky, this is Mayor Whacker and Thomas Gustafson. I was telling them earlier about your new flying service, and they were very interested in it.”
“You’re one of Jake’s daughters,” Thomas said, pleased, as he shook her hand. “I can’t tell you how delighted I was when Mary told us you’d moved to Clear Springs to set up your business. I own the Black Bear Motel and get requests all the time from guests who just want to hire a small plane to fly them into the mountains for some trophy bighorns, and I have to send them to Jackson. This is great! Just great.”
Smiling, Mayor Louise Whacker agreed. “We’ve needed the services you’re providing for a long time, dear. Especially search-and-rescue. Your grandmother would be so proud of you.”
That started a conversation about Kate, and then the mayor spotted one of the town bigwigs that she insisted Rocky meet. Before Rocky quite realized it, she’d been there well over an hour and enjoyed every second of it. Then she spied Lucas towering head and shoulders over most of the crowd.
She’d known she’d have to speak to him, of course—she couldn’t just show up at his party and ignore the man—but she planned to keep it short and sweet, then get the heck out of there. What she didn’t plan was for her heart to stop in midbeat at the sight of him.
Damn the man, he had no right to look so good, she thought, shaken. Casually dressed in a white shirt and a red V-necked sweater that did incredible things for his broad shoulders, he was talking to a small, wizened man and laughing at something he had to bend his head to catch. Transfixed, Rocky could do nothing but stare. It was a sight that she knew would follow her into her dreams.
Still chuckling over Whitey Walker’s latest joke, Lucas felt the touch of eyes on him and glanced up, only to suck in a sharp breath at the sight of Rocky staring at him from across the room. He didn’t have to ask what she was doing there—Mary’s innocent smile when he found her in the crowd had told him all he needed to know. She’d invited her, in spite of his direct order not to.
“Pretty girl,” Whitey drawled, noting his sudden distraction. “That’s Kate’s granddaughter, isn’t it?”
Lucas nodded. “Yeah. One of Jake’s girls—Rachel.”
“The one they call Rocky,” the old man said knowingly. “She’s got the look of her grandmother. And all her spunk, from what I hear. Word is, she gave old Jake more than a few of those gray hairs of his. A regular daredevil she is. And she’s eyeing you like you’re the next best thing to sliced bread.” Grinning up at Lucas, his black eyes danced with mischief. “So what are you standing here humoring an old man for? Go talk to her, son.”
He didn’t want to go anywhere near her, but she was his guest, whether he wanted her to be or not, and his mama hadn’t raised him to be rude, especially not to a woman. “I’ll be right back,” he said. “Don’t run off.”
He’d be polite, make sure she was enjoying herself, then find an excuse to put some space between them for the rest of the evening, he promised himself as he started toward her. Considering the number of people he still had to speak to, that wouldn’t be hard to do.
Catching up with her, however, proved to be more difficult than he’d expected. He’d hardly taken three steps before one of his mothers-to-be latched on to him and worriedly confided that she thought she might be going into labor three months early. By the time he’d questioned her and determined that she was just being the tiniest bit paranoid, Rocky was nowhere in sight.
Scowling, he went looking for her, got waylaid by one of his elderly patients, then stopped by the police chief for a lengthy conversation about the pros and cons of lowering the speed zone in front of his clinic because of the amount of traffic that was always coming in and out of there. Impatient, he broke away as soon as he could manage with the excuse that he needed to check to see how the food was holding out. Finally, breaking through a group blocking the entrance to the waiting area, he caught up with Rocky near the front door, just as she pulled her coat from the coat rack.
Walking up behind, he took it from her before she even knew he was there. “Sneaking out, Ms. Fortune?” he taunted softly. “And without even a proper thank-you to your host. Tsk, tsk. What would your grandmother say?”
Startled, Rocky whirled with a gasp, her hand flying to the pulse that was suddenly thundering irritatingly at the base of her throat. What was it about this man that had her always off balance? He hadn’t even touched her, and her knees were already weak. It was downright embarrassing.
“I wasn’t sneaking,” she lied. “You were busy and I didn’t want to bother you. I was going to send you a note tomorrow telling you how much I enjoyed myself, but now I won’t have to do that.” Using the manners she’d been taught as a child, she said sweetly, “It was a wonderful party, Dr. Greywolf. Thank you for inviting me. Good night.”
She started to reach for her coat, but before she could take it from him, Mary appeared at the door to the waiting room, her smile wide and devilment dancing in her eyes. “Oh, good, I see you found it.”
Confused, Rocky looked around. “Found what? My coat? It wasn’t lost.”
“No, the mistletoe.” Mary laughed, nodding to a spot above their heads. “Go ahead, Lucas. Kiss her.”
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