and because he didn’t want her to be a criminal, he’d broken all of his own rules.
“Nothin’ you want to say?” she asked, rubbing her hand over her face.
That childlike gesture made him wonder. He shored up his cynicism and shook his head.
“I should call my father. He’ll be worried.”
“Miss Adams, I’ll help you get in touch with your father once we’re inside.” Let the doc have her. He’ll tell me if she’s got a medical problem or a habit.
She nodded. “Probably a good idea to deal with my blood sugar first so I’m coherent when I call him, otherwise he’ll be on his plane in a heartbeat.”
He wondered what it would be like to have a private plane at your disposal. Was being rich what made her so sassy?
“Then I guess we’re going in. Is it going to be a needle?” She rubbed her arm as if already feeling the sting.
“A test.”
“A drug test?” Her eyebrow arched above her eye.
Her eyebrow matched the shade of her hair. He would have expected her to be a fake. But it seemed that her vibrant hair color was natural. “A blood sugar test.”
She rewarded him with a perfect smile that hit him in the gut like a fist. “Fancy that, a blood sugar test. I figured ya’ll still used horse piss and leeches.”
He turned away, busying himself with opening his door, determined she wasn’t going to get a rise out of him. He looked over when he heard the opposite door open.
She stepped out on her side but once on the sidewalk she swayed like tall grass in a storm. He stepped around the front of his vehicle and when he reached her side he grasped her shoulders with his hands. “I’ve got ya.”
Roxanne Adams tried to step away from him. “The hell you do. I can walk into the clinic. I’ll just tell my body I’ll reward it with orange juice if it walks just those few steps. You do have orange juice?”
Luke squashed his appreciation of her grit and the lust those long, lean curves inspired. She needed him. “I insist on helping you. I don’t want you to sue Doc Peterson if you land on the sidewalk on your head.”
“Really, Officer, I’m fine,” she protested, literally trying to stand her ground.
He just propelled her along, one of the benefits of being taller and stronger than even the tallest of the fair sex. “I’ll help you. We wouldn’t want you to fall down and get bruises. You might claim police brutality was involved.”
“Brutality? Like your grip on me? Are you afraid I’ll go running off and get lost in the crowds?” She gestured toward the almost empty street where Mrs. Henderson walked her ancient dog and three kids rode bikes.
He grinned and loosened his grip just a little.
She smiled back easily enough. So why did he get the impression those smiles were a rare occurrence?
“I’d never claim you’d been anything other than downright decent…for a cop.”
Luke’s experience said she wasn’t someone he should stick his neck out for, yet his instincts said otherwise. And his body clamored. But Roxanne Adams was trouble any way you looked at her. And he had to consider Carla, his longtime girlfriend.
Suddenly Roxy went limp in his arms. An unusual sense of alarm thrummed through him. He’d been tested in many different kinds of situations, but this felt different. He gently scooped her up and carried her into the clinic, wishing he knew what kind of trouble they were headed for.
“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?” Her voice couldn’t sustain the intended irascibility. But her eyes burned at him.
He wondered how her parents slept at night worrying about her. He hadn’t been able to squash his unease while waiting to discover what was wrong with her and it had made him testy. “I think I’m lookin’ at roadkill.”
“Such a nice sentiment. Are all country boys so poetic?”
She thinks I’m a hick. That should ease the ache in my loins.
Yet he wondered. Why was he in this hick town? Suddenly he could see it through her eyes and he wondered if it was small-town inertia holding him in Red Wing. The reassurance of familiar places and people. I really need to see Carla. He’d been going out with his lady for several years, and today he couldn’t remember the fragrance of her perfume.
And yet, all day he’d been remembering the smell of the vanilla air freshener in the Porsche. “Well, Miss Dallas, us hicks managed to patch you up without the leeches and horse piss.”
“Patch me up? Is that what you call it?”
“I take it you’re not feeling much better.”
She widened her eyes. “I guess not.”
“When was the last time you stopped for something to drink? You were really dehydrated. They gave you a shot big enough for a horse.”
“That’s probably all they have in this one-horse town.”
He shook his head. “Not really a big shot. Just the IV in your arm for a couple of hours. You were conscious, talking, but sleepy. Don’t you remember?”
She pushed her hair off of her face. “I remember the doctor talking to me but not much he said. I sleep like a dead person.”
“You were pretty out of it.”
“Did you wait so you could take me down to the station when I woke up? Are you desperate for company? Can’t be too many women in this town under eighty.”
“Is there any reason for me to take you down to the station?” He looked at her intently. “You got anything you want to confess?”
“You’ve got a sense of humor like a mortician. Come to think of it I do remember having nightmares. I think you featured in a few of them.”
As if to prove her wrong, he gave her a charming smile. “I just stuck around to make sure you didn’t cause any trouble.”
“Ah, Farmer John is concerned about everyone but the unfortunate woman stranded on the side of the road because of a medical condition. Your sympathy is astounding.” She struggled to sit up, clutching the neck of the hospital gown choking her. These stupid things had all the material up-front.
He put out his hands like he was trying to turn a stampeding horse. “Whoa. You best lie back down. I don’t think the good doctor is ready for you to be getting up.” His hands hung in the air just above her chest as if he were afraid she might be contagious.
“I gotta pee, Farmer John, and there ain’t no way I’m gonna let them hook me up to any catheter. Those things hurt like hell.” She grabbed the railing, pulling herself to a sitting position.
He took a step back.
She finally made it to her feet.
Then
