Bad In Boots 02 - Ty's Temptation (17 page)

“Morning, Doc.”

Her eyes flew open at the nickname Ty had used. She knew he meant it as a compliment. When her morning eyes focused on his clean-shaven face and damp hair, Evan’s heart jerked. It was Sunday. She knew he was leaving at some point today. She sat up on her elbow and took in his dark heather-green T-shirt and faded blue jeans.

“Where are you going, good-lookin’?” She tried her best to sound as casual as possible even though her heart was already breaking into tiny pieces.

Ty ran his hand down her hair and cupped her chin. She liked the tiny lines that formed around his eyes when he smiled. They told her what she already knew. Ty smiled more often than he let on. “My mom wanted me to join my uncle and her for breakfast with Harm and Jena before the newlyweds left for their honeymoon.”

Relief flooded through her, relaxing the tension that had stiffened her shoulders. Yesterday, after their shower and a quick dinner, Ty had carried her to bed and kept her up until the wee hours, taking her to new sexual highs. Her body might ache in a bone-deep I-couldn’t-get-enough-of-this-man-so-I’m-going-to-pay-for-it-later kind of way, but she’d never regret one single moment she’d spent with Ty.

“What time is your flight?”

“Two.” Ty leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers before he whispered in her ear, “The well-tumbled look suits you.”

Heat rose to her cheeks when Ty’s intense gaze met hers once more.

“Damn, I wish I hadn’t promised I’d meet my family for breakfast.”

She grinned then lay down on her back and stretched like a languorous cat, pressing her naked breasts against the thin sheet covering her body. “I guess I’ll just lounge around in bed all day then.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Ty growled as he stood. He glanced at his watch. “It’s nine now. I should be back in an hour and a half. Will you still be here?”

Evan laughed and answered truthfully. “Yes, recovering.”

Ty chuckled and started to leave the bedroom. But he turned back, a quizzical expression on his face. “I’m curious. You’re obviously an animal lover, but since you’ve spent a few days here I have to assume you don’t have any pets at home to take care of. Why don’t you?”

Evan leaned up on her elbow, surprised by his question about her personal life beyond what he already knew. “As you know I’m pretty much on call all the time. It wouldn’t be fair to have a pet I don’t get to spend much time with. And my yard is very small. I’d want to have more land for my pets.” She gave him a half-smile and shrugged. “One day. For now, I look at it this way…I have a whole practice full of pets.”

Ty nodded his understanding to her answer before he turned and left the bedroom.

Evan listened to the sound of Ty’s shoes on the wooden floor until he’d walked out of the house and started his car.

Once he’d driven away, she got out of bed and stretched every protesting muscle in her body.
A shower…that’s what I need. The heat will help loosen my muscles.
She headed for the bathroom whistling an uplifting tune.

She had at least an hour with Ty before he had to leave. When he got back, she wasn’t going to dwell on the leaving part, but enjoy every last minute of the here-and-now part.

* * * * *

Ty’s mind shifted through thoughts in rapid succession as he turned his car and headed up the dirt road that led to the Double D ranch. He’d never felt so free and excited in all his thirty-six years, all because of a woman who knew how to enjoy life to its fullest, a woman whom he was drawn to both intellectually and physically—a woman he just couldn’t get enough of. Evan was everything he wanted…everything that mattered. She was dedicated, generous, sassy and…independent.

That last descriptive word struck him hard. Evan was incredibly self-sufficient. Would she want someone like him in her life—a man with a protective streak a mile wide—for more than a weekend? For that matter, what
did
he want from this? He’d never expected the young veterinarian to turn his heart inside out, that having mind-blowing sex with Evan would meld into making love. But that’s what he’d done last night. Even if she wasn’t aware, he’d made love to Evan. Did she feel it?

He didn’t want to open his heart up again, to leave himself vulnerable for the kind of heartbreak that took him at least a decade to overcome. His feelings for Evan ran so much deeper than they had for Lily. Lily didn’t make him shudder when her fingers grazed his skin. He’d laughed a lot back then, but Lily didn’t try to see beyond his laughter to his insecurities. She didn’t look that deep.

Evan bowled right through his carefully erected emotional barriers. With her infectious smile and upbeat personality, she made him look at himself, see he was being an ass and showed him how to laugh again. He’d forgotten what it was like to laugh so freely with another…hell, come to think of it, he hadn’t allowed himself the luxury in eighteen years.

But he had to face facts. He lived in Maryland and she lived in Texas. What did the future hold for them?

The sight of Evan’s SUV coming toward him, dirt kicking up behind her tires, drew him out of his reverie. Ty glanced at his watch to make sure he hadn’t somehow run late. No. He was right on time.

He pulled his car over and put on his brakes at the same time Evan did the same.

“Hey, I saw you left your cell phone behind, so I tried to call Jena, but you’d already left their house. I’ve got an emergency surgery at my office.”

Ty couldn’t help the sinking feeling that knotted his stomach. He adopted a neutral expression. “How long do you think you’ll be?”

Evan’s ponytail swished behind her as she shook her head. “I don’t know. The cat’s pretty mangled from what I understand.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Ty. I’ll call your cell when I get a better idea of the situation, okay?”

Ty clamped his jaw to keep from blurting out, “But I want you to stay, damn it.” He knew it was a selfish reaction…one he couldn’t help thinking.

“Good luck with the cat.” He gave her a firm nod, then put his foot on the gas pedal and headed toward the house.

* * * * *

Evan called Ty’s cell phone on her way back to the Double D. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her emotions at an all-time high as her vehicle’s wheels rumbled over the potholes in the dirt road. After spending a couple of hours trying to repair the damage to the cat, she lost the poor soul anyway. It was the first animal she’d lost during a surgery. The sad experience coupled with the fact she’d never been able to call Ty to say goodbye made her reaction that much stronger.

When the house came into view and she saw Ty’s car was gone, she couldn’t hold back the sob that escaped. In her heart, she’d hoped Ty had changed his flight to stay longer so they could say a proper goodbye. His empty parking space told her otherwise.

She’d parked and cut the engine by the time Ty’s voicemail came on. Evan closed her eyes and listened to his deep voice, her heart aching.

As the beep sounded, she sniffed back her tears and adopted a steady tone. Ty didn’t need to know how upset she was.

“Ty, I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to call you before you left. The surgery…” she paused and took a steadying breath, “it took longer than I anticipated. I wish I’d had a chance to say goodbye. Well, I guess that’s what I’m doing now, though I’m finding it hard to come up with the words while speaking to your voicemail. Call me.”

Evan punched the off button and climbed out of her car. Butterflies flitted in her belly and her hopes picked up at the thought Ty might have left her a note. She shut the car door and strode over to the porch, taking the steps two at a time in her haste to get inside.

She unlocked the door and opened it, her gaze instantly searching places Ty might have left her a note in the small house.

The sight of a white sheet of paper sitting on the kitchen table made her heart race. Her boot heels sounded loud in the empty house as she walked over and picked up the note Ty had left her.

Evan,

You know that vet’s assistant you pretended to be…have you considered the possibility you might need one.

Ty

Evan’s heart felt as if someone squeezed it with all their might. The pain was so great her breath came in rampant pants. The note slid out of her fingers and fluttered to the floor as she plopped in one of the chairs, unable to stand on her suddenly shaky legs. Not one word of goodbye. No “I had a good time. Take care”. Nothing. Just a curt note, written not in a question form, but as a statement—a statement that basically said she wasn’t capable of handling her practice on her own.

Deep hurt welled within her.

Chapter Nine

Evan stood in front of the black glass-front cabinet in one of her exam rooms. Clipboard and pen in hand, she’d already checked the other exam rooms’ supplies. She could’ve had her secretary do this task, but she wanted to be absolutely certain all the exam rooms were stocked with all necessary supplies.

It’d been four weeks since Ty had left without a word. He never had returned her phone call. It took her a week and a half to overcome the hurt Ty’s silence had caused. That’s when the realization hit her. Could it be that Ty thought she was just like Lily? A woman who cared only for her own self, who put her desires above all else?

No matter how hurt she was by the way Ty left, his comment in the note he’d left behind had stuck with her. Evan didn’t realize she’d allowed her job to become her life the past few years, but the truth was, because of the way she’d grown up—smarter and younger than her peers—she never really did fit in. As the town’s vet, she felt as if she truly belonged and was accepted for who she was. So she’d thrown herself into her career without taking time out for herself. In the past, it didn’t matter…she didn’t have anyone else in her life. Until she met Ty.

She checked the inventory items off her list and wondered what Ty was doing now. Thoughts of him still made her heart ache.

“See you on Monday, Doctor Masters. I’ve got Doc Peterson’s number written down if I need him,” Nicole called out from the front office.

“Evening, Nicole…and it’s Evan,” Evan called back with a sigh. The new vet assistant Nicole Shannon she’d hired a couple of weeks ago had insisted on calling her Doctor Masters from day one. Marlene, her secretary, had even joined in this new campaign to the point several of her patients this past week had started calling her Doc Masters.
Wouldn’t Ty be pleased?
she thought with an ironic twist of her lips as she set the clipboard down on the counter and finished checking off her list.

Something dropped on the clipboard then bounced to the floor at her feet.

Evan pulled at her prairie skirt to move the calf-length hem so she could see what had fallen. Her brow furrowed at the sight of the blue and white garter that had landed between her beige boots. She’d seen Chad driving around in his brand-new convertible with that damn garter hanging from his mirror. The couple of times he’d seen her, he’d flicked the garter and raised his eyebrows as if to say it was only a matter of time before he’d get her to go out with him again. She really wasn’t in the mood for his games today.

“Chad—”

She tensed at the sound of his boots stepping into her personal space and then froze when he pressed his chest against her back.

Masculine hands landed on the counter on either side of her, caging her in. They weren’t Chad’s.

“I have this ache that needs tending to and there’s only one doctor I want to do the job.”

Ty’s deep voice made her heart rate kick up while his masculine scent and body heat enveloped her in a blanket of sensory seduction. Despite her anger at him, her lower belly clenched in intense anticipation.

Her heart hammered at a rampant pace, but she replied in an even tone, “I’m sorry, but I’m an animal doctor.”

Ty’s hands encircled her waist and his warm breath tickled her neck as he bent close to her ear. “I’ve got the right doctor, all right. I definitely feel animalistic whenever I’m anywhere near you, Doc.”

Evan’s stomach flip-flopped at his sexy comment. His heat had begun to permeate her white coat while tiny tingling waves of awareness spread from his hands clamped around her waist down to her belly and straight to her core. She closed her eyes against the sensations clamoring inside her.

“Why are you here?” She finally got the words out that had lodged in her throat.

Ty kissed her neck then nuzzled the soft skin. “Because every day without you was pure torture. You made my pulse race whenever I caught sight of you or inhaled your sweet scent. You made me look at who I was and learn to laugh at myself again… Evan, you’re the vitality missing from my life. When I’m with you, I feel whole.”

She held back a sob at his declaration, but she couldn’t hold back the tremor in her voice. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Ty turned her around. His green gaze searched hers as he clasped her shoulders. “Because I didn’t want to be hurt again. But I realized that you’re all I want, and if sharing you with your career is the only way I can be part of your life, then I’ll have to come to terms with that.”

Tears surfaced as she gripped his chambray shirt. “But you live in Maryland.”

The tiny scar above Ty’s right eyebrow added a sexy ruggedness to his good looks. His devastating smile made her heart skip several beats.