Hotblooded (25 page)

She met Walter’s gaze directly and hoped he wouldn’t see her bottom lip tremble. “Are you insinuating that Dr. Silver has agreed to stay for other than professional reasons?”

Walter shook his head. “I would never say you aren’t a professional.”

And there it was—the you’re-a-prostitute-like-your-mom comment he always managed to get in. It still stung.

Brooke felt Jack move in front of her before she could recover.

“Be careful, Walter,” he warned, his voice low.

The stunned numbness that had filled her since she stepped into the diner lifted with Jack’s words.

Anger and defensiveness took over, though neither emotion was for her. Walter had insulted Brooke a number of times. Now he’d included her mother
and
Jack. She wasn’t going to let Walter drag Jack through this.

And she wasn’t going to hide behind anyone anymore.

She used her elbow to move him as she stepped forward, putting her directly in front of Walter.

“Dr. Silver and I are professional colleagues, in
medicine
. If he stays, it will be to practice medicine.”

Walter’s eyes narrowed at her unusual show of backbone. “Are you implying that neither of you need
practice
in any other area?”

She was braced for something like that, so hers was not one of the gasps heard in the room.

“Dr. Silver is a wonderful physician. Rather than denigrating his character, you should be happy he would want to stay.”

“I’m trying to thank
you
for convincing him,” Walter said.

Uh-huh. Walter’s tongue would probably shrivel up if he said something nice to or about her.

She ignored his tone and turned to look at Jack, simply because she couldn’t stand to look at Walter another second. “I’m sure his decision had nothing to do with me. This is obviously the kind of practice he wants to be a part of.”

“Actually you were a very large part of my decision,” Jack said.

Brooke frowned at him. How did he miss this? No one had dared ask for a refill on their coffee, not to mention actually trying to get up and leave. How did Jack miss what was going on? He was just making things worse.

“Well, of course, I was part of the decision since we’ll be working together, but it was a professional decision.” She kept her tone pleasant, but she was absolutely positive that he could not misinterpret the look she was giving him. He
had
to go along with this.

Jack did nothing of the sort. Instead, he moved closer to her, too close for there to be any doubt that there was more than business between them. He put his hand on her shoulder and slowly slid his palm down her arm, in an obviously intimate gesture, until he held her hand. She tried to unobtrusively tug free, but he held her firmly. He pinned her with an intense stare, but before he could say anything, Walter had to speak. Of course.

“And then there are the fringe benefits.”

Brooke couldn’t take her eyes from Jack’s even as she heard some of Walter’s cronies chuckling.

Jack didn’t flinch with Walter’s words. He also didn’t deny what Walter said. In fact, his eyes seemed to be daring
her
to deny it.

“I need to get going,” Brooke said, hating how scratchy her voice suddenly sounded. She had no problem pulling her eyes away from Jack’s gaze now as she shrugged out of his grasp.

“Here you go, honey,” Vi said as Brooke turned toward the door.

She glanced back and then gave Vi a shaky smile as she accepted the forgotten box of muffins. Her hand was on the metal handle of the door when Walter spoke
again
.

“Careful, Jack. If you upset her, you might not keep getting it for free.”

Brooke said nothing as she pushed on Vi’s front door. A moment later, she stepped out into the morning sun and fresh air, proud that she’d fought the tears and won.

Chapter Nine

“You know what you and Walter both need?” Jack was right on Brooke’s heels. There was no way he was going to let this go. “For you to tell Walter to fuck off.”

When she rounded on him, the emotions on her face were numerous. “Excuse me?” She stomped back to where he stood.

“I want to know why you denied we’re together.” He held his body tense, frowning down at her.

She didn’t look especially intimidated, or inclined to be agreeable.

“Because this is what they expect of me,” she nearly shouted. “They think sex is the only thing I can offer someone, even a business partner. I can’t prove them right after I’ve fought so hard to change my image.”

“So you would choose to protect their opinion of you over publicly acknowledging what we have together,” he accused.

He had stood in that diner staring at the woman in front of him now, feeling like she was a stranger the morning after they’d been as intimate as two people could be. Even now, close enough to her that he could see the individual strands of hair naturally highlighted to a pale blonde, he couldn’t believe it.

“Yes! If they think that we slept together…”

“We
did
sleep together.”

“And it’s none of their business.”

“But it’s
my
business. They don’t need details, but if they ask if we’re involved, then I don’t intend to deny it. And I don’t like hearing you deny it.”

She tipped her chin up and crossed her arms. “So it’s an ego thing? Everyone has to know you scored?”

“No, dammit.” He advanced on her again and she backed up, further infuriating him. “I didn’t announce it to the diner but I don’t mind them knowing. I’m not ashamed of it.”

“You’re
proud
of it then?”

What the hell was she doing? “That a beautiful, smart, funny, sweet woman let me get so close to her? Hell yeah, I’m proud of that.”

The compliment seemed to further irritate her for some reason. “And why didn’t I know that you were thinking about staying?”

“You didn’t think that after last night I might be thinking along those lines?” How could this be the same woman he’d held last night?

“So it does have to do with last night,” she said. “It’s not about the clinic, or your own professional development, or even about our professional partnership. It’s about the sex.”

He clenched his jaw and stepped forward again. She started to move back, but he caught her, holding onto her upper arms. “Stop moving away from me!”

“They’re going to think something is going on!” She struggled against his hold.

“Something
is
going on!”

She stopped squirming and met his eyes directly, pain, confusion and anger in her gaze. “So Walter was right. This is about me offering better
benefits
than they do in San Antonio.”

Anger rose up hotter than the hurt. Walter was right? The man who had made her miserable for years? She believed Walter over him? The guy who had supported and encouraged her?

Jack pulled her up until they were nearly nose to nose. “I can get sex, and lots of it, anywhere, any time in San Antonio,” he ground out. “I think you need to remember that. I don’t need to come all the way to the middle of nowhere Texas for a piece of ass. That is
not
the reason I’m staying.”

“Good,” she shot back. “Because if you stay here, last night was the last time.”

He let go of her then, suddenly, and she stumbled back.

“Is that right?” he said, his jaw so tight his temples throbbed. “Are you sure you want to make a promise like that? I might hold you to it.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What does that mean?”

He wanted to make her admit that she couldn’t just walk away from it all. The woman who had been in his bed last night had not come for a one-night stand. She was
glad
he had come to Honey Creek and not just because of the physical pleasure he had given her for the first time in her life but for
all
that he’d done for her and given to her.

Dammit! She was trying to discard him for
them
, the people who had never appreciated her and certainly wouldn’t start just because she managed to keep herself closed up, miserable and celibate.

Suddenly, despite his most heroic efforts, he wanted to hurt her like she was hurting him.

“Like I said, I can have plenty of sex,” he said, struggling to keep his voice calm. “You were the one lacking in that department from what I understood.”

Her expression was shocked. “So you were doing me a
favor
last night, is that it? You did it out of the goodness of your heart? You took pity on the poor widow woman who married a gay guy?”

He crossed his arms and nodded. “Are you gonna say thank you real nice?”

For a moment he thought she was going to lunge at him and scratch his eyes out. There were likely a million not-so-complimentary things on the tip of her tongue. But at least she seemed to have forgotten about the people watching from the diner’s window.

“So sleeping with me made you feel important?” she asked, her voice controlled. Too controlled.

“You mean when you were demanding I put my mouth on you, when you were begging for my touch and calling out my name like the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus? Yeah. I felt a little important.”

She sucked in an angry breath and held it so long he began to wonder if she would pass out. Then instead of blasting him with a tirade, she spun on her heel and marched toward her car.

He was right behind her and stopped her with one hand on the top of the driver’s side door when she attempted to open it. He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t accept that she could dismiss everything between them like that.

She yanked on the car door, but he held it firmly shut.

“I don’t need to sleep with you to feel important,” he told her. She spun to face him and his voice dropped low. “The sex might be the best thing I gave you but I’ve been feeling important since I got to town.”

She pushed against his chest to back him up, but he held his ground and instead, leaned in closer.

“You consider buying me a cappuccino machine important?” She propped her hands on her hips.

He laughed, but he was anything but amused. “Oh, I think you can count higher than that.”

“Excuse me?”

He held up a finger, “Money.”

“Which I didn’t accept.”

He ignored her interruption and raised his second finger. “A supervising MD just in time to save your butt.” His third finger came up. “A bigger case load than you’ve had since you’ve been here.” His fourth finger rose and he held his hand close to her nose. “And let’s not forget, not just one,” he said as he lifted his fifth finger, “but
six
earth-shattering orgasms.” He dropped his hand. “Not that I’m keeping track.”

She opened her mouth but nothing came out except for a little squeak. Suddenly, he stepped back. The anger left him in a rush, until only the hurt remained. He couldn’t do this anymore. Hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do and his own heart felt like it was in shreds. He should have left Honey Creek, and Brooke’s life, when he’d been ahead.

Maybe David had been right. He was too addicted to the hero thing. He had to just keep pushing and doing more and more. Maybe this was his own fault.

He should have bought her the cappuccino machine and called it good.

There was just one more thing that needed to be out in the open between them. Then he could pack his bags and go back to San Antonio.

“You know,” he said. “Now that I’ve counted it up, I think I’ve paid what I owe you.”

He didn’t know whether she was surprised he’d finally moved back, or by what he’d just said.

“What you owe me?” she repeated dumbly.

He swallowed hard and nodded. “I came to Honey Creek to help you, to make your life better. And I’ve tried my damnedest. Hopefully some of it will stick after I leave.”

“Why?” she asked, her eyes suddenly wary. “Why did you come to help me? Why did you try to give me all that money?”

“To make up for something I’d done.”

“What?” Her voice was quiet, hesitant now, as if she could read in his eyes that the answer would change everything.

And it would. But it was time she knew.

“Killing your husband.”

While Brooke tried to wrap her mind around Jack’s words, he dug in his pocket, then flipped his wrist and something dropped from his fingers to the concrete at her feet.

Numbly she watched the plastic hair clip bounce against the cement.

Hair clip?

More than slightly detached from reality at the moment, she realized it was the hair clip she’d worn to his motel room the first night they’d made love.

She looked up to find him already two blocks away. What the hell was he talking about?

She started running after him, but even with a sensible, not-too-high heel, her pumps were a hazard. She stopped and hopped on one foot to remove first one shoe, then the other. Then she started after him again.

Her bare feet were quiet against the pavement and he didn’t hear her coming, especially over the muted swearing he was doing.

“Hey!” She grabbed his arm, yanking hard enough to stop him. “What am I supposed to do with
that
?” She asked gesturing back toward the sidewalk where he’d dropped the bomb.

He swung to face her, his expression stormy. “You heard me.”

“Just that you’re all paid up?” she asked. “For some debt I don’t even understand. And then I’m supposed to just let you walk away?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “I would very much like for you to just let me walk away.”

“You said you killed my husband. Don’t you think I have a right to ask a few questions?”

He stood staring at her for a long moment, his breathing uneven, a large crease between his eyebrows. “Didn’t you ever wonder why I was here?” he finally asked.

“You were…” She trailed off, letting herself actually consider his question. “The money,” she eventually answered. “You came to give me the money.”

“And I stayed.”

He had. Beyond the cappuccino machine and the fountain. He’d stayed to keep her from having to close the clinic. He’d stayed far beyond anything that made sense.

“You were determined that I either have the money, or the equivalent in equipment, supplies…or service,” she said, thinking out loud.