It Had to Be Love (An It Had to Be Novel) (2 page)

Missy blinked. “Whoops. Sorry. I’ll work on that part too. Okay?”

Before Tara could chastise Missy, she said, “I promise I’ll be so sweet to those Grants tomorrow they won’t know what hit them. Bye!” And she slipped out the door.

Tara frowned at the sunglasses in her hand as she pulled her office door closed behind her. Ryan should have been warned to be careful eating until the numbness wore off so he wouldn’t bite his lip or cheek.

She was going to have to track him down at the diner before he ate.

She’d rather give herself a root canal.

Resigned to the task, she stuffed Ryan’s sunglasses into her purse, then headed toward the diner. It was a beautiful, warm summer evening. The kind that could make her forget her worries, for at least a little bit.

The beautiful lake, visible in quick glimpses between the buildings, reflected bright streaks of the slowly lowering sun. She drew a deep, pine-scented breath of air into her lungs and smiled. She loved living in the prettiest little town in Colorado. The brightly painted buildings all stood in straight rows surrounding a grassy park with a cute bandstand in the middle. The park was usually filled with kids all summer. It was like a town out of the old movies her mother liked to watch. Never any trash, or graffiti—that would be bad for celebrity business.

“Hi, Doctor Carter!” the boys on the town’s soccer team called out in unison.

She lifted a hand and waved. Their coach, a blond beach bum who had made it clear he’d like to know her better in a naked way, had a big naughty grin on his face. “Hi, Tara. I’ll be at Brewster’s later if you’d like to keep me company.”

“Thanks, Toby. But I’ve got plans.” With her dog, but Toby didn’t need to know that.

He threw a hand over his heart. “You’re killing me, Tara!”

The boys laughed as Toby pretended to be mortally wounded by her rejection. He’d surely try again the next time she saw him. But she wasn’t a poacher. Toby was sleeping with the hairdresser, Pam—a blonde bombshell with a big heart.

Tara tugged open the glass door to Good Eats and Better Treats, then glanced toward the counter in the fifties-themed diner looking for Ryan. He wasn’t there yet. Might as well eat dinner while she waited. It wasn’t like she’d have to share a meal with the man. He always sat at the end of the counter with his back to her. She’d just say what she needed to, then do her best to ignore those broad shoulders, so like her ex-husband Spencer’s, as she always did.

She slipped into a red vinyl booth and Gloria, the owner, appeared. She handed over a plastic-coated menu. “Hiya, Tara. The usual? Salad, with grilled chicken? Dressing on the side?”

Tara glanced up from her menu and smiled. A person couldn’t help but smile at Gloria. She was like a cartoon character come to life with her beehive hairdo, blue eye shadow, bright-red lipstick, and pink bowling shirt with “Gloria” boldly embroidered across her chest. A spunky woman stuck in the fifties who had a kind heart.

“Nope. I’m going to walk on the wild side tonight and let you bring me whatever the special is.”

Gloria’s brows shot up under her teased bangs as she shoved her pen into her tall hair. There were four other pens in there already. “Well now, is that so? The whole town is going crazy lately, what with the hunt on for that box and now you risking the daily special. There’s red meat involved, you still game?”

She nodded. “Bring it on.”

It wasn’t like she
never
ate red meat. Just not most of the time. It’d be a great way to push her boundaries. Her former shrinks in Denver who’d helped her move on from her ordeal would be proud of her.

She was proud of herself for overcoming what Spencer had done to her. Well, mostly. She had a few more tiny things to work on. Like learning how to date without engaging her emotions, because she’d never make that mistake again. Her heart couldn’t be trusted to choose the right man.

Shaking her head, she dug the e-reader from her purse, opened the cover, and started where she’d left off the night before. Nope. She’d never make that mistake again.

He’d had to skip lunch, so Ryan was seriously looking forward to his favorite Tuesday night dinner—meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and his aunt Gloria’s awesome chocolate mousse pie. He opened the diner’s door and did a quick scan of the room as he made his way to his usual stool at the counter. No big-named celebrities tonight they’d have to pretend to ignore. Then he spotted Tara’s blonde head tilted over whatever she was reading.

She looked up and called out, “Ryan?”

Now she wanted to talk? Every time he tried to ask her a question earlier, she’d stuck some new tool in his mouth, cutting him off.

When he reached the table her fingers clenched around her e-reader like he was going to snatch it from her hands. She always tensed up like that when he was around.

She said, “Hi. You forgot something earlier.” She dug inside her purse and came up with his sunglasses.

“Thanks.” He slipped them into the front of his shirt and turned to go.

“One more thing.” Tara held out a hand toward the red vinyl bench across from her.

After he’d slid into the booth, she tucked a few strands of her pretty blonde hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. “I wanted to remind you about how to care for that temporary crown.”

Every time her eyes wandered away from his, she quickly snapped them back as she told him the dangers of sticky food to his temporary crown. Like she was forcing herself to maintain eye contact with him.

What was up with that? Was it his cop instincts making him suspicious, or was she just a little shy? Maybe he’d run a deeper background check on her later to quiet his gut feeling that Tara was hiding something.

When she’d finished, he said, “Got it. Thanks.” He’d started to slide out of the booth again as Gloria laid plates of Tuesday specials in front of them both.

Aunt Gloria planted her hands on her wide hips. “So, this is a nice change. Usually you both sit on opposite sides of the diner.” Gloria lightly cuffed the back of his head.
“
’Bout time you noticed what a beautiful woman Tara is. Even if she is a ‘dreaded’ dentist.” Gloria chuckled at her own joke as she made her way back around the counter to top off more coffee cups.

His eyes cut to Tara’s. “Sorry. I know you prefer my brother’s, or just about anyone’s, company to mine.” He grabbed his plate and made to leave.

She reached out and laid a soft hand on his arm. “Wait, Ryan.” Then, as if his skin were on fire, she jerked her hand away. “It’s . . . nothing personal.”

She moved the food around on her plate and avoided looking at him again.

Maybe he should just go sit at the counter.

But as he turned to go, he could’ve sworn he heard her whisper, “I can do this,” under her breath before she finally looked him in the eyes again and asked, “So what’s up with that buried box, anyway?”

“It’s a long story.” His stomach growled. Loudly. But maybe she hadn’t heard that?

Tara’s lips thinned as she wrangled back a grin. “Go ahead and eat. You can tell me after.”

Great. He’d just embarrassed himself, and next he’d need to have a long, drawn-out conversation with a woman who could barely look him in the eyes. He should’ve stayed home and made himself a sandwich.

Tara took a bite while surreptitiously watching Ryan eat. While he did it neatly, the speed at which he ate was as if he’d just spent a week lost in the wilderness. Probably took a lot of food to fuel all those toned muscles.

She’d rather be home snuggled up with Sherlock instead of sitting across from the nosiest, albeit most gorgeous, man she’d ever laid eyes on. He was bound to ask her more questions. But the flash of something in Ryan’s eyes when he’d said she’d prefer anyone else’s company over his made her stay. Hurting anyone was the last thing she’d ever want to do.

He paused between bites and beamed one of his big, sexy smiles. Her traitorous stomach always clenched when he did that.

He said, “Long time no see at the gym. What’s up with that?”

She forced herself to look into his stunning blue eyes, rather than at his chin like she usually did. His perpetual five o’clock shadow made him even more dangerously handsome. “Nothing. Just . . . been busy, I guess.” Lamest answer ever. The man was trained to sniff out lies. She needed to step it up.

“So you never answered earlier. Did you leave a heartbroken boyfriend behind when you moved here, Tara?”

Showtime.

“Maybe I left a whole string of brokenhearted men, like I hear you have with the women around here?” She cocked a brow to add some confidence she wasn’t feeling.

The corner of Ryan’s upper lip quirked. “A string would be an exaggeration. You’re good at avoidance techniques.”

“I’m even better at knowing when someone is prying.”

He chuckled. “Maybe I was just checking to see how single you really are.”

“Why would you do that if you don’t date local women?”

“Being a good wingman. Heard my brother asked you out, but he had to cancel?”

She’d accepted Ben’s invitation because all the girls said he didn’t commit to relationships. Just what she was looking for. She’d never let herself be fooled by so-called love again. Marriage was a thing in her past. “Yeah. Medical emergency. Part of the problem with being the only doctor in town, I guess.”

He nodded as he stared so deeply into her eyes it was as if he could see all the way to her soul. Could he see the damage?

She had to look away.

Why couldn’t Anderson Butte have a craggy old sheriff? Ryan stirred up some serious physical desire within her. He was the first to flip her attraction switch since her divorce. She’d figured that piece of hardware was gone for good in her, until she’d met Ryan three months ago.

The next time she looked up from her plate, Ryan had finished off his meal and was swiping a napkin across his mouth. He glanced across the table at her almost full plate and winced. “I missed lunch today. I don’t usually . . . eat that fast.”

Being numb hadn’t hindered him in the least. Except he’d missed a spot with the napkin because he couldn’t feel that side of his lower lip.

“You’ve got a little something right here.” She reached across the table to wipe the corner of his mouth with her napkin.

When his brows shot up, she realized what she was about to do and stopped an inch from his face. “Oh, I’m sorry. What was I thinking?” She quickly tugged her hand back and put it in her lap. “Work habit, I guess.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Ryan’s eyes twinkled with amusement as he swiped his mouth again. “Am I good now?”

Mortified, she just nodded.

Maybe it’d been good his brother had canceled their date. She’d clearly forgotten how to share a simple meal with a man.

As soon as his napkin was back in his lap, Gloria appeared with Ryan’s pie.

Ryan thanked her, then turned his intense, blue-eyed gaze on Tara. “I’ll wait until Gloria brings yours.”

That was nice of him. But then, Spencer could be nice too. Until he wasn’t.

“Thanks.” Digging deeper into the heap of creamy mashed potatoes on her plate, she said, “So, that long story about the box?”

“Oh, yeah. Well—” A scratchy noise sounded from the radio on Ryan’s belt. A woman’s voice said, “Zeke called and said he saw a digger on your grandma’s land. Know you’re not on call, but since you’re probably still at the diner, you’re closest.”

Ryan glanced at his pie and sighed. Then he unclipped the radio from his belt and lifted it to his mouth. “On it.”

“Saved from that long tale by the radio, or a digger in this case?”

“Yep.” A little grin stretched his full lips. “Maybe you should ask someone else. I’m not one for storytelling.”

“Or talking in general, I hear.” She stuffed another bite of the best meatloaf she’d ever had into her mouth and nearly sighed too. “Unless it’s about books? Or asking me personal questions?”

“Yeah. I like to read.” His grin turned into a full-on lethal smile, only just a little lopsided because of the Novocain.

Her stomach did that floppy thing again.

He slid out of the booth. “The town website has all the details about the box.” With a quirk of his brows, he said, “And maybe I find you as fascinating as a good book, Tara Carter. Bye.”