Midnight Remedy (9 page)

“Doing what?” he asked as they walked up the porch steps.

“Gathering herbs, of course.”

“Ah, yes, for your herbal remedies. Don’t you have to be naked?”

“Naturally,” she said, flicking him a disdainful glance.

“Want some help?” he asked her, his smile slow and easy.

Her lips twitched. “An amateur would only get in the way. Besides, I can’t do it before midnight.”

Naked. Midnight. Talk about potent images, he thought. “I’m a quick study. And I don’t have to leave.”

“I was joking,” she said.

“But I wasn’t.” He took a step closer to her.

Piper retreated against the door. Smiling, he edged closer still. “Piper,” he said softly, “aren’t you going to ask me in?”

She looked at him and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

The husky, whiskey sound of her voice gripped him in its potent fingers. “Your grandfather’s here.”

“Yes.” She ran her tongue across her lips.

The nervous gesture made the need to taste her irresistible. “Okay,” he said and drew her against him. He lowered his mouth to hers and slid into the kind of kiss he’d been thinking about since he’d met her. It was even better than he’d imagined, her soft, sexy mouth parting to admit him and her arms clutching around his neck. Then she flicked her tongue across his lips and slipped it inside his mouth.

He pulled her closer, tracing a hand down the supple curves. As the kiss lengthened he forgot everything. Forgot that he was supposed to be moving slowly, forgot that vulnerable look he’d seen in her eyes, forgot they were standing on her porch because she was too wary of him to let him come inside. Desire blasted through him, his body hardened, ached. His hand moved up to caress her breast, cupping it, the weight of it molding to his palm, the nipple already stiffening.

She moaned and wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck, pressing her breast into his hand. His other hand found the bare skin of her back and stroked it gently while he deepened the kiss in a journey toward pure explosive.

The sound of his beeper rent the quiet of the night, loud and grating. Piper jumped and tried to pull away from him. His hands slid to her waist and he slowly lifted his mouth from hers, staring at her while his beeper continued sounding. Muttering a foul word, he jammed a finger on the button.

Blessed silence. He leaned his forehead against hers and said, “That’s my answering service. I have to call them back.”

“Call
 . . .
” She stared at him blankly and repeated, “Call them back?”

Releasing her took training, and a lot of willpower. “I need to phone the answering service.”

“Oh. Oh, of course.”

It wasn’t the way he’d wanted to end the night.

Although she’d spent the day
immersed up to her elbows in an herb mixture she decided Elizabeth Arden would kill to get, Piper couldn’t help reliving the night before in her mind. Thank God Eric’s beeper had gone off when it did. But had it saved her from committing a really stupid act or merely postponed the inevitable?

If she wanted to have an affair with Eric, there was nothing to stop her. Nothing except her disastrous past experience and the uncomfortable feeling that she wasn’t cut out for affairs.

Chemistry. Sex. That’s all it was. She wasn’t an idealistic nineteen-year-old anymore, who thought that love was the answer and believed everything a man told her. No, she was a lot older and wiser, thanks to Dr. Roger Griffin. Cole’s father.

Older and wiser, perhaps, but until she’d met Eric she hadn’t realized the power that chemistry exerted. The phone shrilled insistently. “Pay the Piper,” she answered.

“Charlie’s hurt. Bring the truck down to the corral.” Sam sounded worried, an emotion Piper hadn’t realized he possessed.

“What happened? How bad is it?”

“Just get here, quick. And get that new doc out here. It’s pretty bad to be takin’ him all the way to Alpine.”

“The hospital? Oh, my God, I’ll be right there.” On her way to the barn she envisioned all the horrible possibilities. Earlier that summer Charlie had been diagnosed with hypertension and had suffered a mild attack of angina. Was it his heart again?

Piper knew CPR, but Sam didn’t, and again she cursed the old man’s stubbornness. His comment about CPR was so typical of the old cowboy that even though he infuriated her, she had to smile.

“Now Piper,” he’d drawled, the wrinkled leather of his face creasing with laughter. “I ain’t never kissed a man before and I ain’t intendin’ to start now. Charlie’s got a problem with his ticker and I’ll call a doctor or take him to town, but I’m damned if I’m a gonna kiss it and make it well.”

No argument of Piper’s had swayed him, and Charlie had backed up Sam.

She ran to the corral, but what she saw bore no resemblance to the scene she’d imagined. Blood. That was her first and overwhelming impression. “What happened?” She fell on her knees beside her grandfather, lying on his back in the dusty corral.

“Damned new stallion. I done told Charlie he had a mean streak a mile wide.” Sam turned to shout at the man wrestling with the big horse. “Put the son-of-a-bitch in the stall, but watch those hooves.”

“Grandpa! Grandpa, can you hear me?”

Charlie peeled back an eyelid and glared at her. “‘Course I can hear you, girl. Think I’m deaf?”

Relief swept over her. “Oh, Lord, Grandpa, I could kill you for scaring me like this.”

He winced and groaned. “Can’t seem to get my breath. Damn, I knew better than to let him catch me like that.”

Piper looked at Sam. He shrugged. “Two rear hooves, straight to the chest.”

“Wonderful. I’ll call Eric. Sam, what is that he’s holding over those cuts?”

“George’s shirt. Only thing we could find, and your grandpa, he was bleedin’ like a stuck pig. I said we shouldn’ta shoed that horse with—”

“Shut up, Sam,” Charlie said. “I’m in no shape to argue with you.”

Sam grinned. “Mebbe this way I’ll win one.”

Piper left them to it, heartened by the exchange. If Charlie was squabbling with Sam, he must not be hurt as badly as he looked.

“Doctor’s office,” Eric’s receptionist drawled.

“Effie Lou, let me speak to the doctor. It’s me, Piper.”

“Brad was just asking about you the other day. We haven’t seen you in a month of—”

Knowing from experience that she’d talk for half an hour, Piper cut her off. “I’ve got to talk to Eric. Grandpa’s hurt.”

“Right away,” she said, suddenly professional.

Shortly Eric came on the line. “What’s wrong, Piper?”

“My grandfather’s been kicked by a stallion. In the chest. He’s bleeding but we’re applying pressure.” She had to stop and take a deep breath. “Should I bring him to you or to the hospital in Alpine?”

“Is he conscious?”

“Yes.” Glancing at her grandfather, she caught his glare.

“Any other obvious problems?”

“He says he’s having a hard time breathing.” She turned her back to Charlie and lowered her voice. “He’s got a heart condition.”

“Do you know CPR?” Eric asked her.

“Yes.”

“Good. Keep an eye on him and bring him in. I’ll be here.”

“Fifteen minutes, tops,” Piper said.

Eric met them at the door to his clinic.
He and Sam helped Charlie up onto the table in the exam room. “Thanks,” Eric said. “I can handle it now. Piper, you can wait outside and I’ll call you when we’re finished.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ve seen blood before.”

“Dang it, Piper, do like he says,” Charlie put in. “It’s just a scratch.”

“I’m not leaving,” she said, glaring at them both and determined they wouldn’t get rid of her.

“She’s always been a stubborn little filly,” Charlie said. “Might as well let her stay.”

It took forever. Piper had to dig her nails into the palms of her hands to stop herself from screaming.

Finally, Eric said, “Mr. Stevenson, you need stitches in your chest and X-rays, but I think you’ve got at least one broken rib. Piper says you have a heart condition, so you should have an EKG run to be safe. Is your regular doctor in Alpine? I can patch you up enough to get there.”

“Not him. You do it.”

“But Grandpa, what about your heart?”

“Heart, schmart. Get on with it Doc,” Charlie said, holding a hand to his chest. “Doesn’t have a damn thing to do with my heart. I’ve broken ribs before.”

“But, Grandpa—”

“Piper,” Eric said, “he shows no overt signs of heart trouble. And I can run an EKG on him here. Let’s fix him up and he can see his cardiologist later on.” Turning back to Charlie, he said, “Lie down, Mr. Stevenson, so I can sew you up without leaving too big a scar.” He punched the intercom. “Effie, I need your help in here.”

Effie entered a few minutes later. When she started filling syringes, Piper decided that they could handle the rest without her. “I think I’ll go talk to Sam. Okay, Grandpa?”

Charlie grunted. Eric sent her a reassuring smile. “Have a cup of coffee. We’ll be about an hour.”

With a last glance at her grandfather, she walked out. In the waiting room she dropped in a chair and burst into tears.

“Piper? Ain’t Charlie gonna be okay?” Sam asked.

“The doctor thinks he’ll be fine.” She sobbed even louder.

“Women,” Sam muttered in disgust, scratching his head. “Never make a blame bit of sense.”