Trouble In Dixie (18 page)

"Celebrity parking, we must be living
right," he said and glanced over at her with humor sparkling in his
beautiful hazel eyes.

She couldn't help but smile back, his good
mood was contagious. He hustled around the truck and opened her
door, then put his hands at her waist and helped her down, sliding
her body against his, until her feet touched the ground.

"Mmm..." he murmured, then put his mouth to
hers and kissed her in broad daylight, in the middle of town,
without a thought. He pulled back and placed a wet kiss behind her
ear, and whispered sexily, "I might want to skip lunch, and have
dessert, instead." Tingles of excitement raced along her spine, and
landed directly at her core, her nipples tightened and her
breathing ratcheted up a notch.

"You sure are frisky today..." she said
breathlessly, then added purred, "I like it."

"I've missed you so damned much this
week..." he told her earnestly with desire heating his eyes, then
stepped back so she could move away from the door.

"I've missed you too," she told him
truthfully, as he put his hand at her lower back and guided her to
the door of the cafe and opened it for her. She really had, missed
him, a lot, even though they'd talked on the phone a few times, it
wasn't the same. "How's Dixie? No effects from the accident?"

He chuckled and said, "No, she's fine, for
the fortieth time...but you're her hero. She can't stop talking
about you, and that day."

"I'm not a hero, I'm just glad I was there,"
Katie told him and shook her head.

"Me too sugar..." he said in an emotional
voice, then led her to an open booth near the kitchen.

As soon as they sat down, a blond waitress
came over and took their drink orders, while they perused the menu,
and the chalkboard on the wall with the specials for today. Katie
was careful and chose a grilled chicken salad for her entree, but
Tommy salivated over the grilled liver and onions and ordered it.
Her stomach pitched and she felt the blood drain from her face.
Geez, not again, she thought and took a big gulp of the ice water,
the waitress had delivered to them along with their iced tea.

"I talked to Karlie yesterday when I called
and you weren't home. She said you sold your bike?" he asked then
gave her a big smile. "I'm so glad, sugar...you had me worried. I
actually had nightmares about you crashing on that thing."

Katie lifted an eyebrow and gave him what
she knew was a goofy grin, because that's how she felt inside too,
"So, you're dreaming about me?"

His heated eyes flew to hers, and he
admitted in a sexy drawl, "Every night, baby..."

"You going back home tonight?" she asked him
with a raised brow.

"Nope, staying at the bed and breakfast
tonight, I'll probably go back tomorrow night. Dixie is staying
with Cookie," he said in a low tone, his eyes studying her
intently.

"Interesting..." she said and took a sip of
her water, looking at him from under her lashes. "Gabe and Karlie
are going to the lake for the weekend," Katie told him with a sly
grin.

He sucked in a breath and his hand stilled
on the salt shaker he'd been twisting around, then he pinned her
with his heated hazel eyes, and grinned. "Very interesting...so,
you're all alone out there at the cabin...that could get lonely,"
he said with mock sincerity.

"It could, yes...but why should it?" she
said innocently. "I'll have all that wildlife out there...what more
could a girl want?"

"What more, indeed?" he chuckled and waggled
his eyebrows, which made her laugh. Serious Tommy Tucker waggling
his eyebrows was a sight to behold, because along with it his eyes
sparkled mischievously.

"Well, a six-foot two cowboy might come in
handy...never know when some of that wildlife might get out of
hand. My roping skills are a little rusty these days," she said
with a chuckle.

He snorted, "Rusty hell, you won a hundred
grand just a couple of weeks ago with your roping skills."

"Oh, yeah, I did, didn't I?" Katie said
smugly and polished her nails on the front of her shirt. "Guess I
just need to practice then, you game?"

"Baby, you can tie me up anytime..." he said
in a dark sensual voice that caused flames to shoot through her
system. The intensity of his gaze was like gasoline on those
flames.

"Watch what you agree to, sugar...you never
know what I'll do once I have you tied up. Ask Wade Roberts," she
said with a chuckle.

His eyes darkened dangerously and his hands
fisted, before he grated, "Don't bring that up
again...
please
."

Katie felt blood rush to her face and she
stammered, "Sorry...we didn't do anything with him, Tommy...Karlie
just, um, decorated him."

"I don't care...I don't want to hear about
it...it makes me want to put his lights out for just suggesting
that to you two."

"Subject dropped...let's talk about
something else," she said and forced a smile.

The air between them was a little stilted
after that as she danced around subjects that wouldn't upset him
again, but then their food came and they ate in companionable
silence, then things smoothed out as they laughed and talked while
they shared a slice of flaky apple pie. Although the liver and
onions on his plate had visually made her queasy, the smell didn't,
thank goodness. Her chicken salad and tea sat just right on her
stomach, and she felt better than she had in weeks.

That could be because of the company, she
thought, and snuck a glance at her handsome lunch date. She really
was getting attached to Tommy Tucker, not that she hadn't been
before, but now she was letting herself bask in the feelings his
smiles and glances incited, instead of fearing them. She was
starting to trust him not to hurt her again, and it made her smile.
Everyone made mistakes, and he was allowed a few...hell he was
rusty at the relationship game, it had been ten years after all, so
Katie could cut him a little slack.

When Katie looked up again, she was
surprised it was time for her doctor's appointment with Doc
Percival. She really didn't want Tommy to go with her, but he'd
been so concerned about her, she couldn't refuse him. Although she
agreed, she was hopeful she could make him wait in the waiting
room, while she was examined.

He'd come all the way from Amarillo to go
with her though, so she didn't hold out much hope that was going to
happen. He wanted to know what was wrong with her...because he
cared. Tommy hadn't told her he loved her again, but she could see
it in his eyes when he looked at her, and his actions told her he
cared. He held open the door of the cafe when they left, then
walked her to the truck, then opened her door for her.

"Don't be nervous baby, it'll be okay...I'll
be here if you need me," he said and hugged her before she got up
into the truck.

"I just think it's an ulcer...those are
pretty common," she reassured him with a smile then hopped up into
the truck. He just grunted, then shut the door and made his way
around the truck to get up inside and drive them to the doctor's
office down the street. When they walked inside, an attractive
dark-haired nurse smiled brightly at Tommy, not her, then gave him
a once over that set Katie's teeth on edge. He returned the woman's
grin and held her eyes as they walked to the counter.

Katie wanted to give the curvy brunette a
knuckle sandwich and yell '
mine
', but she refrained and
forced a smile, then said, "Katie Upton, here to see Dr. Percival,"
and tilted her chin up a little.

Tommy had his arm around her waist, so it
should be obvious to the woman in the too tight white dress, that
he was taken. He was taken, wasn't he? She hadn't told him so, but
he'd asked her not to kiss anyone else, so she assumed he'd follow
the same rules. Katie glanced up at him, and saw his eyes were on
the woman's ass, as she went to make a copy of Katie's insurance
card. Katie growled and thrummed her fingertips on the counter, and
she felt Tommy look down at her, but ignored him.

The woman handed Katie her card back, and
gave her forms to fill out, so she took the clipboard to a chair
and started writing, not paying any mind to where Tommy was. When
she finished and walked back to the counter, the nurse handed her a
cup and asked her for a urine specimen, then pointed her to the
bathroom, which she needed anyway.

Katie blushed when she walked back out with
the cup in her hand and Tommy followed her across the room with his
eyes. After sliding it back across the counter to the woman, she
went and sat beside him, then grabbed a magazine, flipping through
it, even though she wasn't reading it.

"You might get more out of that article, if
you turn the magazine around, it's upside down," he said with a
chuckle then grabbed the magazine from her hand and flipped it end
over end. She huffed a breath, then crossed her legs away from him
and pretended to read again, swinging her leg in agitation.

When he slid his arm around her shoulders,
and gave her a squeeze, she stiffened and leaned around her and
tried to catch her gaze. She heard him sigh, then he asked, "What's
wrong, sugar?"

"Nothing," she said flatly, and flipped a
page.

"Not likely, my arm's about frozen off from
your cold shoulder. What the hell did I do?" he asked in a
frustrated tone.

She glanced at him and told him angrily,
"I'm sure Nurse Goodbody's shoulders are warm, why don't you go put
your arm around her?" Licking her thumb, Katie turned another page
and ignored him.

"Nurse Goodbo--c'mon, baby, don't be like
that," he said with a chuckle.

He was mocking her, and Katie felt like her
hair was going to catch on fire, she was so mad. "Be like what
Tommy? You about scorched a second hole in that woman's ass with
your eyes. How am I supposed to feel?"

His eyebrows pinched, and he frowned, then
said defensively, "I was just daydreaming, I wasn't staring at her
ass."

She harrumphed, then went back to looking at
her magazine. He was definitely staring at the woman's ass, Katie
wasn't blind, or stupid.

He snorted, then turned toward her and said
in exasperation, "I wasn't!"

"Whatever, Tommy...it's a free country,
you're available, you can stare at whoever's ass you want to stare
at," she said coldly.

He growled, then she yelped when he pulled
her into his lap, and got nose to nose with her, "I am not
available, and I didn't stare at her ass, your ass is the only one
I'm interested in. I can't believe we're having this argument in
the doctor's office!"

She snorted, then told him, "Since the
doctor examines asses every day, just like you do, it's quite an
appropriate place to have this argument."

"You are the most frustrating woman, I've
ever met," he told her fiercely.

"Then why are you here?" she asked him and
her lip trembled, which embarrassed her.

"Because I love you dammit," he said then
covered her mouth with his and kissed her until her toes curled.
When he pulled away from her he whispered over her lips, "I love
you, Katie..."

Tears filled her eyes, as emotion surged
through her. She wasn't ready to admit it to him yet, but Katie
loved him too, that's why she got so damned mad thinking he was
looking at another woman. She slid her arms around his neck and
hugged him fiercely. "I'm sorry," she murmured into his neck, then
added, "The last two months, I've been an emotional wreck...thank
you for coming with me today."

"Your emotional state is partly my fault, I
know, and I'm sorry for stressing you out, sugar. I wanted to be
here, I'm worried about you," he whispered over her hair, then
dropped kiss on the top of head.

The curvy nurse came out of the door beside
the reception counter, and called her name then looked around the
waiting room, like there were fifteen people waiting to see Dr.
Percival, when in reality it was only her. Katie wanted to laugh,
but instead she put a light kiss on Tommy's lips, then got up off
his lap. When he stood up behind her and put a hand at her lower
back, she groaned, because that answered the question whether he
was going in with her. He kept his hand there as they walked
through the door and followed the nurse to the exam room.

A few minutes later, a wiry man with
gold-rimmed glasses and wild gray hair walked through the door
grinning. He stuck out his hand to her, and said in a friendly
tone, "Katie? I'm Doc Percival...nice to meet you young lady."

She shook his hand and smiled. "Yes, I'm
Katie Upton, nice to meet you too."

The doctor grabbed a black leather covered
stool from the corner and rolled it over to sit in front of them,
then extended his hand to Tommy. Tommy blushed then introduced
himself, "Tommy Tucker, Katie's, um, boyfriend," he said.

Her boyfriend, huh? Well, that was progress
for sure, and she looked into Tommy's eyes and smiled happily. Her
eyes swung back to Doc Percival when he asked, "Let's see, so
you've been nauseous, had vomiting, tiredness, frequent
urination...anything else?" Dr. Percival looked up at her and
waited for her to respond.