“Hello, Victoria. How are you?”
The softly spoken question was not what she’d been expecting. Even as her senses scattered, she struggled not to let him see what she was thinking. Feeling. Seeing him again shouldn’t be doing this to her. But damn it, Jess Hastings was the one and only thing that could unsettle her.
“If you really want to know, I was fine until I heard that lawmen had invaded the T Bar K.”
One corner of his mouth tilted upward into a semblance of a smile. “I wouldn’t call it an invasion. There’s only two of us here. Myself and Deputy Redwing.”
She desperately needed to turn and walk away. To put a few feet between them so that she could breathe without drawing in his seductive scent, so that she could look at anything other than his chiseled lips and damning eyes. But where she was concerned, Jess had always been a magnet. She couldn’t move away. Not just yet.
“So you’re the undersheriff now,” she said softly. “What happened to your job with the border patrol?”
The grooves bracketing his lips deepened with a tight grimace. “I resigned. For personal reasons.”
Even though Victoria was in an occupation that exposed her to many people and even more gossip, she’d never heard anyone say why Jess Hastings had returned to San Juan County four months ago. And she’d not been brave enough to ask. But now the question was on the tip of her tongue, making her bite down to keep the words from passing her lips.
“How’s your medical practice?” he asked.
“Very busy.”
Her short answer told him she didn’t want to discuss her life with him. Which didn’t surprise Jess. She’d stopped wanting to share anything with him a long time ago.
“I guess you’re wanting to know what I’m doing here?”
She nodded once. “It would help.”
To her surprise, he took hold of her upper arm and led her to a nearby leather couch. Before she sank onto one of the cushions she was struck with the fact of how mushy her knees had grown and how her arm burned where he touched her.
Easing down beside her, Jess pulled off his Stetson and combed his fingers through his short, sandy hair.
“I suppose you know the ranch hands have been out searching for Ross’s stallion,” he began.
“Yes. But Marina informed me that he hasn’t been found.”
Jess stroked his fingers along one side of his jaw as he studied her waiting eyes.
“No. The men found something else,” he said grimly. “A body.”
She wanted to gasp, but the air was suddenly trapped in her lungs. She shook her head, then shook it again. “Did you say a body?”
He continued to search her face. “That’s right. Partially decomposed. But enough to tell us it was human and we think male.”
“Oh dear Lord,” she whispered. “Who—”
“I’ve been questioning your family and some of the hands on the ranch,” he answered her unfinished question. “No one seems to have any idea of who this person might have been or why he was on the T Bar K. I was hoping you might be able to tell me something.”
Incredulous, her gaze latched on to his. “Me? How could I know anything?”
One sandy brow lifted sardonically. “You live here, too.”
“Yes, but I don’t know—” She stopped, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “This body—are you—do you think there was foul play involved or someone just came along and died of natural causes or an accident?”
His thumb and forefinger slid along the brim of his hat, flattening any bumps or dips from the expensive felt. She tried not to notice his big hands or remember the pleasure they used to give her.
“You’re a doctor. You know it takes time to determine those sorts of things.”
She drew in a needy breath, then slowly released it. “Yes. But—there might have been clues—”
His smile was slow and a bit too indulgent for Victoria’s liking. But then, she didn’t want Jess Hastings to smile at her in any way or for any reason. He was a silver-tongued wolf who’d gobbled up her heart, then spit out the pieces.
“Those are to be shared with the sheriff’s department,” he said shortly. “Not the Ketchum family.”
She wanted to stand and walk away from him, but she was afraid her legs wouldn’t hold her, so she stayed where she was and tried to hold her temper in check. Crossing words with Jess would get her nowhere.
“Well, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can tell you.”
“You might be surprised about that,” he said quietly.
She tried not to shiver as a strange chill traveled down her spine. “You can’t think I would know anything about this person.”
His expression didn’t change. “Oh, I don’t know. I have a habit of thinking things I shouldn’t. Has anyone made you angry in the past few months? So angry that you wanted to kill him?”
She stared at him in stunned fascination. “You’re kidding.”
His gray eyes didn’t blink. “Finding a body is nothing to kid about.”
And she could see that he was serious. Fear, then anger poured though her body, making her go cold, then hot. “You just told me you didn’t know if foul play was involved or not. So why do you want to know if anyone has angered me to the extent of committing murder?”
He smiled, but there was no humor behind the curve of his lips. “You always were a little too sharp for me. Weren’t you, Tori?”
“Don’t call me that!” she whispered icily. He was the only person who’d ever called her by that nickname and as far as she was concerned he’d lost his right to be that intimate with her. “And as for your question, no one has angered me in the past months. But a few years ago—I could have killed you. Given the chance,” she added.
Jess was a man known for keeping his head. It was one of the reasons he’d excelled at his job. A man with a cool head didn’t miss anything going on around him. He could reason, stay aware and stay alive. But there had always been something about Victoria that heated his blood. And it wasn’t just the lush, feminine shape of her. One glance, one word from her had the power to ignite an explosion in him. And she’d just set him off.
He said, “I guess Ketchum blood must be stronger than that Hippocratic oath you took.”
She was shocked to see her fingers had clenched, forming fists at her sides. She forced her hands to relax and her lungs to breathe. “What is that supposed to mean?”
His gray eyes slipped downward to where her breasts pushed against pale blue cashmere. The fabric was as soft as her skin and a knot twisted in his gut at the memory of her full breasts cupped in his hands, the rosy brown nipples begging to be kissed.
He looked at the floor, then back up to her face. “The oath is to save lives, not take them. But—where I’m concerned you only see me through Ketchum eyes.”
“My family never disliked you.”
He let out a harsh laugh, then rose to his feet and crossed the room to where a low fire crackled and spit in a native rock fireplace. “Tucker couldn’t stand the thought of you being anywhere near me.”
She wanted to point out that his comments had nothing to do with his visit to the T Bar K this evening, but she didn’t. For the past four months, since she’d heard Jess had come back to San Juan county, she’d known a time would come when she would have to face him again, to discover for herself if he held any bitterness