“We’re not finished. I need to give this matter some thought. Where can I reach you later?”
His eyes narrowed, but he said, “I’ll reach you.”
The next thing Sky knew he was gone. The tall, dark, handsome man was no longer a stranger. And she was destined to meet him again. She should have misgivings about it, but she didn’t. Which just proved that she was destined to be the subject of bad country and western songs: “Wanting Men Who Don’t Want Me” or “The Only Ring She’ll Get Is a Wring Around Her Neck.” Because there’d been nothing the least bit romantic or even positive about her encounter with Dominic Rodriguez, except that one small hint of a smile when she’d challenged him about knowing his patients by their ailments.
But for reasons she didn’t understand, she was looking forward to her next, probably last, and possibly explosive encounter with Dr. Dumped.
Shivering in the January wind, Dom waited on the sidewalk outside Sky’s the Limit Designs. It was located on Fourth and Main, just down the street from Black Arrow’s fire-damaged courthouse. She’d worked with the male customer who’d interrupted them until well past closing time.
From his car across the street, Dom had been able to clearly see through the windows as Sky had shown the man several pieces from her jewelry cases. Finally she’d pulled out a pad and made some drawings. The guy had left and she’d locked the door behind him, then put sheetlike coverings over the cases and did something with the cash register.
Dom had left his car and waited outside because—
He’d been on the outside looking in all his life? He shook his head at the ridiculous thought. Maybe as a kid, but not since making a name for himself as a doctor, a plastic surgeon who specialized in skin grafts and scar reduction for serious burn cases. Which didn’t give him immunity since he’d been burned by Shelby a few days before. Odd, but the thought brought less bitterness than he would have expected. Maybe there was good reason for his StoneHeart nickname. Or maybe meeting Sky Colton had blunted the bitterness.
Was that why he’d waited out in the cold instead of coming back tomorrow? Because he didn’t want Sky to get away? That was an equally ridiculous thought. She was a businesswoman. Where would she go? All he wanted was his deposit back and for her to write off the balance of the rings. In a long line of details to be handled following his broken engagement, this was the first. And most likely the easiest.
At least on the eyes. Sky Colton was not what he’d expected. For one thing, she was younger. Anyone dishing out advice to the lovelorn as she had should be at least fifty. And not pretty. A meddling person should definitely not have shiny black hair and gray eyes that turned stormy when she was agitated. Or oddly warm and inviting when she was amused. And finally the irritating buttinski who’d wrecked his wedding plans should not be able to make him smile. He’d caught himself just in time.
He didn’t want to smile. His orderly life was in chaos thanks to Miss Sky Colton. Things were a big mess and not just because he needed to cancel caterers, flowers, printed wedding invitations and the party to announce his engagement. There was the part that affected people he cared deeply for. Plans that had been a lifetime in the making. Frankly he wasn’t sure what to do about it.
After learning that his fiancée had eloped with her chauffeur, he’d been furious. She’d left him a note, along with unpaid bills and deposit receipts for wedding arrangements. But Shelby was gone. That left only Sky as the target for his frustration. He wasn’t proud of himself, of the way he’d behaved toward her earlier.
Part of his skill as a doctor came from reaching out to his patients and being able to connect with them on a human level. To understand what they were going through and ease their pain as he repaired damage to fragile flesh. But after rejection, his rage had simmered for several days without an escape valve. Until today. Sky wasn’t a patient and he’d reached out in anger.
Because of his brooding thoughts, it was several moments before he realized the lights in the shop were no longer illuminated. The door opened and Sky came out, closed and then locked the door.
Dom stepped out of the shadows. “It’s about time.”
“Good heavens!” She whirled around and the streetlight nearby showed her surprise. Pressing a hand to her chest, she took a deep breath then said, “In medical school, didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not heart healthy to sneak up on a person that way?”
“Sorry.” He hunched his shoulders against the frigid wind racing down the neck of his shirt. “Let’s just say my common sense is in the deep freeze along with the rest of me.”
“You haven’t been standing out here all this time, have you?” she asked, incredulous.
“Not exactly. I was in the car for a while.”
“Casing the joint? Keeping me under surveillance? Because you thought I might try to skip town?” There was amusement in her voice.
“Along with medical dramas, I think you’ve been watching too many cop shows.”
“Maybe. This may come as a surprise to you, but skipping town never entered my mind. I’ve got a lot to lose.”
“Is that so?” he asked, wondering if losing a fiancée counted for something in her frame of reference.
“Look, reselling the rings could be problematic.”
“Why?”
“What are the odds an engaged couple will come in my store with the initials S.P. and D.R.?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She frowned up at him. “Did you even check out those one-of-a-kind rings?”
He shrugged. “Why should I? It’s not like they’re a sensitive, calibrated medical instrument, or even a stethoscope.”
“Mister, from my perspective when you’ve seen one stethoscope you’ve seen them all.”
“I beg to differ. There are many differences, some subtle, some in-your-face.”
“Not unlike the jewelry I create,” she shot back. “However I didn’t identify you just by the ring I designed for you. It has your initials etched on the inside. At Shelby’s request. I’m not planning to hold my breath for a couple with compatible initials to fall in love with each other and the matching bands I designed for you.” She shrugged. “I might be able to buff out the letters on the inside, but it’s still not an item likely to move quickly. I can’t afford to keep them in my inventory for long.”
“I see. So you’re going to charge me?” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck.
“I should,” she said, sighing. “Why should I take any responsibility for what your fiancée did? No one ever listens to me. It never even crossed my mind that she would. I was just talking with her, small talk. Generalities. Nothing deep and soul-wrenching.”
“So you said.” He looked down at her. “You don’t remember telling Shelby she should be excited about her wedding and new life as the wife of a doctor?”
“Vaguely.”
“Do you recall saying to my fiancée life is too short to waste any more than a minute on something that doesn’t feel right?”
“Kind of.”
“Did it come up in your general conversation with my bride-to-be that people should follow their hearts?”
“Well, by all means, take me out back and shoot me for dispensing words of wisdom.”
“So you do remember that piece of advice?”
“Sounds like something I might’ve said. What exactly was in the note Shelby left you?”
“That you told her all of the above