He grinned and loosened his grip just a little.
She smiled back easily enough. So why did he get the impression those smiles were a rare occurrence?
“I’d never claim you’d been anything other than downright decent…for a cop.”
Luke’s experience said she wasn’t someone he should stick his neck out for, yet his instincts said otherwise. And his body clamored. But Roxanne Adams was trouble any way you looked at her. And he had to consider Carla, his longtime girlfriend.
Suddenly Roxy went limp in his arms. An unusual sense of alarm thrummed through him. He’d been tested in many different kinds of situations, but this felt different. He gently scooped her up and carried her into the clinic, wishing he knew what kind of trouble they were headed for.
“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?” Her voice couldn’t sustain the intended irascibility. But her eyes burned at him.
He wondered how her parents slept at night worrying about her. He hadn’t been able to squash his unease while waiting to discover what was wrong with her and it had made him testy. “I think I’m lookin’ at roadkill.”
“Such a nice sentiment. Are all country boys so poetic?”
She thinks I’m a hick. That should ease the ache in my loins.
Yet he wondered. Why was he in this hick town? Suddenly he could see it through her eyes and he wondered if it was small-town inertia holding him in Red Wing. The reassurance of familiar places and people. I really need to see Carla. He’d been going out with his lady for several years, and today he couldn’t remember the fragrance of her perfume.
And yet, all day he’d been remembering the smell of the vanilla air freshener in the Porsche. “Well, Miss Dallas, us hicks managed to patch you up without the leeches and horse piss.”
“Patch me up? Is that what you call it?”
“I take it you’re not feeling much better.”
She widened her eyes. “I guess not.”
“When was the last time you stopped for something to drink? You were really dehydrated. They gave you a shot big enough for a horse.”
“That’s probably all they have in this one-horse town.”
He shook his head. “Not really a big shot. Just the IV in your arm for a couple of hours. You were conscious, talking, but sleepy. Don’t you remember?”
She pushed her hair off of her face. “I remember the doctor talking to me but not much he said. I sleep like a dead person.”
“You were pretty out of it.”
“Did you wait so you could take me down to the station when I woke up? Are you desperate for company? Can’t be too many women in this town under eighty.”
“Is there any reason for me to take you down to the station?” He looked at her intently. “You got anything you want to confess?”
“You’ve got a sense of humor like a mortician. Come to think of it I do remember having nightmares. I think you featured in a few of them.”
As if to prove her wrong, he gave her a charming smile. “I just stuck around to make sure you didn’t cause any trouble.”
“Ah, Farmer John is concerned about everyone but the unfortunate woman stranded on the side of the road because of a medical condition. Your sympathy is astounding.” She struggled to sit up, clutching the neck of the hospital gown choking her. These stupid things had all the material up-front.
He put out his hands like he was trying to turn a stampeding horse. “Whoa. You best lie back down. I don’t think the good doctor is ready for you to be getting up.” His hands hung in the air just above her chest as if he were afraid she might be contagious.
“I gotta pee, Farmer John, and there ain’t no way I’m gonna let them hook me up to any catheter. Those things hurt like hell.” She grabbed the railing, pulling herself to a sitting position.
He took a step back.
She finally made it to her feet.
Then she grimaced. Easy does it. But she wouldn’t make it if the floor didn’t stay in one place. She muttered a mild expletive under her breath. Wouldn’t want to shock the sheriff.
He didn’t say anything. In fact his silence seemed almost strained. She took two leg-shaking, strength-rattling steps and then she looked back over her shoulder.
His gaze was riveted on her naked hind end.
She gave him a faint smile and a salute, which had him blushing the color of a police light. Apparently he didn’t like being caught in the act. Too bad he couldn’t give her a ticket for indecent exposure.
The door to her room slammed shut as the sheriff made his getaway.
She waddled the remaining steps to the bathroom. Nothing like a man with his mouth hanging open to give a woman a boost.
2
“WHAT WAS TED DOING IN HERE?” Sheriff Hermann gestured toward the man who’d just walked out of her room with a clipboard.
“He’s desperately in love with me, but he’s really not my type.” Roxy smiled as she finished slipping into her sandals. The way the sheriff had run out on her she’d have bet quite a sum on him never coming back. Seemed he had more gumption than she’d given him credit for, or maybe he was interested in seeing her hind end again.
“I guess you’re feeling better. You want to tell me what Ted wanted or do I have to go and ask him?”
She sighed. Was he always so impatient? “He’s the checkout committee. I’m releasing myself and they don’t want to be responsible.”
He didn’t look at her. Instead he seemed to be focusing on the insipid wallpaper above her head. “I heard you made quite a fuss.”
Fuss was her middle name. When her governess had tried to mold her into being a debutante destined for an advantageous marriage, she’d rebelled, doing and saying most anything that occurred to her.
“Have you come to take me to the police station, Farmer John?” Her voice sounded just as steady and offhanded as she wanted it to. Let him think he intimidated her by hanging around with his uniform buttoned up tight enough to choke him. “Is it a crime to want to avoid spending the night in a hospital?”
He put a hand up to his badge. “They usually just release people when they’re ready. It’s not really a hospital, just a clinic. But they’ve got to be careful with out-of-town folks.”
“You just can’t trust anyone these days,” she told him flippantly.
“The doc was trying to do you a favor, Miss Dallas.” The sheriff looked at her earnestly. “You weren’t clearheaded enough to wire for money until after the bank closed. Where’re you planning to sleep?”
“Are you taking me to the station or not?” Roxy demanded.
He’d looked at her insurance card when they’d gone out to get her car. Her legal papers had been in the glove compartment and up-to-date. He’d found nothing illegal. “How many times are you going to ask me? You didn’t break any laws. You just got sick. The doc said that between the dehydration and the low blood sugar you probably weren’t thinking too clearly.”
“You reckon?” Sarcasm all but dripped from her tongue.
He didn’t seem to notice. “So there’s no reason to take you to the station.”
She surged to her feet. “Darn right.”
“I just thought I’d come by and see if you need a ride