“It’s all right, Mr.—”
“Collier,” he said, interrupting her. “The name is Seth Collier. And yours? Because as neighbors I shouldn’t have to refer to you as Dr. Hawkins.”
“It’s Natalia. I can take the bags. I don’t want you to reinjure your thumb.”
Seth smiled, exhibiting perfectly aligned white teeth. “And if I do, then you can tend to me again.”
Natalia returned his smile. “If I treat you again, then I’ll have to send you a bill.”
“That’s okay because I do have medical insurance. Now, please go and unlock your door so I can bring in your groceries.” He peered in one of the bags. “You need to put your perishables in the fridge before they go bad.”
“Okay.”
She walked up the porch to her house and unlocked the screen door, and then the inner door. Seth had brought in four bags, setting them on the floor in the living room, when she walked past him to bring in more.
“What are you painting?” he asked when he placed the paint cans next to the bag with the brushes and rollers.
“The kitchen.”
Seth crossed muscular arms over his chest. “Who’s going to do the painting?”
“I am.” Natalia picked up the bags with the dairy products and headed for the kitchen.
Seth followed, carrying two bags in each hand. “That’s not a small job.”
She smiled at him over her shoulder. “I know. It should take me a couple of days before I finish. I didn’t have to buy a ladder because I found one in the utility closet near the back door.”
“You could finish a lot sooner if I help you.”
Natalia gave Seth a lingering stare. She did not find him off-putting or even threatening, but she wasn’t used to strangers offering their services within hours of her meeting them. “Don’t you have a job, Mr. Collier?”
“It’s Seth, and yes, I have a job. Right now I’m on vacation, so I’m trying to be neighborly and also appreciative for you treating my hand. If you hadn’t, then I would’ve had to wait for Dr. Franklin to open his office before he could see me, or drive six miles to the county hospital and spend half the morning in the ER. You’re new to The Falls, and I want to let you know that folks here always help out their neighbors.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I am new here, so it’s going to take a while before I get used to your way of doing things. And how can I repay you if I allow you to help me?”
A hint of a smile tilted the corners of Seth’s firm mouth. “I’d like a home-cooked meal.”
A laugh slipped through Natalia’s parted lips. “You want me to cook for you?” Seth nodded. “How do you know if I can put together a palatable meal?”
His eyebrows lifted a fraction. “You didn’t buy all of this fresh food just to look at it. Otherwise you would’ve selected prepackaged meals.”
“What about your wife or your girlfriend, Seth? Do they cook for you?”
“No, because I don’t have a wife or a girlfriend. My cooking skills are passable, and when I don’t cook for myself, then I’ll occasionally eat at Ruthie’s or the Wolf Den. I’m certain you passed Ruthie’s on your way to the supermarket, while the Wolf Den is a sports bar located between here and Mineral Springs.”
Natalia began emptying the bag with milk, butter, eggs, yogurt and cheese. She could not begin to imagine why a man who looked like Seth wasn’t married or involved with a woman.
“What exactly do you do when you’re not on vacation?”
“I’m a deputy.”
She blinked slowly. “You’re a US deputy marshal?”
“No. I’m Wickham Falls’ deputy sheriff. And what brings you to The Falls?”
Natalia opened the French door refrigerator and then moved several open boxes of baking soda to the back before she stored the perishables on shelves and in drawers. “I’m here to assist Dr. Franklin.”
Seth applauded. “Well, it’s about time he hired someone to help him out. Folks have been known to spend hours in his office waiting for him to see them just for a follow-up visit.”
“That’s because he’s very thorough,” Natalia said in defense of her new boss. She’d watched him examine one of his patients who had come in complaining of back pain.
“Thorough and very, very slow,” Seth countered. “When do you want to start painting?” he asked.
“Today,” she confirmed.
“If we work together I’m certain we can finish today.”
Natalia wanted to tell Seth that she still had to unpack boxes, but didn’t want to appear ungrateful. “If I’m going to spend the entire afternoon painting, then I can’t cook for you.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll take you to the Wolf Den tonight and you can cook for me tomorrow.”
Natalia did not want to believe her neighbor had mentioned taking her out to eat as if it was something they’d done before. And she hoped he didn’t think of it as a date, because she wasn’t ready to date any man, even one as attractive as her next-door neighbor. “You’re really on this kick for me to cook for you.”
“I told you it’s been a while since I’ve had a decent home-cooked meal.”
Despite his obvious arrogance, Natalia did not want to believe she had hit the jackpot when it came to a neighbor. Not only was he tall, dark and deliciously handsome, but he was also willing to donate his time to help her paint. “Do you usually moonlight as a painter in your spare time?”
Throwing back his head, Seth laughed loudly. “Not quite. My dad was a local handyman.” He held up his left hand when Natalia opened her mouth. “Don’t say it,” he warned softly.
“Don’t say what?” she said as she struggled not to smile.
“You were going to mention my hitting my hand instead of the nail.”
“That’s called an accident,” she said, rather than tease him about his mishap with the hammer. “Give me about twenty minutes to put everything away and for me to change my clothes, and then we can begin painting. I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.”
Her eyes met Seth’s. The magnetism coming off him in waves held her captive until Natalia dropped her gaze. She could feel pinpoints of heat stinging her face and she was grateful for her darker complexion to conceal what would’ve been an obvious blush. And she also prayed he hadn’t caught her staring at him like a starstruck groupie coming face-to-face with her idol.
Seth gave her a mock salute. “I’ll see you later.”
Natalia exhaled an audible breath of relief when Seth walked out of the kitchen. She had relocated to Wickham Falls to become a small-town doctor, and had no intention of falling under the spell of her sexy neighbor.
Seth wasn’t certain why he had volunteered to help Natalia paint the kitchen because he knew her treating his hand had little to do with it. However, he did appreciate her concern, which told him she hadn’t hesitated when she believed he’d seriously injured himself. And he had been truthful