But he would. He didn’t need a partner and he certainly didn’t need to fail at another relationship, although a no-strings-attached date sounded good…
Before the conversation started up again, Julie approached the table, her first pregnancy just beginning to show. “Uh, Connor, could I talk to you for a moment?”
He nodded, hiding his wet lap with his napkin. “Sure, Julie, what’s up? The baby okay?”
“Yeah, he’s just fine,” she said, rubbing a hand over her burgeoning belly. “I was needing to talk to Mr. Commitment.”
Oh, man. Not that. “Uh, well, Julie—”
“The thing is, Bud works all day, sometimes late, and when he comes home, all he wants to do is crash in front of the TV, watching sports. I’m kind of lonely, Doc. What do you suggest?”
He sat and thought for a moment, and incredibly, the answer to her problem was easy to figure out. “That sounds like nothing a good book wouldn’t solve, Julie.”
She stared at him, her chin pulled in. “You think?”
“I’m sure of it,” he said, patting her hand. “Reading will keep you entertained for hours.” Maybe this Mr. Commitment stuff wouldn’t be so hard after all.
She wandered off, shaking her head.
When he looked at Jenny and Sunny, both were sporting dropped jaws and wide eyes. “What?” he asked.
Jenny gave him a long-suffering look and said, “You’re clueless and hopeless.” She then stood and gestured with a crook of her hand for Sunny to follow. “Come on, Sunny. My brother isn’t the only one with some say-so around here.” She gave him a saccharine smile. “Thanks for picking up the tab.”
Connor stood and Sunny slid out of the booth, smiling, though it seemed forced. “Thanks for everything, Dr. Forbes.”
Meaning, thanks for nothing. He had to give her credit. She obviously had a knack for holding her own. One more thing to like. One more reason to forget her.
Jenny called Sunny from the door of the diner. Sunny gave him a sheepish look, her plump bottom lip clamped between her teeth. “I gotta go.” She glanced down at his lap. “Do, uh, you have that taken care of?” She snapped her gaze back up, her face coloring again. “The juice spill, I mean.”
Seeing her so flustered forced a smile. “It’s fine, nothing that won’t dry.”
She nodded, moving away. “Oh, good.” She waved. “Bye.”
He was left standing next to the booth alone, Sunny’s floral scent belatedly washing over him after she’d walked by. Despite the coolness of the spilled juice, heat flared down low.
He was tempted to turn around and watch her walk away so he could enjoy the sight of her slim but curvy hips moving beneath her skirt and her toned calves flexing as she walked.
Instead, he sat and took a swig of strong, hot coffee, an irritating helplessness washing over him. Just his damn luck Sunny seemed like just the woman to put an end to his desire for some casual female companionship.
Just as bad, Sunny had met Jenny. His younger sister was as tenacious as a mule when she felt someone had been treated unfairly.
Who would have guessed that Sunny would be the type of gal who would meet a total stranger and strike up a sudden friendship, all in the space of an hour? More than likely, she would be able to help him with Mr. Commitment. She clearly had an outgoing, friendly, approachable personality, just like Jenny.
Bad combination, those two. Jenny, the fired-up defender of the innocent working with Sunny, her name the perfect description of her personality. Even when she’d slammed him, it had come out in a way that had amused everybody, even him. And no other woman had looked so good after spilling juice all over him.
Yeah, Sunny was appealing in so many ways, making her dangerous. And he had a sneaking suspicion that with Jenny and Sunny working together, the situation would more than likely do what he hated—spin out of his control and out of the realm of practicality.
And right into the realm of intense physical—and, more dangerously, emotional—attraction.
And that was the last place he would ever let himself go.
Chapter Two
Connor pushed his dark thoughts aside, ignored his wet, orange juice–saturated lap, chomped on his doughnut and drank his coffee. He reiterated to himself why he’d made the right decision, the practical one for his practice.
Just as he finished the doughnut, Steve approached his booth. “Hey, Doc. How you doing?”
Connor inclined his head. “All right.” He and Steve had gone through school together and had shared an interest in science. Steve had combined his interest in the scientific world with his love of animals and had become a veterinarian.
Steve smiled. “Saw your sister here a few minutes ago.”
Connor nodded and took a sip of coffee. “That was her.”
“Who was that gorgeous gal with her?” Steve asked, his brown eyes alight with interest. “Haven’t seen her around before.”
Connor gave Steve a hard glance. “Sunny Williams,” he said, not particularly hot on going into details. The whole town knew Steve was in the market for a wife.
Steve plunked down across from him. “Is she living in Oak Valley, or just visiting?”
“Just visiting.” Connor was pretty sure Sunny would leave now that she didn’t have a job. He had to admit, as an appreciative, red-blooded male, part of him was a bit disappointed a gorgeous woman like Sunny wasn’t going to be hanging around.
“Too bad,” Steve said, shaking his head. “Wouldn’t mind getting to know her.”
Surprisingly, the thought of Steve getting to know Sunny bothered Connor. Irritated that he was bothered at all, he finished his coffee, stood and reached for the tab. “Don’t think you’ll have the chance, bud. She won’t be here for long.”
He said goodbye, hiding his splotched pants as best he could, then paid the bill at the front counter and left. As he walked up the boardwalk, the late morning sun warm on his back, he told himself he’d done the right thing, even though his dad would probably come unglued. That couldn’t be helped. Despite his father’s inevitable anger and disappointment, Connor’s decision would stand.
Confident he’d done the right thing, he walked back to his office. When he arrived, his next patient, ten-year-old Danny Jones, was waiting. Connor quickly donned his lab coat to hide his damp clothes, then tended to Danny.
Danny had recently broken his arm playing baseball, and Connor wanted to make sure the healing process was on track. Danny’s parents had been killed in a car accident two years ago, and he’d come to Oak Valley to live with his widowed grandmother, Edith Largo, a long-time resident. Connor had spent a lot of time with Danny, trying to fill in here and there to give Edith a break and a guy for the kid to play ball with.
Pleased by Danny’s rate of recovery, Connor walked him to the waiting room, noting his dad, the elder Dr. Forbes, sat in the waiting room, shooting the breeze with June and Edith.
Damn. Obviously Jenny and Sunny had called in the cavalry. His dad looked at him expectantly. Connor clenched his hands.
Smiling to cover up the tension suddenly roiling around the room, Connor conferred with Edith. He then made an appointment in two weeks for Danny’s cast to be removed and walked him and Edith to the door.
When they were gone, his dad stood, his perennial red baseball cap in his hand. “I expected you’d have a special visitor by now.”
Connor