12-Alarm Cowboys (37 page)

“Okay. Busy day tomorrow? Does Dr. Brian need me to come in?”

“Nope. Actually quite light for a Saturday. You enjoy the weekend off.”

The clinic grew quiet as everyone left. The alarm on her cell went off reminding her that she was to be at Leo’s in fifteen minutes for drinks. She didn’t want to go but that didn’t matter. Shoving to her feet, she pulled her hair out of her eyes. She was going. If she didn’t, she’d sit at home all evening reliving her embarrassment over the foaling camera.

As she opened her desk drawer for her purse, she noticed the webcam was still broadcasting. Tanner was gone. Jolene was eating and looking content. She watched for a couple of minutes but Tanner never reentered the picture. She powered off the laptop and stowed it in her case.

She was going to be late to Leo’s but that was fine. Her splotchy face required a stop at her ranch for makeup. At the last minute, she opted to change clothes too. Tight jeans, boots and a low vee necked blouse made her look sexy, even if she didn’t feel particularly sexy at the moment.

As she’d been told, Leo’s was hopping when she arrived at seven. Live music had pulled in people from all over the county looking for a good time.

“Georgie! Over here.”

She turned toward the voice and waved at Tina and Delene, two of the townspeople who had adopted her into their circle. To her surprise, Magda let out a loud whistle using her fingers. Georgie laughed, and her world righted itself.

“So glad to see you,” she said to Magda, giving her a tight hug. “You too, Reno.” She giggled when he made a big show out of dipping her backwards over his arm to kiss her cheek.

“Oops,” Reno said. “I forgot my wife’s here.”

Magda slugged his arm.

“Ouch,” he said, rubbing where Magda’s knuckles had connected. “Now I remember.”

“Will you get us some beers, honey?” Magda said. “Georgie looks parched.”

“Sure. Be right back.”

Reno headed off toward the bar while Magda dragged Georgie into the knot of people. Tables had been pulled together. Chairs dragged over. There must have been twenty or more people crowded around the area. Georgie’s head swam with all the faces and greetings. Some of them she knew, like Tina and Delene, and some she didn’t. But they all greeted her like a long lost friend.

“So, you still enjoying the work?” Magda asked after they found seats. “I still can’t believe you’re Dr. Georgie.” She laughed. “It doesn’t seem right.”

“You and me, both,” Georgie replied. “And yes, I love the work. I can’t believe how fast the time has flown.”

“Tell me. You’ve been here almost a month and I’ve hardly gotten to see you. You getting settled in okay?”

“Yep. I’m loving it here. Small, low stress and friendly, even if some of the ranchers can’t believe a, and I quote, ‘wisp of gal like me can shove her arm up a cow for pregnancy testing,’ unquote.”

Magda grinned. “Seen that done a few times. Ick.”

Georgie chuckled. “You get used to it. Where’s your hubby? I’m dying of thirst.”

“If I know him, he’s run into someone he knows and is chatting.”

“You look happy.”

Magda’s face glowed as she said, “I am disgustingly happy. I’m talking chirping birds and little red hearts happy. I don’t think I ever thought something like this was possible.”

“I know what you mean. I am so jealous.” Georgie bumped her shoulder against Magda’s.

“Well, you can’t have Reno.”

Georgie laughed. “Really? No sharing, huh?”

“Nope. Great. I see him winding his way through the dance floor.”

“Good. After the afternoon I had, I could use a cold one for sure.”

Magda frowned. “What happened?”

“Long story. I’ll tell you later.”

“Look who I ran into,” Reno said.

Tanner Marshall stepped to Reno’s side. “Ladies.” He touched the brim of his hat.

Georgie’s stomach flopped over and fell to her knees. Her heart clacked noisily in her ears.

“Tanner. What a nice surprise,” Magda said. “Is Zack here also?”

“Of course. What’s a Friday night for Zack if it doesn’t include a good party somewhere?” Tanner’s gaze moved to Georgie. “Georgina. Good to see you. I think this is yours.” He handed a beer to her.

She took the bottle, careful to not touch his fingers. She was rattled enough. Touching him might send her right off the cliff.

“Thanks.” She pulled a long draw off the bottle. “Man. That tastes good.”

Tanner dragged up a chair and put it next to her. “Don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

She shrugged. “I don’t do this often. It’s not really my scene.” She tried to ignore Tanner’s sexy, masculine scent. Involuntarily, she leaned closer to take in another whiff. Woodsy. Subtle. Very alluring.

“Mine either,” Tanner said, which pulled her out of her olfactory heaven. “Zack sort of nagged on me until I came along. If it was up to me, I’d be home reading.”

“Really? Reading what?”

“Probably a cattleman’s journal. Maybe a good mystery. What about you?”

The vision of her in a steamy shower with a hot Tanner naked and playing all sorts of dirty games ran through her mind. What started as a trickle of lust bloomed into a gush quickly. Her gut became a furnace, funneling heat down to the junction of her thighs. Her face grew warm under this stare. “Uh, probably watching a movie or catching up on my professional journals.”

“You look flushed. Are you hot?”

Yes, but not in the way he’s thinking.

“I’m fine. Probably the hops in the beer.”
Okay, she was making that up. She had no idea if hops make you flush, but she hoped he’d just let the story lie.

A look of confusion flashed across his face followed by a smile. She was so busted.

“If you say so,” he said. “How’d you like the foaling camera? Pretty slick, huh?”

The gulp of beer she took hit her lungs instead of her gut. Sputtering and coughing, she waved off his question. What could she say? Apologize for being such a nuisance that he felt it necessary? After he slammed on her back a couple of times—not that that helped in the least—she found her voice.

“Great,” she replied, followed by another cough.

Magda leaned over. “Y’all play nice. I’m dragging my hunk of a husband onto the dance floor.”

Georgie gave Magda a wave as she dragged Reno out of his chair and onto the floor.

Tanner leaned in close. “Well, I have to admit I’m surprised.”

His warm breath tickled her neck and set the tiny stereocilia in her ears into motion. A shiver tiptoed down her spine.

“About what?” She fought her body’s urge to rest against his chest. She just knew it would be hard like granite. Unlike the cold of that stone, he would be warm and so much fun to touch.

Good lord. She had to get herself under control. This man didn’t even like her. She was Reno’s wife’s friend, and she was the current vet. He had to be nice to her, right?

“Reno can dance.”

She twisted in her seat until the dance floor came into view. The music was slow and romantic. Reno and Magda were wrapped in each other’s arms gently rocking to the song.

Turning back around, she chuckled. “You call that dancing?”

Tanner grinned and she almost sighed.

“Not hardly. You line dance or Texas Two Step?”

She was surprised at the question. “Yep. Is this where I admit that I took line dancing lessons at the Y when I was growing up?”

“Really? Want to show your stuff?”

The music had changed to an up-tempo tune.

“You know it.”

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her up and onto the dance floor. He put his right arm around her shoulder and caught her right hand. She put her left arm around his waist and they were off, gliding around the floor in perfect synchronization with the song’s beats. Tanner was smooth, spinning her out a couple of times and back in. Each time she landed against him, she caught the scent of laundry soap and starch in his shirt.

And her thought that leaning against his body would be like being supported by a slab of granite? Oh yeah, but even better. He was hard in all the right places, including one that caught her off-guard but made all her female cells want to preen.

It had been years since she’d been dancing, and even more since she’d danced in a cowboy bar. The smile on her face was so wide it made her cheeks ache, but she didn’t care. She was having fun, and she had to admit, it had been a while since she’d let herself go.

As the song ended, Tanner spun her out and back in, but this time he drew her up flush with his body instead of alongside. The impact rattled the air from her lungs, or maybe it was just Tanner who took her breath away.

The DJ heard her silent prayer and a slow, country ballad blared through the speakers. Tanner didn’t ask if she wanted to dance again. He just pulled her tight and began to move them smoothly around the floor.

He had to be a little over six-feet tall. With her standing a whopping five-feet-four-inches, a lot of the hot, hunky cowboy towered over her. Some guys would stoop to accommodate her height during slow dances. She hated that. She always wanted to tell them to stand up.

Tanner didn’t bend to try to fit her height. When he held her, her head rested comfortably on his chest. Right now she could hear his steady heartbeat pounding loudly in her ear. Her own heart was also crashing in her ears, albeit hers a little faster than his. Was she the only one in lust? Or was he having some interesting thoughts about her?

There was no time for those answers or even finishing the song. The DJ abruptly stopped the music for an announcement.

“If I can have your attention. If you’re a member of the Whispering Springs Volunteer Fire Department, you’re needed. There’s a structure fire on Albright Road. Your chief requests all hands on board for this one.”

Georgie pushed away. “My house. The animals.”

Tanner grabbed her arm and looked at her. “Your house?”

She jerked her arm free with a glare. “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t leave anything burning at my house. There are such things as electrical fires.”

He arched an eyebrow. “You don’t know that it’s your house, Georgina. There are a number of ranches down that road.”

She shook her head as gas was thrown on her anger fire. “Maybe, but I bet you’re thinking it’s my place, aren’t you?”

A loud whistle shrilled. “Let’s go,” Zack shouted.

“Coming.” Tanner looked at her one more time. “Let’s go.”

“Go,” she said. “Go with Zack. I don’t want to hear you or see you right now.”

Without waiting for a response from this irritating, self-righteous man, Georgie ran from the bar, along with a good portion of the patrons
. Lord, do not let this be my house
. She’d never live it down.

But even as she raced toward her house, she couldn’t remember leaving even one electrical item on. Certainly no candles. The stove was electric but let’s be honest…she didn’t use it that much unless you count storing the bakeware in there.

The drive, which should have taken only fifteen or twenty minutes, felt like fifteen or twenty hours. She’d pulled in behind one of the trucks from Leo’s parking lot that had a set of red flashing lights and a siren letting him clear the traffic out of the way, not that there was much to begin with. Still, it was nice to have flashing lights when she, and all the other vehicles in the caravan, were hitting eighty on these backroads.

As she topped a hill, the orange glow from the fire lit up the night sky. It wasn’t just a house fire. From here it appeared the fire had spread to the grass and trees in adjacent fields.

But it wasn’t her house. An indescribable sense of relief poured through her. Her blasts of adrenalin ebbed, but that didn’t slow her racing heart much.

The caravan of volunteer firefighters careened to a stop and volunteers poured from the cabs.

She stopped also, not sure if she could be any help at all. As the men swarmed passed her truck, she got out. It took a couple of minutes but she saw the chief directing men.

“Chief. Is there anything I can do?” she asked. “Get something? Pull something? Anything?”

“Hold this hose for a minute. Marshall, get over here and help the doc with this hose. I need to pull Johnson to give Avery a hand. Shouldn’t take long.”

Both Tanner and Zack turned toward where she was standing.

“I’ve got it,” Tanner said.

She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying, “See? I told you it wasn’t me.”

Tanner positioned himself behind her. “Hold the hose out about arm’s length and pull the trigger.”

“I know how to use a hose, Mr. Firefighter.”

“It’s—never mind. Go for it.”

Georgie held out the nozzle and pulled the water release. The pressure wasn’t exactly what she was expecting. The force pushed her backwards until she stumbled into a hard wall, or rather Tanner Marshall. He caught her hips in the palms of his big hands.

“A little more pressure than a garden hose,” he said into her ear.

Damn him. A thrill ran down and then back up her body.

“Let’s try again,” he said. “I’ll steady you and you pull the trigger.”

She did.

“Good. Good,” he said. “Now move the water stream over to the left and let’s hit that hot spot under the pine tree.”

“Tanner?”

“Yeah?”

“Why isn’t the chief more concerned about this house?”

“It was old and vacant, and honestly a real trouble spot for the sheriff’s department. Lots of kids using it for parties and whatever. I’d put a hefty bet that’s what happened tonight. Move your water up the tree.”

Georgie saw the flame trying to leap from the lower branches up higher in the old pine and she directed the spray toward the spot.

“And,” he continued, “knowing the chief, he’s letting you spray the hose hoping he’ll be able to recruit you as a volunteer.”

She turned her head to look over her shoulder. “A, I’m only here until the end of the year. And B, I don’t know nothing about fighting fires.”

“But you are pretty good at starting them.”

She almost let her ire flare until she saw the twitch at the corner of his lips…a nice, full set of lips.

“Hardy har-har.”

Grinning, he gave her a wink. “Now watch what you’re doing.”