The Buckhorn Brothers Box Set: Sawyer\Morgan\Gabe\Jordan (63 page)

Gabe stared at her, and her eyes widened. “Oh, wait! Are you telling me Elizabeth Parks turned you down?”

Scowling, Gabe shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m not telling you anything about Elizabeth. My point was just that most women want me because of my reputation, because they think I’m good-looking or sexy—”

Ceily bent double laughing.

Gabe glared. “Oh, to hell with it. There’s no talking to you today.”

He started to skirt around her, but she caught him from behind and held on to his belt loops, getting dragged two feet before he finally stopped. Still chuckling, she gasped, “No, wait! I want to hear what it is that she wants from you.”

Gabe heaved a deep sigh, then without turning to look at her, he admitted, “She thinks I’m some kind of damn hero and she wants to learn more about me, about my character and my family. She looks at me with this strange kind of excitement and…almost awe. Not for what
we
might do, or for what I might do to her, but for who she thinks I am. Damn, Ceily, no woman has ever done that before. And she hasn’t pursued me at all for anything else. If I’d be willing to go on answering her damn questions, she’d be happy as a lark to leave it at that.”

Last night, Gabe reminded himself, she’d been more than willing to do other things. But she hadn’t come to him, he’d gone to her. He’d set about seducing her when he hadn’t found it necessary to seduce a woman in ages.

And even then, he had the feeling that if he’d stuck her damn pencil in her hand, she’d have stopped cold in the middle of his sensual ministrations to start taking notes on his character. Now that he knew why it was so important to her, he not only felt turned on by her physically, he felt touched by her emotionally.

Seduction was a damn arousing business.

Ceily let go of his belt loops and smoothed her hand over the breadth of his back. “Poor Gabe. You really are adrift, huh?”

“I’m gonna turn you over my knee, Ceily.”

She laughed at such a ridiculous threat. “No, you won’t. Because I can give you some valuable advice.”

Very slowly Gabe turned to face her. “Is that right?”

“Yep. You see, I heard Elizabeth tell your sisters-in-law that she has no intention of hanging around here once school starts. She’s an academic sort and she has big plans for her life. If you hope to be part of those plans, you’d better get cracking, because I got the feeling that once she’s gone, she won’t be coming back.”

8

W
HEN
G
ABE
let himself in through the back entrance of Jordan’s veterinary clinic, he found Elizabeth and Jordan leaning over an examination table. Their backs were to him, but he could see that Lizzy was cuddled close to Jordan’s side, Jordan’s arm was around her shoulders, and they were in intimate conversation.

Gabe saw red.

“Am I interrupting?” He had meant to ask that question with cold indifference, but even to his ears it had sounded like a raw challenge.

Jordan looked at him over his shoulder; he was smiling. “Come here, Gabe. Take a look.” Then he added, “But be very quiet.”

His brother’s voice had that peculiar soothing quality he used when treating frightened or injured animals. It was hypnotic and, according to all the women, sexy as hell.

Gabe barely stifled a growl. If Jordan was using that voice on Lizzy, he’d—

A very fat, bedraggled feline lay on the exam table, licking a new batch of tiny mewling kittens. Gabe glanced up at the look on Lizzy’s face and promptly melted.

Big tears glistened in her vivid blue eyes and spiked her lashes. As Gabe watched, she gave a watery smile and sniffed, then gently rubbed the battered cat behind what was left of an ear.

Softly, Jordan explained, “She got into a tussle with a neighboring dog and lost. No sooner did she get dropped off than she started birthing. Eight kittens.” Jordan shook his head. “She’s a trooper, aren’t you, old girl?” Jordan stroked his hand down the cat’s back, earning a throaty purr.

Lizzy sniffed again. “She’s a stray. Jordan says she’s undernourished, so we didn’t know if the kittens would be all right or not.” She peered at Gabe with a worried expression. “They are awfully small, aren’t they?”

Gabe smiled. “Most kittens are that tiny.”

“And how…yucky they look?”

Jordan chuckled. “She’ll have them all cleaned up and cozy in no time. The problem now is getting her into a pen. I hate to move her after she’s just given birth, but I can hardly leave her and the babies here on the table.”

Lizzy seemed to be considering that. “Do the pens open from the top or the front?”

“Both.”

“Then…Well, maybe we could just take the table cover and all, and put her in the pen. I mean, if you hold the two top corners, and Gabe holds the two bottom corners, and I sort of guide it in and make sure no babies tumble out…Would that work do you think?”

To Gabe’s annoyance, Jordan smiled and kissed Lizzy’s cheek. “I think that’s a brilliant idea. Gabe, keep an eye on this batch while I go find a big-enough pen. I’ll be right back.”

Gabe stepped next to Lizzy. “You’ve been crying.” Just being close to her made him feel funny—adrift, as Ceily had said. He didn’t know himself when he was this close to her, and he sure as hell didn’t recognize all the things she made him feel.

Lizzy bit her lip, which looked extremely provocative to Gabe. “I’ve never seen babies born before. It’s amazing.”

Gabe slipped his arm around her and nuzzled her ear. Keeping his hands, or his mouth, to himself was out of the question. “Did you help Jordan?”

She laughed softly. “Mostly I just tried to stay out of his way.”

Jordan said from behind them, “I couldn’t have done it without her. She has the touch, Gabe. No sooner did she stroke that old cat than she settled down and relaxed some. I was afraid I was going to have to sedate her, but Elizabeth’s touch was better than any shot I could give.”

Gabe made a noncommittal sound. He knew firsthand just how special Lizzy’s touch was.

Within minutes they had the mother and all her babies cozied up in the pen and set in a warm corner where there was plenty of sunshine and quiet. The mother cat, exhausted after her ordeal, dozed off.

“Will she be all right?” Gabe asked.

Elizabeth answered him. “Jordan said none of her injuries from the dog are significant. He cleaned up some scrapes and scratches, one not too horrible bite, and then she started birthing.” Laughing at herself, Lizzy admitted, “When she let out that first screeching roar, I thought she was dying. Jordan explained to me that she was just a mama in labor.”

Jordan, trying to slip clean dry bedding in around the mewling kittens, said, “Gabe, why don’t you show Elizabeth around the rest of the clinic?”

Lizzy’s eyes widened. “Could you? I’d love to see it.”

Since Gabe would love to get her alone, he agreed.

Everything about Elizabeth Parks fascinated him—her softness, her freckles, her temper, her awe at the sight of a yapping puppy or a sleeping bird. She was complex in many ways, crystal clear in others. By the time they were done looking around, Jordan had finished with the kittens and he showed no hesitation in embracing Lizzy again.

Gabe wanted to flatten him.

“Come back any time, Elizabeth.” He glanced at Gabe. “We can talk more.”

“I’d like that. Thank you.”

Gabe knew his ears were turning red, but damn it, he didn’t want her hanging around Jordan. He didn’t want her hanging around any man except himself.

And he still wasn’t too keen on her discussing him with everyone. God only knew what she might hear!

She finally stepped away from Jordan and faced both men. “I have to run off now. I have more errands to get through.”

She backed to the door as she said it, keeping a close watch on Gabe.

“What errands?” he asked suspiciously.

“Oh, the usual.” She reached for the doorknob and opened the door. “The library, the grocery store…a visit with Casey.”

The last was muttered and it took a second for it to sink in. Gabe scowled and started toward her. “Now wait just a damn minute—”

“Sorry! Gotta go.” She hesitated, then called, “I’ll see you tonight, Gabe!”

She was out the door before he could catch her. He would have given pursuit if Jordan hadn’t started laughing. At that moment, Gabe’s frustration level tipped the scales and he decided Jordan would make a fine target. Slowly he turned, his nostrils flared. “You have something to say?”

Jordan was his quietest brother, but also the deepest. He kept his thoughts to himself for the most part, and tended to view the world differently than the rest of them. He was more serious, more sensitive. Women loved him for those qualities.

What had Elizabeth thought of him?

Gabe waited and finally Jordan managed to wipe the grin off his face. “I’d say Elizabeth Parks is pretty special.”

Gabe’s muscles tightened until they almost cramped. He hadn’t thought her special at first, but now that he did, he didn’t want anyone else—anyone male—to think it. “Me, too,” he snarled.

Jordan was supremely unaffected by his anger. “Going to do anything about it?”

“It?”

Jordan shook his head as if he pitied Gabe. “You remind me of a junkyard dog who’s just sniffed a female in heat. You’re trying to guard the junkyard and still lay claim to the female.”

“I’m not at all sure I like that analogy.”

Jordan shrugged. “It fits. And if I was you, I’d get my head clear real quick.”

Because he wasn’t sure how to do that, Gabe didn’t comment. Instead, he asked, “What did you think of her?”

“Sexy.”

That single word hit him like a solid punch in the ribs. He wheezed. “Damn it, Jordan…”

“What? You think you’re the only one to notice?” Again, Jordan shook his head. “I’ve got a waiting room full of clients, so I’ll make this quick. No, Elizabeth’s sex appeal isn’t up-front and in your face. But it only takes about two minutes of talking with her, of watching her move and hearing her voice and looking into those incredible blue eyes to know she’s hotter than hell on the inside.”

It was so unlike Jordan to speak that way that Gabe was rendered mute.

“If you could have seen how gentle her hands were when she touched that frightened cat, well…You can imagine where a man’s mind wanders when seeing that. And the look of discovery on her face when the first kitten appeared, and her husky voice when she’s getting emotional…” Jordan shrugged. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know those same qualities would carry over into the rest of her life. She’s sensitive and tenderhearted and something about her is a little wounded, making her sympathetic to boot.”

Gabe rubbed both hands over his face, those elusive emotions rising to choke him.

Jordan slapped him on the back. “Add to that an incredible body…Well, there you have it.”

“I’m sorry I asked,” Gabe moaned.

Jordan turned his brother around and steered him toward the door. They were of a similar height and build, but Gabe was numb, so moving him was no problem. “Go. I have work to do.”

Gabe was just over the threshold when Jordan said his name again. Turning, Gabe raised one brow.

“I talked you up real nice, told her what a sterling character you have, but somehow I got the impression she’s given up on you already.” Jordan shrugged. “Not that she isn’t interested, because I could tell she is. I’m not sure what you’ve been doing with her, and it’s certainly none of my business, but every time she said your name, she blushed real cute.”

Eyes narrowed, Gabe muttered, “That’s sunburn.”

“No, that was arousal. Credit me with enough sense to know the difference.”

Gabe started back in and Jordan flattened a hand on his sternum, holding him off. “The thing is,” Jordan said with quiet emphasis, “her thoughts are as clear as the written word, and from what I could tell, she’s determined that what she feels is only sexual. So if that’s not what you want, I’d say you have a problem. One that you better start working on real quick.”

It was the second time in one day that Gabe had been given that advice. Without another word he stomped off, his mind churning with confusion. Yes, he wanted more, but how much more? Hell, he barely knew the woman. And she did have an education to finish, one that was obviously important to her.

All he could do, Gabe decided, was take it day by day. He’d get inside her brick wall, get her to talk to him, and maybe, with any luck, he’d find out that Elizabeth wanted him for more than a sexual fling or a college thesis.

But for how much more was anyone’s guess.

* * *

E
LIZABETH FELT
like a puddle of nerves on the drive to the movies that night. In quite a daring move, she’d changed from her earlier clothes into another dress, this one a tad shorter, landing just below her knees, and with a bodice that unbuttoned. She felt downright wanton. Not because the clothing was in any way revealing, but because of why she’d chosen it in the first place.

Thinking of Gabe’s hands stealing under her skirt in search of second base or opening her buttons to linger on first base had her in a frenzy of anticipation.

Nervously, she glanced at his profile. He was quiet, his jaw set as he concentrated on driving. His strange, introspective mood seemed to permeate the car. She cleared her throat and said boldly, “Do you realize how many firsts I’ve had since meeting you?”

He jerked, his gaze swinging toward her for a brief instant. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She had to make him understand, Elizabeth thought. The last thing she wanted to happen, now that she was getting into the novelty of this unique courtship, was for Gabe to feel pressured and back off. His sisters-in-law had been clearly concerned that she might get hurt. Perhaps Gabe would worry about the same thing. But if she reassured him that they wanted the same thing, a pleasant way to pass the time during her visit, with no strings attached, then he’d feel free to continue his wonderful attentions.

And they were wonderful. Gabe made her feel sexy, when all her life she’d felt plain to the point of being invisible. He made her feel feminine when she’d never paid much attention to her softness before, except that it made her weaker, less competent in a crisis. And he made her feel sexually hungry when she hadn’t even known such a hunger existed.