Page 55 of Smoky Lake

He went into the bathroom and cleaned off. When he came back, he stretched next to her, set his hand on her bare hip, and stroked lightly. The puckers of scar tissue began there and curved down her thigh. Her tiger tattoo twined through them. They lay like that for a while, in a slumbering dreamy afterglow.

“Do you need to change position?” he murmured eventually.

Thoughtful. Always so thoughtful.

“That’s probably a good idea.” She eased her legs from under her and crawled under the covers.

“I start to cramp up if I stay in one position too long.” He rolled up his pants leg and showed her the bullet scar on the back of his calf. It was still raw, still healing, but she could tell it was mostly a surface wound, though it had probably torn some muscle fibers.

She ran her fingers across the wound. “It’s healing well. You got lucky it didn’t hit the bone or a tendon.”

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and gazed at her with enigmatic green eyes. “Ready for that nap, Doctor?”

Her eyes were already drifting closed as she nodded. He laughed softly. “Good. I’ll be back soon.”

He tucked the covers around her and plucked his clothes off the floor. She made her eyes stay open so she could watch him. He was such a full-throttle, hundred-percent sexy man. Sexiness radiated from every line of his body, every stitch of dark hair, every glance from those green eyes.

“Pick up some condoms, would you?” she murmured… her last words before falling into sleep.

25

How could any man disobey a request like that? On his way to Victor’s house, Gil stopped at the nearest grocery store to stock up. He had a stash of condoms back at Lachlan’s house, but who knew when they’d make it back there. He wasn’t going to keep Ani waiting that long.

He added some snacks to his purchase—a block of cheese, some bread, some deli slices, chips and guacamole. As he waited in the checkout line, he second-guessed his choices. Ani was probably a health-minded woman, being a doctor and all. He went back to the produce section and grabbed some organic salad greens and a handful of oranges, along with a package of fresh-picked local blueberries.

Back in line. Staring into his shopping basket.

What was salad without salad dressing? As the checkout clerk rolled her eyes, he went back a third time and spent ten minutes reading the ingredients on the backs of salad dressing bottles. In the end, he chose three different types, just to be safe. Then added some chocolate to his haul. Five different types of chocolate ranging from milk to extra-dark.

You have it bad, Gil McGowan.

He’d never paid this much attention to what groceries to pick up for a woman. Had he even bought groceries for someone before? He debated abandoning the whole basket and cutting his losses, but those blueberries looked good to him, and he certainly had to get the condoms.

He gave the checkout clerk a broad smile when he finally reached her.

“Picky wife?” she asked with a smirk.

It occurred to him that this grocery store was probably the place where Victor shopped. It was the closest to his house, after all. He decided to play along with her incorrect guess. “I like to get it right, what can I say.”

Approving nod. Good.

“Say, I bet you get a lot of regulars here. I just got back to town, and I thought I might run into my friend Victor. Has he been through here? Mid-thirties, dark hair, likes to talk.”

“Victor? That’s my boo,” said the young checkout clerk. “Yeah, I saw him. He was loading up for a big camping trip. Said he was going to be gone for a while.”

The hairs on Gil’s arms stood up. “Damn, can’t believe I missed him. When was this?”

“Mmmm, day before yesterday?”

Well, shit.

“Did he shake that cold he was talking about? Last time we talked on the phone, he said he’d been sick.”

“Seemed fine to me. I mean, he was going camping. People don’t go camping if they’re not feeling good.”

“Good to hear.” He made a show of sorting through his wallet for a credit card, just to give himself a little more time. A quick glance behind him told him the line was building up. He could probably get one more question in before she clammed up. “Heading back to Firelight Ridge, is he?”

“I don’t know,” she said indifferently. “I think he said something about a lake.”

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