Page 12 of Hooking Up

“Much obliged.”

In seconds the trailer she comfortably inhabited while on the road was shrunken to fairy proportions. With Carter’s height and Quint’s thick shoulders, there wasn’t a spare inch of space.

“Uh…” She looked around and her gaze landed on the small kitchen table and two stools her daddy had helped her bolt to the floor so they didn’t roll around while she drove. “Have a seat, guys.”

Carter moved toward the stool, but Quint stood his ground. “I’m fine here.”

“Suit yourself. I’ll just be a minute.” She bent and rummaged under the little cabinet that housed odds and ends she might need on a long trip. Was it her imagination or were they staring at her ass?

She straightened, her hair flopping into one eye. She hadn’t bothered with her hat after getting out of the truck, and it still lay on the passenger seat. Pressing her hair back, she looked between them.

They gaped at her as if she’d sprouted a tail and devil horns. The thought gave her a smile to match. With a grand gesture, she set the small, clear plastic box on the tabletop.

Carter leaned back to peer at the contents. “Whattaya got there?”

“Everything and anything to cure most human illnesses. Or at least relieve symptoms. Now tell me what’s going on.”

Carter rubbed his knuckles over his jaw, creating a rasping noise she felt deep in her core. That liquid heat inside her that hadn’t gone away since those two amazing kisses seemed to go from a slow simmer to a boil in a blink. She dragged in a deep breath, but that just made it worse.

He smelled good. Real good.

“Think we picked up a bug after that last rodeo.”

“And you didn’t stop at a clinic or find the doc?” The rodeo doctor traveled along with them, seeing to strained muscles and broken bones. “He likes seeing cowboys come in with something wrong besides a dislocated shoulder. He’s pretty good at diagnosing and doling out medicine too.”

Carter raised a brow but Quint looked like a thundercloud scudding across the sky. “How well do you know the doc?”

Heat swept up her throat. “Well enough.” He might have been one of the guys who’d believed she just needed a soft touch early after her breakup. But the doctor had gotten a mouthful of her sassy barbs and run off with his tail tucked. Which was why she carried so much medicine now—she could take care of herself.

Quint snorted, and she waved him closer. “So you have a cold? Headache?”

“Throat’s a little sore,” he admitted. “And I feel a little hot and cold both.”

She wrinkled her nose. She’d take a handful of vitamin C and Echinacea after they left just to keep her own immune system in tip-top shape. “Okay, let’s see what I have.” She popped off the lid and the guys leaned to peer inside.

“What are you—a pharmacist in your spare time?” Carter asked.

“Nope. I make meth to supplement my rodeo winnings.”

Carter guffawed, and Quint moved a step closer. A wall of heat, starting at her ankles and rushing up to the top of her head, swept over her. Her nipples pinched hard, and she sank her teeth into her lower lip.

Damn, being so close to them was reminding her why she’d let them kiss her in the first place. Pure, raw attraction. She wanted both Carter and Quint with an animalistic need that could only be quenched between the sheets.

But since she wasn’t in the business of breaking up team roping champions, she’d opted to cut things off at one kiss apiece.

“Why do you have all this stuff?” Quint asked.

She set several boxes and bottles out on the table, looking for something in particular.

“My momma’s a big one for home doctoring. And her mother before her. We hoard medicines like we’re about to enter a zombie apocalypse.”

“Have you heard Quint snoring then? He sounds like a damn zombie.” Carter got elbowed in the arm for his quip.

“How would you know? You’re too busy whistling Dixie through your nose on your side of the hotel room.” Quint’s dark eyes twinkled with merriment.

Bella found herself relaxing. While she lined up a few more bottles, she asked questions. Did either have an unbearable sore throat, a high fever?

“No,” they said together.

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