Page 15 of Heal Me
Then she laughed at her grumpy remark, shoved her scrubs into her duffel bag, and tidied up her office again. With a last look in the mirror, she took a deep breath and left the office. She said goodnight to her staff and stepped outside to see Ric leaning against a tree close to the clinic.
The way he looked in his navy blue sweatpants and heavy denim coat gave her a fluttery sensation in her stomach. His choice in pants made sense since they would go up over his cast easily. No man had ever made sweatpants look so hot. Now she knew why he hadn’t cared about her getting all dressed up.
He saw her and pushed off the tree. Ric started for her and Kate wondered how he made moving on crutches look sexy. As he neared her, the predatory gleam in his eyes made the flutter in her stomach change to the kind of ache she’d almost forgotten had existed.
Ric didn’t stop until he’d slightly invaded her personal space. “Hi, Kate.”
Suddenly, she felt like she was sixteen again and had a huge crush on the high school quarterback, who’d actually stopped to speak to her. His bulk and the incredible way he smelled rendered her speechless for a few moments. “Hi, Ric,” she finally said, hating that she sounded a little breathy.
His gaze slowly traveled over her as though he wanted to devour her and her pulse rose. When he leaned towards her, it never crossed her mind to back away from him. His lips on her cheek were warm and firm and she wanted to feel them on hers.
“I owed you that,” he said, smiling as he drew away.
Kate hid the fact that her heart had just flipped over by chuckling. “I still can’t believe I did that.”
Ric said, “I didn’t mind a bit.”
“I’m glad,” Kate responded. “My truck is right over here. So, where is our mystery designation?”
“The Hamilton Farm.”
“The swanky horse farm?” Kate asked as she held open the passenger side of the truck.
Ric handed her his crutches and hopped up in the truck. “Yep. I used to work there back in high school and I’m still friendly with the family.”
Kate gave him his crutches and walked around to the driver’s side. “You’re not going to try to ride with a broken ankle are you?”
Ric grinned. “No. I’m stupid, but not that dumb.”
“What are we going to do then?” She started the ignition.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.”
She met his Cheshire cat smile with a scowl, which made him laugh as she pulled out of the parking lot.
