Holiday Games (A Play-By-Play Novella) (14 page)

“So this is your clinic now?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

She grabbed the film and slid it in.

“Luke.”

She looked up. “Excuse me?”

“Call me Luke. Not officer, and definitely not sir. Too formal.”

He’d cracked a smile. He had a quirky, kind of off-kilter smile, and greenish-blue eyes that went really well with his dark hair. He had a rugged face, a square jaw and again, that really sexy mouth.

Not that she was looking at him in
that
way, because she didn’t do that anymore. She and men were definitely off-limits. She’d learned her lesson the hard way.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be nice to her clients. “Okay, then, Luke. Let’s get this X-ray going. I need you to position his leg here for me, then if possible, ask him not to move.”

“No problem. Boomer—stay.”

Boomer lay perfectly still as they went behind the screen so she could take the shot.

“Good boy.” Luke said to Boomer after the X-ray was taken. He swept his hand over the dog’s back and neck, showing care and affection.

She liked seeing that in a dog’s owner.

“Just one more film and that should do it. I need to turn him this way.”

Luke helped her, and she couldn’t help noticing his hands. Strong. Big. Masculine, with a fine sprinkling of dark hair on his forearms. He hadn’t worn a coat inside, and he had some serious upper arm muscles peeking out from the sleeve of his uniform shirt.

But she wasn’t looking, and she definitely wasn’t interested, despite the pinging in her nerve endings that conveyed otherwise.

Chemistry couldn’t be denied. But that was biology. She had a choice, and she already knew what her choices were these days regarding men.

She took Luke behind the screen and captured the second X-ray.

But he did smell really good, though it wasn’t cologne. Shampoo, maybe? Or soap? Did they make scented soap for men? She had no idea.

But she wasn’t interested, so it didn’t matter what kind of soap he used.

“Are we done?”

She looked at him. “Yes. Yes, we are.” She turned one way and he went the other, so they bumped into each other. He reached out for her arms to steady her, and she found herself staring up into those amazing eyes of his.

“Sorry,” he said with a deep laugh that Emma felt all the way down to her stomach. And maybe even a little lower.

“No. It’s my fault.” He took a step back and she moved around him.

He had her acting like a teenager all filled with raging hormones. Ugh.

“Just wait here a second with Boomer so I can make sure we don’t need to retake any shots.”

She hurried out of the room and took a deep breath when she got into the reading room.

What was wrong with her? She’d had male customers all day long. Some had been really good-looking, too, yet none of them had affected her like Luke was doing now.

Likely because she hadn’t been alone with any one man all day. That had to be it. She never put herself in a position to be alone with a guy. And though Luke was a police officer, owned a dog, and seemed all nice and trustworthy, she knew better than to trust any man.

She’d been naïve and trusting once, and it had cost her dearly. She was never going to be that stupid again, no matter how gorgeous a man was, or how nice he seemed.

Or how good he smelled.

Besides, this was the year of her career and nothing else. And so far, day one had been spectacular.

Jaci Burton
is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling, award-winning author of over sixty books. She lives in Oklahoma and when she isn’t on deadline (which is often), she can usually be found wrestling with her uncooperative garden, wrangling her dogs, watching an unhealthy amount of television, or completely losing track of time reading a great book. She’s a total romantic and longs for the happily ever after in every story, which you’ll find in all her books. Visit the author online at j
aciburton.com.