Marked for Marriage (17 page)

“Your left knee?”

“Yes.”

Noah took off his gloves and laid his hand on her knee, which brought him even closer to her, and she dizzily inhaled the scent of his shaving lotion or cologne or whatever that deliciously masculine smell was.

“It…it's all right now,” she said, the worry over how strongly he affected her—even the way he smelled, for heaven's sake—showing in the unsteadiness of her voice.

Noah noticed something amiss with the way she was speaking, but he thought it was due to her knee.

“Are you in pain?” he asked.

“It did hurt…my knee, I mean…but it's not hurting now. Not very much, anyway.”

Noah took back his hand and looked into Maddie's eyes. “I have an appointment with Dr. Herrera for you. He's the orthopedic specialist I mentioned yesterday. We have to leave right away.”

“This minute? Are you sure I need a bone specialist? My hand feels fine.”

“I'm sure you're hand
is
fine, but that knee isn't.” Noah
got to his feet and offered his hand to help her up. “Come on, Maddie. We have to get going.”

She looked at his hand, realized how truly beautiful it was—wide in the palm with long fingers—and then remembered how it had felt on her body last night.

Stop thinking about it! What's wrong with you?
Clearing her throat, Maddie extended her good hand and laid it in his.

Noah frowned because her hand was so small compared to his. Small and warm.
She
was small and warm…all of her…every inch of her. The potency of last night's collision and very hot aftermath suddenly gripped his senses again, and he wondered uneasily what in the devil was going on with him these days.

And, pray tell, why was he standing there holding hands with her instead of getting them both out of this house and on their way to Dr. Herrera's office?

“Hold on,” he said gruffly. “You shouldn't be pulled up until we find out a little more about that knee. Stay put and let me do the work.” Noah released her hand, then bent down and lifted her by her waist. “Try putting your weight on your left foot,” he instructed.

Maddie did as told for she could do nothing else. She was all tingly inside and knew now that eventually it was going to happen between them, however often she told herself differently. There was too much electricity or chemistry or whatever it was that drew two people together for it
not
to happen. Unless, of course, Noah realized the same thing, fervently decided against any such liaison and then stayed completely away from this house and her.

But he was here now, Maddie thought, and he'd be here again and again until either Maddie was fully recovered or Mark and Darcy were back.

“My knee feels fine,” she said softly, standing on both feet
and looking up into Noah's eyes. His hands were still on her waist, and there was a gap of mere inches separating them. “As I said before, I probably just twisted it when I turned around.”

“It shouldn't hurt to turn around, Maddie,” Noah said quietly, though his heart was pounding from this incredibly intimate moment. But he didn't want any intimate moments with any woman! He abruptly stepped back and dropped his hands from Maddie's waist.

She saw it happen with her own eyes…the very first time since meeting this very private, very guarded man…she saw through his behavior. He'd just gotten deliciously ensnared in an extremely tender moment with her, realized it, became alarmed and then deliberately broken the spell.

“I'll get my jacket…and things. They're in my bedroom,” Maddie said, and walked away nursing her left knee only a little. Her mind raced as she went. Noah had a reason for backing off today. Was it because she'd turned off on him last night, or was his passion last night a fluke that he really did regret because…because he was involved with someone else?

It was a startling idea for Maddie. Until that moment she hadn't placed Dr. Noah Martin with a woman, and it had been a foolish oversight because a man with his extraordinary good looks would have more women than he could possibly juggle hot on his heels. Then there was his profession. Doctors, especially good-looking doctors, were always in high demand. Cowboys, the men with whom Maddie normally associated, were idolized by cowgirls, or sometimes by girls who were merely attracted to a bull-or bronc-rider's undeniable masculinity.

Maddie understood that world—her own world—but she was a fish out of water in Noah Martin's world. Any way she looked at it, thought Maddie with a sinking sensation, to let
herself do anything but admire from a safe distance Noah Martin's looks, profession, intelligence and sex appeal was just asking for trouble.

That kind of trouble she
didn't
need! Wasn't she already in the biggest mess of her adult life? God, some thief or vandal could be out there stripping her truck and trailer even as she got into her jacket and wound a warm scarf around her neck. Her heart leaped in fear. She shouldn't be thinking of something like that when she couldn't do one darned thing about rescuing two of her three most valuable possessions.

Or could she? Maddie's narrowed her eyes to think. Maybe she couldn't convince anyone to pull her truck and trailer to safety until the storm had passed. But wouldn't seeing for herself that her things were still intact greatly relieve her mind? Yes, it most certainly would, she decided, and since there was only one way to get out there, she would have to be especially nice and cooperative with Noah.

Not that she'd been anything else since he got there, she thought wryly. He was the one who'd made it pretty clear—though she doubted he knew how easily she'd read him today, surprising even herself—that he'd just as soon keep things cool between them. Thinking that it was time to test her acting skills again, she left her bedroom and walked into the kitchen with a blank but not unfriendly expression. “I'm ready.”

Noah opened the outside door for her and when she stepped through it, he said gruffly, “Don't move.”

She could tell he was making sure the door was locked, and she smiled sweetly when she would just as soon have pushed him into the deep pile of snow next to the stoop for issuing orders in that sort of overbearing voice.

He is one mixed up guy, for some reason, and now he's got you just as confused as he is. He wants you, he doesn't want you, and you could alternately kiss and kick him. Mighty strange goings on, if you ask me!

Noah took her good arm in his hand. “Oh, you wanted me to stand still until you could lead me to your car,” Maddie said in the very nicest voice she could muster. “How gallant.”

Noah shot her a suspicious look. “I don't want you falling again. It's slippery as hell in some spots, which you can't see because they're under too much snow.”

“Yes, that's exactly how I would describe all this white stuff. Too much snow.”

Noah pulled open the passenger door of his SUV. “You're playing with me and it's not fair because I don't know the game.”

She settled onto the seat, then turned her head and gave him a dazzling smile. “Oh, I doubt there are very many games at which you're not only extremely adept but range in the expert category,” she purred.

Frowning darkly, Noah shut her in and trudged around the back of his SUV. She was up to something, and he couldn't imagine what it was. Apparently, she could flirt with the best of them, which was definitely a surprise, as she'd done everything but stand on her head to show him how much she resented his very existence.

Except for when he kissed her. She was hot in a clinch, that much was certain. Of course, in her case it wasn't wise to leave her hanging for even a few minutes because she cooled down fast.

Not that he intended any rematches of last night's main event.

Climbing into the driver's seat, Noah groaned silently. Good intentions be damned, that little woman had gotten under his skin and in his blood, and the biology of making love, fitting his body to hers and feeling their commingled heat would not leave his mind, however much he preferred things be as they'd been before meeting Maddie.

He started the engine and was about to put the shifting
lever in reverse when Maddie exclaimed, “My purse! I forgot my purse, and I'll have to have my insurance card for the doctor.”

Noah tried to appear patient and understanding, neither of which he was feeling. Of course she needed her insurance information. She should have thought of that when they were still in the house.

“I'll get it for you,” he said as calmly as he could manage.

“Where will I find it?”

Maddie didn't put up an argument about his getting her purse, for the sake of peace. But she also felt that he would be quicker getting her purse while she had a bad—well, slightly bad—knee and an almost useless hand to contend with. Besides, the car was warming up and she was buckled in and ready to go. If he wanted to play knight-in-shining-armor to her damsel-in-distress plight, it was fine with her.

“It's either in one of the bureau drawers in my bedroom or on the top shelf of my closet,” she told him.

Noah bounded out of the driver's seat, pushed the door closed behind him and hurried back to the house. Maddie watched him disappear inside, then heaved a big sigh. She didn't want to see a doctor, she wanted to see her truck and trailer!

In the next instant, thinking of Fanny, Maddie's heart nearly broke. Noah had told her that Fanny was being kept inside and receiving good care, but some people's ideas of good care didn't even come close to hers.

And however nice she was to Noah, would he take her to see either her truck and trailer or Fanny?

“No, he will not,” Maddie mumbled. All he was going to do was drive her to see his doctor friend, and even if she kissed his feet that was
still
all he would do.

She had an opportunity to do something that was far more
urgent than having another doctor look at her hand and knee, and was she going to take it?

Maddie's heart began pounding with an adrenaline rush. She peered at the house. Noah would be appearing at any moment, and her opportunity would be gone. Quickly she unlatched her seat belt, then climbed over the console separating the passenger and driver seats. Hooking
that
seat belt, she slammed the shifting lever into Reverse and backed out of the driveway. In seconds she was a block from Mark's house. Noah would throw a fit, but she didn't care.
She
was going to see Fanny and would deal with Noah's temper when she got back.

Noah walked out of the house with Maddie's purse in his left hand. He blinked, not believing his eyes. His SUV was gone!

He stood there dumbfounded, then fury erupted within him, and he threw Maddie's purse into the house and slammed the door hard enough to rattle the windows. Huddling deeper into his jacket and scarf, he set out walking. He was going to report his SUV as stolen if he had to walk all the way to the police station! And he would press charges when the law caught up with her, too, even if she was Mark's sister. A cop's sister. She was a damned disgrace. Poor Mark. And poor Darcy for having such a screwball sister-in-law.

 

Maddie loved Noah's big SUV, but the seat was much too far away from the floor pedals. A couple of blocks from the house, she pulled over and stopped so she could figure out how to adjust the seat to fit her height.

“Much better,” she murmured and took a look in the large mirror just outside the window to see if the street was clear, so she could get going again. Someone was walking very fast, coming her way. “It's Noah,” she whispered, and with but
terflies tearing up her stomach she pressed on the gas pedal and took off.

She had to admit that she was nervous about this—taking a person's car without permission was a serious offense—but no one, least of all Noah Martin, understood what Fanny meant to her. She'd take her lumps like a grown-up when she got back, but once she saw Fanny her heart and soul would be at peace. If Fanny was in a clean, dry stall with hay in a food trough and all the water she needed, that is. If the mare wasn't being cared for in that manner, Maddie knew that she would shriek so loudly that Mark would hear her in Europe.

“Concentrate on your driving,” she told herself out loud.

“You know how to find the Braddock ranch, and the roads are much better tonight than they were last night. You'll make it without a speck of trouble if you keep your mind on driving instead of on Fanny.”

She was right. Maddie reached a large sign announcing the turnoff to the Braddock ranch without a bit of trouble. In fact, it looked to her as though it wasn't snowing nearly as hard as it had for two days now. The storm was passing, in its final throes, Maddie realized, positive of her analysis from having grown up with this kind of winter weather.

It took about five minutes after the turn for Maddie to reach some buildings. One was a very nice house constructed of heavy wood beams and redwood siding, quite modern in architectural design and not an inexpensive dwelling. The other buildings appeared to be stables and storage barns.

Maddie parked, left the engine running and got out. A bright light came on when she approached the front door, which made it a simple matter for Maddie to locate the doorbell. She pushed it and heard reverberating chimes from within the house.

A pretty, thirty-something woman opened the door and smiled. “Hello.”

“Hello,” Maddie replied. “I'm sorry to bother you, but I believe my brother, Mark Kincaid, brought my horse out here. Are you boarding a gray quarter horse mare with the name of Fanchon or Fanny?”

“Yes, I am. Would you like to see her?”

Maddie breathed a sigh of relief. “Very much, thank you.”

“Step inside while I get my coat and boots,” the woman said. Maddie did so, and the woman went into the foyer closet and took out snow boots and a long woolen coat. “I'm Denise Hunter.”