The Doctor Wears A Stetson (Contemporary Western Romance) (16 page)

"Ready for some small town fellowship?"
Jessie asked with a more natural smile playing on her lips.

It was Cameron's turn to sigh. "Some things
never change, do they?"

"No, they don't."

There was a sad tone to her voice, he didn't
understand. She took his hand and they walked toward the crowd
gathered near the center of the field.

The mayor had the honor of lighting the
bonfire. The cheerleaders started a round of yells as soon as the
huge pile of lumber, mesquite and large tumbleweeds ignited.

Cameron watched the twenty-foot blaze
flicker in the darkness. The orange and blue flames roared upward
and reached for the night sky. He and Jessie stood a short distance
away, watching the sparks burst, listening to the sizzling sounds,
welcoming the heat from the small inferno. The weather had turned
blustery cold.

With his hand on the back of her neck, he
guided her through the throng of people, stopping to exchange
greetings with old friends and teachers. Nothing had changed, just
as he'd said. Homecoming was still the highlight of the football
season with the bonfire, the game, the king and queen, and the
dance.

"Hey, Cameron. You old son-of-a-gun!" Lester
Smith slapped him on the shoulder.

Cameron shook the hand thrust toward him.
Lester had been his best buddy in high school. He'd moved to St.
Louis after college. "How've you been?"

"Fine, just fine," Lester said, pumping his
arm up and down like an old-fashioned water pump. His eyes widened.
"And Jessie! Haven't seen you in ages."

"Hey, Lester," she said in greeting.

"Don't tell me you two are a couple?" Lester
finally let go of Cameron's hand. "Seems like the last time I saw
y'all was . . . at the prom . . . Hey, you're not
married
,
are you?"

Cameron's hand dropped away from Jessie.
"No, we're not married."

As she listened to Cameron talk to Lester, a
heavy sensation settled in the pit of her stomach. At the mention
of marriage, he'd let go of her hand like a hot potato. Cameron was
going to leave and break her heart. Again. She would dry up into a
little old widow-woman who raised cats for company.

She could barely smile when Lester said his
goodbyes.

"He's the same as ever," Cameron said,
shaking his head as Lester faded into the crowd.

"Cameron! Hey, Cameron!"

"Oh man, Patti? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," she said with a laugh. "Hey,
Jessie. How are you doing?" Patti reached up and kissed Cameron's
cheek. "How's life treating you in Houston?"

"Good, how about you?"

"Pretty good," she said. "The kids keep me
busy."

"Mama! Mama! Come here!" called a high
little voice near the fire.

Patti chuckled. "See what I mean? Good to
see you, Cameron. You too, Jessie."

She walked over to a little boy and took
hold of his small grubby hand. She smiled at Cameron over her
shoulder one more time before her son dragged her away.

"I think she loved you." Jessie's voice was
a whisper. It had been difficult to stand there and witness that
particular reunion. Patti was the girlfriend Cameron had broken up
with right before the prom. She'd been hurt when he'd left Salt
Fork.
Before
he had left, though she hadn't let on.

"She didn't really love me," Cameron said.
"She was better off with Bubba anyway."

Jessie didn't know what to say. Luckily, the
mayor began introducing the candidates for homecoming queen and
king. She took her pad and pen from around her neck and jotted down
names for her article.

"Are you okay?" Cameron asked, looking down
at Jessie's bent head. She seemed quiet and withdrawn tonight.

Not looking up from her notes, Jessie
nodded.

When the mayor announced their names, the
young couples moved forward to stand by him. Cameron remembered how
he and Patti had been voted king and queen their senior year. It
hadn't meant much to him. He'd already been itching to leave, to
get on with his life, to study medicine.

The band started playing the alma mater and
everyone joined in. Cameron watched the shadows of the flickering
flames dance across Jessie's face. He wanted her again, to bring
her to fulfillment, to share the pleasure with her. Last night . .
. words couldn't describe last night. He was scared as hell about
what he was feeling. If he were smart, he would go back to Houston
and forget Jessie.

She turned and smiled uncertainly. Doubt and
longing shone in her eyes.

Cameron clasped his fingers around the back
of her neck again and squeezed reassuringly. "Are you ready?"

Jessie nodded, unable to speak.
Ready to
make love. Ready to follow you anywhere. But not ready for a broken
heart.

"Let's go, then." He propelled her away from
the crowd.

Cameron's touch burned through Jessie's
sweater. Rivulets of sexual awareness tingled down her spine. She
wanted him to make love to her again. She wanted to store away as
many memories as possible to keep her warm during the long lonely
nights ahead.

The house was invitingly cozy when they
entered. Jessie had left the heaters going.

"Got anything to drink?" Cameron asked,
shucking out of his jacket.

"There's some bourbon. Or I could make a pot
of coffee."

"Coffee sounds good." He tossed the jacket
over the back of a chair, before sitting at the table.

Thankful for something to do, Jessie filled
the coffee maker and plugged it in. She felt awkward. They were
going to end up in bed. She knew that, even welcomed it. But she
hated being so unsophisticated.

The coffee maker sputtered with familiar
gurgling noises. Jessie sat at the kitchen table next to Cameron
and removed the journalist's pad from around her neck. She'd taken
lots of notes. Her readers would not be disappointed.

Cameron picked it up and flipped through the
pages. "Get any juicy tidbits?"

Jessie laughed. "Not much happens in Salt
Fork. You know that.
We
were probably the hottest topic of
discussion. Or didn't you notice?"

"I noticed the old tabbies' eyes bulging
with curiosity," he said. "Were their mouths hanging open because I
was back, or the fact that we were together?"

Jessie went to the counter and poured the
coffee. "Probably both. You've stayed away a long time. Coming back
twice in two months is a miracle in itself." She handed him a
steaming mug before sitting down again.

He took a sip and watched her. "And the fact
that we were together?"

She nearly choked on the hot coffee. The
sensual tone of his voice shot tiny jolts of desire straight down
to her core. She realized she had never believed they would really
get together. Jessie took another drink to clear her throat and
thoughts. "That's another miracle, isn't it?"

"How so?"

Jessie fidgeted with the notepad, opening
and closing it, trying to hide the trembling in her fingers. This
was not the time to discuss their relationship.
Because they had
no relationship
. "I usually go to these events by myself. The
fact that you and I were together . . . Everyone will think--" She
shrugged.
She
knew what everyone would think. Did Cameron
care that his name would be coupled with hers? No, of course
not.

"What would everyone think?" he said
quietly. "That we're an item? Lester certainly thought so, didn't
he?"

His eyes smoldered with an intensity that
left Jessie shaking. She'd always known she was out of her league
in her dealings with Cameron. She wasn't sure what he wanted from
her now.

"Lester was always a fool," she said.
Pushing away from the table, she stuffed the notepad in her purse,
then went to the sink and poured the rest of her coffee down the
drain. She gripped the edge of the counter for support and tried
not to think how foolish she was acting. Wishing for the moon,
wanting Cameron forever and ever. She dashed a hand across her eyes
and desperately held back a sniff. She refused to let Cameron see
just how unsophisticated she really was.

"Jess?" The voice was low, seductive.
Cameron whispered it in her ear, bracing his arms on either side of
her, imprisoning her between his warm body and the cold kitchen
counter. His breath scorched her ear and she tilted her head back.
Swallowing the lump of tears in her throat, Jessie made a decision.
For this one night, she would forget he was going to leave. She
would pretend they were forever and ever. And afterwards? She
refused to think about that.

****

"Jess, wake up." Cameron kissed the silky
hollow at the base of her throat. His hand kneaded one firm breast.
"Wake up, sweetheart. It's late. I need to get back to the ranch."
He pulled on his slacks, then groped in the dark for his socks.

Jessie rolled over and yawned. She glanced
at the clock on the nightstand where the orange numerals glowed:
two-thirty
. She stretched, and then snuggled deeper under
the covers. "Why don't you stay the night?"

She watched Cameron sit on the edge of the
bed, his back to her. A very sexy back. He didn't say anything. The
tendons in his shoulders tightened.
He doesn't want to stay.
He's leaving.
She reached one hand from under the quilts and
rubbed the corded muscles.

Cameron bowed his shoulders. The muscles
flexed beneath her fingers. "That feels good," he said, his voice a
low growl.

Jessie pushed the covers away and knelt
behind him. She massaged the tendons until they relaxed. Goosebumps
spread across his skin as her nails raked up and down his
spine.

As swift as a panther, he turned and
captured her hands, raised them above her head and pushed her down
into the mattress. All it took was a touch or a look and the desire
between them ignited. It had never been like this with TR. Jessie
quickly blocked that thought from her mind.

"Again?" she asked, arching upward, inviting
his caress, smiling at the man who had stolen her heart so long
ago.

"Again," he said, grinding his mouth to
hers.

The bed squeaked in time to the rhythm of
their passion. After the fires were banked, they lay together in
the darkness still joined.

"I really should go, Jess," he said in her
ear.

"Don't you
want
to stay?"

"Damn it! Of course I want to stay. I just
don't want my mother or anyone else talking about you after I'm
gone."

A knot formed in the middle of Jessie's
stomach. Cameron was leaving; he'd just said so. She tightened her
hold around his shoulders, as if to prevent him from going. "It's a
little late to protect my reputation, don't you think? Stay the
night with me. Please?"

Cameron kissed her forehead, then her lips.
She felt good in his arms. No woman had ever fit him so perfectly.
There was something definitely special about Jessie. But that
thought was dangerous. Long-term relationships and marriage weren't
in his plans yet.
Marriage,
whoa!
Where had that
come from?

The look in Jessie's eyes melted something
in him. Hell, it was only one night. He started to move inside her
again. "I'll stay, Jess. I'll stay."

****

It was close to noon when Jessie woke up.
Brilliant sunlight streamed through the windows, causing her to
blink back the sleep from her eyes. A sense of well-being permeated
her soul. Her body was replete, but her stomach rumbled with
hunger. It had been a long night. A glorious, wonderful, long
night. She smiled and turned over to reach for Cameron.

He was gone.

The excruciating wrench in her gut almost
made her sick. A tight fist clutched at her heart. She willed
herself to calm down. Cameron had left without saying goodbye.
Again. Jessie's contentment vanished, replaced with a feeling of
abandonment and heartache. She took a deep breath, then another . .
. and then sniffed the air.

Was that coffee she smelled?

Throwing back the covers, she jumped out of
bed and dashed to the kitchen, only to stop short in the middle of
the hallway when she realized she was naked. Good lord, she never
slept naked. She'd never been able to sleep without clothes. Until
last night. But then, there hadn't been much sleep going on last
night. Jessie walked back to her room, slipped on a robe and
tightened the belt on the way to the kitchen.

At the door, she peeked in and saw Cameron
sitting at the table with Katnip on his lap. The old tomcat purred
as the strong hands rubbed and petted him. Magic hands, Jessie
thought. They made her want to purr, too.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Cameron flashed
a grin that curled her toes. At the same time, she felt vulnerable,
naked under the robe. She adjusted the belt more securely.

"A little late for modesty, don't you
think?" Cameron asked with a wink.

"Force of habit," Jessie said. Blushing, she
hurried to the counter and poured a cup of coffee.
Cameron
hadn't left.
In fact, he looked right at home, sitting at her
kitchen table with Katnip on his lap. Did he look that way when he
was standing at an operating table? Probably more so. He had
rejected rural living and turned his back on the ranch and Salt
Fork.

"Why so quiet, Jess?"

She sat across from him at the table.
"Tired, I guess."

"A good kind of tired, I hope." Again, that
killer smile.

"Yes, a good kind of tired." She sipped her
coffee and lost herself in the sensual warmth of Cameron's gaze.
His eyes were deadlier than his smile.

Suddenly, her stomach growled.

"Hungry?" he asked.

She nodded. "What do you want for
breakfast?"

"You. I can't seem to get enough of
you."

Her lungs collapsed, refusing to function
normally. The low intimacy of his voice, the intensity of his
stare, shattered her nerve endings. Her stomach rumbled again.