Less than an hour later he and his brother had showered, dressed, and were ready to head out. They’d called ahead and reserved one of the suites at the families’ apartment complex, Benedict Towers. One of the family Penthouses was available, of course, and the concierge on duty promised to ensure the kitchen held the only real necessity either he or David required of any place first thing in the morning, and that was coffee.
Houston was at least a three-hour drive from Lusty, so they’d be staying over.
They’d have dinner at Sorrento, and then go on to
The Lyon’s Den
. He’d called, and the owner had invited them to attend that evening as his guests.
Robert didn’t have any real expectations of the evening ahead. Generally, he never did. He considered himself a go-with-the-flow kind of man, though deep inside he knew that when it came to expectations, another philosophy entirely was at play.
If he didn’t get his hopes up, then they couldn’t be dashed.
Robert backed his Jeep out onto the street. Though he hadn’t consciously decided to do so, at the corner of Elm and Main he turned left instead of right, heading toward the small downtown core instead of the interstate.
He slowed the vehicle as they approached the clinic, and then brought it to a stop by the curb when he saw the unfamiliar, but expected, vehicle parked by the front door.
“Our new admin seems to be on site. That car’s certainly seen better days,” David said.
“It’s already after three,” Robert said. “I wonder how long the woman plans to be there?”
David shrugged. “Likely, she just wanted to familiarize herself with the setup. Being new in town, she probably doesn’t know anyone. And if she’s anything like Shirley, she’s likely not much of a social butterfly, either. What else would a middle-aged woman do on a Saturday evening in a town like Lusty?”
Everything his brother just said was truth, and kicked him square in the conscience. “Shit.” Robert sighed. He met his brother’s gaze and saw the same slight guilt in his eyes he knew must be reflected in his own. They would be her employers, in a very real sense. That made them responsible for her.
Jessops were like that.
“We should at least go in, introduce ourselves,” Robert said.
“Yeah. We can recommend Kelsey’s restaurant,” David added.
“Good thinking.” Robert felt better already. Once Ms. Gillespie set foot inside
Lusty Appetites
, there were bound to be several people there ready to welcome her to town and draw her into conversation.
Hell, there were usually members of the Ladies’ Guild dining there Saturday, as Kelsey bought their pies. The guild usually hosted euchre Saturday nights from eight to ten over at the community center.
He and David might be a little late for their dinner reservation, but it would be for a good cause.
Ms. Gillespie was going to be working with them, likely for years to come. It behooved them to make the effort to welcome her to town.
Decision made, Robert turned off the car. They got out of the Jeep and headed inside. The door was locked, something Robert would have thought strange before his stint in the large urban metropolis he’d spent the last few years in.
He used his key to open the door. “Hello? Ms. Gillespie? It’s Robert and David Jessop.” The last thing he wanted to do was panic the poor dear.
Movement by the front desk drew his attention. He saw sneakered feet sticking out and figured the woman must be on her knees, likely looking through the bottom file drawer of the cabinet.
“Oh, hello! I hope you don’t mind that I’m here. Mr. Kendall said it would be all right if I came in and got a head start on things.”
The female voice put Robert in mind of warm honey, an odd reaction, he thought. And then the feet disappeared. The woman stood and turned around, an uncertain smile on her face as she stepped out, away from the chest-high reception desk and into the open. “Oh. You’re not the gentlemen I met a couple of weeks ago. I think they’re a bit older.”
We thought you were, too
. Robert heard his brother suck in a breath but didn’t have to ask why. With her long blonde hair caught up in a ponytail, wide green eyes set in an elfin face, and a figure that was lushly female, Ms. Jillian Gillespie looked like every red-blooded American male’s wet dream come to life.
“Our fathers are doctors here, too,” David said. “It was them you met.”
Jillian’s eyes widened. “There are
four
Drs. Jessop?” And then, as if she realized the tone she used, she gasped and her gaze flicked down to her feet for just a moment. When she looked up again, she’d schooled her features. “I’m so sorry. That was incredibly rude of me.”
“Not at all. I’m sure having a small clinic with four doctors all bearing the same last name is unusual, to say the least.” David flicked a look at Robert, but if his brother wondered why he remained silent, he didn’t ask.
“If you gentlemen need to work, I can leave. I don’t mind.”
Crap
. Robert continued to study the woman’s body language, but really didn’t know whether he should cheer or curse.
“No,” he said, putting just a bit of an edge in his tone. “We only stopped by to welcome you to the town—and the clinic. We’re headed out for the evening.” He softened his tone. “It was wise of you to lock yourself in.” He caught the pleasure that crossed her face and knew he was sunk. “Don’t stay too late, Jillian.”
“I won’t. It was nice to meet you both.” Her smile looked shy, but made her eyes sparkle.
“The restaurant in town here is pretty good. Our cousin runs it, and I know they’ll go out of their way there to make you feel welcome.” David flirted with her, but Robert wasn’t surprised when her reaction to
that
was to take a small step backward and look toward
him
.
“Forgive me if I’m being forward, but isn’t practically everyone in town your cousin?” Jillian looked between them.
Robert caught the uncertainty, and the way her body language kept giving her away. He’d bet the farm—if he had one—that she wasn’t even
aware
of the signals she sent them. So he gave her as nonthreatening a smile as he could muster. “Practically, yes. You weren’t being forward. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to us, Jillian.”
“I hope so.” She nodded. “I plan to be here for a long time.”
The woman was a beguiling combination of challenge and bravado with a huge dollop of trepidation thrown in for good measure.
God help me, I wasn’t ready for this.
“I have no doubt that you’ll do just fine.” Robert turned to his brother. “We should be going.” To Jillian he said, “I’ll lock up behind us. The restaurant begins serving dinner at four thirty. We’ll see you on Monday.”
“All right, thank you.”
He didn’t say anything until they were in the car and heading out of town. David, too, remained silent. For the first time Robert realized how, over the last couple of years, his twin had deferred to him at crucial moments. Robert sighed out loud and shook his head.
“Holy hell, Robbie,” David said. And then, “Are we still headed to the club?”
He heard the doubt in his brother’s voice and understood it completely. “We are. But our agenda for the evening has changed somewhat.”
“She’s gorgeous,” David said. “She can’t be much older than we are. Even if she does have a son old enough to be in the Marines, she’s not that much older.”
“No, she’s likely not more than a handful of years older, if that.
Damn it
.”
David laughed. “That’s karma for you, brother. Just this afternoon you were thinking we were years away from finding her.” Then he sobered. “I picked up on some of the vibes. She’s a sub, isn’t she?”
Robert clenched his jaw and wondered about karma himself. Then he nodded, and flicked a glance at his brother.
“Yeah, she’s a sub, all right, down to the bone, and I’ll bet you she doesn’t even know it. And I’ll tell you what else she is.” He brought the car to a stop, right signal on, in preparation for heading toward the interstate. He turned and met his brother’s gaze.
“She’s ours,” David said.
Robert nodded. That was one thing he could count on with his twin brother. He and David were usually on the same page.
Just because the serious-looking one told me to come here, didn’t mean I
had
to do it.
Jillian shook her head as she reached the door of the restaurant. She wasn’t doing what one of the younger Drs. Jessop told her to do—not exactly. She had to eat, and she hadn’t stocked up on groceries yet. Trying the local restaurant just made sense.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Jillian had tried to get back to her survey of the clinic after the men had left, but her mind wouldn’t focus. Finally, she decided she was hungry and tired. After a meal and a good night’s sleep, she’d be back to feeling more herself.
Even now, just shy of two hours after her encounter with the incredibly compelling pair, she could feel the shivers that assailed her as soon as she’d stood up and looked at the men who’d interrupted her work.
She’d seen handsome men before. She’d ignored handsome men plenty in the last couple of years. So why did those two have such an effect on her? Why was she suddenly considering abandoning her no-relationship rule?
Enough! You’re tired and hungry. Eat, sleep, and give thinking a rest until you do
.
Jillian pulled open the door to the restaurant, and stepped into aromatic nirvana. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply. She’d have to keep her mouth closed for a moment so she didn’t drool openly. That wasn’t the kind of first impression she wanted to make.
“Boy howdy, I think we better get you sitting at a table right away. You look near to passing out from hunger!”
Jillian opened her eyes to encounter the laughing smile of a pretty young waitress. She wasn’t that tall, and with her hair pulled back and minimal makeup she looked to be about sixteen.
“Bring her over here, Ginny.” The male voice sounded vaguely familiar, and Jillian turned her head to encounter a table with two men and a young boy. One of the men was Jake Kendall.
The waitress—Ginny—laughed. “Only if she wants to join you. You know, Jake Kendall, there are women who might be put off their feed some, having to share their meal with a lawyer
and
a lawman.”
Jillian put two and two together, and couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t particularly want to cling to her own company this evening, because sure as hellfire her thoughts were going to get her in trouble if she did.
So she stuck out her hand and said, “Hi, Ginny. I’m Jillian Gillespie. I take it those men over there are yours?”
Ginny shook her hand even as she nodded. “They are indeed, and most of the time I’m right proud of that fact. Except when the men in question—
all
the men in question—plot against me.”
“Come on, sweetheart.” The man who wasn’t Jake Kendall spoke up. He was laughing every bit as much as the lawyer was. “Every boy deserves a pet of his own.”
“And I have no objection to pets, as long as they aren’t reptiles or rodents.”
Jillian realized that both men were every bit as yummy as those two doctors had been.
What the hell do they feed these minor gods in this town, anyway?
Jillian got the gist of the “conversation” that had been taking place before she’d come into the scene. She said, “I don’t care for reptiles or rodents, either—with the possible exception of the Easter Bunny.”
Ginny nodded her head. “There you go. That’s a sensible attitude. Would you like to join them, Jillian?”
“Yes, please.”
She soon discovered that Adam Kendall was the sheriff and Jake’s brother, and that Benny Rose, Ginny’s son, adored them both.
“So what kind of pet is it you’ve been trying to talk your mom into?” Jillian addressed her question to the boy. Towheaded and gap-toothed, she pegged his age at about six or so. When he smiled, she could see his mother in him.
“My friend Paul who lives right next door to me has a
python
.” Benny grinned. “He feeds it mice. That’s
so
cool.”
Ginny happened to be delivering her sweet tea when he said that and she cringed. Then she ruffled her son’s head. “Benjamin Joseph Rose, I don’t believe Ms. Gillespie wants to hear about a mouse-eating snake at the dinner table.”
Jillian grinned. “That’s okay, Ginny. It brings back memories. My son, Brandon, is all grown up now, but I recall a similar conversation when he was about the same age as Benny. He wanted a python, too.”
“Really! Did you let him get the snake?” Benny’s eyes had lit up and Jillian guessed he thought he’d found an ally. She hated to disappoint him.
“Well, I was going to. Until his daddy heard tell of a friend whose son’s snake got loose one night. The house had gone a mite chilly, and that ole snake just found himself a nice cozy place to snuggle down in.” Jillian nodded. “Our friend woke up with a python slithering right up his leg, right there in his bed in the middle of the night!”