The Doctor Wears A Stetson (Contemporary Western Romance) (9 page)

Jessie's green eyes widened with delight.
"You trust me with your Jag?"

"Sure, I trust you." He tossed her the keys
and she caught them to her chest, the movement pushing her breasts
against the plush fabric of her sweater. Cameron swallowed hard.
Quickly, he walked to the driver's side and opened the door. "I
trusted you to repair the fan belt, didn't I? And since you're
intimately acquainted with the engine, you deserve the chance to
drive the car."

"You're never going to let me live that
down, are you?"

"Not in this lifetime."

Jessie's eyes crinkled with humor. She
climbed in the driver's seat and closed the door.

Cameron slid in on the passenger side and
buckled his seat belt. Her impish expression made her look about
fifteen again. He felt the old familiar tug toward her combined
with something dangerously new.

She hesitated a moment, then inserted the
key and the motor roared to life. Jessie let out a sigh of
contentment. Throwing a mischievous look his way, she floored the
gas pedal and the car zoomed onto the gray pavement heading out of
town.

"Better slow down," Cameron said. "You don't
want to get a ticket."

"This car wasn't made to go slow." She
revved the engine and shot past the city limits.

"I never figured you for a speed demon." He
flipped a switch on the console and the roof of the Jaguar folded
back. A clear blue West Texas sky appeared above their heads.

Jessie laughed and leaned back against the
headrest. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

"I'd like the chance to find out." Cameron
watched her in fascination. Her laughter stoked a fire deep within.
He had an almost uncontrollable urge to trail kisses along her neck
and down her collarbone. When she turned to look at him, inviting
him to share her joy, he planted a quick kiss on her smiling lips,
pulling away before she had time to respond.

"Cameron!" The car jerked slightly to the
right. Immediately, Jessie corrected the angle of the wheels,
keeping her concentration on the road.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." He realized he was
having a good time and really enjoying himself. No feeling of
restlessness, only the pleasant hum of anticipation.

Jessie shook her head, trying to frown, but
couldn't. Her hair whipped across her face and her eyes danced with
pleasure.

Before long, the roadside park came into
view. She pulled up beside the awning-covered tables and handed the
keys to Cameron. "Thank you. It was everything I dreamed it would
be and more."

Cameron crammed the keys into his pocket,
then snagged the picnic basket from the floorboard. Jessie's husky
voice, the words she'd spoken, sparked erotic images in his
overheated brain. Silently, he counted to ten.
Slow down,
McCade
.

Setting the basket on one of the concrete
tables, he walked toward the lookout point, where Jessie stood
gazing at the view. The park was located on the edge of a deep
rocky gorge stretching and twisting as far as the eye could see.
Striations of red rock and white gypsum contrasted with the green
of mesquite trees and sagebrush. The Double Mountains stood on the
horizon, majestic in their height and splendor.

Jessie sighed and held out her hand to
Cameron. He hesitated. The gesture invited an intimacy, a closeness
he had avoided all his life. He took hold of it gingerly.

She squeezed his hand. "Isn't it
beautiful?"

"Breathtaking," he said, staring at Jessie's
profile, admiring the perfection of her features.

Glancing at him, she blushed and tried to
remove her hand from his grasp, but he wouldn't let her.

"I meant the gorge and the mountains," she
said.

"I'd rather look at you." He lifted her
fingers to his lips and kissed each one in turn. Her breath hitched
and his body tightened.

She allowed him to finish, before pulling
her hands away, dropping them to her sides and knotting them into
fists. Clearing her throat, she turned and walked to the picnic
table. "What did your mother pack for us? I'm starved." Her voice
trembled slightly.

Cameron followed and stood behind her, close
enough to feel the heat from her body.

Something about Jessie drew him like a
magnet. He didn't want to analyze it; he just wanted to enjoy it.
Inhaling her fresh clean fragrance, he touched his lips to her
hair. "There's fried chicken, fresh biscuits, and a thermos of hot
coffee," he said softly in her ear.

Jessie jerked away and retreated to the
other side of the table and lifted her chin. "Look, Cameron. This
might be your idea of taking it slow and easy, but it sure isn't
mine. Maybe you don't have a problem going to bed with me, knowing
we won't be seeing each other again, but I can't do it."

She stood across the table from him, her
eyes asking questions he was unable to answer. He knew he felt
different about Jessie, but he wasn't ready to explore those
differences right now. Seeing her again was having a weird effect
on him. The years seemed to have melted away, making him behave
like an eighteen-year-old with raging hormones. Ever since he'd
pulled into her service station the other night, he'd been acting
on raw feelings and impulses.

Definitely not his style. He needed to think
things through. Not only about Jessie and what he was feeling for
her, but also about what he was going to do about the promotion and
his future.

"Jess, I'm sorry--"

"You better take me back to the garage," she
said.

"What about the clinic? You said you'd give
me a tour. I'd really like to see it."

Jessie stood beside the picnic table,
indecision warring inside. She suddenly realized the only thing
Cameron felt for her was plain old lust. She'd been fantasizing
about forever after, a happy ending to her Cinderella fairy-tale
night at the prom, and all he wanted was sex.

So much for old dreams, she thought with a
sigh. But he could help make one of her new dreams come true--the
Salt Fork Medical Clinic.

She'd never planned anything in so much
detail as she had in making the clinic in Salt Fork a reality.
There had always been setbacks in most of her plans in the past.
She'd been walking on eggshells every step of the way in her
attempt to get this clinic up and running.

She stared at Cameron across the table.
Could she ignore her attraction for him in order to pick his brains
about what was needed for a rural medical clinic?

If she wanted to move on with her life, she
really had no choice.

"Jess, I'm sorry I've been coming on too
strong," he said. As always, his deep voice oozed over her, turning
her bones to jelly. "Let's start over. Can you forgive me and share
this picnic with me? Then, I want to see your clinic. You said you
needed my advice about it."

That certainly was true, she thought.

"And I promise to keep my hands to
myself."

Jessie sighed, and then nodded slowly.
Lifting a leg over the bench, she sat at the concrete table. "All
right. We'll start over."

"Okay, then." Cameron removed his Stetson,
set it on the table and took a seat across from her. He filled a
paper plate with a crispy chicken leg and golden biscuit and handed
it to her. Then he poured a steaming cup of coffee from the thermos
and set it in front of her.

Jessie bit into the piece of chicken, not
really tasting it. Her appetite was gone again. Keeping her head
down, she covertly watched Cameron fill a plate for himself. He
broke a biscuit in two, popping half into his mouth, chewing
slowly, gazing intently at her.

Why did he have to be so handsome? Why was
she so attracted to him? Why was her life always so complicated?
She didn't need this kind of complication right now. She was
hanging on by a thread financially. She certainly didn't need to be
hanging emotionally, too.

"Mom told me you're having money
troubles."

Jessie swallowed wrong and nearly
choked.

"Are you okay?" Cameron asked, a look of
concern crossing his face. He shoved her cup closer. "Here, take a
drink."

She sipped the coffee and scorched her
tongue. Damn, she needed to get her act together. Taking three deep
breaths, Jessie looked at Cameron. "Ruth told you I was having
money troubles?"

He shrugged and popped the other half of his
biscuit into his mouth. "She's worried about you. So is
Dallas."

Jessie took another sip of coffee,
cautiously this time. "I just
bet
Dallas is worried about
me."

"Why do you say that?"

"He hasn't told you?"

Cameron selected another piece of chicken
from the picnic basket. "He said you've leased the mineral rights
on the Devine place, and that you own a large portion of the
mineral rights on the Diamondback Ranch. He's afraid you'll lease
them to Copper River Oil Company."

"Did he also tell you that I promised I
wouldn't, unless absolutely necessary?" She bit into one of Ruth's
homemade biscuits and even though it melted in her mouth, she
couldn't enjoy it because her stomach was twisted into knots.

"That's what they're afraid of. If you're so
short on cash, you might be forced to lease them."

Jessie took a sip of coffee. What could she
say? That was exactly her predicament, and her options were fast
running out.

"Jess, you aren't going to lease them, are
you?"

Once again, Cameron's smooth voice washed
over her, causing tingles along her nerve endings. Why couldn't
things be different? Why did she always feel guilty and
regretful?

"Jess?"

She took a deep breath. "Ruth's right. If I
don't come up with some money, I could lose my garage. I can't let
that happen."

"Why don't you sell the mineral rights to
Dallas?"

Jessie grabbed a napkin and concentrated on
wiping her fingers. "I promised TR I would never sell them."
Especially to the McCades, but she couldn't say that.

"Why not? Dallas would pay good money. He
doesn't want anyone drilling on the ranch, Jess."

She crushed the napkin in her hand. "I can't
sell them. I promised."

"You're stubborn, aren't you?"

Jessie shrugged a shoulder. "A promise is a
promise, Cameron. I always keep my promises."

He narrowed his eyes. "You promised my mom
you wouldn't lease those rights. Looks like you're going to break
that promise."

Jessie swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Yes, and it's killing me, all right? I can't lose my dad's garage.
I need that money."

"So, you've already signed the papers?"

Could she feel any more miserable? Heaving a
sigh, Jessie nodded. "Everything's in place. One phone call, and
it's a done deal. I don't want to make that call, but I can't see
my way out of this money mess without leasing those mineral
rights."

"Have you told my mother?"

"No, not yet. I'll give her fair warning and
tell her before it actually goes into effect. Please don't tell
Ruth or Dallas any of this. I want to tell them myself. Who knows?
Maybe something will turn up, and I won't have to make that phone
call."

"That's not likely, though."

Her stomach cratered. "No. I've pretty well
used up all my resources."

Cameron continued eating, his eyes focused
on her.

What was he thinking? Was he angry with her?
All of the McCades, even Cameron, loved the Diamondback Ranch. It
was in their blood. Just like Kincaid's Garage was in hers.

Jessie pushed her plate away.

"Not hungry?" Cameron asked.

She shook her head.

"How about the cake?"

"No, thanks. But you go ahead."

"We'll save it for later. Let's clean up
here, and then you can show me the clinic."

"You still want to see it?"

He gathered the paper plates and food,
throwing everything into the basket. "Yeah, why not?"

"I thought . . . never mind."

Jessie screwed the top onto the thermos and
handed it to him. The fleeting touch of his fingers reignited the
undeniable awareness between them. She quickly relinquished her
hold.

Cameron stood, picked up the basket and
waited for her. With a heavy heart, Jessie rose from the table.
Damn, she hated having to break her promise to Ruth. It made her
sick thinking about it.

"Jess?"

She shook away the morose thoughts and
looked up. Cameron stood very close and the look in his eyes made
her breath hitch in her lungs. He touched her cheek gently, tracing
her jaw line.

All of a sudden, he froze and dropped his
hand, then cleared his throat. "I know you have to do whatever it
takes to save your father's garage. Don't worry about Dallas and
Mom. They'll eventually come around. Things will work out. They
always do, one way or another."

Jessie swallowed back the tears threatening
to spill. "Thanks, Cameron."

He grabbed his Stetson and jammed it on his
head. "Hey, what are old friends for? Now, let's go see this clinic
of yours."

Cameron followed Jessie into the new metal
building across the street from the high school. The sign out front
read
Salt Fork Medical Center.
As soon as he stepped foot
inside the door, he had a strange feeling of
this is it
.
Calmness settled over him, the likes of which he'd never
experienced in his entire life.

Maybe he'd wake up and find himself in his
bed in Houston, all of this just a pleasant dream.

"Well, what do you think?" Jessie stood near
the reception window, a nervous look in her eye. "I tried to choose
colors that were restful and reassuring. When people come in sick
and feeling out of sorts, I thought the soft green and cream colors
would comfort them."

Cameron nodded. Maybe that was it. Maybe it
was the color scheme making him feel calm and relaxed. "Works for
me."