She tempted him, made him want things he never thought he’d ever want again.
And that was the temptation of Emma.
Boomer barked, and Emma took a step back.
“Come here, Annie.” She crouched down and the pup came running. She scooped her up in her arms.
“She’s growing fast.”
“I know,” she said with a laugh. “Soon I won’t be able to hold her. Which is why I’m doing it now. She may grow fast, but she’ll be a baby for a while.”
He grasped Annie under her chin and stared into her dark eyes. “She’s a cutie.”
“I wasn’t intending on adopting another dog, not right now, anyway. I just started the new practice, and that’s keeping me plenty busy.”
“It’s like having kids. I don’t think there’s ever a perfect time for that, either.”
She laughed. “I guess not. Annie just showed up, and when no one adopted her, what was I supposed to do? Take her to the shelter? I was afraid no one would take her, and she’d bonded with Daisy, so she became part of the family.”
“Admit it. You’re a softy. Just hope you don’t adopt every stray that shows up at your clinic.”
“My house isn’t big enough for that.”
They continued walking. “You might have to get a bigger house.”
“Or better resolve. I’m not one to let animals go unclaimed. If I hadn’t been living in an apartment when I was working at the clinic in South Carolina, I’d likely have brought a few dogs and cats along with me when I came back home. Someone was always dropping off an animal they’d found.”
“There are shelters for that.”
“True. But people often take animals they find to their veterinarian because they figure the vet’s office will feed them, give them their shots, and do a better job of finding a home for them. If we have the space, we’ll give them a few days and put up a sign, hoping someone will adopt the animal. But if no one wants them, we have to take them to the shelter.”
“Then hope for the best.”
She nodded, her expression pained. “Yes.”
They made it back to the house. The dogs bounded up the stairs, even Annie, though she was a little slower than the other two.
“I’ll take you upstairs so you can stow your gear.”
She grabbed her bag and followed him up the stairs.
“There are two bedrooms up here. One bathroom.”
He was giving her the choice. He wouldn’t push her. Even though they’d been together once, he would never assume.
“Which one’s your room?” she asked.
“I usually stay in this one.” He inclined his head to the right.
She pondered for a few seconds. “Okay if I stay with you?”
He felt the jolt of awareness all the way down to his balls and let her know by giving her a heated smile. “Very okay.”
He led her into the bedroom where they dropped their bags and unpacked. After that, they went downstairs.
“You ready to head to the store and stock up for the weekend?”
“Sure. Do you want to make a list first?”
He leaned a hip against the counter and studied her. “So you’re a list maker, huh?”
She cocked a brow. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I’m more of a shop-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of guy.”
“You forget important things that way.” She went over and looked into the fridge, then grabbed the pad of paper and pen on the counter and started writing. “Like ketchup, mustard, and mayo. We’ll also need hamburger and hot dogs.”
She looked up at him. “I assume hamburger and hot dogs are okay? And how about some lunchmeat? What’s your favorite?”
He laughed. “You’re doing fine, and I’m not a picky eater. You throw it in front of me, and I’ll eat it.”
“Thank God. Me, too. Picky eaters annoy the crap out of me.”
“Me, too.”
“Chips. What kind of—oh, never mind. I’ll just put the general items on the list. We’ll figure out specifics when we get to the store.”
“Beer.”
She looked up at him, then smiled. “Definitely beer. And pop.”
Luke drove them to a grocery store in Grove, even though it took a while to get there.
“We’ll have a bigger selection this way. If we stayed in the lake area, all you’re going to get is mostly convenience stores.”
“This’ll work fine.” She grabbed a cart and her list, and in a very efficient manner went up and down the aisles, grabbing what they needed and moving on.
She was a fast shopper, didn’t dawdle, and stayed on list. That is, until they got to the bakery, where she pondered the cupcakes.
“These look good. If I’d had more time, I’d have made some myself.”
“You bake?”
She cast him a look. “Yes, I bake. When there’s time. I love to cook.”
“I’m going to keep that in mind and make you show me your skills.”
“You’re on.”
They finished a lot faster than he thought they would. He’d been grocery shopping with women before. Becca used to dawdle, read labels, randomly pick up stuff that wasn’t on her list. It would take hours to finish grocery shopping. It used to drive him crazy.
He and Emma were out of the store in twenty minutes.
As they finished loading the groceries in the truck, he turned to her. “I could kiss you right now.”
Her eyes widened. “Why?”
“Because you made this so much more bearable than I thought it would be.”
She laughed. “You have some shopping nightmares you’d like to share?”
“No. It’s bad enough I endured them. The last thing I want to do is relive them.”
“You poor baby. Traumatized in the produce aisle.”
He grimaced, remembering how Becca would stare at tomatoes for what seemed like hours. To him, a tomato was a tomato. “You have no idea.”
“I’m going to have to make you a drink tonight and probe this past horror out of you.”
He walked over to his side of the truck. “You can try.”
“Oh, but I am going to ask you to stop at the liquor store next. And I intend to buy whiskey.”
As they climbed into the truck and he started it up, he looked over at her and grinned. “Whiskey, huh? I like the sound of that.”
“Thought you might.”
He stopped at the liquor store, and true to her word, Emma came out with a bottle of Jack Daniels.
“A woman after my heart.”
“Hey, go get your own bottle. This one’s mine.”
“You wouldn’t share?”
She stared down at the bottle. “Well, it is a pretty big bottle. So . . . maybe. It depends on whether I can pry any secrets out of you with whiskey.”
He laughed as he pulled out onto the main road. “Darlin’, I’m a big keeper of secrets. Not much for revealing any.”
“Too bad. This is really good whiskey.”
The more time he spent with Emma, the more he liked her.
Every time he was with her, he drew one step closer to her. And protecting his heart lost the battle a little more.
He didn’t want a relationship, but damned if he didn’t feel like he was smack in the middle of one with Emma. Out of control and going down for the count.
He wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not.
Chapter 17
BY THE TIME they got back from the store it was getting late, so they unpacked groceries, let the dogs out for a short run, then came back in and fixed sandwiches and chips for dinner.
Emma couldn’t recall having a more relaxed night. Luke was fun, had a great sense of humor, and she no longer felt skittish or uncomfortable.
He knew all her secrets, hadn’t run, hadn’t judged her, and for some reason he liked being around her. He didn’t tell her what to do, and he seemed to enjoy her independence.