A Doctor for Keeps Read online

  The payback reasoning was one way to look at it, but he still worried about his son falling too hard for the lovely piano teacher with great legs.

  “I’ll let him know and send him over when I leave. Thanks.”

  On his way out the door, thinking about those lovely long legs of Desi’s, it occurred to him he should be more concerned about himself, not Steven, falling for her.

  Chapter Eight

  Kent pulled to the curb just before ten-thirty. In the otherwise dark neighborhood, a few lights were on inside his house, and the anticipation of seeing Desi rushed his pulse. He’d been looking forward to coming home ever since the nine-o’clock lull, when he’d finally had time to think about something other than medicine and sick patients.

  He sat an extra few seconds in his car, giving himself a stern talking-to. Don’t make more out of this than it is. Desi was only doing Steven a favor because she liked him so much. Whatever you do, don’t make a fool of yourself by kissing her again.

  He got out of the car and headed for the front door. Before he could push his key into the lock, it swung open. “Hey,” he said, seeing Desi and trying his best to sound nonchalant.

  “Hi! I saw you pull up.” Desi turned, heading past the living room toward the kitchen. He’d left the extra house key with Gerda and Desi before he’d left for work.

  Desi wore her hair in a high swaying ponytail, and it took only a nanosecond to notice she’d worn his favorite jeans, the ones with little rhinestones in the shape of hearts over each back pocket. A soft-looking loose yellow sweater that slipped off one shoulder—the one she’d worn the first night he’d seen her—rounded out the comfortable but sexy look. She’d kicked off her shoes and those bright red toenails nearly twinkled in the dim light.

  She’d made herself at home. Excellent.

  Damn, he’d forgotten how great it felt to come home to somebody besides Steven.

  “I put Steven to bed at eight-thirty, on the dot.” She pointed to her wristwatch with a peach-colored nail.

  He put his briefcase on the entry table, reminding himself it wouldn’t be appropriate to hug her hello. “Thanks. You saved my life tonight. Don’t think my kid would’ve enjoyed another night in the doctors’ lounge watching Sunday-night baseball. And he’d never let me hear the end of it.”

  “Has that really happened?”

  “A couple of times. Sometimes you gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”

  “Then I’m especially glad I could help.” Desi’s eyes sparkled in the hallway light as she walked backward toward the kitchen wearing her signature playful grin. “I baked some cookies. Steven helped. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “They smell great. How many did Steven put away?”

  She wrinkled her nose, and now that they were in the bright light of the kitchen, he got close enough to notice those cute tiny freckles across the bridge again. “Half a dozen?”

  Kent laughed and shook his head. “And he went to bed without bouncing off the walls?”

  She shrugged her shoulders imperceptibly. “Well…he did get up a couple times, but I had him back in bed for good by nine. I hope you don’t mind. I’ve never been in charge of an eight-year-old before.”

  Kent picked up an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and took a bite. “Man, these are great. No wonder he ate half a dozen.”

  Desi turned to the kitchen counter and finished drying the baking items in the dish rack, affording Kent the chance to take in her gorgeous backside again without her noticing. The bling on those pockets, and especially what was beneath, nearly made him drool. He took another cookie and popped it whole into his mouth. The woman could bake, too.

  “So how did your night go?” she asked.

  How long had it been since he’d been asked that when he’d gotten home? He and Amanda had a total business relationship, very little chitchat. The college student took day classes and needed extra funds, and he desperately needed someone to watch his son after school during the year and summer day camp, five nights a week. That was the extent of their association.

  He swallowed the cookie. “Busy but manageable. How about yours?”

  “Amusing. He whipped me at Go Fish, and don’t even get me started on his computer games. I think he took pity and let me win once. Have I mentioned what a kick I get out of Steven?”

  Kent smiled, grateful that his son and the new lady in town had seemed to click from the start. “He is a great kid.”

  Evidently Desi liked something about his smile because she stared at him, her eyes lingering on his lips. The cookie was great, but he suddenly wanted to taste her, and watching her in his kitchen, acting all domestic, heated up his insides.

  Man, oh, man, he couldn’t ignore that wide-eyed and welcoming gaze another instant, because those twinkly dark eyes looked as inviting as the semisweet melted chips in the cookies. The question was, what was he going to do about it?

  Sure, she was here in Heartlandia only temporarily. Also true, his wife had left him—a crushing blow to his manhood—making him feel more vulnerable where women were concerned than he’d felt in his entire life. The big question was, how did A relate to B?

  And what was he going to do about it?

  It was hard to think logically with a beautiful, receptive woman such as Desi within reach.

  She stood in his kitchen looking superfine with an easygoing expression that practically said, Well, are you going to kiss me or what?

  What would Gunnar do?

  Hands down, he’d go for it.

  Kent might be completely out of practice when it came to kissing, but this moment screamed out to be seized, like the other night when he’d kissed her, and he couldn’t let this second chance slip away.

  Kent put the uneaten portion of his third cookie on the counter and stepped forward. By the lift of her brows, he could tell she suspected what he had in mind. Hell, she’d probably been reading his mind the whole time.

  He took Desi by the shoulders, studied her warm and inviting eyes, already getting lost with desire, then planted a quick test kiss smack on her mouth. Probably too abrupt, he chastised himself. What the hell—he wasn’t exactly Johnny Depp. Damn, the kiss was great, though, all warm and soft, and the sensations from her lips touching his slowed him down. He inhaled through his nose. In a kitchen filled with fresh-baked cookies, he zeroed in on the fragrance of Polynesian flowers with a hint of apricot that permeated her hair.

  She didn’t pull away. So far, so good.

  He kissed her again.

  The first thing to strike him was how soft and full her lips were and how freaking fantastic it was to kiss her. It may have been a little rocky at first, but once they reached their common ground, her soft, persistent kiss nearly melted his belt buckle. As forgotten sensations jetted below his waist, his arms encircled her, and they fit together perfectly. She stretched her fingers around his neck and pulled him closer. Now they were getting somewhere. He deepened the kiss, tasting her sweetness, her tongue testing his.

  She was tall and he didn’t have to hunch over to kiss her, which was a good thing, and she draped her arms over his shoulders. He also liked that she let him kiss as if he meant it, no matter how rusty he might be. She kissed smooth and natural as breathing, and he followed her guidance, relaxing into the rhythm of making out with her.

  Maybe now would be a good time to find and explore those pretty little shiny hearts on each of her cheeks.

  He swept his hold downward, skimming over her ribs and waist, admiring the round swells of her plentiful hips, pulling her tight to him. The friction ignited his firewall that carefully guarded his control.

  He hadn’t wanted a woman like this since long before Diana had left. All the wonder of love and sex seemed to have run its course those last couple of years. Diana had made him feel like a total failure as she withdrew more and more until she’d left. After she’d gone, the subject of making love had been so devastating he couldn’t go there. With anyone.

  Until now. With
Desi.

  Heat rolled from his lips in combustible waves all the way down to his toes. He definitely wanted more of this. With her.

  “I still owe you that midnight dinner,” he said over her mouth.

  “I’d like that. Anytime.”

  Feeling the heat of her body next to his, her warm breath over his chin, his mind went blank for more conversation and he went back to kissing.

  Kissing Desi ushered in an overpowering desire to have what a man was meant to share with his woman. Sex. This time, from the way Desi responded to every kiss and touch, it would be with someone new, not Diana, but if he was reading her signals right, it would be with a woman who wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  Brakes skidded into gear in his brain, nearly yanking Kent away from another amazing kiss. Did he really want to go there? But he fought off the doubt. Not now. It wasn’t as if he was falling in love or anything.

  Love meant trusting, and he knew well where trusting a woman led—down a deep hole of pain and regret. But this tornado rolling through his body wasn’t love; it was lust, pure and simple, and sex meant only sex. Right?

  Desi must have sensed his hesitation. She sighed over his lips, snuggled her breasts a little tighter against his chest. His hands gripped her bottom as if hanging on for dear life. Do not let this moment slip by.

  He hungered for her mouth and body as he dragged his lips along her throat to the quickly beating pulse in her neck. She whimpered a welcoming response.

  A guttural sound slipped out of his mouth as his damn brain broke through the firewall again and drew him away from her neck and the shoulder he’d wanted to sample next. He inhaled her scent again then looked into her eyes, seeing concern, but above all confusion.

  “Is something wrong?”

  He could barely focus on her words for wanting her so much. Need sparked through his body and desire overpowered everything else. He gritted his teeth and inhaled long and hard.

  “Is this because of your ex-wife?”

  He held on tight, not wanting her to slip from his hold, and silently cussed at the ceiling. No. He shook his head. He’d quit missing his wife half a year ago. But starting up with someone new rattled the hell out of him.

  Grow a pair, Larson!

  “You’ll be leaving at some point, too,” he said, choosing the honesty is the best policy route.

  Desi went up on her tiptoes to capture his lips for a few more seconds of bliss. She pulled back and played with the collar of his shirt. Her thick-lashed lids fluttered up and down. “That may be true, but I’m not running away tonight.”

  He’d never had a fling. He was the guy who went steady all his life and married the girl right out of college. This was completely out of his realm of understanding, except his body was sending an entirely different message than his overactive and protective brain.

  WWGD? What would Gunnar do? Go for it, idiot! You’re allowed to have sex with a beautiful and willing partner.

  Kent pulled her back to his chest, his mouth seeking the fine skin of her cheeks and ears, inhaling the fresh tropical-and-apricot scent in her hair again. His wandering hands couldn’t feel her everywhere fast enough. He pressed his erection against her waist, sending a shock of lust all the way to his spine. She moaned and moved closer against him.

  When he looked into her eyes, he saw all the want, heat and need he felt mirrored there, and the decision was made. “Let’s go. That is, if you want—”

  “Definitely.” Desi smiled, taking his hand, and, now that he’d gotten her consent, they practically jogged toward his bedroom. Before they hit the stairs, she tugged back, stopping him. “What’s wrong with the couch?”

  Maybe she worried about Steven’s bedroom being so close upstairs? She couldn’t possibly know the boy was a notoriously sound sleeper.

  “Great.” Giving thanks for the Victorian-style house with the French doors closing off the living room, he instantly changed course. Why waste another moment away from her body?

  Her sweater slipped easily over her shoulders and through the matching yellow bra he could make out her nipples. He swallowed in deep appreciation, parched from wanting her so damn much. He couldn’t yank off his shirt fast enough. There was longing in her eyes when she stared at his bare chest, her tongue wetting her bottom lip.

  Within seconds they’d peeled off the rest of their clothes and hit the cushions in a heated skin-to-skin tangle. Her soft curves and his tight angles came together in a rush of desire so strong they practically bumped heads and knees, but nothing would stop them from their mission. She’d landed on top and he caressed and sampled her lush breasts, savoring their weight and feel, teasing the velvety dark tips with his tongue until they peaked even tighter.

  She was beyond beautiful, the kitchen light silhouetting her body like solar flares. A tropical-scented goddess. Her hands were as eager as his and they explored his chest and stomach, and the building sensations beneath her fingers begged for more of her touches. More. And more.

  His erection stood tall, fully engorged, pulsing at her center. She straddled his waist and he found her entrance with his fingers, coaxing her open, amazed at how ready she felt for him. His hands were on each side of her hips, on the verge of lifting her high enough to take him inside, when his brain called out for sanity.

  “Condom. Damn it.” Did he even have them anymore?

  Desi wrapped her hand around him and squeezed gently. Sparklers went off behind his lids. “Hurry back.”

  He’d find one of those suckers if he had to dig through a trash can.

  He moved her aside and stood. “Do. Not. Move.” With one last wet kiss, he left her grinning behind closed doors. She was naked on the couch, her hair wild, making her look like an astral queen. He could imagine the senior Life Art class busting at the seams with students when word got out she’d posed for them, and he laughed inwardly as he threw on his slacks and headed for the second floor.

  His good fortune at meeting her, having her waiting for him, propelled him up the stairs to his medicine cabinet. Nada. Damn it all to hell. Just his luck to have the most exotically beautiful woman he’d ever seen waiting and…

  Hold on! His briefcase. He always kept samples of medicine from the drug companies on hand to give to patients who couldn’t afford to pay for prescriptions. He also kept a batch of condoms to give out for the same reason. Tiptoeing past Steven’s room just in case the cookies messed with his usual sleeping pattern, he rushed back down the stairs. He made a beeline for his briefcase and, thanking the aligning stars in heaven, found a few stragglers. He chose a neon yellow one, thinking about her discarded sweater and bra. The wrapper said “extra lubrication.” From the way she’d felt, it wasn’t necessary, but on second thought he grabbed a handful.

  Practically growling from desire zinging through him, he found her right where he’d left her. Dropping his pants and quickly stepping out, he held her face in his palms and kissed her soundly. She tasted silky and sweet, delicious like those cookies. Her body melded to his, warming him through and through. Hot humming pulsated inside every cell in his body as he kissed his way down to her waist. He inhaled her woman scent and kissed her between her soft folds, enjoying her special taste as she writhed beneath his touch. Her throaty response made him wild with the need to satisfy her. He glanced up. She muffled the escalating moans by biting her lip and turning her head into the couch cushion until she came, her fingers digging into his scalp as she did.

  Good thing a cruise ship could blast the horn for an hour yet never disturb the super-sound-sleeper Steven.

  Kent couldn’t stand another second without being buried inside her, and from the way she pawed at him, pulling and dragging him over her, she needed him, too. Her hands guided him to her entrance, then straight on to heaven on earth. She was tight and warm and slick and…

  He couldn’t think anymore. Every pent-up feeling he’d stockpiled over the past year fought to break free. All that existed was the feel of her, the dive
and roll of their bodies and the building feral sensations. Single-minded in his quest, he thrust and pulled back, again and again, faster and faster, sensations building toward atomic fusion. Time disappeared. It was just them. Their bodies.

  Crying out, she spasmed around him as the rhythmic, tightening aftershocks launched him on toward bliss. And he was gone.

  But he kept thrusting with a guttural groan, their bodies tight, nuclear hot and wet against each other, and she came again, sweetening the final throes of the most amazing orgasm he’d ever had.

  * * *

  Desi couldn’t believe what had just happened. The man who never wanted her near his son had just gifted her with a triple-header! Her body, still wide-awake to Kent’s every touch, still pulsing with leftover sensations, had never felt more alive. She dug her fingers into her hair and stretched like a cat, savoring the feel. He sat and smiled down at her.

  Even from this angle he was gorgeous. His wide smile stretched nearly from ear to ear, and those smoldering I just did you good eyes stoked a new round of tingles. He was a complete package of near perfection with broad shoulders, developed pecs dusted in light hair, muscular arms and abs that belonged on a magazine cover. How had she gotten so lucky?

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She inhaled through her nose, taking her time to respond. “I’ve never been better. You?”

  He sputtered a laugh. “Damn, woman, you’re hot.” He cupped her hip and patted.

  She went up on her elbows so she could reach his lips and gave him a peck. “Thank you.”

  They kissed as if they hadn’t seen each other in months, eager to lock lips again and get lost in each other. His hands worked wonders on her skin, conjuring gooseflesh everywhere he touched. Her tightening nipples sent fleeting messages to her core, still simmering from sex. Be on the ready.

  She could get lost in Kent, again and again.

  He stretched out beside her, wrapping one arm around her waist, his thighs flush to her side. She sampled his glorious firm glutes. The man truly had to be a descendant of Vikings.