One Night in Weaver...

The process would take a minimum of five minutes if she didn’t stop to shoot the breeze with anyone along the way.

Seth sat there slouched in his truck seat watching the house. Porch lights came on up and down the street as darkness fell and his butt turned numb.

And finally, a little more than three hours later, the front door of the safe house opened again and Hayley appeared on the porch. Accompanied by the lady of the house, she stood there for a moment, smiling and holding a foil-wrapped package in her hand, before returning to her car with a casual wave of her hand.

She definitely had the routine down. Anyone taking the time to watch would have seen only one friend stopping to visit another.

Exhaling, and not particularly anxious to examine the reasons why he was relieved she was out of there, Seth straightened in his seat, started up his ancient truck and drove home to the microwave in his apartment.

* * *

“You’ve got a visitor.”

Hayley looked up from her case notes to see her office manager, Gretchen, standing in the doorway. “Who?”

Gretchen grinned and her eyebrows practically wiggled. “A man.”

“Nearly half my practice is made up of men,” Hayley replied. But she closed the file folder, slid it into her desk drawer and stood up. She had an hour before her next appointment, which Gretchen—who did her office scheduling—knew very well. So Hayley walked with her to the outer reception area.

The sight of Seth standing there made her breath catch in her chest. She was vaguely aware of Gretchen retreating to her desk behind the reception counter. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” He was dressed in another black work T-shirt and blue jeans. Common clothes, yet the man wearing them didn’t seem common at all.

“Even I get a lunch break.” He held up a large brown paper bag. “Think the doctor does, too.” He smiled faintly. “At least that’s what I heard from a reliable source.”

Hayley looked toward Gretchen. Her office manager was looking down, but she caught the satisfied smile on her face. It seemed Gretchen shared Vivian’s opinion that Hayley needed a man.

She looked back at Seth and nodded toward the brown bag. “And that’s lunch, I’m assuming. You’re obviously well-prepared.”

His smile was lazy. “I try to be. Dinner didn’t work out last night, but today’s a new day. What do you say?” He wagged the bag slightly. “Sandwiches are still warm from Ruby’s. Sun’s shining and that new park is only five minutes away.”

She mockingly narrowed her eyes. “You’re trying to tempt me, aren’t you?”

“Is it working?”

“I feel that if I admit it is, you’ll take advantage of that.”

“Scout’s honor, I do have taking advantage in mind.”

Her breath caught a little all over again. Because he was tempting her. Even more, he was charming her. Yes, she was attracted to him. But she’d never expected the oddly sweet smile lighting his bright blue eyes. And for once, she forgot all about being nervous around him. “Were you ever a Boy Scout?”

“No ma’am. I was an army ranger. Surrender is not a Ranger word.” He wagged the bag again. “Turkey pastrami on rye. Won’t stay warm forever.”

Her mouth watered and she wasn’t entirely certain whether it was because of the promise of one of her favorite sandwiches from Ruby’s, or because of Seth. “I suppose Gretchen told you I like turkey pastrami.”

“I’ve seen you buy it at Shop-World.” He shook his head dolefully. “Don’t figure it can hold a candle to the real deal, but I’ve never seen you buy beef.”

“You’ve noticed what I buy at the grocery store?” Hadn’t she done the same where he was concerned?

“I’m an observant guy.”

“Stop yammering, Dr. Templeton. If you don’t go have lunch with him, I will,” Gretchen warned. “And since my oldest boy is about his age, I’m sure your young man would be thrilled.”

Seth just smiled slightly and unfolded the top of the brown bag so that the scent inside escaped even more.

Hayley tossed up her hands as if she hadn’t decided she would go with him the very moment he suggested it. “I have to be back here by two.”

He folded up the top of the bag again. “That’s a mission I can handle. Promise.”

She chewed back the giddy smile that kept wanting to break free. “Let me just get my purse.” She turned, hurried back to her office and grabbed her briefcase. She glanced at the decorative mirror on her office wall and barely stopped herself from fussing with her appearance.

She’d passed out pretty much at his feet the night she’d gone home with him. It was safe to say he’d seen her at her worst, and she was dressed the same way she always was when she came to the office. Ponytail. Suit.

Still, she pinched the apples of her cheeks to rosy them up before she returned to the reception area. When she got there, he had his elbows propped on the high counter and was talking with Gretchen. Hayley barely had enough time to drag her eyes away from the perfect fit of denim over his perfect rear when he straightened and turned toward her.

And judging by the amusement in his eyes, she wasn’t sure she’d been fast enough.

“Ready?”

She swallowed, trying not to examine too closely the feelings swirling around inside her. Because sometimes a woman had to follow her instincts and just go with the moment.

“I’m ready,” she answered. Was she ever.

Chapter Four

The name of the new park was, indeed, Willow Park. Obviously in honor of the stand of young willow trees planted on one side. There were also a couple stands of cottonwoods and a lot of grass that hadn’t yet filled in.

“You’re right when you said we wouldn’t run into anyone here,” Hayley observed as Seth opened her door after parking in the small parking lot and walking around the car. “There isn’t another vehicle here.”

“Give it time.” He took the bag, which she’d held on her lap during the short drive, and gestured at the buildings under construction across the street. She could hear an occasional whir of power tools and hammers. “When those houses are finished and people start moving in, the place’ll probably be crawling with kids.”

She smiled and followed him to the winding sidewalk that led from the parking lot, past the sandy playground, to one of the picnic tables positioned under the ramada. The weather was still cool and she was glad for her suit jacket against the breeze that was strong enough to make the swing set chains jangle musically. “Judging by your tone, I’m guessing you don’t have any. Kids, that is.”

“No. No kids. No exes down in Texas.” He glanced at her and gestured for her to sit. “Or anywhere else for that matter. I’d pull out the bench for you but it’s attached to the table.”

She couldn’t lift her foot over the bench to sit without hitching her skirt up her thighs, so she sat first and then rotated, swinging both her legs over the bench till she was facing the table. Then she felt like a ninny when she caught his grin as he took the bench across from her. “What?”

“Never appreciated quite this much what a straight skirt did for a pretty girl.” He set the bag on the table between them.

Warmth filled her cheeks, which needed no help from pinching this time. She quickly pulled open the paper sack to extract the contents. Not only were there two wrapped sandwiches that were still slightly warm, but also an insulated container of coleslaw, two bottles of water, two brownies and a ridiculous quantity of paper napkins.

She held them up in her hand. “Emptied the dispenser, did you?”

“I’ve seen how dangerous you are when it comes to water.”

“Don’t remind me.” She unfolded one of the napkins and set the sandwiched marked “TP” on it. “That night at Colbys was definitely not one of my finer moments.” She didn’t particularly want to talk about it, either, but pretending it hadn’t happened was pointless. “Is that where you’re from? Texas?”

He didn’t bother using a napkin as a placemat the way she did. Just unfolded the foil-backed paper from his sandwich and nodded before taking a healthy bite.

“Texas is a big state.” She unwrapped her own sandwich, savoring the scent that greeted her. “Whereabouts?”

He swallowed and opened one of the water bottles. “Little bit outside Dallas.”

“Your parents still there?”

“No.” The answer was short and didn’t invite further queries. “You’re not from Weaver.”

“How do you know that?”

“The night you went home with me, you kept saying you were supposed to be home in Braden.”

Ouch. “I don’t remember that. Did, uh, did I say anything else?” Any other little nuggets that would prove humiliating, right along with the way she’d passed out? She took a bite of her sandwich to make sure she didn’t actually voice that thought out loud.

“Just that you hadn’t had sex in a long time.”

She nearly choked on her food.

He uncapped the second water bottle and held it out to her, his eyes full of laughter. She looked past him at the empty playground equipment, the swings swaying softly, and drank down a third of the bottle before setting it down next to her sandwich. “How long have you been out of the army?”

“Pretty quick change of subject there.”

“I think it’s best,” she managed to say.

“Five years.”

She grimaced. “I told you that, too?”

“Since I left the rangers. But I guess I don’t have to ask you just how long is a long time.”

Mortified, she tried not to squirm. “And now you can understand why that is. I love Ruby’s coleslaw.” She grabbed the container that had been weighing down the spare napkins. Several napkins immediately flew off the table with the breeze.

He chuckled and lifted his hand. “Relax. I’ll get ’em. Don’t want your friend from the sheriff’s department writing us up for littering.”

While he retrieved the fluttering paper squares, she tucked the rest of the napkins safely back inside the bag and silently told herself to get a grip. Then she realized that there was only one plastic fork.

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