Emilie Rose - A Better Man

She’d checked the mirror two minutes ago when she’d washed up after their last patient. Her slipping ponytail, baggy lavender scrubs and walking shoes were nothing to brag about. But at least she’d applied makeup this morning, because she’d known that eventually she would bump into him. And most of it was still on despite doggie licks and sweat.

“Liar.”

His grin, as devilish and dangerous as she remembered, rocked her equilibrium. “I always call ’em like I see ’em.”

Get a grip. Remember what he did to you?

She straightened, trying to find her backbone and the anger that had driven her for years. Both appeared to be AWOL. “Did you need something?”

“To say hello away from the prying eyes of Quincey.”

“Those same prying eyes very likely tracked your path to the clinic. But thanks for stopping by. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to lock up for lunch.” She hoped her cool, unemotional tone sounded as convincing to him.

His smile broadened. “That’s why I’m here. I came to take you to lunch.”

Alarm erupted inside her like a Fourth of July fireworks display. She couldn’t risk a trip—or a slip—down memory lane. “I already have plans.”

Piper reached for her keys and her knuckles bumped Josh’s school picture. One look at that photograph and Roth would know the truth. And he didn’t deserve to know. Not after what he’d done. Although he had no reason to come behind the high counter she wasn’t taking any chances. She scooted the frame behind her monitor.

The light on the two-line phone went out, indicating Madison had ended her call. The sound of her boss’s desk drawer opening and closing filled Piper with urgency. She wanted Roth gone before Madison came out. Even though Madison had become more friend than employer over the past five years, Piper had never shared the intimate details of her history with Roth. She didn’t intend to start now.

She circled the desk, opened the door and tipped her head to face her nemesis. She’d forgotten how tall he was.

“Don’t let me keep you. Have a nice day.” She added a saccharine smile.

“What? No welcome back?”

“Did you really expect one?”

Roth folded his arms and rocked back on his heels. “We need to talk about what happened, Piper.”

“No, we don’t. The past is over. No need to rehash it.”

“We left things…unsettled.”

He had no idea what an understatement that was. Piper checked over her shoulder to make sure Madison hadn’t left her office yet. “No, Roth. You made your feelings perfectly clear when you shoved a fistful of money at me and told me to visit the clinic and take care of my problem. But that was twelve years ago. I’m over it and over you.”

“Did you?”

She blinked and swallowed, trying to ease the knot forming in her throat. From the moment she’d heard of his return she’d known this question would come up. She should have been prepared. But she wasn’t. And she’d never been a good liar.

“Did I what?”

“Visit the clinic.” His eyes searched her face.

Her heart pounded and her palms moistened. The door handle slipped from her fingers. Stick with the facts.

“Dad drove me to one in Raleigh. It’s far enough away that nobody here would know…” She bit her lip, unable to finish because that’s where the truth he needed to hear stopped. Anything she added would have to be a lie.

“Piper,” Madison called as her footsteps squeaked down the long tile hall, filling Piper with a mixture of relief over the interruption and dread over the upcoming meeting. “Mrs. Lee’s Chihuahua is in labor and it’s not going well. I have to cancel our lunch and make a house call. If the labor drags on or I have to bring Pebbles in for a C-section, I’ll call your cell.”

Madison reached the archway between the treatment rooms and the waiting area and spotted Roth. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we had company.”

Her ex-lover and her boss stared at each other. Then Madison hiked an expectant eyebrow at Piper. Piper reluctantly accepted that she couldn’t avoid making introductions. “Madison, this is Roth Sterling, Quincey’s new police chief. Roth, Dr. Madison Monroe.”

Madison smiled and extended her hand. She, unlike Quincey natives, tended to avoid the gossip and intrigue of small-town living. But her interest in the new male specimen couldn’t be missed. Piper lost her appetite.

“Nice to meet you, Chief Sterling, and some other time I’d love to hear what brought you here. But I have to run.”

“Good to meet you, too, Doc,” Roth replied. “And the answer is simple. I came home.”

Piper didn’t like the sound of that. Home implied a certain…permanence.

Madison’s eyes widened. “Home? You’re a local?”

“Yes.”

Madison shot Piper a look that promised an inquisition when she returned, then with a wave she grabbed her med-kit, and rushed out the door.

Roth’s dark eyes zeroed in on her, making her feel antsy and uncomfortable. “You’re not the veterinarian?”

She couldn’t believe he remembered her long-ago dream. “I’m Madison’s assistant.”

“What happened to vet school?”

She wiggled her toes in her shoes. “Plans change.”

He flashed one of his lethal grins and her abdomen quivered. “And because yours have, you’re now free for lunch. Let’s go.”

No. No. No. “I need to set up the surgical room in case Madison needs it.”

“I’ll wait.”

She did not want to spend any more time with him. “Look, Roth, while I appreciate your invitation, I really don’t have time for a long lunch break.”

“Then I’ll get a takeout from the diner and we’ll eat here.”

Alone behind a locked door? She searched for another excuse to avoid this encounter and couldn’t find one. “The gossips would be the ones feasting if you did that.”

“Sounds like Quincey hasn’t changed.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “We’re sharing a meal, Piper. If not lunch, then dinner. I’m not on duty until Monday. I can park it right here—” he pointed at a waiting room chair “—and wait until you’re available.”

Not what she wanted to hear. She wasn’t going to be able to avoid him. Resignation settled over her.

“When you put it like that, how can I refuse?” If she did, she’d only arouse his curiosity, and the last thing she wanted was Roth Sterling snooping around in her personal life.

“Exactly.”

CHAPTER TWO

“LET’S GO. I’LL PREP the room when I get back. We’ll have to hurry in case Madison needs me.” Piper snatched her purse and headed out, eager to get this encounter behind her.

Then maybe Roth would go away and forget her. Again.

“Your enthusiasm underwhelms me.” She heard the teasing note in his voice and didn’t need to look to know he was smiling. His smiles used to turn her to mush. But she couldn’t let them have that effect now.

After locking up she followed him into the parking lot.

He scanned the busy-for-Quincey streets. “Traffic’s picked up from what I remember.”

“Over the past few years we’ve had several mom-and-pop antiques stores open up. That makes Quincey a mecca for weekend shoppers.” She hoped that meant the shopkeepers would be too busy with their customers to notice her comings and goings or her lunch partner. “The diner will be packed. There’s a barbecue place ten miles south of here.”

“Afraid to be seen in town with me?”

She couldn’t risk someone stopping by their table to ask about her son. “I don’t have the time to wait for a table or be constantly interrupted by people welcoming you.”

“I don’t think the welcomes will be a problem. I’ll drive.” He led her toward a big black truck.