Free Long Simmering Spring by Elisabeth Barrett Page B

done this sooner if you hadn’t put me off for so long.”
    “I wasn’t ready,” she admitted.
    He laughed a little. “I guess I wasn’t, either.”
    “Who’s to say this dinner couldn’t be a total flop?”
    “Only way that could happen is if you tell me you’re a Yankees fan.”
    “I’m not, so I guess we’re in the clear.”
    He gave her a slow once-over. “Guess we are,” he said, his voice rough.
    Her wit failed her, and her cheeks warmed. She looked out the window into the darkness. What was it about this man that made her senses reel?
    It took about thirty minutes to get to New Bedford and find parking. As they were walking from Cole’s car to the restaurant, he put his hand on the small of her back. The purely proprietary gesture was charged, but Julie tried not to read too much into it. Fun—not serious, right?
    Cole had made a reservation and they were seated quickly. They ordered some appetizers and a bottle of cabernet. When the waiter departed, Cole leaned back in his chair and looked at Julie. “Good?” he questioned softly.
    “Good,” she responded.
    For a few minutes, there was silence as they read their menus. The waiter came and poured their wine. Julie took a sip, enjoying the way the robust red slid down her throat. “Lovely,” she murmured when Cole gave her a questioning look.
    “So,” he began after they’d decided what to eat and he’d had some of his own wine, “I think we should start again.”
    “Start again?”
    “Yeah. Pretend like we didn’t grow up in the same town. Pretend like we didn’t go to high school together.”
    “Pretend like you didn’t kiss me behind the track when I was fourteen?”
    “That, too.” He held out his hand for a shake. “I’m Nicholas Grayson, Star Harbor’s sheriff. You can call me Cole. I’m mostly reformed. And you are?” He pasted a false-looking earnest look on his face.
    Julie laughed. She couldn’t help it—he looked so unlike himself when he was pretending to be innocent. “It’s a bit late for first impressions, don’t you think?”
    “Hardly,” he said, his fake-chipper look fading and morphing into a sexy, burn-you-up-from-inside gaze that was more like the Cole she knew. “Your turn.”
    Julie swallowed. The rules of the game had just changed. “I’m Julia Kensington. I’m a doctor in town. My friends call me Julie. I work too hard. Nice to meet you.”
    Then their hands touched, and a sizzle ran from her fingertips up her arm. His palm was firm and warm. After a long moment, he released her. “So what made you decide to come back to Star Harbor?”
    “My parents,” she said softly. “Or, their memories, at least.” Cole was watching her with an inscrutable expression.
    “I heard about the accident while I was in Afghanistan. I’m sorry.”
    Julie shook her head slowly. “I miss them every day. Being at their house helps a little. Helps make me feel like I’m close to them.” She blinked. “But I also came back to start my practice,” she said, calmer as she spoke about her work. “I’d always wanted to be in a small town, and once I completed my residency, I realized the small-town practice I wanted was right under my nose. So I came home.
    “I love that I know all my patients by name and that I don’t have to look up their records to know what kind of insurance plan they have. I can walk to work, I own my own place, and I’m a part of a real community. That’s it. I wasn’t lying—I do work too much.”
    Cole had leaned forward in his seat and was watching her intently. The glow from the candlelight flickered on the scar on his cheekbone.
    “Why’d you kiss me?” she blurted out.
    “Why’d you slap me?” he retorted.
    “You first,” she said without hesitation.
    “You were beautiful,” he said. “I wanted to show you. Now you.”
    She swallowed, then tried to speak calmly. “Part of it was surprise. And I have to admit that at the time, I thought my first kiss was wasted on