Free The Heiress and the Sheriff by Stella Bagwell Page B

nearness. Scents of sweet grass and earthy musk emanated from his clothes and rich black hair. The smell filled her like a heady drink of wine. She was gripped with the urge to bury her face against his neck and savor the feel of his smooth brown skin beneath her cheek.
    All too soon he was lying her down on the mattress. As he straightened away from her, she instantly missed the warmth of his body and the secure feeling it had lent her.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” she asked when she realized he was pushing some sort of intercom button.
    â€œI want Matthew to take a look at you.”
    She started to protest, but before she could open her mouth he was already speaking into the intercom.
    He disconnected, then the mattress dipped as he sat down on the side of the bed near her shoulder. “He’ll be here shortly,” he told her.
    â€œThe man has enough troubles without me disturbing him. I didn’t come out here to make a pest of myself. Although I’m sure you don’t believe that.”
    Wyatt didn’t know what to believe anymore. But he didn’t want to take the chance that Gabrielle was simply faking it. If she truly needed medical attention, he would be the first to want her to have it.
    â€œMatthew has been through a hell of a lot these past months. I doubt doctoring you will add to the strain.”
    She didn’t say anything to that, and he told himself he should get up from the bed and put some space between them. Yet he didn’t. He liked being near enough to smell her flowery scent, see the fine texture of her skin and the amber-brown flecks in her eyes. Her lashes were too long to be real. Yet he could see they were as natural as the dusky-pink of her lips. Lips he still wanted to taste.
    â€œWyatt?”
    She’d never called him by his given name, and it sounded strangely intimate coming from her.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI know the Fortunes aren’t any of my business. But I frankly don’t understand why a man like Matthew donated sperm. He has a wife and a child with her…”
    Wyatt considered telling her she was sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. But she was already staying here as a guest in the Fortune house. She could easily get the information from one of the family members. And he was beginning to get the feeling it would be better all around if he loosened up with this woman. If she got the idea he was beginning to trust her, she might just let her guard down.
    â€œIt happened long before he married Claudia. When he was in his first year of medical school at Stanford,” he told her. “I’m not exactly sure what prompted him to donate sperm. I think…well, Matthew is a real family man. He loves children, and I think he liked the idea of being able to help some infertile couple have a child of their own. I’m sure he never believed the donation would lead to anything like this.”
    â€œNo. I’ll bet not,” she agreed.
    His lips twisted as he looked down at her woebegone expression. “Why the long face? His problem is nothing to you.”
    She turned her face away from him, but not before he could see her frown was full of hurt. “How can you be so coarse? He’s a kind man. I feel sorry for him. I can’t imagine having a child and then losing it.”
    Without warning, thoughts of his mother entered Wyatt’s mind for the second time that day. Could Gabrielle ever be the way his mother had been? Could she vow her love, then walk away without a word and never come back? Nomatter what the answer, he would never risk his heart to find out.
    â€œI can be coarse because I’m a sheriff,” he told her.
    â€œI’m paid to be that way. If I looked at everything and everyone with a soft heart, things around here would be in a hell of a mess.”
    â€œLooks to me like they are anyway,” she couldn’t help retorting.
    If Wyatt had an ego, her words would have sliced