Free Foolish Notions by Aris Whittier Page B

the situation
very carefully. You see it’s not easy dealing with a patient
who has such a low pain tolerance.”
    He looked heavenward as he thought. “I
believe that fast and quick would be the right procedure in this
case.” In one quick motion he ripped the glue off.
    “Ouch.” She shot across the
room and glared at him. “You wouldn’t make a very good
nurse,” she said as she examined her hand, clearly sulking. “I
can’t believe you did that.”
    He was about to suggest she say “thank
you,” but when he looked at her his words caught in his throat.
Every muscle in his body turned taut as need swept through him in a
burning wave of heat. Good Lord, she was breathtaking.
    She was leaning against the wall that
separated the kitchen and the dining room, pouting as she inspected
her hand. The setting sun cast dark shadows over the entire room.
Samantha’s face was hidden in a shadow; however, a single bar
of golden light fell across her bare feet. Frayed white thread from
her faded jeans adorned her slender ankles. He hadn’t noticed
the worn denims before, because she had been sitting behind the
counter. They fit like a glove and that was what he liked about them.
They sat low on her hips and exposed just a touch of her belly. If
she hadn’t been in a shadow he would have been able to see the
slight depression of her navel. The dark outline revealed every round
curve on her painfully perfect body. God, she was beautiful. Her red
toes began to flick in a restless rhythm. He watched them shine in
the light before he looked up. “Do I make you nervous?”
    Deliberately, she crossed her ankles to
remove her feet from the illumination as he stared at her. Now her
entire body was engulfed in darkness. He knew she had done it to feel
protected. The shadows shielded her from things she didn’t want
to encounter. Or at least gave her the illusion she was shielded.
When she stuffed her hands in her pockets, James’s gut tumbled
because it caused her jeans to ride even lower on her hips. “Answer
the question, Samantha. Do I make you nervous?”
    “No.”
    “Then what is it?”
    “I’m not used to being
stared at like that.” The low whisper came from the darkness
and was barely audible over the music.
    “Like what?” he said
gently. Even though it was dim, he could see the clear blue of her
eyes gradually smoldered to a dark gray. He had seen the change many
times before and knew instantly that her emotions were stirring and
beginning to take over. She wouldn’t like this and he knew
without a doubt she would fight them and push them as far away as
possible.
    When she didn’t answer, James
spoke. “I used to stare at you all the time.” Hell,
almost every man stared at her the way he was staring at her, she
just never noticed. When they had been together it was almost
impossible not to see the way men would eyeball her. At times he
could even read their blatant, nauseating thoughts, which would
infuriate him to the point of confrontation. Of course, he never
confronted anyone in front of Samantha. Several momentous occasions
popped into his head, of times when he had gone back into a
restaurant or store to put a man in his place for the impolite
glances, but Samantha never knew about them.
    There was a side of him that he didn’t
allow her to see often. It was a side of him that allowed him to
succeed in his business. It allowed him to cut raw deals, sometimes
unfair deals, without batting an eye. It was an impersonal side,
filled with arrogance and shrewdness. However, he’d gone to
great lengths to make sure that Samantha was never a part of that
world. Her soft voice drew him from his thoughts. His eyes lifted.
    “That was then. Things are
different now.”
    “They are different, but I’m
not some stranger.” His voice was deep. Samantha stared at him,
unmoving. He didn’t want to be put in some category with other
men. He wouldn’t be.
    “I didn’t say you were.”
She raked her teeth over