LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Humor me,” he urged, and gestured for her to lean back. She thought she’d better go with it or he might think she was some kind of city snob, which she most definitely was, but she didn’t want him to know it. “Take a deep breath. Let your body go all weak and easylike. Breathe in through your nose and let the breath out slowly through your mouth.”

      Maggie did as she was told. Some country singer was belting out how they loved this bar while Maggie tried to get into the rhythm. Within moments her all-time favorite Disney scene flashed in her head—Beauty and her beast floating across a dance floor. She could visualize them as clearly as if she were watching the movie in a theater. Only difference was, they were dancing to I Love This Bar.

      She couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle.

      “I knew you could do it,” Doc Blake said as he touched her hand. As soon as he did, she felt warm and safe, as if she had been spinning on the dance floor wrapped in his arms.

      She opened her eyes.

      Helen had returned and busied herself pouring wine into their glasses. When she left, Maggie said, “I’m sorry, Doctor Granger, I think I fell asleep for a moment.”

      “Call me Blake. It’s easier. Do you feel better?”

      “Much. Thanks. Do you work this kind of magic on everyone?”

      “Not everyone. Some of my patients are stubborn.”

      “More stubborn than me?”

      “You’re easy.”

      She felt the heat of a blush. “Not necessarily. It depends on the man.”

      “So we’re back to that, are we?”

      “Not if you don’t want to be.”

      He grinned, and his whole face lit up, the tiny lines around his eyes adding to his rugged charm.

      “In all honesty, I was on my way to talk to you.”

      As Maggie looked into those smoky eyes of his she had a feeling she could easily fall hard and fast into the same trap all the other women in this town had willingly fallen into. She refused to let it happen. She would not lose her heart to another unattainable man, especially not her boss. She’d been down that road before and it wasn’t pretty.

      “Talk to me about what?” she asked after she picked up her glass of wine and took a sip.

      She reminded herself that she had not come to this bar or this town to fall in love. Not that she was even close to falling in love, but just in case her heart wanted to go there, she needed to confirm it to herself that love or lust or affection of any kind was not part of this potato adventure. Hard work and a paycheck were all she needed at the moment…and maybe another glass of wine and the occasional steak.

      But that was it.

      Nothing and no one else.

      “Mrs. Abernathy,” he said.

      She drank several big gulps of the deep red elixir before she noticed its full rich flavors of oak and black cherries dancing on her tongue. The mixture of the wine, the devilishly striking man sitting across from her and the unfamiliar ambiance of country music and laughter felt intoxicating.

      “What about Mrs. Abernathy?”

      Their food arrived and suddenly Maggie remembered how much she loved a good, rare steak.

      “She’s Tim’s great-aunt,” he said. “And she’s tone deaf.”

      The meal smelled and looked delicious, but the man sitting across from her was looking even more delicious, especially under that old hat. Who knew a cowboy hat could make a man be so enticing.

      “Kitty’s mentioned her. That’s too bad,” Maggie told him, not understanding the relevance.

      Blake took note of her plate of food. “You’re gonna love this.”

      “I’m sure I will.”

      And as simple as that, Maggie knew what all the other women in the town had known all along. Doc Blake was sinfully irresistible.

      * * *

      HE HAD DRIVEN into town precisely to fire Maggie Daniels. Had gone over what he was going to say a dozen times, and if he hadn’t stopped at Belly Up for a steak first, he would have been able to carry out his plan to tell Kitty of his decision. He had wanted to avoid meeting up with Maggie altogether.

      The whole idea of firing anyone, much less Kitty’s sister, gnawed at him terribly. But Kitty already knew about his confrontational misfortune, and would have broken it to her without too much coaxing. Then he would have driven over to Mrs. Abernathy’s house—calling her wasn’t an option—and given her the good news.

      Unfortunately, Maggie had been standing in the doorway of the Belly Up, smelling like a wild rose garden after a rainstorm, and messed up everything.

      Sharing a meal with Maggie Daniels somehow felt just about perfect to Blake. One look at her and he knew his hunch had been right. He’d hoped that once she’d lost that corporate suit and heels Maggie would be as down-home as her sister, minus the organic-vegan thing.

      Maggie was a good ol’ girl at heart, who could probably knock back a cold one with the best of them, if it ever came to that. But right then, sitting across from her, he knew getting her to drink a beer was out of the question. She was still carrying around the city in her back pocket, and as long as she did, Briggs was simply a town where her baby sister lived.

      There was nothing he could do about that, and besides, who was he to point out that life in a small town beat city life any day of the week. He’d already been down that path with his ex. He’d met her in college, at UCLA. She’d grown up in L.A. and had told him she wanted a simpler life. He believed her. She lasted in Briggs for only a short time and soon after Scout was born, she wanted to move back to California. Blake obliged, but he never took to the place, and Bethany eventually lost interest in being a mother—at least, not the kind of mother Scout needed. That lesson was enough of a burn in one man’s life. He wasn’t about to go close to the fire again.

      Now, he had to let Maggie go before she’d even set foot in his office. It was for the best, all around. He had to tell her, but telling her face-to-face seemed almost impossible.

      He’d have to man up for his daughter’s sake. Maggie was danger personified. Scout needed a mother, someone more like Helen and not a woman like Maggie. Helen was stable, kind, and sure as rain she wasn’t going anywhere. Helen could love Scout—heck, she probably already did—and could easily be a good mother to his sweet little girl.

      Maggie was an unknown—albeit an attractive unknown that sent his pulse racing and weakened his resolve with every heartbeat. But even though she was temptation in borrowed boots, he wouldn’t allow himself to put his daughter through another disappointment, so he buttoned up his emotions and moved on with dinner.

      He watched Maggie pack it away as if she’d been without food for weeks. “How’s the steak?”

      She gazed up at him with a look on her face that told him it was the first time she’d noticed he was still there since the plate of food had been placed in front of her.

      Maggie paused for a moment, chewed and swallowed. “Amazing. I mean San Francisco has some great steaks, but, wow…”

      He watched as she took another bite. “So this is your first real meal since you’ve been here, right?”

      Maggie nodded, her mouth once again so full of food she looked like a cartoon chipmunk. She chewed and swallowed while Blake waited, enjoying watching her try to appear like she had everything under control…which she didn’t. “How did you know?”

      “I know your sister, remember?”

      Maggie nodded and swallowed, then took a long draw of wine.

      He said,

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