Burned by a Kiss (2 page)

“Oh, pooh.” Sierra shrugged. “Of course he had an appointment. Didn’t Joe get seen?”

“Yes. First patient of the day. Which was also strange, given that there was a waiting room full of cats, dogs, and guinea pigs, and somehow, we got to see the pretty doctor first.”

Sierra smiled at him. “How nice of Connie to fit you in. I mean, fit Joe in.”

“You’re not doing this very well.” If there was one thing he knew about his sister, it was that she was a first-rate buttinski, rushing headlong where angels feared to tread, pushing her older brothers around because she knew she could get away with it.

Usually. Not this time.

“I’ll manage my own love life, thanks.”

She sent him a sidelong glance and snatched the rag away. “Go away. You’re bothering me. Go teach Joe to fetch a tennis ball. He needs to burn off energy. And so do you.” She glanced up. “By the way, I take it as an encouraging sign that you even notice that Emma’s pretty.”

“Of course she’s pretty.” Emma was hot, with her rubber shoes and her big, friendly smile—not that she smiled at him all that much, but Joe had certainly gotten the treatment. She was sexy, always had been, but at twenty-nine, she was a full-blown woman men would look twice at, and more. Hell, even eight-year-old Marty had stared up at Emma with something akin to rapture on his little freckled face as he’d held Squeakers in a box like a trophy.

Sierra laughed. “She’s too good for you, you know.”

“Then why’d you send me to see her?”

“Assuming I did, which I’m not admitting to, I just thought you’d want to see what you’re missing out on. Before it’s gone forever.”

He raised a brow. “Where’s it going?”

“I don’t know,” Sierra said mysteriously, “but the grapevine has it that one of our esteemed Star Canyon bachelors is planning to ask her out.”

Santana swallowed a growl. “Who?”

His sister smiled cagily. “I don’t know.”

“You know.”

“Foster Smith.”

He rolled his eyes. “Emma wouldn’t go out with him.”

Sierra didn’t say anything. She opened the back door, and Joe thundered in, shaking his body and jingling his collar, then making a beeline for Santana. He patted the dog, his fingers smoothing through the thick, golden coat. “Would she?”

“On paper, Foster and Emma would be a good match. He teaches math at the high school, and Emma’s something of a brainiac. He also helps coach the kids and runs an after-school program for kids whose parents work and have no place else to go. Helps them with their homework. Does any of this penetrate your thick skull, brother dearest?”

“Yeah.” Santana got up. “Come on, Joe. Let’s go burn off some energy with a swim.”

“In thirty-two-degree weather?” Sierra demanded. “Are you missing parts of your brain?”

Maybe. Even likely. Unfortunately, all his brain wanted to do was think about Emma, now that he’d seen her again, been near that womanly body, heard her sweet voice.

The scarred, caged beast in him roared, demanding to explore the comfort of soft, gentle territory.

But freshly returned from war was no time to appease the beast. It wouldn’t be fair to Emma. Four deployments, the last the worst of all. He had physical scars, of course: a couple of bullet wounds from enemy snipers, a long gash on his leg where an IED…he shut down the thoughts the beast wanted him to remember. He wouldn’t think or talk about those days.

Nothing but icy-cold water was going to get Emma out of his mind now. He’d thought about her constantly overseas, and even then he couldn’t have said exactly why he couldn’t get her out of his mind—except for that one kiss they’d shared back in high school, courtesy of a dumb dare where Bobby Sanford had dared him to kiss the class geek because, as Bobby said, somebody had to throw himself on the pyre for the sake of mankind.

So Santana had done it—a really fast kiss in the hallway as they’d lined up for graduation, when it was too late for teachers to do anything about it if Emma got all mad at him about it. He’d pressed his lips against hers, going for a fast kiss—and to his shock, found soft, pliable lips that molded to his and sucked him in, like kissing a delicious red velvet cupcake. He’d wanted to lean into the soft moistness that was Emma’s mouth so badly, but the greatest shock of all was when he felt her lips press against his in sweet response. He’d thanked his lucky stars the graduation gown covered the erection that sprang to life—and when the line of students erupted in cheers, he’d broken away, staring at her guiltily.

Emma had looked back at him, her face a little flushed, her red hair spiraling out from under the white mortar board. He’d thought she looked like an angel.

But the angel had gone off to college, and he’d gone off to enlist. The kiss had stayed on his mind. No matter how many women crossed his path, he’d never forgotten the softness of Emma’s mouth.

All that sweet velvety hotness would be criminally wasted on well-meaning, upstanding-citizen Foster Smith.

Santana felt the presence in his room before his three oversized brothers said a word. “Don’t you even think about it,” he said, not bothering to open his eyes. “If you dogpile me like we did when we were kids, I promise my reaction won’t be favorable.”

His brothers guffawed and leaped on his bed anyway, which meant Joe, who’d slept peacefully and obediently beside his bed all night, leaped onto his bed, too.

“Welcome home, bro!” Cisco tried to rub a knot on Santana’s head, and he swatted his brother’s hand away.

“Sorry we didn’t greet you sooner.” This from Romero, who told Joe to get off the bed and quit being an attention hog.

“Never thought you’d come back home,” Luke said. “Now that you’re back, we have lots of work for you to do. We’re presuming you’ll be joining up either at the fire station or the sheriff’s office, but the ranch needs another hand, too.”

“Assholes, get
off
,” Santana growled, secretly enjoying the brotherly camaraderie. These brothers, his family, were his reason to return. Glutton for punishment, he’d said at the time he’d left, but the truth had been that he needed to stay away then. Wasn’t ready to come home to the ranch and Star Canyon. Kept thinking there was more out there he needed to do. He’d elected to do one more tour of duty because he believed in the mission and the brotherhood of his team had kept him sane.

Home felt pretty damn good, filled in a hole he hadn’t known needed healing.

“Heard you asked Emma Glass out,” Cisco said.

Santana abandoned his bed to the dogpile, pulled on some jeans. “That’s a dumb rumor, even for Star Canyon.”

“But is it true?” Luke asked. “According to the grapevine, which is white-hot over this, you practically kissed her at the clinic yesterday.”

“We got probably twenty calls while we were on the road buying a couple of new horses,” Romero said. “So, Emma, huh? You didn’t waste any time. You’ve been back all of what, twenty-four hours?”

Santana shoved a worn Stetson on his head and decided now was as good a time as any to hit the chores. “Emma might have a date with someone, but it’s not me. Sierra says Foster Smith is going to ask her out. Or did already. I didn’t catch the details.”

His brothers roared with laughter. Santana grimaced.

“Dude, Foster’s not asking Emma out,” Luke said. “He’s getting married next weekend.”

Santana glared at his brothers, then pulled on a blue long-sleeved work shirt. “Sierra said—”

They filed out of the room, shaking their heads. Cisco shot him a sympathetic look as he followed his brothers, and the look clearly said
you poor dumbass, you let Sierra sucker you again
.

Had his sister been trying to get him to realize his feelings for Emma? There was nothing Sierra liked better than to keep her brothers with their boots set firmly on
run
. He reminded himself that Sierra reveled in her position as the baby of the family, and thought her services were required to manage their lives.

“Come on,” Santana said to Joe, who perked up instantly now that he realized he was the center of Santana’s world again. “I smell eggs and bacon. If you lie down in the den and let me eat, I’ll sneak you an egg.”

Joe planted his paws on Santana’s chest, his gaze delighted with the promise. “Oh, you don’t know what I’m saying. You’re just working an angle, dog, like everybody else around here. Get down before you hurt something. Probably me.”

For a dog that was only about a year old, Joe was really big. Santana couldn’t believe his sister had saddled him with a needy canine. And was trying to saddle him with a girlfriend, too, obviously. His brothers were going to try to sign him up for the fire station or the sheriff’s office.

It was oddly comforting to know that Star Canyon hadn’t changed at all in his absence.

• • •

Emma closed up the clinic. There’d been two surgeries, a splinter removed from a paw, assorted checkups and boo-boos, and even a turtle that had cracked its shell. Marty had returned with Squeakers, but the sweet black-and-white guinea pig seemed to be responding well to mite treatment with special shampoo and changing to newspaper bedding.

She drove home, stopping only to grab takeout. Jenny and the two new puppies were curled up studying in the den. “I brought takeout from The Last Stop café. Hope you’re hungry.”

Jenny got up. “I’m hungry for gossip.” She peered in the bag, pulled out bread wrapped in foil, sighed with pleasure. Dug a little deeper for the two containers of steaming pot roast and carrots. “Since you ran into Santana yesterday, I’ve gotten several texts saying that you two are practically an item.”

“Not true. And you know it’s not.” Jenny kicked off her rubber shoes, then headed to her room to change and wash up. “I consider it a good sign that the puppies barely raised their heads to look at me when I came in. Busy day?”

“We played catch and tag and watch Aunt Jenny fall on her butt in the snow. The dogs liked that game the best, because then they got toweled off with soft towels. I’ll put this in the oven while you change.”

Emma hopped in the shower, thinking about Santana’s dark eyes on her. An item? So far from it she had to marvel at Star Canyon’s penchant for matchmaking. But Joe had a good home with Santana and the rest of the Dark clan, and that was all that mattered.

She hurried, not allowing herself to enjoy the unbidden fantasy of soaping Santana’s strong body. Toweling off, sighing with contentment now that she was refreshed and a meal was waiting, she jumped into some comfy gray sweats, pulled her wet hair into a loose ponytail, then padded down the hall, her nose leading the way to the delicious smell of warming pot roast.

“We have company,” Jenny said, grinning from ear to ear because Santana had made himself quite at home at her kitchen table, with a German shepherd puppy in his arms, another at his feet.

“I brought dinner,” Santana said.

“So did I.” She tried to act like Santana showing up in her kitchen was no big deal, but frankly, it was a big deal even by Star Canyon’s fast-and-furious matchmaking standards.

“I brought dinner for Gus and Bean.” Santana couldn’t have looked sexier if he’d tried, and Emma was aware Jenny was trying not to laugh at the stunned expression on Emma’s face. Big and hunky in worn blue jeans and a dark blue shirt, his gaze on hers—and what woman could resist a man who loved animals?

“Gus and Bean?” She got a sparkling water from the fridge, gulped at it, trying to cool down her suddenly very nervous libido. The sexual tension kicking in caught her off guard. At first she’d thought she was having some kind of weird hot flash, then realized the only flash she was having was a major Santana flash.

Which meant it had been way too long since she’d been kissed by a man. Really kissed—and then some.

“Your puppies.” He kissed the one he held and handed him to her. “Jenny said they’re called Gus and Bean.”

“Sure. Why not.” She hadn’t named them yet because she’d just taken them in when she’d been contacted by a rescue society for veterinary care. Emma shot a glance at Jenny, who had a distinctly pleased air about her as she took the plates of pot roast from the oven.

“There you go.” Jenny looked at both of them. “I’ve got to scoot, kids. Early morning tomorrow, and I still have tons of studying to do. Case law really takes it out of a girl.” She patted the newly christened Gus and Bean, then pulled on her coat and a red-striped muffler. “You be good boys for your mom tonight. You don’t know it, but you’ve landed in pretty awesome digs. Welcome home, Santana.” She waved at Emma and departed on a rush of cold air that gusted into the kitchen when she opened and closed the door.

Santana studied her. “I didn’t really bring dinner for Gus and Bean. I brought it for us, and I think Jenny figured that out. I didn’t mean to run her off.”

Emma shook her head. “She’d been here all day, now that she’s assigned herself chief babysitter for the puppies. I’m sure she’s happy to get home. Besides, she took one of your meals.”

He glanced at the huge white plastic sack he’d put on the table. “She sure did, the minx.”

“Mm.” Emma got up on a bar stool. “To what do I owe the honor?”

He passed her a plastic takeout dish. “Joe sends his regrets and promises he’ll learn manners quickly.”

She could have sat and stared at Santana all night. She’d heard he’d been a sniper, and that he’d been awarded commendations for kills. He wouldn’t talk about his last deployment if she asked, so she focused on the food he’d brought. “I’ll split my pot roast with you, and I’ll rob you of half of Joe’s offerings. I’m too starved to be polite.”

“I took a chance that food would get me in the door, so help yourself.” He grinned, a charming bad boy. “I think I also owe you for a pair of jeans. Connie said yours ripped yesterday when Joe knocked you down.”

“You don’t owe me a thing.” Emma perked up. “However, the clinic could use some things.”

“You haven’t changed, and I’m happy to see it.”

Emma hesitated. “Of course I’ve changed. You’ve changed, too.”

“No. You’re still Emma, the girl with the heart of gold.”

“Hardly. My heart is steel, that’s all. And not too proud to beg when it comes to the clinic. Now, about a donation.” She smiled, and he smiled back, warming her. “We could use some fence repair out back, because I’d like to have a genuine dog run for the dogs to get fresh air. A kennel, so they can get exercise. We have the space, but the fence isn’t secure, not for the bigger dogs, and certainly not for the diggers.”