Chasing Trouble (Texas Trouble) (3 page)

"What!?!" Chase launched up in the bed and wished he hadn't when his brain swam around inside his skull a few times and nausea danced in his chest.  He flopped back on the pillow and threw his good arm over his eyes.  "You can't switch again, you're graduating next semester.  Just get your damned degree, Shauna."

"I'm going to get it...in graphic arts in two more semesters," she said belligerently.

"Why graphic arts?" he asked and peered at her from under his arm.

"Money...I've decided I don't want to be a starving artist.  I can make money in graphic arts.  I'll take web design classes too."

Chase couldn't argue with that.  He'd told her when she'd picked fine arts with a concentration in painting that she'd be hard pressed to make money when she graduated, but had she listened to him?  Hell, no.
  Shauna danced to her own fiddle, and nobody could tell her anything.

"Have you told dad yet?" he asked knowing his dad was gonna have a stroke.

"I told mama and she's going to tell him," Shauna said with a chuckle.  His sister definitely knew the path of least resistance, and had taken it.  "I'm not here to talk about me...how the hell did you get yourself shot?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later...it was minor.  I'm fine," he assured her.

"You could have been killed and you're calling it
minor
?!?" she screeched and he flinched because it sawed through his head.  Someone knocked on the door and he was thankful...unless it was his mother. 

"Come in," he said.

The door opened and the beautiful angel doctor walked in with a big smile on her face.  She didn't have on her white coat, and his eyes feasted on the curves that had been hidden earlier.  Dr. Anderson was one tall, fine drink of water, that was for sure.

"Hey, Doc," he said and grinned.

She looked at Shauna then back at him, and hesitated in the middle of the room.  "I was just coming by to check on you.  I was headed out for the night," she told him.

"Doc, this is my sister, Shauna..." he told her with a wave of his good hand toward his sister.

"Hi, Shauna, it's nice to meet you," Jenny said and pulled her hand from behind her back and extended it. 

Shauna's pierced eyebrow shot up and she gave
Jenny a quirky smile.  "You're a doctor, huh?  Mine is about seventy years old and wrinkled like a prune.  How'd you get so lucky big brother?" she asked looking back over her shoulder at her him.

"Luck of the draw, sis..." he said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, contrary to popular belief, I am a doctor...your dad seemed to have a hard time believing it too," Jenny said with a little edge to her tone. 

Chase thought maybe
the members of his family were missing the little filter between brain and mouth that everyone else had, and inwardly cringed.  "She's a damned good doctor, she patched my ugly butt up," Chase said fervently and watched her blush.

Shauna elbowed him gently and said, "Well someone had to do it, I guess she just made it a little easier to take," Shauna said with a sly grin.

"You're headed out?" Chase asked the gorgeous doctor and thought she probably had a date, and his heart twisted a little in his chest.

"Yeah, I'm meeting a friend for drinks after work," she told him hesitantly.  "I'd better be going..."
She walked over to the bed, then stuck her hand out to him, and said with a finality he didn't like, "It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Rhodes.  I hope you get to feeling better soon." 

It was a goodbye, and he wasn't ready to let her go.

"Chase," he corrected her.  "Call me Chase...and please don't leave yet."

"I have to go, but I'll be here tomorrow morning.  I might stop by tomorrow and check on y
ou before you get discharged."

"I'm going to find mama," Shauna said, but he didn't look at her, his eyes were trapped by the beautiful aqua blue ones of Dr. Anderson.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few then," he said offhandedly as Shauna walked across the room and out the door.

"Your sister is um...colorful," she said.

"That's definitely putting it mildly..." he agreed with a chuckle, then sobered and asked her in a low intimate tone he hadn't intended, "What's your first name, Doc?"

"Jenny," she said unsteadily.

"Jenny, before the wrecking crew comes back, I want to ask you something..." he said then ventured with a grin, "Will you have dinner with me?"

Chase knew he was about to get shot down, because her smile faded. 
"I'm sorry, Mr. Rhodes...Chase...I don't date patients."

"As of tomorrow afternoon, I won't be your patient
," he argued mildly.

"I don't date former patients either," she told him with a shake of her head.

"Consider it a thank you for saving my life, not a date," he suggested.  There had to be something he could say to get her to agree.  He definitely didn't need any more women friends, he had plenty of those lately, but if that's what it took to get to know Dr. Jenny Anderson better, that's what he'd be...for now. 

"You don't have to thank me, you'll get a bill from the hospital," she told him with a wry twist of her full lips.  "That's thanks enough."

"Please...." Chase wasn't above begging.  Something about Jenny Anderson drew him, and it was more than her being gorgeous.  She was obviously a caring person, seemed to have a sense of humor, but there was an air of vulnerability about her. 

Someone had hurt this woman, and badly. 
It was right there in her eyes, and her tense shoulders.  She was afraid. 

He'd like to hear that story, because whoever it was must be a moron for letting her go.  And the way she was avoiding agreeing to dinner with him, he
knew he had his work cut out for him getting close enough to her to hear it. 

Chase wasn't afraid of a little work though, if one thing could be said about him, he was determined, which meant he usually got what he wanted....except lately his luck had been running south.  That was going to change.

"Sorry, no..." she said and patted his shoulder then stepped back from the bed.  "I'll drop by tomorrow.  Try not to give the nurses too much of that charm.  They'll go into a sugar coma."  Jenny Anderson winked at him then turned and walked out the door.

CHAPTER THREE

Jenny couldn't get out of Chase
Rhode's room fast enough.  When she was in the corridor, she leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath, something it had been entirely too difficult to do when she'd been in her charming, handsome patient's orbit.  Dragging herself out of there without agreeing to go to dinner with him had been one of the most difficult things she'd done recently. 

You're not in the market for a man, and he's your patient
, she reminded herself, then pushed off of the wall and headed to the elevator.  But damned if she could convince herself.  Even her inner voice was yelling at her to say, "Yes!".  That damned thousand-watt, toothpaste commercial smile of his was about her undoing.  It mesmerized her...it was why she'd come up to his room in the first place.  She just had to see it one more time.

Terri
was waiting for her at Charlie's Bar down the street and she was late, because of her detour, so she hurried her pace to the elevator. 

The elevator opened and Chase Rhode's sister came out ahead of a tall blond
and obviously southern, woman.  From her skyscraper heels, to her perfectly matched designer clothing, to the pile of teased blond curls that framed her carefully made up face, she hit every note that said she was a southern trophy wife.  There were fine lines beside her clear blue eyes and around her full lips that said she wasn't as young as she looked, but the woman was well-preserved for sure.  Shauna smiled at Jenny and shrieked causing Jenny to flinch, because the sound was close to nails on chalkboard pitch.

"Mama, this is Chase's doctor," she said waving her hands toward Jenny.

This was Chase's mother?
  Jenny sucked in a breath as the woman inspected her from head to toe with eyes just like Chase's, before a slow smile spread across her face and her eyebrow lifted.  "Well, I declare..." the woman said in a breathy Texas drawl.

It was obvious to Jenny that
Chase's mom was surprised she was a doctor too.  Holding back a groan, Jenny stiffened her shoulders and stuck out her hand, trying to get this meet and greet over with as quickly as possible. 

"Dr. Anderson," Jenny offered and shook the woman's hand when she clasped palms with her.

Mrs. Rhodes jerked her hand out of Jenny's and put it to her chest and tears filled her eyes then she shrieked a lot like her daughter had, and said, 'Oh, you're an angel, thank you for saving my baby boy!"

Jenny wanted to tell her there was nothing at all boy-like about the man she'd birthed, nothing at all,
Chase Rhodes was one-hundred percent man, but she held her tongue.

"He was lucky, his injuries weren't life threatening.  He'll be good as new in a few weeks,"
Jenny told her, then added, "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Rhodes," and tried to edge around them into the elevator, but Mrs. Rhodes sidestepped and blocked her.  Somehow Jenny got the feeling she was trying to size her up for something, she just didn't know what.

"Oh,
not only are beautiful, but humble...bless your heart!"  Jenny heard craftiness behind her declaration.  Her blue eyes sparkled with it, and her voice dripped honey when she finished, "I'm glad he had you to take care of him, sugar.  You'll have to come out to the house for dinner sometimes so I can properly thank you."

"That's not necessary, Mrs. Rhodes...I was doing my job, and like I said his injuries weren't substantial."

"He was shot!" the woman screeched like Jenny didn't know that.  "That is substantial, sugar, and you saved his life.  Now, I won't take no for an answer, so you'll have to give me your number, and we'll have a dinner party in your honor in a few weeks."

Jenny shifted her weight from foot to foot, wondering what her chances of outrunning this determined woman down the hall to the stairwell door
were.  Chase's sister had a strange look on her face, but a sly grin kicked up the corner of her blue painted lips.  It looked like she was on board with whatever her mother had planned.

"I really need to go, Mrs. Rhodes, thank you for the offer, but--"

"Nonsense," she said and dug through her huge handbag, until she found a cell phone and pulled it out.  "Give me your phone number and I'll just put it right in here and call you once the plans are made," she insisted, pinning Jenny with purpose in her eyes.

Huffing out a breath, Jenny gave her the number, and then prayed she'd be able to avoid her calls.  Caller I.D. was a modern miracle, and this was one call she was determined to avoid at all costs.  Chase's family was a little odd
, not that she had room to throw stones, her own was a far throw from the Cleavers, but his was very...colorful. 

Something was brewing under that pile of blond hair on Mrs. Rhodes' head
too, and Jenny had a sneaking suspicion it was matchmaking. 

With a tight smile, Jenny pushed her way
around the women and stepped into the elevator then frantically pushed the button for the main floor.  Once the elevator opened on the first floor, Jenny hurried to the front entrance and out the doors. 

Walking through the main doors, s
he took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air to clear her head, then headed to the bar.  She damned well needed a drink now.  Whatever scheme Mrs. Rhodes had planned, was going to fail.  Jenny was not going out with her son.  She wasn't going out with anyone, especially a mama's boy, and unfortunately that's what it looked like he was. 

At the very least, his mother was meddlesome, which was worse.
  After her experience with Beau, Jenny had definitely had enough of interfering mothers.

Jenny strode down the sidewalk toward Charlie's Bar. 
Her apartment was walking distance from there, so she could have two drinks if she wanted, and Jenny felt like she needed them now.  A whole bottle wouldn't be out of the question.  After dodging Chase's dinner invitation, then his mother's party idea, her nerves were shot.

Although she had a car, Jenny
rarely used it.  It was the one she'd had in college and was pretty close to being on its last legs.  A bullet in the radiator would be a waste of lead.  The last time she'd driven it across town, it had made a strange rattling noise that she'd put off getting looked at.  The walk to work in the mornings helped her get her head right for the day, anyway.  It also helped her conserve money. 

People thought all doctor's were rolling in the dough, that wasn't the case with new staff doctors for sure, well not her anyway.  Since her parents hadn't been able to help her with college, h
er student loans were so monumental that she'd probably be paying on them until she retired.  Unless, that is, she decided to enroll in the international Doctor's Without Borders program. 

T
he program offered forgiveness of all those loans if she committed to two years of service in a third world country, and she was seriously considering that option.  What did she have to hold her here now?  Certainly not her family or a fiancé.

Since her breakup with Beau, Jenny had felt like she was stuck in the mud here anyway.  A fresh start is what she needed and maybe traveling and seeing other places would give her a new perspective.
  She was definitely going to give it more thought.

A few minutes later, Jenny pulled the
big brass cloverleaf handle on the heavy wooden door at Charlie's bar and walked into the dim interior.  Once her eyes adjusted, she saw Terri sitting at the bar waving at her.  She waved back then headed that way and took the stool next to her friend. 

"Hey, Jerry
...how about a chardonnay for my friend?" Terri called out to the bartender, as she sat down.  Obviously, her friend wasn't on her first beer.

"Make it a double," Jenny said with a chuckle.  "With a vodka shot chaser."

"Rough day, huh?" Terri asked and studied her intently.

"You have no idea..." she told her friend shaking her head.
  Her pager on her waist went off and Jenny groaned, then pulled it off and dropped it inside her purse. 

Thank god, she wasn't on call tonight.

"So, tell me about it.  Who was that guy in Jasmine Ramos's room that had you so upset?"
Terri went right to the point and Jenny groaned knowing she wasn't going to be able to avoid answering.

"My ex-fiancé," she told her
friend bluntly.

"Wow, he's pretty cute, and a Ranger?"
Terri ventured then took a sip of her beer.

"Yeah, he's cute alright, but he has issues," Jenny told her with a snort.
  Maybe her friend would just leave it at that, she hoped so anyway.  The bartender delivered her wine, and Jenny took a large gulp, then sat it on the bar and stared into it.

"Issues as in subscriptions to magazines, or issues as in problems you didn't want to deal with?"

"He has enough issues to fill a magazine subscription..." Jenny told her with a chuckle.

"Like?"
Terri pushed.

"I really don't want to talk about it."  Jenny knew it was wishful thinking for her bulldog friend to let it go.

"Too bad, you're talking...spill." Terri turned toward her on the stool and tapped her fingers on the bar.  "Obviously, it upset you and you need to talk about it."

She really didn't need to talk about it, didn't want to talk about it, but she knew Terri was not going to let it go.  Swirling the wine in her glass, she told her friend without making eye contact,
"He couldn't say the words, had never said them, even though we were engaged...that was just the cherry on top though.  He accused me of sleeping with his father."

"Holy, shit!"
Terri said and leaned toward her.  "He accused you of that?  No freaking wonder you dumped his sorry ass!"

"Yeah, his mother was a bitter, vindictive bitch
.  She told him I hit on his father, and he believed her."  Might as well get it all out there, Jenny thought.

Terri
snorted then told her indignantly, "Then he didn't deserve you, if he didn't know you better than that."

"Well, it's obvious he's moved on, and I need to do that too."

"With the pretty Latina he was with in the E.R.?" Terri asked and it sent a knife spearing into Jenny's midsection.

"Yeah, they were pretty cozy when I walked into the room to release her," Jenny admitted then told her, "And he acted like he was angry at me!"

"Asshole," Terri mumbled and took another sip of her beer.  "Okay, we're closing that subject--now drink up, because I have more questions."

Jenny picked up her glass and downed the rest of her wine,
threw her head back and downed the shot of vodka, then made eye contact with the bartender and waved her empty wine glass to indicate she needed a refill. 

"I think I'm gonna need another, because I feel the
Terri Cassidy inquisition winding up," Jenny told her with dread in her voice. 

Her friend should have been a cop instead of a nurse, because she could always drag information out of Jenny, even if she didn't want to give it up.

Terri chuckled then asked, "Okay, now tell me about that good looking hunk of man candy that seemed to be very interested in getting to know you better in the E.R. today.  God, that smile melted my panties!"

"Who?" Jenny danced, knowing
Terri meant Chase Rhodes, but definitely not wanting to go down that road with her friend.

"C'mon, sugar...don't be coy.  You're a smart girl, you saw the signs."

"I don't date patients," Jenny told her firmly and took a sip of her new glass of wine the bartender had set in front of her.

"Oh, ho, ho--so he did ask you out!"
Terri hooted.

"Doesn't matter, I don't date patients," Jenny reiterated and took another healthy sip of wine.

"Why the hell not?  He's delicious," Terri told her incredulously.

"Conflict of interest? It would be unprofessional? I'm not in the market? You pick one," Jenny said and swirled the wine in her glass.

"Jeezum, if he had hit on me, I'd have licked that one like a popsicle.  Totally lickable, not that I noticed while we were treating him...but after, wow."

The wine loosened Jenny's lips and before she could help herself, a smile kicked up one corner of her mouth and she nodded, "He is pretty isn't he?"

"Doesn't begin to describe that guy.  You should totally go out with him."  Terri finished her beer and motioned to Jerry for another one.

"Nah, I'm off men for a while.  I need my focus, and they are definitely distractions.  Beau Bowman was enough to put me off of men for good," Jenny chuckled.

"Don't let him win, sugar...like you said he's moved on and you should too.  So, you fell off the horse, get back up there and ride, ride, ride," Terri told her with a lascivious grin.

"It's not a competition or a game, I seriously do not trust men anymore,
girlfriend...or myself," Jenny told her with resignation in her voice.

"You'll never be able to trust them again, until you find one who deserves your trust, honey,"
Terri said and put a hand on her forearm.