Harrier's Healer (11 page)

we would eat and then go shopping so we don’t have to go into town

tomorrow unless we wanted to.”

“Cool.” She removed herself from his touch and asked, “Can

you turn on some lights so I don’t kill myself here?”

“Don’t move. I’ll get some on.” Moments later the room was en-

veloped in a soft light from the recessed and track lighting.

62

Aliyah Burke

“This place is absolutely amazing,” she said, maneuvering

around the leather furniture to reach the stairs. She was oblivious to the

stare that was fixed like epoxy to her hind end.

The new couple walked into the restaurant easily. Alexis nod-

ded as she glanced around. It smelled heavenly in here and the place

looked clean. It was just a small out-of-the-way joint that seemed to

serve hearty food, the kind she loved to eat. There wasn’t one aroma in

particular that tempted her nose; it was the combination of the fries,

steaks, and everything else the place offered.

“Smells great,” she said with a smile.

“They have good food,” Scott spoke as his hand settled on the

small of her back.

“Scott!” a feminine voice yelled from inside the dining area.

Seconds later, a petite, buxom blonde came up, jumped into his arms,

and tried to kiss him.

The woman was unsuccessful. “Lucy, stop it.” He set her down

and moved closer to Alexis.

The blonde pouted, sticking out her lower lip. A lip, in Alexis’s

mind, that had been given a shot to make it look fatter. This woman

seemed to barely have an original part on her anywhere. Still, she was

very attractive, and that made Alexis feel uneasy. “Why didn’t you tell

me you were back, Scott?” Lucy said in that annoying little-girl whine.

“I just got back. I’d like to introduce you to my date. Lucy Rein-

gold, meet Alexis Rogets.” His hand slid to rest on Alexis’s back once

again, an act that Miss Reingold noticed.

Baby blues narrowed as she plastered a false grin on her face.

“Nice to meet you, Alexis. Where do you know my Scott from? What do

you do? I am going to be a medical assistant. Scott likes professional

women. He is in the Navy…a SEAL.” Lucy imparted with an assumed

wisdom, like she was all-important to know it.

“Oh, no, the pleasure is all mine. I love meeting his friends.”

Alexis was being polite, almost professional.

“Well, like I said, he loves professional women, which is why
I

am going to be one.”

I bet you already are one, just not the kind you want advertised, you

freakin’ little ’ho.
“Well, I wish you all the best with that.” She smiled

Harrier's Healer

63

gently before her cat-eyed gaze turned to Scott and sent him a message

saying she wanted to move on.

“It was good seeing you again, Lucy. I’m afraid you’ll have to

excuse us, we are about to get something to eat.” He tried to move past

but she stepped in front of Alexis, glowering at her.

“Don’t think you have any hold over him. He doesn’t need a

woman on welfare to take care of. I know you want him for his money.

I’ve known him for a long time.” Her eyes were narrowed even further

and her voice came out in one long hiss. “Do you even have a job?”

“Not really,” Alexis ground out. Her eyes began to glow with an

eerie spark that made Lucy take a slight step back. “I mean, since I

graduated from Harvard with my measly little M.D., I just play in the

Navy. I don’t really do much work.” Those angry eyes cut over to slice

into the man beside her.

“Please excuse us, Lucy, my date and I want to get some dinner

and our table is ready.” Less politely this time, he brushed past the rude

woman and escorted a still-rigid Alexis to their table. “Sorry about

that,” he whispered in her ear as she sat down and he slid her chair in at

the table.

Alexis just shrugged.
Two choices here, Lex. One, be mad and ruin

the whole evening; or two, accept that he is an extremely handsome man and

many women are going to know him, especially if his family has a home here—

not to mention the cabin in which you and he are sharing a room tonight, so

buck up. He is taking you home with him.
“You don’t have to apologize to

me,” she said in a relatively calm voice.

Looking across the table, Scott waited to see if the tension would

leave her body. He groaned as he didn’t notice any of it dissipate.

Figures that damn Lucy would ruin what could very well have been the best

night of my life.
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable and Lucy has

a way of doing that.”

One side of her mouth turned up in a sarcastic smile. “Trust me,

it would take much more than whatever that little wannabe has to offer

to make me uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have gotten snippy with her so I

apologize.”

A blond eyebrow rose. “Why would you apologize? I think it’s

wonderful you were jealous of her.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “I was
not
jealous. And I was apolo-

gizing because I am sure you know lots of people around here and I

don’t want to be the cause of any discontent between you and them.”

64

Aliyah Burke

Scott winked at her. “You
were
jealous.” He fell silent as the wai-

ter came and took their order. After the man left, he sent her another

knee-knocking grin. “I find that sexy as hell.”

“You are incorrigible. Do you know that?” Alexis asked after

watching him for a while.

He flashed a brilliant white smile. “So I have been told from

time to time.” She shook her head in mock irritation but held her tongue

because their food had arrived.

It was dark as he pulled the black Corvette into the almost-

empty parking lot of the grocery store. Scott waited for her and walked

beside her into the store, his callused hand once again settled at the base

of her spine. He grabbed the cart and said, “See, I told you I knew how

to shop.”

“All I see is a man who is holding onto a shopping cart. That

isn’t shopping. I will be impressed once I see how you shop and what

you buy.” Alexis crossed her arms and sent him a skeptical look.

“Oh, I am all good, baby, all good,” he said in that seductive

purr he had and leaned in closer, “and I am so looking forward to

showing you just how good I am.”

Biting the inside of her lip to keep from smiling or showing him

how his words affected her, Alexis lifted one shoulder and dropped it

nonchalantly. “Big talk from a man. What a surprise. I am still waiting

to be impressed.” Her tiger eyes were full of humor as she watched for

his reaction.

She didn’t have long to wait. His strong arms reached out and

swept her into his embrace. Putting them nose to nose, he growled,

“Don’t test me, woman, I will leave this store in a second and take you

home.”

Her tongue snuck out and licked along the corner of his mouth.

“Well, now, that may impress me.”

Scott shuddered. “I should have called ahead and had the house

stocked with food, that way I could take you home right now. But we

need some food, ’cause I know we will be working up an appetite.” His

tongue repaid the favor by teasing her lips.

“Well, I like caramel and chocolate sauce. A little whipped

cream is also nice.” Her eyes flashed with barely restrained passion.

A groan slipped out of his mouth seconds before he descended

upon her full, begging-to-be-kissed mouth. Dragging his lips off hers,

he mumbled, “You are a wicked and naughty woman. Let’s get going

Harrier's Healer

65

so we can get the hell out of here.” Another fast kiss and he was practi-

cally dragging her through the store, tossing items into the cart.

The drive back to the cabin was quicker than it should have been

had he been obeying all traffic laws. Scott’s mind was full of images of

the woman beside him without clothes on. He wanted her so badly, his

body hurt.

Turning into the driveway he swore, “Damn it all to hell!”

Alexis glanced from him to the house. “What is it?”

“My brother is here,” he said in a resigned tone.

“How can you tell?”

“I left the light on low; now it’s on medium.” He turned off the

car and tightened his hands around the steering wheel.
Why in the hell

am I only allowed to get so close to her before something or someone intrudes?

“You haven’t mentioned your brothers all that much, and while

I know you have two brothers and one sister, do you not get along?”

“We have our moments. But I didn’t want to do anything except

take you in the house and make love to you.”

Her soft eyes met his in the soft ceiling light of the car. “We have

a week together. I want to make love to you, too, but we can’t stay out

here in the car. There are perishable items in here and I need to check

your wound again.”

She wants to make love.
Scott felt his body twitch in response.

“Okay.” He got out of the car and opened the door for her. They each

gathered a few bags from the trunk and headed to the door. Scott

unlocked it and kicked it open with a foot, yelling as soon as he got in

the cabin, “Reeve? Where are you?”

“Don’t yell, Scott. I’m right here,” a deep voice reached them as

a man walked into view.

He was tall, maybe two inches shorter than Scott, and in good

shape, though not even close to his brother’s league as it was difficult

for most people to be in the same physical shape as a Navy SEAL. His

facial features were similar to Scott’s as well, though he was dark-

haired where Scott was light.

“What are you doing here?” Scott asked as he stepped aside for

Alexis to slide up next to him, carrying her handful of bags.

66

Aliyah Burke

Reeve didn’t answer; his dark eyes had landed upon the curva-

ceous black woman who stood next to the eldest Leighton brother while

holding about five bags of groceries. “Who are you?” he questioned.

“My name is Lex,” she said as she skirted around the man in her

way and walked towards the kitchen.

“Reeve, there are six more bags in the car. Get them and bring

’em to the kitchen,” Scott ordered as he moved into the kitchen, fully

expecting his brother to do as he was told. He did.

When the black-haired man walked into the kitchen with the

remaining bags in his hands, the light music of a cell phone went off.

Alexis reached for her phone, flipping it open. “Rogets.” With a wave to

Scott, whose eyes had narrowed, she headed out of the kitchen to take

her call in private, allowing the brothers a chance to talk.

C h a p t e r T e n

“What is going on here, Scott?” Reeve asked, though Scott didn’t

let up his possessive observance of the woman leaving the room with

her phone cradled to her ear.

“I am on vacation. What are you doing here?” He didn’t even

glance at Reeve, waiting for Alexis to come back into the kitchen.

“I was at the beach house and saw you come in for the keys to

your cabin. Why didn’t you tell us you were home? We’ve been worried

about you.” The second oldest, Reeve got along the best with Scott.

“I haven’t been home that long.”

“Long enough to get a woman. Where’d you pick her up?

Granted she is a good looking piece of—”

“Brother or not, if you value your life that sentence will never be

finished.” Scott issued the warning in a deadly calm voice.

Reeve shivered at the look in his brother’s eyes. “Who is she,

Scott?”

“Her name is Alexis Rogets. And before your mind even begins

to think like that, she isn’t after my money. She is a doctor.”

One dark eyebrow arched as Reeve cocked his head. “Is this the

one from two years ago that had you off women?” That deep voice

turned teasing.

Scott wanted to snap at his brother for putting it like that, but if

he were willing to tease him about his attraction to Lex then all the

better, for it was preferable to the alternative. His family, being from old

Southern money, could have views that made Scott’s skin crawl at

times. “She’s the one.”

“A doctor?” Reeve winked. “Well, considering what you do for

a living, I guess you should have one around.”

68

Aliyah Burke

“Very funny, little brother. Keep that up and you will be glad

she is around to fix you up after I kick the crap out of you,” Scott

snapped playfully.

“Hey, I’m only speaking the truth.” Reeve sobered up for a

second. “Aren’t you breaking some sort of protocol being with her?”

“No!” His hands clenched as he bit off his response. “We aren’t

in the same command, so we aren’t breaking any rules.”

“Works for me. So, tell me, what does she see in an ugly mug

like yours? You know she is gonna want someone handsome.”

“Just keep on shoveling the shit, Charleston Reeve Kirkland

Leighton, just keep on shovelin’,” Scott dared him.

“Man, don’t call me that. You know I hate my name.”

“Truce?” Scott offered.