Roaming Wild (Steele Ridge Book 6) Read online

  5

  “You didn’t tell me you and Evie weren’t cool,” Lisa said, maneuvering the Med Mobile onto the road.

  Deke was still fuming about his encounter with Evie. “I didn’t know myself.”

  “Think. You did something to piss her off.” Lisa snapped on her turn signal. “Not much rattles Evie, but you did back there.”

  “Maybe if you’d given her a head’s-up, she wouldn’t have been so surprised.”

  “It slipped my mind. Evie’s used to my absent-mindedness. Besides, she loves people and hanging with friends. Under normal circumstances, she would have been happy about the situation. I’m sure of it. There’s something going on.”

  “I’ve got nothing. A few days ago, I saw her for the first time in several months. She seemed like she wanted to pick a fight with me then, too. Kept talking about me being gone.” He rubbed his fingers over his left eyebrow a couple times. “I don’t know why it bothered her. I’ve been off-the-grid several times over the last five years.”

  “Did anything happen between the two of you before you left?”

  “I don’t recall an argument.”

  “But did anything happen?”

  He frowned. “Romantically?”

  “Yes, you clod.”

  A familiar image surfaced. One where he’d walked Evie to her car, and she’d flung herself into his arms. She’d kissed him with enthusiasm that he would later recognize as liquid courage. But that night, he’d accepted her passion, devoured it. He’d waited years to caress her soft lips with his, to burrow his hands beneath the thick fan of her hair, to match his heartbeat to hers.

  When he ended the kiss, he’d stared into wide, shocked eyes and knew she would regret her impulsiveness the next morning. So he’d left for his next assignment a day earlier than scheduled, saving her from an apology that neither of them would find comfortable.

  Could that be the reason for her anger? Because he’d left without giving her a chance to apologize?

  “If you have to think about your answer that long, you’re either hiding something or clueless.”

  “I’m not hiding anything.” Telling Lisa about Evie’s drunken kiss was out of the question. “I’d certainly remember if anything had happened with Evie.” Maybe Evie didn’t even remember kissing him. Maybe she was upset about something else. He raked his mind for another possibility. “Before I left, she and I attended a ceremony for Britt’s research center. We ate, we talked, we danced, and we might have had a little too much to drink. Everyone over-imbibed that day.”

  “Did you insinuate something? Make fun of her hair? Cop a feel?”

  “No, no, and hell no.”

  “You said you drank too much. Maybe you forgot.”

  “Not likely.” He surveyed his surroundings. “Where are we going again?”

  “To a little community not far from Weaverville.”

  “Have you heard anything about the grant?”

  “Not yet. I’ve never applied for this particular grant before. The dollar amount is significant, so the application process was much more intense than usual.”

  “How many more days of operating funds do you have?”

  “Enough to complete this tour.”

  “Then what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t have any more funding options?”

  “Not right now.”

  “What about your supervisor at the clinic? What’s he doing to help?”

  “Not everyone’s as attached to this program as I am. However, Dr. Muir’s doing what he can to protect the funding that the clinic provides. I couldn’t ask for more.”

  They both fell victim to their own thoughts for several winding miles. What would Evie do if the MedTour lost its funding?

  “Are you sure it’s a good idea to keep the real reason behind your presence from Evie?”

  He clenched his teeth, regretting that he’d let the grant conversation wane. “The less she knows the better.”

  “I can see that you care for her. If she ever finds out about your deception, she might not be able to forgive you.”

  He glanced out the side window. Instead of rolling tree-covered hills, he saw an image of Evie’s smiling, beautiful features collapsing into a pool of betrayal and mistrust.

  “I’m already regretting my decision to bring you into the fold.”

  “Even if you hadn’t, I would’ve guessed you were investigating something.” She caught his skeptical expression. “You forget that I spent over a year navigating your half-truths and vague answers before calling it quits.”

  Halfway through graduate school, he and Lisa had taken their friendship a step farther, becoming lovers. They’d celebrated his first job with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tangled together near a campfire in the Smokies. When he’d completed the training to become a special agent, she’d made him a pot of spaghetti before heading off to work. After his third long absence and inability to answer her questions, they’d shared a beer and decided they made better friends.

  “Evie doesn’t have a deceptive bone in her body. If someone started poking around, she wouldn’t be able to pull off ignorance.”

  “You’re underestimating Evie. She’s fiercely loyal to her family—and I assume she’d be the same with her friends. Plus, I’ve seen her navigate some pretty tricky situations with patients.”

  “I can’t chance it.”

  “What if she finds out?”

  “I’ll have a lot of apologizing to do.”

  “An apology might not be enough.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s the best I can offer.” He drew his iPad from his backpack. “Look, I know what I’m about to say will sound cold. Evie’s disappointment in me isn’t my main concern right now. Successfully completing this assignment is.” He wiped at a smudge on the screen and only managed to make it worse. “If what I’m about to embark on winds up hurting her, no one will rip me apart more than myself.”

  “At least try to keep your lies to a minimum, then. She’ll have less to forgive when the truth comes out.”

  6

  The med caravan pulled into Tanner Pharmacy’s parking lot, and Lisa went inside to say hello. Partnering with local pharmacies had proven beneficial for everyone. Lisa didn’t have to keep a large stock of medications, the pharmacy got some extra business, and patients received their prescriptions at a discounted price.

  Evie threw on a set of light pink scrubs and memory foam shoes before heading next door to the Med Mobile. Normally, she’d be wearing a mile-wide smile right now. She loved spending time with patients and puzzling out their symptoms. But today her every step seemed weighted with wet sand.

  Would Deke watch her every move? Log everything she said on a recorder or notepad? Would he stand too close, smell too good? Could she keep her eyes on her patients with him in the same room? Would her hands tremble under his scrutiny?

  Sweet baby Jesus. This was going to be the longest two weeks of her life.

  The door to the Med Mobile swung open as she approached, and Deke stuck his head out. Almost as if he’d been watching for her out the window. Don’t go there.

  “I’m riding with you next time. Lisa took ten years off my life on those switchbacks.”

  “She’s been maneuvering these roads for years.”

  He studied her a moment. “Has the shock worn off yet?”

  For a split second, her attention shifted away, but she forced her gaze up to his. “I enjoy your company, Deke.”

  “Why such a negative reaction to my joining you?”

  “I need to focus on my patients.”

  Closing the door, he descended the two stairs to stand before her. “You can’t do that with me nearby?”

  The answer adhered to her throat like molasses.

  Inches separated them now. His shadow engulfed her, chilled her.

  “It’s the kiss, isn’t it?”

  He remembered.

  “If my leaving the next day upse
t you, I’m sorry. I wanted to spare both of us the awkwardness.”

  “Awkward?”

  “Too much alcohol. An intimate moment.” The blue in his eyes intensified. “Regrets and next-day apologies. Or worse, oblivion.” He shrugged. “It happens.”

  Did he really think she’d been that tanked? Tipsy, yes. But drunk to the point of amnesia? She was beginning to wish her mind had failed.

  “I remember everything about that night.” Her eyes sparked. “And the next day.”

  “Then my decision to leave had been the right one.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “When I ended the kiss, your wide-eyed expression made your feelings clear.”

  “What is it that you think my eyes revealed?”

  “I know regret when I see it.” He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. “You’re still my Squirt.”

  Frustration churned at a nauseating speed in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t want to be his Squirt. Well, she did, but she craved far more. And she was damn tired of hiding the fact.

  “You missed the mark on this one, big guy. What you saw was shock.”

  “Shock.” He said the word as if testing the arrangement of letters on his tongue.

  Moving into the small space between them, she angled her face up, beneath his. “I didn’t handle last year well. Nerves and alcohol made me clumsy and unsophisticated. My inept attempt at seduction ended in embarrassment. But more than that, I couldn’t believe you’d kissed me back. With such passion.”

  She breathed in his scent, his heat, and her voice lowered. “I’ve wanted you longer than I can remember. I want to feel you inside me, over me, behind me—not brotherly nose taps. I’ve been waiting for your Neanderthal brain to catch up and realize I’m a grown woman—with a woman’s needs.”

  He stared at her for several clock-ticking seconds. Enough time for her to start analyzing her words and deciding she’d lost her flipping mind. Then he blinked, and his shadow heated around her.

  “Neanderthal brain?”

  “I know you’re attracted to me,” she whispered. “I’ve seen the way you look at me, sometimes.”

  “Yes.” His index finger slid along the ridge of her nose, over her lips, down her chin. “But I’ve got a dozen years on you. Almost a lifetime.”

  “Is that why you’ve never acted on your interest?”

  “I thought about it a few times.”

  “But?”

  His features hardened. “You were too damn young.”

  “Are you saying you don’t care that I’m Britt’s sister?”

  “No, I’m not saying that. If we got together and things didn’t work out, I could potentially lose your friendship and Britt’s. Both of which are important to me.”

  Invisible arms curled around her chest and squeezed until it became difficult for her to inhale. “Do you still think I’m too young?”

  “Yes.” The one word emerged flat, yet unyielding.

  “A dozen years isn’t a lifetime. Nine years separate my mom and dad, and they still managed to produce six kids.”

  “How did her career play into their relationship?”

  “Mama never went to college.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Money was tight.”

  “Couldn’t her parents afford to help with tuition?”

  The onset of fear stabbed her heart. “No.”

  “Why?”

  “Our situation’s different than my parents.”

  “They married young, right?”

  She couldn’t answer. Couldn’t travel the path he wanted to lead her down.

  “I recall Miss Joan saying once that if she couldn’t teach the kids, she’d do the next best thing.”

  Although her mom never complained about her lot, she’d at one time dreamed of being a math teacher. She loved numbers and analyzing things and children. But she and Eddy Steele started having babies not long after they married, and all thoughts of higher education and classrooms disappeared. Instead, Joan Steele took a part-time office position at the elementary school, where she could be around the children and do a bit of tutoring on the side.

  All in all, her mom appeared happy with her life. Now, thanks to Deke, Evie wondered if her mom had crafted a well-executed façade.

  “Did she give up her dream of teaching to start a family?” Deke asked in a quiet voice.

  Emotion burned the backs of her eyes. “I see where you’re going with this and, the truth is, I don’t know. Though I love her to death, I’m not my mom.”

  “But you’ve set your sights on a man whose thoughts have turned toward finding a wife and having kids.”

  “You want a family?”

  “Watching Britt with Randi has made me realize there’s much in this life that I’m missing.” He stroked a skein of her hair between his fingers. “Are you ready to put your career on hold in order to marry and bear a few rugrats?”

  She wanted to say yes, wanted to do whatever it would take to be with him. Wanted to tell him that women do it every…single…day. Yet all words of assurance clung to the tip of her tongue. The muscles in her throat tautened, and his image wavered, grew bleary.

  “Babe, don’t.” He cradled her jaw and rested his forehead against hers. “You’ll find someone more your age.”

  “I don’t want—”

  “Hear me out.” He kissed her forehead. “Find someone who’ll grow with you, someone who’ll give you the time to continue your schooling or settle into a career. Someone who won’t be making demands of you before you’re ready.”

  “We can work something out. Figure out a compromise.”

  “I would never ask you to compromise your dream.”

  “Evie!” Lisa called from across the parking lot. “Is the Med Mobile prepped?”

  “Not quite,” she answered without turning around.

  “We open for business in thirty minutes. I’m going to put on my scrubs.”

  Evie used Lisa’s distraction to slip around Deke and climb onto the bottom step leading into the Med Mobile. With her five-foot-ten height, the new position brought her up even with Deke. She bent toward his ear, swallowing hard, forcing down the emotion. “You don’t understand. I’ve already compromised my dream. For years.”

  She turned and went inside.

  “I’m in Haden’s Hollow,” Deke said into his earbud mic. He sat down on a curb facing the RVs and broke open his breakfast—a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.

  “Anything yet?” Keone asked.

  “Nope, the ladies are preparing for their first patient. I’m staying out of the way.” He snagged a triangle from the bag and shoved the whole chip into his mouth while keeping his attention on the Med Mobile’s door.

  “Smart.”

  “Got anything on who betrayed our mission and killed my source?”

  “Are you eating in my ear?”

  “I’m hungry.”

  “Could you at least cover the receiver?” Keone didn’t wait for an answer. “The suspicious activity Marisol spotted south of the barn wound up being the exit side of an extensive escape route. The Distributor’s men were loading the last of the contraband into trucks while we were descending on the barn.”

  “The Distributor must have been confident about the barn’s concealment to invest in that kind of infrastructure.”

  “If not for your source, we would’ve never located it. Know anything about Gold Star?”

  “No, what’s that?”

  “No clue. We found a reference to it in the barn.”

  “See if Jax can come up with anything.”

  “Is that a good idea, considering the whole team’s under investigation?”

  “Shit. I hate this.” He rubbed his fingers tips over his right eyebrow. “How much more time do you need?”

  “It’s hard to say. I don’t have the same technological resources as Jax and Taji.”

  “Do what you can to wrap up your investigation. I’d like the team cleared of
any connection to the Distributor before I have to tap into our auxiliary support again.”

  His medical leave couldn’t have come at a better time. By being part of the MedTour, he could scope out the area without having to request intel or travel arrangements or a dozen other necessities that went along with undercover work. The fewer people who knew what he was up to, the better.

  “Will do.”

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Roger that.”

  He pulled the buds from his ears and stuffed them into his jeans pocket.

  Some townsfolk milled around the outside of the RV emblazoned with Med Mobile - Bringing Quality Health Care to Your Hometown.

  A chip got stuck in the back of his throat, and he snatched up his water bottle lying in the grass behind him. Opening it, he took a large swallow.

  To anyone’s eye, he would appear a bored, thirty-something guy with not much to do. But those who knew him would recognize the rhythmic sweeps he made over the growing crowd, analyzing, calculating, memorizing. A middle-aged woman with large, swollen ankles, using a walker to get around; a preteen boy throwing rocks across the parking lot and ignoring his mother’s hellfire warnings to stop; an elderly man sitting limp in a wheelchair, his head tilted to the side while his rheumy eyes stared at the ground; a bearded guy idling in his decades-old truck, smoke billowing out the driver’s side window.

  They all needed medical attention, for one reason or another. And they’d all traveled several miles to see Lisa and Evie, the only affordable health care around.

  Evie.

  She’d damned near made him blush with her bold talk of hot sex. In all the years he’d known her, he’d never heard her speak so explicitly.

  The fact that she’d been aware of his interest bothered him. He’d tried damn hard to keep his inappropriate thoughts barricaded in a well-fortified compartment. When had he shown his hand? Had Britt picked up on it, too?

  How the hell was he going to survive his craving for Evie? Especially now, knowing that she’d been as tangled up in knots for him as he’d been for her. Why couldn’t he be six or seven years younger? Or someone who had no interest in building a big family? He’d always wanted a wife and kids, though that image had been a distant one, always in the future.