Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(41)

He turned to go and she called, “Aiden?” He looked at her over his shoulder. “I had a good time,” she said. “Thank you.”

“We’ll do it again,” he said. “I’ll always let you win.” Then he winked.

While Erin slept, she dreamed of a handsome, sensitive, funny, testosterone-oozing man; she felt his lips on hers and his hands on her waist pulling her close, and she was swept away. It was like a fantasy come true, meeting this hairy, smelly homeless guy and clean him up and poof—he’s a prince. And no question about it—he liked her. Things like this didn’t happen to her. Thirty-six years old and, in the most unlikely place on the planet, she ran into the sexiest, most tempting man she’d ever met.

It was barely after sunrise when she heard the toot of the horn and when she sat up in bed, her entire body revolted. She flopped back down. She couldn’t move.

She heard the knocking at the door and she tried rolling over. Agony everywhere. She lay there, still. Soon, he was right in her bedroom, standing over her. “That’s what I thought. Stiff?”

“How in the world did you get in?” she asked.

“Well, the key was under the flowerpot and I think the bureau you pushed up against the door is empty. It slid like it was on glass. I’m pretty sure I’m smarter than a bear, but if I’m not…So, sore? Stiff?”

“Stiff doesn’t touch it,” she said. “That was very irresponsible of you. You have some medical training and should know better than to take me on an hours-long bike ride like that without making sure I’m up to it. Every muscle in my body is on fire. Even my neck hurts. Why does my neck hurt?”

“Leaning over the handlebars, straining your neck muscles forward in a desperate move to win a race. Want me to take off all my clothes and come in there, give you a nice rubdown?”

“If you touch me, I’ll kill you. Go away—I can’t move.”

He sat down on the edge of her bed. “You took off like a shot on that bike because you’re competitive, that’s what. I’ll put a bottle of over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicine on the counter. Do yourself a favor—warm up your muscles in the shower and move around a little. The biggest mistake you can make is sitting around all day. I’ll make you a pot of coffee before I go.”

“Go?” she asked, half rising. Then she fell back onto the bed with a moan.

“I came over to make sure your muscles were all right. I have something I have to do today. I was going to take you for a hike through a redwood grove, but maybe it’s for the best something came up. How about if I come back later? For dinner?”

“Can’t,” she said. “I’m terrified to cook up good smells because of that bear.”

“Okay, fair enough. I’ll bring groceries when I come and we’ll make it together. It’ll be fun.” He stood up from the edge of the bed. “Listen, move around a little today or you’ll lock up. I’ll see you later.”

“I thought we decided you were going to ask me,” she said.

He grinned at her. “Stop telling me what to do. I’m going to write down my brother’s phone number for you—you should call if you have a problem with the bear. Luke will come over and shoot him for you and he’d like that. Take the anti-inflammatory medicine every four hours whether you think you need it or not, and stretch your muscles gently.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Tomorrow we’ll take it easy.” He turned to go and looked over his shoulder. “Water my tomatoes,” he said with a smile.

“Now they’re your tomatoes? Not much of a gift…”

“I’ll see you later.”

And he was gone. Before long she heard the door close and the sound of his car leaving. Then she smelled coffee.

I’m going to have to start hiding that key better, she thought. But then she smiled. Maybe not. This was getting interesting….

“Tomorrow?” she said to herself. “He’s already planning tomorrow?”

Aiden did a lot of driving after leaving Erin—all the way to Redding and back. His headhunter wanted him to at least have lunch with a couple of OBs who had a practice there. The Redding docs were ready to expand and had been putting out feelers for the right physician.

When Aiden had started this ex-navy adventure, he wasn’t sure what he wanted or where he wanted to settle, which allowed the headhunter to throw a really wide net. He thought he could be just as happy in a big city as a smaller one, as long as he was relatively close to Luke and Shelby, the only family that was no longer moving around.

The two doctors he met with in Redding, a man and a woman, impressed him on both personal and professional levels. They were looking for help because their practice was in high demand. In addition to OB-GYN they also offered a couple of hard-to-find subspecialties—fertility and perinatology or high-risk pregnancy, both of which interested Aiden. If things worked out, they could be offering him an associate’s position that could lead to a partnership.

But now his thoughts were darting off in other directions; he was beginning to wonder what Chico had to offer. Or, failing Chico, perhaps Davis, Sacramento or even San Francisco, anything closer to Chico than Redding happened to be. Yes, the long-legged strawberry blonde was creeping under his skin, and when he thought about her it brought a nice warm rush to his blood flow and a tightening to his groin.