Page 27

Eli gently lifted her onto the side of his desk. He didn’t have the words. But he could show her.

Her mouth fell open in what looked like delight.

She raised her brows. “Dr. Murphy…” And the teasing was back.

He liked the teasing. He liked her. And Eli Murphy hadn’t liked in years.

She grabbed the knotted drawstring of his scrubs and tugged him closer.

“I was surprised…before,” he admitted, referring to the kiss. “But it doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.”

Beth nodded, and her fingers fidgeted with the still tied string.

“Are you surprised now?” she asked.

Her pinky skimmed his more than obvious erection, and Eli let out a soft growl.

“Yes,” he whispered. Everything about this woman surprised him, kept him on his toes, yet somehow kept his head out of the fog that hung over this day. “You surprise me at every turn, and I don’t know what to do with that.”

She thought for a moment. “Is that a good thing?” This time, her thumb swirled around the two thin layers of cotton covering his tip.

“Yes,” he whispered again, this time through clenched teeth.

“It’s your turn,” she told him. “Surprise me.”

Eli wrapped his hand around hers, not wanting her to stop what she was doing but needing her to stop if he was going to give himself a second to think.

All week, he’d been racking his brain, trying to figure out how to apologize for the way he’d behaved when she asked to ride Midnight. Only now did he realize that his bad behavior last week wasn’t the only reason Beth had lingered in his thoughts each day, long after the clinic had closed.

“I thought you didn’t like surprises,” he reminded her, buying himself some time to wrap his head around what was happening—around what was about to happen. “I seem to recall something about pepper spray and maybe a pitchfork?”

Beth pressed her lips together and fought back a grin. Finally she said, “Maybe I just needed someone to change my mind, to prove that surprises could actually be good. What do you think, Doc? Wanna change my mind?”

If he’d been waiting for any clearer permission, she’d just granted it.

And he did. He really wanted to change her mind.

Eli pressed his palms against the desk on either side of her, then dipped his head and brought his mouth to within a breath of hers.

“Would it surprise you if I knocked everything off my desk and laid you out right here?”

She swallowed, her breath hitching when she inhaled. “Yes.”

He smiled. “Because I’m not gonna do that. It would make a huge mess that I don’t want to clean up later.” Though the tremble in her yes almost made him ignore his reason. Almost.

Beth barked out a laugh, and he took advantage of the disarming moment and hoisted her onto his hips.

She yelped, then laughed some more as she crossed her legs behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He carried her toward the office door.

“Wait!” she cried, and Eli stopped short, sure that she was going to be the one to call off what they both knew was a very bad idea. Instead she grinned and grabbed the cattleman from where it hung on the hook just inside his door, depositing it onto his head.

“Why?” he asked, knowing full well that whatever they were about to do did not require a hat.

She shrugged. “It suits you,” she told him. “Makes you look more…I don’t know…you.”

Eli shook off the uneasy feeling in his gut and reminded himself that he had a beautiful woman in his arms who seemed to want him as much as he wanted her. So he continued their journey, striding back through the clinic, out the door, and straight across the short walkway that led to the guesthouse. He paused for a brief moment at the front door.