“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I got your name.”
She looked up at him and frowned, then realized she’d been a complete moron and hadn’t bothered to introduce herself. “I’m so sorry, Officer. I’m Emma Burnett.”
“Nice to meet you, Emma. Are you new in town?”
“Actually, I grew up here. My parents live over on Willow.”
He nodded. “Did you go to Oakdale High?”
“No. I went to Hope High.”
“Oh. I went to Oakdale.”
That’s why she didn’t recognize him right off. He’d gone to the high school nearer to the county line. “Your name sounds familiar. Did you play football for Oakdale?”
“Yeah. Wide receiver.”
She remembered reading about him in the newspaper. He’d been good.
“So this is your clinic now?” he asked.
“Yes, sir.”
She grabbed the film and slid it in.
“Luke.”
She looked up. “Excuse me?”
“Call me Luke. Not ‘officer,’ and definitely not ‘sir.’ Too formal.”
He’d cracked a smile. He had a quirky, kind of off-kilter smile, and greenish blue eyes that went really well with his dark hair. He had a rugged face, a square jaw, and again, that really sexy mouth.
Not that she was looking at him in that way, because she didn’t do that anymore.
She and men were definitely off-limits. She’d learned her lesson the hard way.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be nice to her clients. “Okay, then, Luke. Let’s get this X-ray going. I need you to position his leg here for me, then if possible, ask him not to move.”
“No problem. Boomer—stay.”
Boomer lay perfectly still as they went behind the screen so she could take the shot.
“Good boy,” Luke said to Boomer after the X-ray was taken. He swept his hand over the dog’s back and neck, showing care and affection.
She liked seeing that in a dog’s owner.
“Just one more film and that should do it. I need to turn him this way.”
Luke helped her, and she couldn’t help noticing his hands. Strong. Big. Masculine, with a fine sprinkling of dark hair on his forearms. He hadn’t worn a coat inside, and had some serious muscle peeking out from the hem of his uniform shirt.
But she wasn’t looking, and she definitely wasn’t interested, despite the pinging in her nerve endings that thought otherwise.
Chemistry couldn’t be denied. But that was biology. She had a choice, and she already knew what her choices were these days regarding men.
She took Luke behind the screen and captured the second X-ray.
But he did smell really good, though it wasn’t cologne. Shampoo, maybe? Or soap?
Did they make scented soap for men? She had no idea.
But she wasn’t interested, so it didn’t matter what kind of soap he used.
“Are we done?”
She looked at him. “Yes. Yes, we are.” She turned one way and he went the other, so they bumped into each other. He reached out for her arms to steady her, and she found herself staring up into those amazing eyes of his.
“Sorry,” he said, with a deep laugh that Emma felt deep in her belly.
“No. It’s my fault.” He took a step back and she moved around him.
He had her acting like a teenager, all filled with raging hormones. Ugh.
“Just wait here a second with Boomer so I can make sure we don’t need to retake any shots.”
She hurried out of the room, and took a deep breath when she got into the reading room.
What was wrong with her? She’d had male customers all day long. Some had been really good-looking, too, yet none of them had affected her like Luke was doing now.
Likely because she hadn’t been alone all day. That had to be it. She never put herself in a position to be alone with a guy. And though Luke was a police officer, owned a dog, and seemed all nice and trustworthy, she knew better than to trust any man.
She’d been na?ve and trusting once, and it had cost her dearly. She was never going to be that stupid again, no matter how gorgeous a man was, or how nice he seemed.
Or how good he smelled.
Besides, this was the year of her career and nothing else. And so far, day one had been spectacular.