Or, more accurately, had almost allowed him to kiss her. What had she been thinking?
But as soon as the question crossed her mind, she knew the answer. She’d been thinking how much she longed to feel his lips on hers again, how much she longed to feel his strong arms around her, and wondering what the harm really could be in giving in.
The problem was, she knew all too well that one kiss wasn’t where it would end with Gabe Dawson. Not that she worried he would seduce her into doing anything she wasn’t willing to do. For all his womanizing, Gabe was always described as a gentleman. Heck, if he hadn’t been, he certainly wouldn’t have had all his ex-whatevers sending him gifts in the hospital. And he’d proven just how much of a gentleman he could be that night a year ago. He’d let her take the lead, only going as far as she was comfortable with. And when things had become truly hot and heavy and they were lying together on his bed, half-naked, he’d slowed it down, backing off.
Oh, no. It wasn’t Gabe she didn’t trust. Quite the contrary. She was the one she worried about. She wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. And as nice as it might’ve been to give in to Gabe’s advances, she wasn’t going to fall into bed with him just to satisfy her curiosity.
“Hi again!”
Recognizing the chipper voice of the quirky doctor she’d met the day before, Elle spun around, ready to politely explain that as much as she’d like to chat, she really couldn’t stay, only to find the doctor offering Tom a friendly grin and enthusiastic wave. Tom looked like a trapped animal who would very happily gnaw off his own foot if it meant he could escape.
“Hi, Isa,” he muttered. Then he sent a pleading look Elle’s way. “This is Elle McCoy. She’s—”
Isabel flashed Elle her pixie grin. “Hi! How are you? How’s the head healing?”
“It’s doing okay,” Elle assured her. Then she frowned a little, looking back and forth between Tom and Isabel. “We were just here visiting Tom’s brother.”
“I thought that might be the case,” the doctor said, her grin not diminishing. “I was so surprised when I ran into Tom yesterday! I didn’t make the connection between him and my patient.”
Elle’s brows went up at this. “You knew Tom already?”
She nodded. “Oh yeah! We met ages ago. He’s my knight in shining armor.”
Elle blinked a couple of times in disbelief, then turned a questioning gaze on Tom. “Really? How so?”
“It’s not important,” Tom mumbled. “It was nothing.”
“Nothing?” Isabel said with a laugh. “Are you kidding? He doesn’t give himself enough credit. He saved my life.”
Elle now understood perfectly. Of all the Dawson brothers, Tom was the most humble—almost to a fault. Isabel was absolutely correct that he didn’t give himself enough credit. But that still didn’t quite explain Tom’s reaction to the woman. Elle couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the story.
Fortunately for Tom, Isabel’s cell phone beeped, distracting her. She took the phone from the clip at her waist and checked the screen. “Sorry, have to get to surgery. It was great seeing you both again!”
Tom mumbled something indistinguishable, then turned and headed for the nearest exit.
“What was that all about?” Elle asked, glad to turn the conversation away from Tom’s inquisitiveness and distract him from asking her any additional questions.
“I told you, it’s not important,” Tom said. “She’s exaggerating.”
Elle laughed. “Liar. What happened?”
He sent an irritated look her way. “A few years ago, a woman and her daughter were brought in with severe injuries. They’d been beaten by the woman’s boyfriend. The girl was in a coma and wasn’t expected to make it. The woman had internal bleeding and required emergency surgery. I was called in to investigate and get a statement from Isa, who’d been the surgeon working on the wife, when the guy burst in and went apeshit. He shot two security guards and took Isa hostage, demanding access to his wife or he’d kill the doctor. I managed to negotiate her release and apprehend the suspect.”
“I remember that story!” Elle said, now understanding why the doctor’s name had sounded familiar. They lived in a largely rural county comprised of several small towns and cities, but violence and crime weren’t just problems for the big city. If they were, Elle wouldn’t have had a job. Meth houses were popping up in suburbia all over the country; drugs were a growing problem, regardless of socioeconomics. And domestic violence certainly knew no boundaries. Elle had counseled women from all walks of life who’d been the victims of violence. “He received the maximum sentence, if I’m not mistaken.”