The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [60]
It was late in the day, and a barrage of patients had kept him busy for several solid hours. He hadn’t had a chance to visit with her as he usually did. Twice she had poked her head into his office to offer him lunch or a quick snack. Even seeing her for those brief moments had brightened his day, as if he’d grown accustomed to her and had been suffering withdrawal from her absence.
He didn’t like the feeling. Never before had he felt annoyed by having so many patients, or having to deal with the occasional imaginary illness. He was known for his patience and kindness, not his lust.
But lust today had ruled him, just as it had since he’d first laid eyes on her.
Right now, Honey was hanging over Gabe’s shoulder while he looked at her car engine. Gabe had done a fair job of taking his time on the car. He’d ordered unnecessary parts, replaced things that didn’t need replacing and generally stalled as long as he could. But Honey was getting antsy. There’d been no sign of the men after her, and Morgan hadn’t been able to turn up a damn thing, though he’d alerted several people in town to let him know of any strangers passing through. Now all they could do was wait, but Honey was done waiting. She’d gotten it into her head that she was taking advantage of them and therefore should get out from underfoot.
Sawyer grunted to himself as he leaned on the shed door, watching her and Gabe together. His hair was still wet from his recent shower, but the heat pounding down on his head and radiating from the lush ground would quickly dry it. Already his T-shirt was starting to stick to his back, and his temper felt precarious at best, in sync with the sweltering summer weather and his disturbing thoughts of a woman he shouldn’t want, but did.
Honey had no way of knowing her presence here had been carefully staged. His brothers had manipulated things so that she had no reason, and no way, to leave. Between Gabe toying with her car and Jordan supplying her everything she could possibly need from town, she’d had no reason to step foot off his property, which was how his brothers had planned it.
He appreciated their efforts, but they couldn’t know what it was costing him.
Honey suddenly straightened and put her hands on her shapely hips. She glared at Gabe suspiciously while a sunbeam slanting through a high window in the large shed got caught in her fair hair, forming a halo. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
Gabe grinned and touched the tip of her nose with a grease-covered finger, leaving a smudge behind. “Of course I know what I’m doing, sweetie. Relax.”
They’d all taken to calling her sweetie since they insisted on using an endearment, and her name was just that—her name. Honey had laughed and said that at least this way she could be distinguished from the mule and the cat and the various other assorted animals wandering the land.
Today she had on shorts Jordan had brought her. He’d made the purchases to keep Sawyer from taking her to town, afraid that once she was there, she’d find a way to sneak off. And none of them wanted her to do that.
But to Sawyer’s mind, Jordan’s fashion sense left a lot to be desired. The shorts were too short, displaying the long length of her slim legs and emphasizing the roundness of her pert little butt. But when he’d suggested as much, he’d gotten jeered by his brothers, who seemed to take maniacal delight in commenting on his every thought these days.
He still thought the shorts were too short, but he now suffered in silence. Just as he did when she wore the new skimpy cotton tank tops, or the flirty sundresses, or the lightweight summer nightgowns and robe. Then again, he didn’t completely approve of any of the things she now wore. Jordan and Gabe had gotten together and figured out a list of everything she’d need, including some very basic female items he’d never have considered in his lust-induced fog. They’d also shown her where to add neccessities to the list kept posted on the front of the fridge. So now, among the items of aftershave and