The Doctor's Valentine Dare

That had been the first in a series of mistakes she’d made, all because she’d refused to accept his guidance.

“Who’s at the door?” Pauline’s voice carried from the back of the house.

The fact that he was chilled while wearing a wool topcoat told him his sister must be freezing in her bare feet and loose-fitting cotton pants and collar-less shirt.

“It’s Noah,” Daffy called over her shoulder then stepped aside. “Come in.”

Her tone was deliberately careless, rather than rude. Still, Noah absorbed the punch.

He didn’t like feeling helpless and ineffectual. That was exactly how he felt around Daffy. Dealing with her was incredibly frustrating. No matter how calmly and logically he responded, she bristled.

At this rate, they’d never reconcile. Though Noah knew plenty of men with little or no contact with their siblings, Pauline and Daffodil were basically his only family. Though he maintained a cordial relationship with his parents, they both had new spouses. He and Daffy had long ago been relegated to their past.

Daffodil gestured with one hand. “Gram and Josie are in the parlor.”

“Perhaps you and I could grab dinner one night?” Noah suggested.

Daffy turned toward the stairs. “I don’t think that’d be a good idea.”

“Look, Daff.” Noah placed a restraining hand on her arm. “Forget that I was right about Cruz. That knowledge gives me no pleasure. As far as I’m concerned, that’s in the past.”

His sister jerked her arm back. Anger flashed in her eyes, but for a moment, a second, Noah caught a glimpse of another emotion. One that looked like regret.

Then she was gone, a blur of blue and yellow disappearing up the staircase.

Noah waited until his sister disappeared from sight before strolling into the back parlor. His grandmother had a cheery fire blazing in the hearth. She sipped a cup of tea while Josie sat on a nearby settee.

Josie wore a dress of cherry red for tonight’s medical staff festivities. Sexy, razor-thin heels of the same color completed the look.

She’d pulled her blond hair back in a twist that showed off a slender elegant neck and ears that shimmered with tiny ruby teardrops.

“Noah.” Pauline rose and opened her arms to him.

When he stepped close, his grandmother rested her hands on his forearms and studied him.

Though in her midseventies, Pauline could pass for a woman ten years younger. An active, vital widow, she was relaxed and comfortable in her own skin. A pleased look filled her blue-gray eyes.

“Some men are made to wear black tie,” she pronounced, then turned to Josie. “Don’t you agree, my dear?”

His date for the evening rose in a single fluid movement. “I agree. Your grandson looks quite dashing this evening.”

“As much as I’d love for you both to stay and visit, I don’t want you to be late for the party.” Pauline’s smile widened to include Josie. “The way you look tonight, Noah is going to have to fight to get one dance with you.”

Josie’s face colored with embarrassment. “Oh, Pauline.”

“Gram is right,” Noah said, finding the thought irritating, which made his words clipped. “That dress is very...”

Provocative was the word that came first to his mind, but he substituted “lovely,” which didn’t do the dress, or her, justice.

Pauline walked them to the door and brushed a kiss across Josie’s cheek. “I won’t wait up.”

The gesture of affection, directed toward someone his grandmother hadn’t known all that long, surprised and puzzled Noah.

He opened the door to his Range Rover and helped her inside, inhaling the sweet, tantalizing scent of her perfume.

Strictly business, he reminded himself.

Noah wheeled the car from the curb. “I was surprised to see Daffodil.”

“Pauline invited her to spend the night.” Josie slanted a glance in his direction. “Daffodil is fighting a cold and your grandmother is convinced she isn’t getting enough sleep. I think she wanted to give her granddaughter some TLC.”

“Gram likes to baby Daffodil.” Noah turned onto the highway in the direction of the Spring Gulch Country Club. “I don’t understand why Daffy doesn’t live with Gram. It’s expensive to rent or buy in Jackson Hole and Gram has plenty of room.”

“I didn’t move in with my parents when I moved back,” she pointed out.

Noah inclined his head. “Why didn’t you?”

“I thought it’d be too hard for us to relate as adult to adult if I was living under their roof. It’d be too easy for us to fall back into a parent-child role.”

“Yet, you live with my grandmother.”

“She offered me a room at a fantastic rate. Plus, she’s not my parent.”

Noah pondered Josie’s assessment. His sister was obviously determined to be seen as an adult. Since she was now, what, twenty-six, it made sense. Which meant he needed to adjust how he responded to her. He only wished he knew how to do that...

“You love your sister.” Though Josie spoke the words as a statement, he heard the question.

He pulled the vehicle to a stop under the elaborate stone overhang frontage of the Country Club, answering her before he stepped out. “Of course.”

She slipped from the passenger side after a valet in gray pants and long topcoat opened her door.

Rounding the front of the vehicle, Noah handed the keys to the smartly-dressed man, then took Josie’s arm. Though the area under the overhang was dry, those heels of hers were wicked and it didn’t take much imagination to visualize her taking a tumble and sustaining a head injury.

Once inside they checked their coats, then strolled down the large foyer to the ballroom past huge planters overflowing with fresh flowers. A sweet scent filled the air. Up ahead the sound of big band music accompanied by the clink of fine crystal and laughter could be heard.

“I’m not good at these things,” Noah confessed. As a teenager, he’d enjoyed the challenges of math and science rather than sports and parties. As a young adult, his career path had taken up his time and energy.

Oh, he’d become socially adept but he’d never found anyone he trusted enough to share his deepest emotions. For him, trust came hard. The way he saw it, opening himself up to someone was tantamount to giving them a hand grenade along with instructions on how to pull the pin.

His high school girlfriend had taught him this lesson when she shared with her friends everything he’d told her.

“I prefer smaller events.”

Noah pulled his thoughts and attention back to the beautiful woman at his side.

Josie stopped at the edge of the ballroom and glanced around the room filled with men in black tie and women in cocktail attire. “There will be a lot of people we both know here tonight so it should be...fun.”

He wondered who she was trying to convince. Noah lifted a brow.

She swatted his shoulder. “Yes. Fun.”

“If you say so.”

“Think about it. Who I don’t remember, you’ll know. And I can give you the scoop on anyone who’s grown up here.”

Her prediction held pinpoint accuracy. Noah had attended a number of these events since his arrival in Jackson Hole last year. Each time, he’d smiled at the appropriate moments, made casual conversation with colleagues and then headed home. Enjoying himself, specifically having fun, hadn’t been on tonight’s agenda.

While he’d had previous conversations with Mayor Tripp Randall, and his wife, Adrianna, there was much he hadn’t known about the couple. Over dinner he learned “Anna” was a good friend of Ben’s wife, Poppy, and that Tripp had been a hospital administrator on the East Coast before returning home to Wyoming.

“Jackson Hole is really a big small town,” Josie commented as the four of them chatted amiably. “Everybody knows all the news practically before it happens.”

Anna Randall offered a rueful smile. “That’s so true. I’d heard all about you and Noah spending time together at the New Year’s Eve party so I wasn’t surprised to see you together.”

“My darling wife hears everything.” Tripp gazed at her with fondness. “I count on her to keep me up-to-date.”

Anna colored. “I’m not a gossip.”

“Of course not, sweetheart.” Tripp quickly backpedaled, his expression contrite. “I simply meant—”

“—that as a midwife, you keep your finger on the pulse of the community.” Josie offered Anna a warm smile.

“Exactly right. You’ve got yourself a sharp one, Anson.” Tripp gestured with his head toward Josie. “Better watch yourself.”

Noah gave Josie an assessing glance and smiled. He needed her help reconciling with his sister. The fact he found her easy to be around was an extra bonus. Yet, Tripp was right. He needed to watch himself around her.

Anytime he’d ever lost his head over a woman, his well-ordered world had been thrown into chaos. He’d vowed not to put himself in that position again.

It was a promise he meant to keep.

* * *

Josie could be impulsive. She readily admitted the weakness. Deciding that Noah Anson was exactly who she needed if she was going to reconcile with her parents and brother might, on the surface, appear impetuous. But she was convinced—or almost convinced—it was the right decision.

When Noah pulled her into his arms for some pre-dinner dancing, she decided this was her opportunity to hammer out the details of the “deal” she was prepared to propose.

The problem was, when his arms slid around her and he pulled her close, strategizing became the last thing on her mind. She fit against him perfectly, the top of her head just under his chin.

His chest was broad, his arms strong. For a surgeon, physical endurance was almost as important as knowledge and talent. Standing for long hours, maintaining control of motor skills was essential. But now, with Noah’s arms around her, Josie was only conscious of how good he smelled and how safe she felt in his arms.

For a woman who’d prided herself on handling every aspect of her personal life, the realization she could so easily relinquish control—even on the dance floor—was vaguely disturbing.

Not disturbing enough, however, to pull out of his arms. She let herself relax, determined to enjoy the evening. When her friend Sasha had become ill, Josie had been reminded that each day was a gift to be treasured.

The call to dinner in the adjacent ballroom sounded and Josie moved with Noah to the other room. It would have been easy to become separated but Noah kept a hand on her arm.

After gazing over the sea of round linen-clad tables, she turned to Noah. “Is there assigned seating?”

“Not tonight.” Tripp came up behind them. “If you don’t already have a table chosen, there’s still room at mine. Right over there, where Anna is already seated.”

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