Jaci Burton - Hope Flames

She fed Annie, brought her and Daisy outside. While the dogs were out doing their thing, Emma took a few minutes to admire the stars and take a few deep breaths to relax and roll her shoulders.

It had been a good day. She hoped they were all going to be like this.

The dogs came running back, so she let them in and locked the door. Emma put the pup back into her carrier. Annie curled up onto the blanket and went right to sleep. She was totally adorable. And Emma was not going to keep her, no matter how much the cute little thing pulled at Emma’s heartstrings. She hoped someone coming into the clinic would adopt her. She made a mental note to have Rachel post Annie’s picture and a notice on the bulletin board in the waiting room tomorrow.

In the meantime, Annie’s carrier could sit next to Emma’s bed tonight.

After heating up a rather unappetizing frozen dinner, washed down with a cheap glass of chardonnay, she grabbed the bottle and glass and headed into the bathroom, poured some great-smelling lavender gel into the tub and turned on the water.

Daisy came into the bathroom, sniffed at the steam rising up from the tub, looked up at Emma, and burped.

“Love you, too, punkin,” Emma said as she undressed and climbed into the tub. She grabbed her glass of wine and sank into the water up to her neck with an audible sigh.

Now this was the way to end the day. She took a few sips, and even though it wasn’t the finest vintage, it tasted good going down, relaxing her tired, stressed body. She set the glass on the edge of the tub and closed her eyes, replaying the events of the day.

She’d had a lot of clients—more than she thought she’d have. She’d been afraid they’d go elsewhere for veterinary care, but with only one other clinic in town, it was comfortable to stay with the familiar, even if there was a new doctor running it. Though she’d been gone a lot of years, she wasn’t a stranger—she had at least grown up in Hope. Her family was known. That helped.

And then there’d been Luke McCormack, the very attractive police officer.

No. She was naked in the bathtub and thinking about a hot man in uniform. What the hell was wrong with her? She did not want to go there.

She paused, about to shut down the thoughts, and sat up in the tub, reaching for her wine to take a long swallow.

How long had it been since she’d even thought about a man, let alone been out with one? How long had it been since one had even interested her?

She thought back to the practice she’d worked at in South Carolina. She hadn’t dated anyone there. No one had even remotely sparked her interest. Even further back, there’d been school. Who had time to date while in vet school? It was like living a nightmare. Nonstop classes and tests and clinicals and no sleep. There’d definitely been no men in her life then unless they’d been study partners, and they’d been as exhausted and stressed as she’d been.

The last time she’d had a man in her life had been . . .

Ugh. That was so long ago, and he’d been her nightmare. She refused to think about him ever again.

But today . . . now . . . she’d thought about a man. A very attractive, very sexy man. Was that such a bad thing?

She might not want to have a man in her life, and she might not have one in her master plan for right now, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t allow herself to think about one. She was human, after all. And a woman.

She had the right to fantasize, dammit. A sexual reawakening was a good thing.

Her phone rang. She wrinkled her nose, pondered ignoring it, but knew better. It would just ring again. And again, until she picked up. She wiped her hand on the washcloth and grabbed the phone from the edge of the bathroom counter, already knowing who it was.

“Hi, Mom.”

“You knew it was me, didn’t you? How was your first day? I was going to drop in, but when I drove by, the parking lot was full so I didn’t want to bother you. I’m so excited for you, Emma. I knew you were going to be a huge success. Dad says hi, by the way.”

So much for relaxation. Her mother was a tornado of energy, both physically and verbally. “It went great.”

“We should have had balloons and a big grand opening.”

“It’s not a retail establishment, Mom. It’s a veterinary clinic. No balloons. When they pop, the animals will swallow them. Bad for the intestines.”

“Oh, that’s right. Still, I think you need a grand opening. It won’t hurt to draw in more customers. You need to advertise, Emma. I already told you we’ll help with that. You have to push, push, push to be successful.”

Push was her mother’s middle name.

“And I already told you that Dr. Weston had plenty of customers. Let me see who we get back first. Word of mouth is the best way to draw in clients.”

“Whatever you think is best. For now. We’ll talk more about that when you come over for dinner on Sunday. Tell me all about your day.”

Emma stared longingly at her empty wineglass while she filled her mother in on her first day. She loved her mother, but Georgia Burnett was a force to be reckoned with and rarely took no for an answer once she had an idea in her head. She was opinionated, stubborn, and one of the strongest women Emma had ever known. They’d butted heads from the time Emma was a child.

She’d thought long and hard before coming back home to set up her practice, but buying out Dr. Weston’s practice had been a deal she couldn’t pass up. Plus, she’d wanted family in her life again, needed the comfort of familiar places and faces. It was scary enough going into debt, even though her parents tried to help with the loan for the practice, which she didn’t want. She’d been dependent before, and she’d never be that way again. This time she was doing it all on her own. But she was doing it with family close by.

“Do you need anything?” her mother asked.

“No, I’m good, Mom.”

“Your dad and I are worried about you, Emma. All the money you’ve poured into the business, plus your college-loan debt. It’s too much. We can help—”

“I’m going to be fine. You know I used some of the money Grandma left me in her trust to help fund the practice. It’ll start making money right away.”

“But it’s going to take years to pay off your college loans. It’s just you by yourself and it’s a huge burden. Why do that alone when you don’t have to?”

She took a deep breath, and let it out. “Because I have to do this myself. And you know why.”

Her mother was quiet for a few seconds, which Emma knew was a rare thing.

“I understand. Of course, I do. But, Emma, we’re here for you if you need us. No questions asked.”

Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back. She’d already cried enough tears for a lifetime. Never again. “I know, Mom. That’s why I came home.”

LUKE DROVE DOWN the main highway. It was after rush hour, so the streets weren’t full of cars like they’d been an hour ago.

There wasn’t a lot of crime in Hope. It wasn’t a large town. Big enough to have a city council and a police force and a mayor, which Luke was glad about. It had given him a job and a purpose and a chance to show off what he was worth, but sometimes it got downright boring.

He wrote a lot of traffic tickets, and because the state highway ran through town, there were a lot of fender benders. He worked those, sometimes side by side with the highway patrol, which meant he often got to hang out with his friend Will, who was a state highway patrol officer.

But major crime? Yeah, not so much. Meth labs were big in Oklahoma, and small towns bred them, so there was that. A few drug arrests, break-ins, drunk and disorderlies, and kids doing shit they shouldn’t do, but the opportunities to use his gun were rare. Which was a good thing, although he did continue to hone his shooting skills at the firing range or out at the family ranch.

Someday he’d end up on a big-city police force. Tulsa didn’t have openings, and with the current budget cuts he was damn glad to have the job he held, so he wasn’t complaining. But he kept his eyes and ears open to the possibilities. Will often suggested he move over to HiPo, but he enjoyed being a city cop and it looked like that’s where he was going to stay for the moment.

Which was fine. He liked being in this town. This was home, and protecting it meant something to him.

The past few days he’d made some drive-bys around Dr. Emma Burnett’s place. Each time her parking lot was full of cars.

Good for her. He was glad to see she had customers.

“She seems to be doing fine so far, Boomer.”

Boomer, asleep in the backseat of Luke’s patrol car, had no comment. Likely because he was still pouting about not getting to run the past few days.

“You’ll be back in action soon enough, Boom.”

He should stop by the doc’s office and have her take a look at Boomer’s leg. Luke was due for his break anyway. Not that there was anything wrong with the leg, but it was almost closing time and she didn’t seem to have any clients right now. No point in not being diligent about his dog.

Yeah, and you want to see the hot doctor again.

No, that wasn’t it at all. Emma seemed like someone a guy dated more than once, which wasn’t at all his type. He pulled in and turned off the engine. Boomer’s ears perked up.

He called in to dispatch that he was taking a break, and he’d be temporarily unavailable.

“Come on, buddy,” he said, grabbing Boomer’s leash.

He remembered Rachel from the other day, when he’d stopped by to pay the bill he owed for Emma treating Boomer’s injury. He hadn’t seen Emma at all that day. She’d been in the back with patients.

“Hi, Officer Luke,” Rachel said with a wide smile.

She was good at remembering names. “Howdy, Rachel.”

She frowned and glanced down at the computer. “I don’t have you on the books for an appointment. Did I miss one?”

“No. And I know you’re about to close. I was just driving by and thought if Emma—if Dr. Burnett had a second, maybe she could do a recheck on Boomer’s leg.”

“Oh. Sure. Let me find out for you.” She picked up the phone and hit a button. “Hey, Dr. Emma. Officer McCormack is here with Boomer. Do you have a second to take a look at Boomer’s leg?”

She waited, smiling up at Luke the whole time. The girl was adorable, couldn’t be more than twenty-one or so, with short dark hair and glasses that only added to her appeal. She probably had ten boyfriends.

As it should be at that age.

“Okay, thanks.” She hung up the phone. “She’s finishing something up in the back. She told me to take you into one of the exam rooms, and she’ll be right there.”

“Great. Thanks.”

Rachel led him back to one of the rooms and he took a seat. Boomer, always happy to get out of the car, wagged his tail and paced around the exam room.

“You’re just bucking for another treat, aren’t you?”

Boomer showed his teeth in a wide smile and wiggled his butt.

“Yeah, some fierce police dog you are. Some burglar will wave a cookie at you, and you’ll let him run right by.”

Luke grinned. He knew better than that. On command and on duty, Boomer was as good a cop as any of them out there.

Emma opened the door and her dog Daisy came bounding in behind her, greeting Boomer with a fierce wag of her tail and a sniff. Boomer did the same.

Emma smiled at him, and he felt the gut punch. Not sure why someone in pink scrubs and tennis shoes with her hair messily piled up on top of her head could spark his libido, but there it was.

No. Not your type, remember? You’re here for the dog.

“Hi, Luke,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “Is something wrong with Boomer’s leg?”

“Honestly? Not a thing. He seems to be healing up fine, and I’m taking him on walks every day. But I had a free minute while I was on my shift tonight, and I saw you hadn’t closed yet, so I thought I’d drop by and have you take a look.”

“Oh, I’m glad you did. I’ve been thinking about . . . him.”

He couldn’t help but smile and wonder if it had really been Boomer she’d been thinking about, because there were those telltale spots on her cheeks again.

She was gorgeous when she blushed.

Okay, she was gorgeous without needing to blush.

She took Boomer with her and left the room, Daisy following behind them. He went, too, watching as she walked all around the clinic with Boomer, testing his leg strength. When they came back in, she moved Boomer’s leg back and forth, pressing on various parts of it. He tensed, waiting for Boomer to show signs of pain.