“Would you still respect their actions if the tribe in question had been men?”

“An unfair question. The women chose to get pregnant by him. I assume they wanted to refresh the gene pool, although they wouldn’t think of it that way. That’s completely different than a man getting a woman pregnant and walking away.”

“Except he lost his children. He wasn’t allowed to see them or raise them.”

“A good point,” she admitted. “But it’s kind of the town thing to respect the women.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

They walked down to the lake. As usual, children were feeding ducks, young couples picnicked on blankets in the shade of trees, and a few joggers made their way along the bike path.

Montana paused to take in the familiar scene. This had always been her home. She’d tried living somewhere else, briefly, and hated it. She knew some people left for the big city and she was sure any large urban area had its charms. But this was where she belonged.

She was aware of Simon standing next to her. He didn’t say much, which wasn’t a surprise. What she hadn’t expected was how much she didn’t mind his quietness. It was oddly relaxing. She was also aware of his height and his broad shoulders, but told herself not to be silly. Becoming interested in Simon as anything but a project for Mayor Marsha was just plain stupid.

If he kept glancing at her, it was probably because he was waiting for the next burst of factoids or wondering if there was going to be a town history quiz. There was no way he was… She frowned. If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn Simon was looking at her mouth. Not possible, she told herself. No way she could attract a man like Simon.

Not that she would mind, but if the other men in her life hadn’t found her to be attractive enough, she figured she would be woefully lacking in Simon’s eyes, too.

She motioned to the trucks parked along the side road by the lake. “They’re setting up for the Fourth of July celebration. Fool’s Gold is known for its festivals. I don’t know how many we have every year. A lot. There’s the Book Festival and the Waterskiing Festival. The Fall Festival, which is before the Halloween party.” She glanced at him. “It’s fun.”

“An active community.”

She couldn’t tell if he meant that in a good way or a bad way, and decided not to ask.

She led him back to the main street and started pointing out various businesses before continuing her discussion of the town. “Mayor Marsha is the longest serving mayor in the state of California. The festivals are run by my friend Pia. It’s a big job and, now that she’s pregnant, it’s even more difficult. Although she has a new assistant, which is helping.” She searched her mind for some other factoids. “My family was one of the founding families, on my dad’s side. Not counting the matriarchal tribe, of course. There’s Morgan’s Books.”

She led him to the store and showed him the window display of Liz Sutton, their resident mystery writer.

“Have you read her?” she asked.

Simon shook his head and shifted so he was on her other side. “Is she any good?”

“Of course. She’s fabulous. She’s married to my brother, Ethan. They have one son together and are raising her two nieces. It’s complicated.”

“Most family relationships are.”

“Tell me about it.” She started walking again and Simon fell into step beside her. “My dad passed away eleven years ago, so it’s not surprising my mom has started dating. It really would have been okay, only she seemed fine alone and now we have to get used to this and it’s strange. I want her to be happy, but it’s the whole parental thing. She talks about her dates and we want to be supportive, but then she talks about kissing with tongue and I just want to cover my ears and hum.”

She came to a stop. “You’re a medical professional. Why is hearing about parents having sex so creepy? Okay, not creepy exactly, but strange.”

“I don’t have an answer to that.”

“Didn’t you go to medical school? Don’t they have a class on this?”

And then it happened. Simon smiled at her. His lips curved, there was a flash of white teeth and a surprising dimple on his unscarred cheek.

Montana felt a sudden rush of sensation in her midsection. Not attraction exactly, but not disinterest either. The smile was unexpected and very appealing. It made her want to hear his laugh and maybe even make him smile again.

“I must’ve missed that day,” he told her. “Sorry.”

“You work at a hospital. You could ask around.”

“Is it really that important to you?”

“I don’t like feeling uncomfortable. Especially around my mother. I love her and we’re really close. And I feel like a really good daughter would be able to talk about her mother’s dating life.”

“Not even a good daughter is expected to discuss tongue.”

She laughed and saw he was smiling again. Suddenly the morning seemed a little brighter, the sky a little bluer.

They came to a stop at the corner. Montana walked over to push the Walk button, then returned to Simon’s side. “Where were you before you came to Fool’s Gold? I heard you travel around a lot.”

The pedestrian signal changed and she and Simon started across the street. As they reached the other side, he stepped around her.

“I was in India.”

“That counts as travel,” she admitted. “You go all around the world?”

“I go where I’m needed. I operate on whomever needs my help the most. Mostly children. But adults as well. After I leave here, I’m set to go to Peru.”

That sounded very altruistic. “So you’re a giver?”

“No.”

She waited, but he didn’t say anything else. There was no sign of the smile and she wondered if she’d annoyed him, or crossed some invisible line.

“Burns are my specialty,” he said.

“You must get lonely, always being in a different place. What about family?”

“I have my work. That’s enough.”

It couldn’t possibly be enough, she thought. He was a difficult man to understand. Obviously he was very gifted. His work was demanding and, from what she had seen, he was relentless when it came to taking care of his patients. But who took care of him?

No, no. Don’t go there, she told herself. No rescuing. Simon was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He’d been all over the world, doing amazing things. He didn’t need her and she didn’t need to make this assignment more than it was.

She’d had three serious boyfriends in her life. A guy back in high school, one in college and one shortly after. All three of them had ended things after making it clear she wasn’t good enough. She hadn’t been pretty enough or smart enough or ambitious enough. Was she really looking for an instant replay on emotional pain?

“Do you have a home base anywhere?” she asked.

“Los Angeles.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I lived there for a while.” With guy number three.

Simon glanced at her. “You don’t sound as if you liked it very much.”

“I didn’t. I couldn’t fit in—my boyfriend was a disaster.” She stopped in front of the Fox and Hound restaurant and faced Simon. “He was a doctor, too. Or he was going to be. He was still in medical school.”

“What happened?”

A reasonable question. She’d set it up herself, so she had no one to blame. Thinking before speaking was an excellent characteristic, she reminded herself. One she was going to have to take up.

“We didn’t want the same things.”

Which was sort of true. The more important issue, which she wouldn’t talk about, was that he’d destroyed what little self-confidence she’d had left. She believed no one could take that away without her permission, so she knew she was also at fault. “His loss.”

The words surprised her.

“Thank you.” She tilted her head. “You’re different from how you were before.”

“Less stick-up-the-ass?”

She winced. “I’m sorry I said that. It was mean. You weren’t out of line. Fluffy really could have done some damage.”

“But she didn’t. Sometimes I get a little intense.”

Montana bit the inside of her mouth to keep from smiling. “I hadn’t noticed. Thank you for understanding about Fluffy. It wasn’t her fault, it was mine. Max warned me. He said she wouldn’t make it as a therapy dog, but I was determined.”

“To fulfill her therapy-dog destiny?”

Humor sparkled in Simon’s eyes. She felt herself getting a little breathless. The man could be devastating when he tried.

“I can’t save the world, so my passion is a little smaller than yours.”

“Not smaller. Different.”

There was something about the way he stared at her. As if he was hungry. She shook her head. Talk about delusions of grandeur. Simon hungry for her? On what planet? He wasn’t looking at her mouth. She must have a smudge or something.

As casually as she could, she rubbed her chin.

“Max is kind of an intriguing guy,” she said. Because her boss seemed a safer topic. “A little mysterious. No one knows where he’s from. He obviously has money. You’ve seen the facility—that doesn’t come cheap. And it’s not like the therapy-dog business pays very much. And there’s a weird coincidence with my mother. She has a tattoo on her hip. Max. My sisters and I don’t think it’s the same Max, though. That would be too strange.”

She sighed. “Too much information, right?”

“Perhaps.”

She started walking. He fell into step beside her.

“It was the tattoo. I shouldn’t have mentioned my mother has a tattoo.” She wasn’t asking a question.

But instead of answering, Simon shifted to her other side. And then it clicked.

He always made sure he kept his good side to her. However they turned or moved, she was on his right.

Her throat got tight. She willed herself not to show any emotion at all. He wouldn’t want that. She would guess he didn’t even know he was doing it. That keeping his good side to people had started when he was much younger and was now unconscious.

Once again she wondered what had happened to him. How had he been hurt and why hadn’t he taken steps to repair the damage? She didn’t know that much about reconstructive surgery, but she couldn’t help wondering if the scars could be made less noticeable.

Not that she was going to ask. Their time together today had gone well enough. She had done her duty and could now return to her regularly scheduled life. Only she didn’t want to. She’d enjoyed her afternoon with Simon much more than she’d expected. Of course, she’d done most of the talking. The only new thing she’d learned was that he had a home base in Los Angeles.

Well, crap. She’d gone on and on about an assortment of topics that had probably bored him. She wasn’t interesting enough for someone like him. No doubt he was used to women who—

They’d reached the park again. She came to a stop on the grass, close to a grove of trees, and mentally stomped her foot. No! She wasn’t going to put herself down. She wasn’t going to assume she was boring. There was nothing wrong with her, not physically or mentally or emotionally.

“Are you all right?”

She sighed. “Sorry. I was having a little discussion with myself. I’m done now.”

“Did you win the argument?”

“I wasn’t arguing.”

“You looked serious about something.”

Only her lack of self-confidence. Why were her sisters so much more secure than her? They were supposed to be identical. She should have the same genes, the same attitudes. But she didn’t.

None of which was Simon’s problem.

“I’ve kept you long enough,” she said. “You probably have a ton of things you would rather be doing this afternoon.”

He faced her, his gaze locked with hers. “Is that what you think?”

Before she could answer, before she could form words or draw breath, she found herself moving toward him. But she wasn’t making it happen. Strong hands had settled on her waist, pulling her forward.

She was caught completely off guard, barely able to process what was happening. Which was why she didn’t stop it. There wasn’t time. One second she was at a safe, socially correct distance and the next she was touching him everywhere.

Her breasts nestled against his surprisingly well-muscled chest. Her thighs brushed his. Heat surrounded her, which was also unexpected, but nothing when compared to his mouth lowering to hers.

Shock immobilized her. Kissing? Simon was kissing her?

But it had to be happening, because she had proof. The feel of his lips on hers. The hard pressure of his mouth as he claimed her in a kiss that was forceful and demanding, yet not in the least bit scary.