His face also turned serious. “That and your suturing.”
“You!” she gasped, hitting at his ribs with her fist.
But Lee moved off her. “Come on, get up. Let’s take a walk. I have some places to show you.”
She wasn’t used to seeing him without clothing. The only other nude men she’d ever seen were cadavers stretched out on cold marble slabs. Lee looked more alive than anyone she’d ever seen.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” he laughed, taking her hand and pulling her off the couch. “Get upstairs and get dressed. There’re some old clothes in the chest at the head of the stairs. Get them on.” He smacked her firm, bare bottom as she went up the stairs.
Blair opened the chest and began to rummage for clothes, but there was a mirror on the wall and she paused to look at herself in it. Her skin was glowing, her cheeks were rosy and her eyes brilliant. Of course, her hair, usually pulled back tightly so it wouldn’t interfere with her work, was now standing out in a wild lion’s mane about her head.
Could it be true that Leander loved her? He certainly didn’t seem to mind her company, and he’d fought awfully hard to win her. Or did he just want a practicing surgeon-partner and an eager bedmate?
“You’ve got three minutes,” Lee yelled from downstairs.
“What’s my punishment if I’m not ready?” she called back.
“Abstinence.”
With a laugh, Blair began to dress hurriedly in heavy canvas pants and a flannel shirt. The pants were too short, but she managed to get the upper and lower halves of her body covered. The waist was so big she had to hold
it in her hand.
Downstairs, Lee was shoving food into a rucksack.
“Do you have a belt?” she asked.
When he glanced at her, she released the waistband and, with an impish grin, let the pants drop to the floor. She was rewarded by Lee’s groan.
He turned away toward the woodpile and picked up a length of rope, then went to her, knelt, and put the rope through the belt loops. As he raised her pants, he kissed her legs all the way up, so that by the time the trousers were in place, Blair was swaying on her feet.
Lee walked to the door. “Come on, let’s go.” This time he was the one with the impish smile.
Weak-kneed, Blair followed him outside.
Chapter 25
Blair followed Lee as he walked along a narrow elk trail, through scrub oak, across a meadow, as he wound up the side of a mountain. The bark of the aspens had been chewed by the elk, killing many of the trees, and they had to walk across the fallen logs. Everywhere were the droppings of the big animals that had now gone north for the summer.
Lee pointed out a hawk to her and named some of the flowers. He seemed to sense when he was going too fast and slowed for her, holding back scratchy little oak trees to make the way clear.
At the top was a narrow ridge, falling off on both sides, with huge fir trees going down one side, and a vista that showed miles of hazy blue mountains on the other. Lee sat down, leaned against a fallen tree and opened his arms to her. She cuddled next to him gratefully, holding his hand in hers and toying with his fingers.
“What did the sheriff mean when he said we were two of a kind?” she asked.
Lee had his eyes closed, the sun warm on his face. “I got into trouble a couple of times when I was a kid. I guess he’s not forgiven me.”
Blair sat upright. “You!? You got into trouble? But you were always a paragon of virtue, every mother’s dream.”
Not opening his eyes, but smiling, he pulled her back against him. “You know as little about me as possible. I’m not what you seem to think.”
“Then tell me how you got into trouble and why I didn’t hear about it. I’m sure that in Chandler it would have made front-page news: Saint Leander Does Something Less Than Perfect.”
Lee grinned broader. “You didn’t hear of it because my father somehow managed to keep it quiet and, also, because it happened in Colorado Springs. What I did was get myself shot twice.”
“Shot?” she gasped. “But I didn’t see any scars.”
Lee grunted. “You’ve yet to look at me. I get near you and you pounce on me.”