It took him a moment to recover, then he held out his hand to help Carter up. Hesitantly, the smaller man took it, sat down in a chair, and put his hand to his nose.
“Don’t touch it,” Reede snapped.
Carter put his hand up in protection, as though Reede was going to strike him.
“He’s not going to hurt you,” Sophie said. “At least not again, are you, Reede?”
“No,” he said. “Put your hand down and let me see your nose.”
“Are you crazy?” Carter asked.
“He’s a doctor,” Sophie said.
“You’ve got to be kidding. No doctor would—” Reede’s look cut him off, and Carter dropped his hands to his side.
There was a knock on the glass door and Roan opened it to let Heather in. She was out of breath from running with Reede’s heavy medical bag.
“What happened?” she asked, looking at Carter’s bloody face. “You look like you ran into the side of a building.”
“Reede hit him,” Roan said proudly.
“Not possible,” Heather said. “He wouldn’t—” She looked at the doc. “You hit him?”
“Temporary insanity,” Reede said as he gently examined Carter’s nose. Heather and Sophie went to get some hot water and clean cloths.
“I take it Sophie told you what I did to her,” Carter said softly.
“Oh yeah,” Reede said.
Roan was hovering in the background, watching the two men. Carter Treeborne was as blond as Reede was dark, as gentle-seeming as Reede was intense. It looked like the second time around Sophie had chosen a different direction.
Sophie and Heather returned with cloths and water, and Reede stood back as Heather cleaned Carter’s face.
Sophie put her hand on Reede’s arm and nodded upward. He followed her up the stairs.
The instant they were alone, he started apologizing. “I’m sorry. I’ve never hit anybody. At least not since I was in grade school. I know I have a temper, but this was—”
He stopped talking because Sophie kissed him. It was a sweet kiss and he couldn’t help feeling that it had more meaning than the more intimate times they’d shared together. “What was that for?”
“To say thanks. I’ve never before had anyone do something like that for me. It was wrong, of course, and you shouldn’t have done it, but thank you.”
“It was a gut reaction and you’re right, I shouldn’t have. As a doctor I took an oath to—”
“I know,” she said. “Come in the kitchen and I’ll get you something to eat.”
He followed her and sat on a stool and watched while she pulled leftover chicken and salad out of the fridge. “Why is he here?”
“I don’t know,” Sophie said.
“He wants you back.”
“That’s a nice thought.”
“What?!”
She smiled as she put the plate before him. “Every woman dreams of the man who dumped her begging her to return. Do you think he’ll go on his knees to me?”
“Excuse me if I don’t find any humor in this.”