Maybe it all was fated, seeing as how it was Friday, November thirteenth, Esa thought with wry amusement.
“Esa!”
Her heart seemed to drop like a bowling ball into her gut. That voice—it had sounded like—
“Esa, I thought that was you,” the tall, attractive man with tousled burnished-brown hair said as he rushed to meet her.
Her gaze lowered over the black leather jacket and a pair of long thighs and trim hips encased in a well-fitted pair of khaki pants—both articles of clothing that were part of a state trooper uniform.
“Caleb. For a second I thought you were Finn,” she said blankly. Her disappointment felt like a palpable weight on her sagging shoulders.
He gave her a brilliant grin and stroked his chin with a black-gloved hand. “I shaved my goat. Probably look a bit like him without it.”
Esa did her best to return his smile. Caleb was right. A strong family resemblance did exist between the two cousins. The sight of it made her wonder if she’d truly recovered from that electric, brief fling with Finn like she kept telling herself she had or if she was really worse off than on the night he’d told her he wasn’t ready for a relationship and Esa had cried herself half-comatose.
“How have you been?” she asked as she straightened, trying to throw off the emotional weight that had settled on her like a lead cloak at the sight of a gorgeous Madigan male. “Not sick, I hope?”
“Nah, we brought in a guy who was whacked out on drugs and driving on the interstate. Not a good combination along with this crap,” he said as he nodded toward the falling snow.
“I’ll say. I’m about to go home in it. Thanks for making my drive a little safer.”
“All in the line of duty,” he assured her with a sexy grin. He shifted on his booted feet and glanced down at the hat he held in his hands. “So…have you seen much of Finn lately?”
Esa shook her head. “Not in several weeks. It was just a casual thing, you know.”
His green-eyed gaze snapped up to her face. “Really?”
“Sure,” she answered with what she hoped was careless disregard.
“He’s been working his ass off on the road construction. I doubt he’s had much time for dating. Jess said he’s been going all Yoda on everyone, holing up like a monk. I spoke to Molly a few days ago and she said she’d hardly heard a peep from him since the party. I have to say it surprises me—you two not seeing each other. I got the impression that Finn really liked you. And vice-versa.”
She forced a laugh. “Your cop instincts were way off then, I guess.”
He moved his hat restlessly in his hands but this time his eyes remained fixed on her. “I can’t say I’m sorry.”
Esa gave him a startled look. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I really liked you the night we met at Grandma Glory’s Halloween party,” he stated bluntly.
“Oh,” Esa replied awkwardly. She grasped for a change of topic and scolded herself for it even while she did it. Was she nuts? How many sane women would try to deflect a male as sexy as Caleb Madigan, especially when he regarded her with so much warmth and frank male appreciation?
“How is your grandmother?” she asked rapidly.
“She’s doing great. I heard from Mary Kate that she went to that doctor that you referred her to and the new physician reduced her diabetes medication.”
Esa gave a genuine smile. “I’m so glad to hear it. Listen, I better get going. The snow just keeps getting worse—”
She stopped speaking when he took a step closer to her. She could smell the leather from his jacket and the subtle remnants of his cologne. It was a very nice, admittedly sexy combination. But he didn’t smell like spicy aftershave or the clean outdoors. Caleb’s scent didn’t make her go weak in the knees or make heat pool between her thighs.
In other words, he didn’t smell like Finn.
She looked down rapidly to shield her disappointment in herself for having such irritating thoughts. Hadn’t she expressly forbidden herself for the past several weeks to dwell on Finn?
“Esa?”
“Hmmm?” she asked, still staring at the snow-sodden, dirty entryway carpet to the ER.
“My cop instincts really weren’t that far off, were they? At least when it comes to how you feel about my cousin?” When she didn’t immediately answer he continued softly. “In other words, I probably shouldn’t ask you out unless I’m feeling particularly masochistic, right?”