Hero by Nature (Reed Sisters: Holding out for a Hero 3) - Page 3

as doing, she awkwardly allowed the screwdriver she was using to slip out of the groove of the screw, the forward momentum of her hand causing her knuckles to smash painfully into the side of the metal box. Autumn swore colorfully under her breath, jerking her abused hand out of the box. She was particularly chagrined that she had done this in front of Jeff, although it was a common occurrence in her job.

As she would have expected, he reacted with sympathy and concern. “Are you okay?” he demanded for the second time that afternoon. “Let me see your hand.”

“It’s fine, Jeff, really. I just—” Her words died in a resigned sigh as he took her slender hand in his bigger ones, probing and massaging with the skill of an expert.

“Nothing broken, but you’re going to have some interesting bruises,” Jeff told her with relief. “It will be sore. You really should wrap it in ice.”

“Really, Jeff, it’s okay. I’ve done this before. More often than I like to remember,” she assured him, embarrassed. “Occupational hazard.”

His thumb traced the delicate bones in her hand. “You’ve broken a couple of these bones, haven’t you?” he asked, feeling the almost imperceptible ridges beneath her surprisingly soft skin.

“Yeah, I broke a couple of bones in an accident once. What are you…a doctor?”

“Pediatrician,” he admitted.

She hadn’t really thought he was a doctor. She’d only been asking to divert his attention from her hand. For some reason she was suddenly self-conscious, though she couldn’t have explained why. “If you’ll let go of my hand, I’ll finish this up,” she told him rather briskly.

“You’re always asking me to let go just when I’d like to hold on,” Jeff complained good-naturedly, though he released her hand.

Autumn made a concerted effort to ignore him as she rapidly completed her job and climbed down the ladder—with Jeff’s help, of course. She figured that his mother must have taken him to classes in Southern gallantry from the time he could walk. She tried to tell herself that his studious politeness annoyed her, even as she found herself thanking him for his assistance. What on earth was wrong with her?

Her tools packed neatly into the truck, she turned to him with a work order on a clipboard. “Just sign right here, Dr. Bradford, and you’ll be billed for the service. You can call the electric company now and have your power turned back on.”

“Dr. Bradford?” he quizzed her as he signed the work order in an illegible scrawl that befitted his occupation. Autumn had never met a doctor who could write anything readable. “You called me Jeff earlier.”

“Did I?” she murmured vaguely. “Well, goodbye. Thank you for calling Brothers Electrical Company. Give us a call if you need anything else.” Her customary recitation concluded, she turned to the truck, intending to leave without further delay.

Jeff, however, had different intentions. “Will you have dinner with me this evening?” he asked her, surprising them both. He hadn’t intended to ask quite so abruptly—he wasn’t even free that evening, he remembered wryly—but when she’d started walking away with such finality, he’d spoken almost without thinking. Now he decided that if she accepted, he’d just call Julian, his partner and buddy, and cancel out on the poker game. Julian would understand. Jeff really wanted a chance to get to know this interesting woman. There was just something about her that he found fascinating.

Autumn wasn’t particularly surprised that he’d asked. Not after the past couple of hours. What did surprise her was that she found herself suddenly tempted to accept. Not that she had any intention of doing so. Something about Dr. Jeff Bradford made her nervous, somewhat unsure of herself, and Autumn Reed wasn’t accustomed to such feelings. Above all, she liked being firmly in control of herself. No, Jeff was too overwhelmingly attractive, too unpredictably charming, too…well, too something. Besides, she already had a date that evening with a man who was amusing, attractive in a less spectacular way, and much more manageable. “Thank you for asking, but I already have plans,” she told him after a brief pause, keeping her voice deliberately distant.

Jeff shrugged almost imperceptibly and backed off. “Maybe I’ll see you around sometime,” he told her.

“Maybe,” Autumn agreed, climbing into the cab of the pickup. Her tone was not encouraging.

“Goodbye, Autumn.”

“Bye, Jeff.” She closed her door with a snap and drove away.

Some fifteen minutes later Jeff replaced the telephone in its cradle, having been assured that his power would be turned back on within the hour. He roamed aimlessly into his den, dropping moodily onto the heavy wood-framed couch, its deep cushions sinking beneath his weight. So you struck out, he told himself, disgruntled. It wasn’t a first, though he couldn’t actually remember the last time. Jeff was no womanizing playboy, but then, he’d never had much trouble getting a date, either. Of course, he rarely came across like a thick-skulled, inarticulate chauvinist, he added with an audible groan, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. No wonder Autumn had turned him down.

For all he knew, she was heavily involved with someone. She could even be married, though she hadn’t worn a ring. But then, she hadn’t worn any jewelry at all. Forget her, Bradford, he ordered himself sternly. She’s just not interested.

He shoved himself off the couch, determined to do just that.

JEFF WASN’T GRINNING when he opened his door two weeks later, but Autumn suspected that he was holding it back only with tremendous effort. “You called for an electrician?” she asked him coolly, eyeing him with suspicion.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” he replied, just a bit smugly. “Please come in.”

Her suspicions increased. “First tell me what you need done so I’ll know what tools to bring.”

“I need an additional outlet in my den,” he informed her.

She repressed a sigh and nodded. “Okay. Hang on a minute.” She turned abruptly and headed back to her truck.

Jeff followed, of course, and had her toolbox out before she could even reach for it. She totally ignored him. Outwardly, at least. Inwardly, she was vitally aware of every inch of him in his thin blue sweater, which hugged his torso and made his eyes look even bluer, and his slim-cut jeans that left little to her imagination. She hadn’t forgotten the effect he had on her. Which was why she intended to stay well over an arm’s length away from him while she finished this job in record time.

Autumn tried not to look impressed by the interior of Jeff’s house, but it wasn’t easy. It was beautiful. Professionally decorated, she was sure, but comfortable and inviting. He’d chosen to ignore the usual wicker-and-palm-tree or pseudo-Spanish styles popular in the area and had decorated in a rustic Southwestern theme. Autumn recognized the many examples of Seminole artwork scattered with studied casualness throughout the house. The Seminole Culture Center on Orient Road had been one of the first sights she’d visited after moving to Tampa almost a year earlier.

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