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Doc
Doc felt Tina’s surreptitious side-eye glances and guessed she was thinking about the chicken incident, wondering if he’d connected that woman with the one now walking beside him. It was the slight hint of color suffusing those lovely high cheekbones that clued him in.
Of course, he knew it was her. But he was too gentlemanly to bring it up and possibly embarrass her even if the rosy-golden hue did make her light-blue eyes sparkle.
“So, you run Obermacher’s, huh?” he said instead.
“Just the orchards.” Her reply was accompanied by a shrug, as if it were some small task instead of a major operation.
They reached the foyer. She lifted a sleeveless vest and slim fleece jacket from the hook. He smoothly relieved her of both and held them out for her. She seemed surprised and for a moment, she looked as if she was going to snatch it right back. Then she realized what he was doing and slipped her arms into the sleeves.
“What about you?” she asked. “What do you do?”
“Nothing quite as impressive.”
Her slight smile resembled a smirk. “Somehow, I don’t believe you.”
It was his turn to shrug. “I do whatever needs to be done.”
“Why do they call you Doc?”
“It’s a nickname I picked up in the service,” he admitted. “My last name’s Watson, so ...”
“Ah, a Sherlock Holmes reference. Here I thought, you were an actual doctor.”
Her tone was light, the gleam in her eyes suggesting that she might have been teasing him.
“Not quite. But I am a medic and a huge Holmes fan.”
They stepped outside. The air was brisk but pleasant and not nearly as frigid as it had been a few weeks earlier. Spring was definitely on the way, and he was ready to spend more time outside in the fresh air. He hoped they would be moving ahead with the plans for redoing the old orchard because he’d love to get out there and get his hands dirty.
“Close enough for me. Can you tell me your real first name, Doc, or is that against the rules?”
“What rules?”
She waved her hand around in a vague circle. “Sanctuary rules.”
Again, he had the feeling she was teasing him. “Ah, those rules. Well, I suppose it’d be okay since Matt vouched for you and all. And the full background check we ran on you didn’t raise any red flags.”
Her eyes widened, and then she laughed. “I stepped right into that one, didn’t I?”
“My name. It’s Cole.”
“Hmm. I like it. It suits you.”
An unexpected spark went off in his chest, even as he told himself not to take her words too seriously. She was just being friendly—that was all. He could do friendly.
“And I like a woman who knows what she likes.”
That pretty blush colored her cheeks again. It was enchanting.
He opened the door to her truck, and again, she looked at him as if a man opening a door for a woman was an unusual occurrence. She didn’t seem to mind though, so he would continue to exercise those traditional courtesies every chance he got.
“So, I’ll see you next week?” he asked.
“Barring any unforeseen difficulties, yes.”
“I look forward to it.”
Just to yank her chain a little and because he liked doing friendly with her, he lifted one hand to his ear and said, “Copy that.” He looked to her and nodded somberly. “You’ve been cleared to leave. You have about three minutes before the booby traps reset.”
She wasn’t fooled this time. Her rich, throaty laughter set off more sparks, not all of them in his chest. “You’re all right, Doc.”
He watched as she backed her truck out of the space, swung around, and drove away. When he could no longer see her taillights, he shoved his hands in his pockets and went back inside. Unsurprisingly, he found Church and a few of the others waiting for him in the war room.
Church gave them a quick rundown of what Tina had told him.
“So? What’s the verdict?” Doc asked. “Are we putting in a new orchard or not?”
“Jury’s still out,” Church answered. “It’s more work than we anticipated, and like Tina said, it’s a commitment.”
“We’ve never shied away from work before.” Heff sat back, crossing one leg over the other so his right ankle sat atop his left knee.
“No,” Church agreed. “But is it worth it?”
Mad Dog nodded. “I think so. Interior renovations are nearly complete, and the more self-sufficient we are, the better.”
“Especially if Doc here can find some way to get his hands on Tina Obermacher ... uh, I mean, her secret peach tea recipe.” Heff grinned unrepentantly, and a few of the others smirked.
That was when Doc knew for sure they’d been watching his exchange with Tina on the security cameras.
“Dicks,” Doc said, earning some chuckles. He supposed he’d deserved it. He’d done plenty of surveillance himself.
“If Doc here gets a-friendly with the lovely Miss Obermacher, it’s going to make some waves for sure,” Cage said, putting up his hands when Doc shot him a what the hell look. “Hey, I’m not saying you shouldn’t. I’m just saying, we need to be prepared to deal with the fallout if you do.”
“It’s not like we haven’t dealt with it before.”
Mad Dog was right. They’d played out similar scenarios, inciting the ire of some locals before. First, when Smoke got involved with Sam. Then when Heff started seeing Sandy, and again with Mad Dog and Kate. Cage had had it easy with Bree, comparatively speaking, since she hadn’t been a Sumneyville resident, but even that had raised a few hackles.
“I’d also like to point out—and I think everyone here would agree—that in each case, it was totally worth it,” Heff said.
The others murmured agreement. That was all fine and good but also completely different from his current situation.
“Don’t you think you’re getting a little ahead of yourselves?” Doc asked. “I walked her out to her car. Big fucking deal.”
“Yeah, but we know that look,” Cage said, grinning. “You like her.”
What wasn’t there to like? She was an attractive, strong, intelligent woman. Not that he was going to tell them that and throw gasoline on the fire. Nor would he dignify their blatant fishing expedition by taking a bite of that bait they were dangling.
“I’m with Mad Dog,” Doc said. “My vote is to move forward with the orchard. Now, anything else? I’ve got shit to do.”
“No, I think that’s it,” Church said. He, like the others, was trying—unsuccessfully—not to smile.
Except Heff, of course. Heff was grinning like the master baiter he was.