"Your whole paw." Jolene swatted his hand away. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I just did a half-gainer off the chair, I didn't plummet off a bridge into the Pacific Ocean."

Mac scrutinized her carefully again. Her pupils looked to be normal, so for now, he decided to opt for peace and leave the subject alone. But he intended to keep an eye on her, just in case.

"Well, the good news is that it doesn't look as if you'll be needing any st.i.tches, so my surgical expertise won't be needed." After he'd cleaned it, he'd used a b.u.t.terfly bandage he'd found in the medicine cabinet on the wound. Mac pretended to regard her face for a moment. "I could, of course, give you a new nose."

She tried to focus on the appendage under discussion and immediately regretted it. Her headache kicked up a notch. "What's wrong with my nose?"

"Nothing." As far as noses went, it was rather well shaped and appealing-just like the rest of her. "But people are always thinking they need a different nose, or a better chin, or higher cheekbones, or any one of a number of other so-called improvements."

"I don't want any improvements," she informed him. "I'm happy with my body just the way it is."

Because she was hovering around, Mac scooped up Amanda and placed her on his lap so that she could face her mother and not be a moving target. "Good, so am I."

There was no way she was up to cooking, and going out wasn't something she felt up to at the moment. So much for their date.

"I guess you'll be leaving now." Jolene flushed. She hadn't meant to sigh, but it had just come out, accompanying her words.

"I guess I'll be staying now," he contradicted. "I've a patient to watch and from the looks of it-" he lightly bounced Amanda on his knee; the little girl giggled "-a little girl to take care of." He set Amanda back on the floor and rose. "Have you eaten?" he asked Jolene.

She'd skipped lunch to visit Tommy and had eaten an apple while trying to get ready at home. "I was just about to throw something together."

Spoken like a modern woman, he thought with a smile. None of the women he knew, with the exception of Dr. Alix Ducane, could cook worth a d.a.m.n. He looked toward the kitchen. "Why don't I take care of that?"

He was an endless source of surprise to her. When she'd talked about him, Rebecca had never mentioned that he knew his way around a kitchen, only a bedroom. "You cook?"

He winked at her just before he went into the kitchen. "I can throw something together with the best of them."

They had eggs Benedict and Mac insisted on cleaning up. All she had to do, he told her, was eat.

"You'll get no argument from me," she told him. "I know a good deal when I see one."

The glance he gave her sent ripples through her abdomen. "So do I."

Finished, he wiped his hands on the kitchen towel and then took Amanda's small one in his. It was close to nine o'clock.

"I think maybe it's time I read that book of yours, what do you think?" A vigorous bobbing of her head met his question. "Funny thing about that book. I heard the story is better if anyone under three feet is wearing pajamas when they hear it. Want to give that theory a try?" He knew that Amanda couldn't have understood half the words he used. It warmed his heart that she agreed so readily.

Picking up the book that had started it all, he glanced back at Jolene. "I'll be back in a little while. In the meantime, don't fall asleep. That's an order."

Jolene sat down on the sofa, using the remote to turn on the TV. "I know all about head wounds, Doctor."

He noticed that this time her voice had a smile in it instead of offense. Mac figured he had to be making progress. The thought brought an unconscious smile to his lips.

It never ceased to amaze him how much comfort children derived from repet.i.tion. For him, everything always had to be new, fresh. Amanda had been thrilled to hear every word of the story spoken endlessly over and over again. It had taken almost an hour to read her to sleep. He'd almost succ.u.mbed himself.

Returning to the living room, Mac sank down on the sofa beside Jolene. He had a gla.s.s of water in his hand.

She'd been debating going upstairs to investigate, wondering if he'd been the one to fall asleep instead of Amanda. Seeing the gla.s.s of water, she smiled.

"Thirsty?"

He raised the gla.s.s slightly. "I was going to toss it at you if you were asleep. But since you're not, I think I'll make use of it myself." He consumed nearly half the contents in one long gulp. His throat was completely parched. Setting the gla.s.s down on the coffee table, he looked at her. "How many times do you generally read Silly Sandy Meets Mighty Mandy to her?"

His having endured multiple readings bonded them more than working at Blair did. She laughed, picturing him being held captive by Amanda's plaintive "p'eases."

"More times than I'd like. In her defense, she hasn't heard it for a while." She looked at him, trying to gauge his limit. "How many times did you read it?"

"Five before she finally dropped off." He'd begun to think he was doomed for all eternity, stuck in a time warp reading the same sentences over and over. "I think I can recite the d.a.m.n book by heart." To prove it, he leaned back, closed his eyes and began, "It was a big, beautiful October day-"

"No, stop, please." Laughing, she tugged on his shirt to get him to open his eyes and shut his mouth. "That's torture above and beyond the call of duty-"

Sitting up, he threaded his arms around her. The color had returned to her cheeks. He guessed he was just overreacting earlier. Other than the bandage over her eye, there was no indication of the fall she'd taken. She looked fine.

And he wanted her.

"You want torture, lady?" Mac gathered her to him, nuzzling her neck. "I can show you new meaning to the term sweet agony."

She could feel the pinp.r.i.c.ks beginning all over her body. Her eyes held his. "I bet you can."

The doctor in him was afraid that he was allowing his needs to get in the way of his professional judgment. He looked at her closely.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital, Jolene? We can have your mother come over to watch Amanda-"

She rolled her eyes. "That's all my mother needs to hear, that I fell off a chair. She'll be here in a flash, lining the floors with foam rubber in case I ever trip or fall again."

It would have been nice to have parents who worried about you instead of spending their time, sniping at each other. Jolene didn't know how good she had it. "Maybe she just wants to make sure you're safe." He pressed a kiss to her hair. "Like I do."

Didn't he have any idea what he did to her? "Don't do that."

He wasn't following her. "Do what?"

"Be nice." She could handle the situation when he was being flippant, or s.e.xy. But when he was being nice, the way he had been with Amanda earlier, she could feel herself being reduced to the consistency of ice cream melting in the sun.

"Sorry, occupational habit," he apologized with a definite lack of contrition. "I could beat you if you'd like."

She pretended to fend him off, her hands before her. "No, thanks, I've seen you with a punching bag."

"That's right, I forgot." Ever so slowly, he began to stroke her side as he spoke. "I'm a lot better with a real live person."

She could feel her breath beginning to back up in her lungs. Just like last time.

"Yes," she said hardly above a whisper, "I know that, too."

Maybe he was taking unfair advantage, he cautioned himself. He gave her every chance to back away. "Do you want me to go?"

It would have been wise to say yes. She had the perfect excuse, that she was tired and sore and needed her rest. But she didn't feel very wise tonight. She felt a whole different range of things she didn't want to put into words, didn't want to examine.

And so, her answer was, "No."

He kissed her very, very gently, softly as if her lips were made of flower petals that would be crushed at the slightest pressure.

The longing that filled her was almost unbearably sweet.

She could hardly hear her own voice above the pounding in her ears. "I won't break, Mac."

"Just making sure."

And then he gathered her into his arms and rose from the sofa.

She looked at him in wonder, thrilling to the feel of being in his arms like this. She felt weightless. "Now what?"

"Now I'm taking you to your room." He turned toward the stairs. "I feel the need for a more thorough examination coming on."

She laced her arms around his neck, feeling giddy and more light-headed than her fall would have made her. Her eyes danced as she asked, "How thorough?"

He kissed her before answering, his lips brushing quickly, urgently against hers. "Not an inch of you is going to be left untouched."

"Sounds promising."

He grinned, feeling the excitement beginning to mount. "And I always keep my promises."

He pushed open the door to her bedroom with his shoulder, walking in. Laying her gently on the bed, he was surprised when she grabbed his shirt front and pulled him to her. She raised her head and sealed her mouth to his.

If he meant to proceed gently with his lovemaking, his plans were doomed to go awry as she yanked them out of his hands and effectively burned them using just the heat of her mouth.

He had no reason when it came to her. It was like his mind was an empty echo chamber, with only her name resonating in it. Had he been able to think clearly just then, the fact that she could do this to him, to reduce him to this state, would have worried him. Always before, the second time with a woman, though pleasurable, was never as exciting as the first. It was a matter of record, a given.

Except for now.

Now there was even more excitement, more antic.i.p.ation than there had been the first time, because now he knew what to expect and in knowing, wanted more. Wanted to steep himself in the tastes, the feel, the very scent of her.

But even as all these desires warred within him and this new terrain was uncovered, the doctor in him struggled to rise up one last time.

"You're sure you feel up to this?" He searched her face for an answer she might not want to admit to. "I don't want to hurt you."

I won't let you, she promised him silently, but even so, she had a feeling that it was already too late for the promise to be completely true.

Her mouth teased his as she kissed first one corner, then another. He made her feel well. The headache she'd had just minutes earlier had faded like a bad dream. "You're the one who's going to be hurt if you stop now."

She'd convinced him and Mac laughed at the threat. "Ah, a tough woman. Want to see how I handle a tough woman?"

Jolene arched her body against his, creating delicious waves of antic.i.p.ation through it. "I'm counting on it. And by the way, actions speak louder than words."

He stripped his shirt off and began to undress her. "Your wish is my command."

If only, she thought.

If only.

But now wasn't the time to have regrets, to let herself think of what wasn't and what wouldn't be. Now was only the time to think of what was and to enjoy it to the utmost before it was gone.

The instant they were both freed of their clothing, she seized his mouth, determined this time to leave a burning impression on him that would last for the rest of his life.

The way he had already done with her.

Because in that one night of lovemaking she'd had with him, he had completely erased the nine years she'd spent with Matt, making them not only history, but a pile of smoldering ashes.

As her body heated, an urgency strumming her loins, she pushed him back against the bed and straddled his hips. Jolene could feel his desire growing against her. It gave her a sense of power and yet at the same time, filled her with a sweetness, a generosity of spirit that took her breath away.

She'd never felt this way before, never wanted to give of herself for the pure pleasure it created within someone else.

Everything Rebecca had told her about MacKenzie was true. And more.

More. She wanted more. She wanted forever.

The thought frightened her more than she could hope to put into words. She knew she couldn't have what she wanted-couldn't have him. She could only hope to have the moment.

She made the most of it.

Slowly Jolene lowered her body to his, purposely brushing against it ever so slightly and tantalizing him with each movement. She reveled in the look in his eyes, in the feel of his hands as they slid up along her ribs and over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

And then she carefully moved over him, taking him into her. She began to sway, first slowly, then with more and more urgency.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders. The rhythm of lovemaking increased until it swept them both over the edge.

She moaned, savoring the explosion, savoring the feel of him. And then, very slowly, she sank against Mac's chest, her hair pooling along his torso, her body all but liquid.

And then, when she could, she raised her head and looked at him. Mischief outlined her lips. "See? I'm fine."

Mac tangled his fingers in her silky hair, cupping the back of her head. Holding her in place.

"Oh lady, you're so much more than fine."

Still joined in the most basic of ways, he surprised her by reversing their positions. She was flat on her back in less than a heartbeat. He drew back, creating just the smallest pocket of s.p.a.ce between them.

Without a word, he began to take the inventory he'd promised, using his lips rather than his hands to examine every part of her.

She twisted and turned beneath his hot lips, absorbing every sensation that racked her body, craving more. Afraid that more would drive her over the edge again. She climaxed so quickly, she hardly knew what was happening before she was in the midst of its grip.

Shuddering, she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.

Pleasuring his partner had always heightened lovemaking for him, but he had never felt it to this extent before. Never felt the level of satisfaction as he did from bringing her to this special place where only the two of them resided.

Hearing her moan his name as she twisted and turned beneath him filled him with awe. With an overwhelming sense of happiness.

Scary stuff, a small voice echoed somewhere in the far recesses of his mind.

He shut it out by sealing his mouth to hers and letting the pa.s.sion overtake him.