The Wells Brothers: Luke Read online

Looking at the scratches on his hands, he sighed again. Poor little bugger, the kitten was terrified and had had God knew what done to it before being thrown away like rubbish.

  “Vet first,” he said gruffly. “I’ll clean up there.”

  Elspeth beamed at him. “Oh, Luke, you’re such a brave, honourable boy.”

  Oh geez.

  A glance sideways showed Mikki with a surprisingly gentle expression on her face as she studied him. A soft smile that unexpectedly pulled at something deep inside him, making him notice those lush lips curving so sweetly. He’d never seen her look at him with such tenderness, such caring, such gratitude, such -

  “When did you last have a Tetanus shot, Luke?”

  Shit, looks were deceiving.

  ~*~

  Elspeth disappeared into the vet’s office clutching the loudly protesting kitten in the box to her chest, leaving Luke and Mikki to find a chemist and attend to his wounds.

  Leaving him sitting in the SUV in front of the vet’s, Mikki hurried across the road to the row of shops on the other side. Entering the small chemist, she browsed the shelves, quickly finding a bottle of Betadine and a bag of cotton balls.

  Expecting someone older, she couldn’t help but notice that the pharmacist behind the counter was cute, with bright hazel eyes, golden-blonde hair, and a square jaw. His smile was all charm. “Passing through?”

  “Kind of.” She pulled her purse from her small shoulder bag.

  “I haven’t seen you here before. On holiday?”

  Mind on Luke’s scratches, Mikki answered briefly, “More like a working holiday.”

  Bagging the Betadine and cotton balls, the chemist offered, “It’s a small town here, everyone knows everyone. I’m Mark.”

  “Mikki.” When he kept smiling at her, she raised her eyebrows. “Umm...what do I owe you?”

  The smile faltered a bit. “Ten twenty five.”

  Crap, maybe she’d been a bit too short, but with Luke waiting in the SUV… Mikki attempted to salvage the situation. “Seems like a nice town.”

  He handed her the change. “It is.”

  Oh yeah, she’d offended him somehow. Curses, she sure hadn’t wanted to do that, not with this town being so close to the mansion. Not to mention they needed to shop here, use the library and museum, and find out information. The last thing she wanted was to spoil things for Elspeth, not to mention that being short and rude wasn’t her style.

  And Luke wouldn’t bleed to death if she spent a few minutes rebuilding bridges.

  Relaxing, she smiled ruefully at Mark. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be curt. We were on our way here and saw a car taking off from the side of the road. Whoever was in there tossed out a box and we stopped to check it, turned out to be a kitten.”

  A frown crossed Mark’s features. “A kitten? You mean whoever it was threw out a kitten in a box?”

  Mikki nodded. “Abandoned it. We went to check if it was all right and it got out, but we grabbed it.”

  Concerned, Mark’s gaze fell to her hands.

  “I was lucky.” She gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. “My friend wasn’t. He caught the kitten. Unfortunately it scratched and bit him, hence the Betadine.”

  Mark’s frown grew. “Has he had a Tetanus shot? Those ferals can be savage and full of disease.”

  “I don’t know about a feral being full of disease. Anyway, that’s exactly what I asked him - about the Tetanus shot.” When the chemist waited, those nicely formed eyebrows raised, she added, “Turns out he had.”

  “Lucky for him. So you’re going to patch your boyfriend up, hey?”

  “Not boyfriend, just a friend.” She picked up the paper bag. “Thanks for this.”

  “No worries.” He studied her. “Staying around for long?”

  He’d find out soon enough, and besides, he just might have information. “Actually, I’m staying with Luke and my Aunt up at the old Willock mansion.”

  His eyes brightened with interest. “Are you the buyer?”

  “Me? No-”

  “Then it must be your aunt.” His gaze flashed behind her. “She’s here?”

  “At the vet.” She picked up the bag again. “Okay, well thanks. I better go and patch Luke up.”

  Coming around from behind the counter, Mark fell into step beside her. “In town for the day?”

  “Just doing a few things. A bit of shopping and stuff.” She reached for the door.

  Beating her to it, he swung it open, smiling down at her with a flash of perfect teeth. “I knock off at five thirty.”

  Her jaw nearly dropped. “Pardon?”

  “If you’d like someone to show you around, I’m available.”

  Utterly floored, Mikki stared at him.

  His smile didn’t falter.

  “Um, well, that’s a lovely offer.” She managed to recover some aplomb. “But we’ll be back at the mansion by then.”

  “The offer always stands.” He glanced across to the vet clinic. “Is that your friend?”

  Shifting her attention from him to the direction he was looking in, she spotted Luke leaning against the front of the SUV, long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, his hands resting on the car bonnet behind him.

  As if sensing her regard, his head turned in her direction. She wasn’t sure if he was looking at her or not, especially with the distance between them and the sunglasses hiding his eyes. The road was wider than normal, the vet clinic set well back from the main road.

  “That’s Luke,” she affirmed. Looking up at Mark, she added, “Thanks for your help.”

  He leaned his shoulder against the door frame. “Anytime, Mikki.”

  A little flustered, definitely not used to a man being so blatantly interested in her, Mikki nodded and walked out of the shop. Straightening her shoulders, she moved across the road, unable to help a quick peek back over her shoulders to find Mark still standing in the doorway watching her. Flashing those pearly whites again, he lifted his hand in a brief wave.

  What could she do but give him a wave in return before continuing across the road? Truthfully, she was a little flattered. He was good-looking man and had just offered to show her around. That was one for the books.

  As she neared the vet’s parking lot, Luke adjusted his sunglasses in that bad-boy way he had. “Making conquests now, Red?”

  “He was just being friendly.”

  “Really? He’s still watching you.”

  Placing the bag on the car bonnet, Mikki glanced over her shoulder once more, undeniably flattered to find that yes indeed, the handsome pharmacist was still standing in the doorway watching her.

  Suddenly he stepped back, the door swinging closed to cut him from view.

  Huh. Turning back, she found Luke still gazing across the road at the shop, this time with his glasses partially down his nose to reveal his eyes. Those eyes dropped to gaze down at her.

  “What?” She pulled open the corner of the bag of cotton balls.

  “Got an admirer?” Those normally twinkling blue eyes regarded her curiously.

  “No.” Twisting the cap off the Betadine, she tipped the liquid onto a cotton ball. “What makes you ask?” She gestured for one of his hands.

  He held one arm out. “Your new boyfriend was watching you the whole time you walked across the road.”

  “Maybe he was concerned for my safety.” She dabbed the scratches marring his tanned skin. “And he’s not my boyfriend as you very well know.”

  “Bet he wants to be.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet of you to say.” She moved gently over the scratches. “Funnily enough, he thought you were my boyfriend.” When silence met this, she glanced up but was unable to guess his thoughts with the sunglasses once again pushed up his nose to hide his eyes. Nevertheless, she could feel his scrutiny “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No. What?” She returned her attention to his scratches.

  Both the scratches and the couple of bites had stopped bleeding. Gue
ss tiny teeth wouldn’t do a lot of damage but he still had to be careful of infection.

  “Did you tell him we were at the mansion?”

  “He asked.”

  “He knows about Elspeth?”

  “He does now. Not that it was hard for him to put two and two together.”

  Luke grunted. “That explains that, then.”

  “Hmm?” Poor bugger, his arm was now that peculiar yellow/brown colour from the Betadine, but he had held onto the kitten and not gotten too mad about it. Had to give the man credit for that.

  “He’s hitting on you because he thinks you’re wealthy.”

  That had her head snapping up to look at him. “What?”

  “Why else would he be all chummy?”

  “Well, geez, don’t hold back on my account.”

  “I mean, come on. A bloke doesn’t practically fall all over himself with a woman he just met.” Luke held out his other arm, waiting.

  Cheeky bugger. “Are you saying he couldn’t possibly be interested in me?”

  “Why would he?” Luke seemed genuinely surprised.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe he thinks I’m pretty?”

  Luke gave a bark of laughter.

  Bastard. Mildly annoyed, she liberally poured Betadine onto another cotton ball and slapped it on his arm. Hard.

  “Hells bells!” Luke jumped, yanking his arm away. “Geez, Mikki!”

  “Sorry.”

  “I bet.”

  “What would I know? I’m just the ugly sister.”

  He snorted. “You have several sisters.”

  “I’m the ugly one, obviously.”

  “You’re not ugly.”

  “Why, Prince Charming.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Just listen to big handsome you trying to be nice to lil ol’me. I’m touched.”

  “You’ve got the last part right.” He peered down at his arm. “I think you got all the scratches.”

  “What, afraid of the sting?”

  “Of your tongue or your administrations?”

  “Afraid I’m going to bite you?”

  “Your bite is definitely worse than your bark.”

  Amused, she flashed him a grin. “Lift up your shirt.”

  One eyebrow rose above his glasses. “After my body now?”

  “Are you kidding me? I have a handsome chemist wanting to show me around, why would I be lusting after you?”

  Hooking the fingers of one hand into the hem of his t-shirt, Luke drew it up to reveal an impressive six pack. “Try not to attack me.”

  “You’d be wishing.” She ran the cotton ball down several small scratches on his abdomen. Man, she had to admit he had a good set of muscles there. And the heat from his body was kind of…like a little wow. She’d never been this close to him before, not like this with her hands running over that ripped abdomen.

  Silence fell between them as she tipped more Betadine onto a clean cotton ball and ran it over a couple more scratches.

  Man, she’d never have ever believed she’d actually be attending to Luke Well’s body. She’d be the envy of many a woman who had no doubt run their tongues over this same ripped body and maybe further down to… Her hand slowed as she traced a scratch near the waistband of his jeans.

  Luke suddenly sucked in a breath, making her hand slip, the tips of her fingers sliding into the waistband of his jeans, the backs of her fingers brushing against his abdomen, the tips hitting the waistband of his underwear.

  Heart giving a jump, nerves tingling unexpectedly, Mikki tore her hand away like a shot. “Sorry!”

  When he didn’t answer, she looked up to find him watching her. Damn, she wished she could see his eyes, know what he was thinking, but nothing was revealed on that normally happy, handsome face.

  He neither replied, moved away, nor pulled his shirt down.

  Mouth dry, she dropped her eyes to the bottle and cotton ball in her hands. “Um...I think it’s all done.”

  She made to step back, only to have him say quietly, “Not yet.”

  Startled, she looked back up at him. He continued to hold her gaze as he slowly drew the t-shirt up higher to reveal one impressive pec.

  Her gaze was drawn like a magnet to that pec, to the brown male nipple that graced it, to the swell of muscle, to… “It’s just a little scratch,” she squeaked.

  His voice deepened a spine-tingling fraction. “Needs Betadine.”

  Well hell, what was she supposed to do? Refuse to tend to it? She had no idea if he was teasing her, leading her on just a little for his own amusement, or - wait, yeah, that had to be it. He was amusing himself at her expense, the jerk.

  Setting her jaw, she locked her eyes on his sunglasses and with admirable dexterity managed to get the cotton ball onto the end of the Betadine bottle, tipped it, soaked the cotton ball and, refusing to look away from his face, placed it on his pec and wiped up and down several times. “Better?” she asked sardonically.

  “Sure you got that in the right place, Red?”

  “Of course. I’m not an idiot.”

  “Because that’s my nipple you’re rubbing.”

  She looked down, red seeping into her cheeks. Damn it, she’d just Betadined his nipple! Missed the scratch by a country mile!

  Play it cool.

  Taking a deep breath, she shifted her hand to dab at the scratch on the other side of his pec. Dab dab dab.

  Unexpectedly, his other hand came up to wrap around her fingers. “Don’t dab, Red.”

  “Huh?”

  “I like a firm stroke.” His voice was a little husky.

  Oh boy. She swallowed, suddenly so aware of him leaning towards her, his abdomen and chest deliciously on show, her hand in his. And most definitely aware of the innuendo.

  Wait, was it innuendo?

  “I like a firm stroke where it counts,” he continued softly.

  “R-really?”

  “Oh yeah. Don’t be shy, Mikki, just stroke down it.”

  Crap on a stick, what he just said! “A-are we still talking about this scratch?”

  The question made him freeze then jerk upright, yanking his t-shirt down and releasing her hand as he did so. But rather than back away, he simply stared down at her.

  For one of the few times in her life, she didn’t know what to say. She could still feel the heat of his skin around her fingers, the way his voice dropped to huskiness. The way her thighs trembled just a little and her heart fastened.

  “Hey, you two!” Elspeth’s voice cut through the tense silence.

  Grateful for the interruption, Mikki moved back, shoving the Betadine and bag of cotton balls into his hands. “Here, you can finish this off if you need to.” Smiling brightly, she faced Elspeth. “Hey, how’s the little tacker?”

  “The little tacker’s a girl just as we knew, and she’s fine.” Cheerful as always, Elspeth strode across to them, so at ease in high heels that would have had Mikki eating dust in seconds if she’d even thought about wearing them. “And she’s coming home with us.”

  Incredibly conscious of the warmth at her back, the tall muscular man so silent, Mikki was grateful for Elspeth’s presence. “So where is she then?”

  “She’s a little dehydrated, hungry, and apparently has a serious case of worms. Poor little mite hasn’t been cared for properly. She’s just scared, not feral.” Elspeth scowled, then sighed, and followed it with a smile. “Anyway, the vet’s going to give her something to eat and drink and worm her, and keep an eye on her while we go and do our stuff.” Walking past them, she opened the passenger door.

  Automatically, Luke opened it wider for Elspeth and waited.

  Refusing to look at him, Mikki concentrated on Elspeth. “We might lose her at the mansion, it’s a big place and she’s just a little scrap.”

  “The vet’s such a lovely man, he’s going to loan us a cage we can keep her in when we’re busy.” Elspeth set her handbag primly on her lap. “We’ll need to buy kitten food, milk, litter and such before we pick her back up and
head home. Speaking of which, we have a lot to do. Luke, sweetie, how’re your poor hands?”

  “Fine.” Catching her looking at the Betadine bottle, he gestured to Mikki. “She took care of it. I’m good as new.”

  “Excellent. So, are we ready to get busy?”

  Busy sounded good. Busy sounded just what Mikki needed to get her head back on straight. She still wasn’t sure what had just happened, or indeed if anything had happened. Maybe it had just been her imagination playing out some pretty tantalising fantasies.

  Closing the passenger door, Luke opened the back door and waited for her. It was all she could do to maintain composure, but she managed a cool ‘Thanks’ with admirable grace and got into the car.

  He hesitated, making her wonder if he was going to say something, but then he handed her the Betadine bottle and cotton balls, shut the door and strode around to the driver’s seat. Slipping the items into the original bag, Mikki tied the top and placed it on the floor.

  Luke started the SUV before turning to Elspeth. “Where first?”

  “If we park near the antique dealer, I can go and see him while you and Mikki go to the library.”

  Mikki glanced up at the rear-view mirror to find him watching her. She managed a cool smile. Great, just what she didn’t need. What she did need was a few minutes alone to get some surprisingly jangled nerves back in place.

  He simply nodded. “Where’s the dealer?”

  “Main street.”

  He looked over his shoulder both ways. “We’re on the main drag already, by the looks of it.”

  “Towns can be so quaint, can’t they?” Elspeth flapped a hand in the direction of the chemist. “The vet said the antique dealer was about halfway down. The library is a bit further but not far.”

  Minutes later the SUV pulled into a parking place right in front of a small shop with ‘Yorick Antique Dealer’ emblazoned on gold and black across the windows. Black iron bars striped down the window frames to disappear into the brickwork.

  Luke frowned. “You sure this bloke knows what he’s talking about?”

  Elspeth was surprised. “Yes.”

  “How well do you know him?”

  “He came highly recommended.”

  Luke studied the window. “So why is he out here in this small town instead of the city?”