Hero by Nature Read online

  She was offering her body, her passion. An affair, glorious though temporary. He wanted her love. Her future. Everything she had to give. He wanted to offer the same. But she wasn’t ready to give or receive love. Only passion. And, God help him, that wasn’t enough. He’d thought it would be, but it wasn’t.

  Taking a deep breath that burned its way into his lungs, he reached up with trembling hands and removed her arms from around his neck. Reluctantly he stepped back toward the glass doors that led into his house. Unaware that he was bringing the evening to an end, Autumn gave him a sultry smile that went straight to his clenched stomach. She spread her slender fingers across his chest, then leaned forward to plant a butterfly kiss on his jaw.

  Jeff almost whimpered. But then he brought himself sternly under control and took her wrists in his hands, turning to walk inside with her. He didn’t pause in the den but kept walking, straight to the front door. “I had a wonderful time tonight, Autumn,” he told her, unable to make his voice sound completely normal. “Thank you.”

  Her expression stunned, Autumn blinked and looked up at him as if she couldn’t quite believe she was hearing him correctly. “I had a good time, too,” she said finally, “but—”

  Jeff reached for the doorknob, avoiding her eyes. “Drive carefully, okay? After all, it is late.”

  “It’s not that late,” she replied curtly, and he could see confusion turning to annoyance in her emerald eyes. He could deal with her anger later, he assured himself, resisting an urge to cross his fingers.

  “It’s after one. And I’m on call tomorrow,” he told her, deliberately casual. He dropped a light kiss on her unresponsive lips, smiled brightly, bade her good-night and politely closed the door in her astonished face.

  He leaned weakly against that door for a moment before turning abruptly and heading back to the pool, shedding his clothes as he went and leaving them strewn behind him. He was halfway into his first lap before the sound of Autumn’s Fiero faded into the distance. He lost count of the laps long before he crawled out of the pool, quivering with exhaustion but still taut with frustration.

  AUTUMN STARED at Jeff’s front door for a full minute before closing her mouth, spinning on one high heel and stalking to her car. She slid behind the wheel and slammed the door but could not bring herself to start the engine immediately. Instead, she sat in dazed silence, trying to decide what had just happened.

  Jeff had thrown her out! First he’d kissed her like she’d never been kissed before, made her want him like she’d never wanted anyone, then he’d thrown her out! Slammed the door in her face, left her standing on the doorstep like…like a cat he was putting out for the night, she thought indignantly. A person could get whiplash from that abrupt a reversal!

  Wouldn’t you know it, she thought glumly, eventually reaching out to turn the key in the ignition. I finally decide I’m mature enough and sophisticated enough to handle a brief affair, and I have to choose a genuine, old-time Southern gentleman who won’t take a woman to bed on the first date.

  At least she assumed that Jeff had considered he was being courteous by ending their intimate interlude so unsatisfactorily. She would never believe that he hadn’t wanted her as badly as she wanted him. After all, she’d been pressed as closely against him as possible while they were still wearing clothes. The man had definitely been interested. Remembering the solid, heavy feel of him, she shivered with another ripple of desire. How could he leave her this way? she wailed silently, shifting uncomfortably on the vinyl seat.

  It was during the cold shower she took before turning in that she decided she wanted Jeff Bradford, dammit, and she was going to have him! How dare he think that he was the one responsible for deciding how far their relationship would go, and at what rate it would proceed! She was a woman of the eighties, fully capable of deciding for herself whom she would sleep with and when. And though she had no intention of becoming seriously involved with Jeff, she would admit to being very attracted to him and willing, if not eager, to pursue that attraction to its logical conclusion. One night, a few weeks, perhaps even a few months, and they could go their own ways, Jeff to continue his search for a suitable doctor’s wife and Autumn to continue to work toward owning her own company.

  Curled on the bed beside Babs a few minutes later, Autumn closed her eyes and tried to will herself to sleep. But memories of being held in Jeff’s arms, being kissed and caressed by him, continued to plague her until she groaned and buried her face in her pillow. She would make him pay for this, she thought vengefully. And she’d make him enjoy every minute of his punishment. Just as she would.

  JEFF LIFTED the feverish toddler from the examining table and snuggled him for a moment against his shoulder. “Poor little fella,” he murmured for his tiny patient’s ears. “You really feel rotten, don’t you? Well, that medicine I just prescribed is going to make you feel better almost immediately, so just don’t you worry about it, you hear?”

  With one last pat on the lethargic little boy’s diapered bottom, he passed the child to his mother, who smiled sweetly at him. “You are so wonderful with children, Dr. Bradford,” she told him gratefully. “You really should have some of your own.”

  “I’m working on it, Mrs. Evans,” he replied cheerfully as he escorted her to the door, a hazy image of a child with red hair and emerald eyes flitting through his mind. Then he mentally laughed at himself for being an incurable optimist. At this point he’d be lucky to get another date with Autumn, and here he was fantasizing about having children with her!

  Still thinking of Autumn, he sat behind the massive desk in his office and reached for his tape recorder to dictate diagnosis and treatment for the file of the child he’d just examined. He’d just snapped the recorder on when he was interrupted by Pam’s appearance in the doorway. “Well?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against his desk.

  Jeff turned the recorder off. “Well, what?”

  Pam sighed impatiently. “Have you called her yet?”

  He knew who she meant, of course, but he couldn’t help teasing her a bit longer. Pam was so teasable. “Have I called who yet?”

  “Darn it, Jeff, you know who! Autumn! Now tell me, have you?”

  “No, Pam, I haven’t called her,” he answered, relenting.

  “Well, why not? This is Friday! If you’re going to ask her out for this weekend, you’d better get busy. She’s probably got plans already. Or are you waiting for her to call you?”

  “I’ll call her as soon as I get home this evening,” Jeff assured his partner, throwing an arm over the back of his desk chair as he smiled at her. “Now are you satisfied?”

  She shook her head, her brown curls bobbing with the motion. “I still don’t understand why you waited so long to call her when I can tell you’ve been just dying to do so all week. What do you want to bet she’s already got a date for tomorrow night?”

  “Then I’ll ask her out for another night,” he answered logically. “Believe me, Pam, I have my reasons.”

  “Yes, you told me your reasons. Some garbage about her having to chase after you if you’re going to catch her. That’s not the way things were done in my day! Back then it was the men who did the chasing and the women loved it.”

  Jeff laughed, eyeing the indignant surgeon with fond amusement. Having put herself through medical school, graduating at the top of her class, Pam was hardly the unassuming Southern belle she was imitating. He wondered what had gotten into her lately. “Pamela, you sound like a little old lady. In your day, indeed. You’ve only been married for two years, remember? And according to Bob, you did a bit of chasing yourself. Weren’t you the one who rammed your car into his once when you were dating so he couldn’t leave having the last word in an argument?”

  “That’s different,” Pam returned dismissively, waving one hand in the air.

  “I thought you’d think so,” Jeff murmured.

  “Dr. Bradford, your next patient is here. And Dr. Cochran, you ha
ve a telephone call. It’s Dr. Neville from Tampa General.”

  “Thanks, Sheila. I’ll take it in my office.” With one last frowning look at Jeff Pam turned and marched out of the room, leaving him grinning and shaking his head as he pushed himself away from his desk and went off to take care of his next patient.

  He hoped he was doing the right thing by treating Autumn so casually. Every day for the past week he’d fought the urge to call her, reminding himself over and over that she wouldn’t appreciate his chasing her too fervently. He’d told himself that he would be the pursued, he thought as he entered the examining room in which his patient was waiting. He only hoped the attraction between them was strong enough for Autumn to remain interested.

  “SO,” EMILY ASKED with suspicious nonchalance, “have you heard from your friend lately?”

  Thinking that Emily could only be referring to Jeff, Autumn shook her head and glared down at her dinner plate. “No. Not since our date last Saturday.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean Jeff,” Emily corrected her quickly, dabbing at Ryan’s mouth with a napkin to remove a smear of the broccoli he was happily eating with his fingers. “I meant your friend Webb.”

  Autumn arched an eyebrow and looked across her dining table at her neighbor, who had joined Autumn for an early dinner followed by a television special they both wanted to see. So Emily was interested in Webb, was she? Autumn grinned, remembering that Webb had casually inquired about Emily on at least three different occasions during the past week since he’d met her. “Of course I’ve heard from Webb, Emily. I work with him, remember? I see him every day.”

  “Oh, of course.” Emily flushed a bit and focused her china-blue eyes on the broiled fish fillet in front of her. “How silly of me.”

  Autumn chuckled. “Emily, if you’re interested in Webb, just come out and say so. What would you like to know about him?”

  Blushing deeper, Emily smiled sheepishly and looked at Autumn. “Everything. I thought he was nice. And so handsome! I’m surprised that you’re not dating him yourself.”

  “Webb and I are just friends. We’re too much alike to be anything else,” Autumn explained. “He’s a great guy, but he’s been known to break a few hearts. He claims to be allergic to commitment.”

  “It does sound like the two of you are a lot alike,” Emily agreed in amusement. “Ryan, don’t rub your Jell-O in your hair!”

  Laughing at Ryan’s antics, Autumn turned back to her dinner. As she finished, she told Emily how she’d met Webb, then shared some funny stories of escapades she and Webb had been involved in during the past months. Privately she thought that Emily and Webb would make a good couple. She suspected that Emily would be the type who’d adore and admire the man she loved, and Webb was one of those males who’d enjoy the adulation and return it in full measure once he’d accepted the inevitable. He loved kids, so Ryan wouldn’t be a problem.

  If only the man weren’t so shy of serious involvement, Autumn mused, not finding it at all strange that she was in favor of marriage for Webb when she was so wary of the institution for herself. It wasn’t marriage itself that she opposed, but the fear of losing herself within the bonds of such a union. Others seemed to handle the responsibilities just fine—her own two sisters were embarrassingly happy in their wedded states. But Autumn’s too-close encounter had left her decidedly marriage-shy.

  Thoughts of Jeff Bradford tried to creep into her mind, but she firmly closed a mental door against them, telling herself that there was absolutely no connection between her reflections on marriage and the man who’d shattered her peace of mind in the six weeks since she’d met him. She’d been expecting Jeff to call all week. Not that she’d made any special effort to stay close to her phone because of that, she assured herself. She’d simply had several things to do that had kept her home every night that week.

  “Webb sure left in a hurry when I told him that I was divorced,” Emily said with a sigh as they stood to carry their plates into the kitchen. “Has he got something against divorcées?”

  Bringing her thoughts back to their conversation with an effort, Autumn shook her head at Emily’s question. “No. He only runs like that when he meets a woman who could become a threat to his bachelorhood.”

  Emily frowned at that, then slowly smiled. “Oh. I see.”

  Autumn returned the smile. “I thought you would. Maybe I’ll ask him over one night next week. I could use some help with the bookcase that I want to move from the living room to my bedroom.”

  “I think that sounds like an excellent idea,” Emily agreed, her eyes dancing. “Oh, Autumn, I’m glad I met you. I’ve been lonely since Earl and I divorced. He’d pretty well alienated all our friends with his drinking by the time we split up, and I’ve been reluctant to get back in touch with them. It’s nice to have a friend again.”

  Autumn reached into a cabinet for a cookie for Ryan’s dessert, pleased by Emily’s words. “I’m glad we met, too,” she admitted. “Until you came along, I hadn’t realized that almost all my friends in Tampa are men that I work with. It’s nice to have a woman to talk to again.”

  Emily started to say something, then paused as the telephone rang. “Maybe that’s Jeff,” she said eagerly, confirming Autumn’s suspicion that Emily knew how much Autumn had been hoping he’d call, even though Autumn had said very little about Jeff to Emily.

  Though her heart had begun to pound—as it had each time the telephone had rung during the past week, to Autumn’s disgust—she tried to sound as if she didn’t really care that Jeff might be the caller. “Could be. Excuse me, Emily.”

  She picked up the receiver of the yellow kitchen wall phone. “Hello?”

  “Hello, Autumn.”

  Jeff. “Hi,” she said a little too breathlessly, then nodded at Emily to confirm that it was, indeed, him. “If you want to go ahead and get comfortable in the living room, I’ll join you in a few minutes,” she told her grinning friend before turning her full attention back to the telephone call. “How are you, Jeff?”

  “You have company?” he asked without answering her perfunctory question. “I can call back another time if it’s not convenient now.”

  Noting the displeasure in his voice with mixed feelings, Autumn wound the telephone cord around her finger. “No, it’s okay. I can talk for a few minutes. Emily and Ryan had dinner with me, and we’re going to watch a television special together.”

  “Emily and Ryan?”

  “My neighbor and her fifteen-month-old son. I thought I’d mentioned them at dinner last week.”

  “Yeah, I think you did,” Jeff agreed, his voice suddenly sounding brighter. “What television program are you going to watch?” he inquired, obviously reluctant to end the call.

  “The magician Jeremy Kane has his first TV special on tonight. The television guide said he was going to do some pretty spectacular illusions.”

  “You like magic?”

  “Yes. And Jeremy Kane is one of my favorite magicians. I’d love to see him perform in person someday.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Actually, though, I called to see if you’d like to go out with me tomorrow night. Unless you have other plans, of course.”

  The awkwardness of the invitation was somehow endearing. Autumn tried to steel herself against the softness he brought out in her even as she accepted. “No, I don’t have any other plans for tomorrow night. I’d like to go out with you.”

  “Great.” He didn’t try to hide his pleasure. “I thought we’d do something casual this time, so don’t dress up, okay?”

  “Fine. Sounds like fun.” She noted absently that the end of her finger was turning purple as the tightly wound telephone cord cut off her circulation.

  “Seven o’clock?”

  “All right.”

  “Autumn?”

  “Yes, Jeff?”

  “I need your address.”

  “Oh, of course.” She gave it to him, listened as he carefully repeated the numbers, then hung up when he did. Unwr
apping her purple finger, she stood absently rubbing it, her gaze unseeingly on the telephone. Funny, she thought, she hadn’t even hesitated to accept the date. After a week of indecision, alternating between never wanting to see him again and fighting the urge to chase him down and drag him into bed, she’d meekly accepted his invitation when he’d finally gotten around to calling her. And she’d quickly explained who was with her when she could sense that he thought he’d interrupted a more intimate evening. If she wasn’t careful, she thought with a weak attempt at humor, Jeff Bradford was going to have her involved with him before she even knew it.

  Only the thought wasn’t at all funny. That was exactly what she was worried about.

  “Hello in there.” Emily’s voice held amusement as she broke into Autumn’s deep reverie.

  Autumn looked sheepishly at the doorway where Emily watched her with a smile. “Uh, that was Jeff.”

  “I know. Did he ask you out again?”

  “Yes. Tomorrow night.”

  “You are going, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I’m going.”

  “Good.” Emily’s smile broadened. “I think this man is good for you.”

  “No.” Autumn shook her head emphatically. “He’s all wrong for me. Exactly the opposite of the kind of man I usually date.”

  “That’s what I meant. He’s good for you.” With that smug comment Emily turned toward the living room. “Jeremy Kane’s about to come on. We don’t want to miss his opening illusion.”

  Pulling two canned soft drinks out of the refrigerator, Autumn followed her friend, knowing as she did so that it was going to be hard to lose herself in the performer’s illusions when her mind would be so fully filled with memories of Jeff. She was beginning to believe that Jeff Bradford possessed a few magic powers of his own. She could only assume that she had been bewitched.

  AUTUMN SPENT quite a bit less time worrying about clothes for her second date with Jeff than she had for her first. After all, if “that gold thing”—the most powerful weapon in her wardrobe arsenal—hadn’t overcome Jeff’s strong willpower, no garment would. Still, she took pains to look her best in a vividly patterned, short-sleeved camp shirt and pleated khaki slacks, her thick, curling hair confined at the back of her head with a banana clip. Bold plastic earrings, a heavy matching bracelet and bright green flats completed her colorful outfit. She had just finished applying her makeup when her doorbell rang, some fifteen minutes before seven. Either Jeff was early or…