A Trooper to Love: Steamy Small Town Romance (Officers to Love Book 1) Read online

  A Trooper to Love

  Marie Carnay

  Contents

  Copyright

  A Trooper to Love

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Also by Marie Carnay

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2015 by Marie Carnay. Cover and internal design © by Marie Carnay. Cover image copyright © Deposit Photos, 2015.

  All rights reserved. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The use of stock photo images in this e-book in no way imply that the models depicted personally endorse, condone, or engage in the fictional conduct depicted herein, expressly or by implication. The person(s) depicted are models and are used for illustrative purposes only.

  This book is for sale to mature, adult audiences only. It contains sexually explicit situations and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store this e-book where it cannot be accessed by minors.

  A Trooper to Love

  A man in uniform, an independent woman, and chemistry too hot to ignore.

  Courage, honor, and a sense of duty. Those were the words Jake lived by. Women? An afterthought. When a curvy woman from the big city pushes his buttons, everything changes. The feisty veterinarian might be the spark this state trooper needs to let go and live. But he’ll have to save her first.

  Tabitha moved to the tiny Alaskan town to start fresh. Men? Not a chance. When a sexy as sin trooper busts through her front door, she can’t help herself. He’s the cure for lonely nights that she’s been missing. Lust brings them together; a stranger could rip them apart.

  1

  “WHERE WOULD YOU like the goat?”

  Tabitha popped her head over the backside of a German Shepard. “The what?”

  “The goat that ate a fence post. Should I put him in Exam Two or just have him wait out front?” Becky glanced back at the hallway and her brown curls covered her technician’s badge. “I’m afraid he might eat the bench.”

  Oh my God. Tabitha thought she’d seen it all in Seattle. Dogs who had an allergic reaction to the latest holistic treatment. Cats who swallowed part of a Halloween costume. She’d even examined a depressed chameleon. But a goat that’d eaten lumber? That was a first.

  She shook her head and pointed to the right. “Exam Two would be great. Thanks.” Thank God Becky had come with the place. If she didn’t have a tech who was accustomed to the locals, she’d never have survived her first week.

  As the door swung shut, Tabitha bent back down and picked up the dog’s foot. According to his owner, he’d chased a bear off the property and had come back limping. She ran her hand down his shin and ankle, stopping when he jerked his leg up.

  After a few more passes and some gentle probing, she stood up. Dave paced on the other side of the room, his hand raking through his moppy hair. From their initial conversation, she knew how much he relied on the dog to keep his family safe. With a pen full of pigs, they attracted predators of all sorts.

  Tabitha smiled and Dave stopped wearing a hole in the linoleum.

  “It doesn’t appear broken. Just a bad sprain. With some rest, he should be good as new in a few days.” She stroked the dog’s head behind the ears. “Just try to keep him inside the fence for now, okay?”

  “We can manage that.” Dave reached out and shook her hand. “Thanks, Dr. Boone. It’s so good to have a vet back in town.” Tabitha nodded. She’d been hearing similar comments all week.

  It’d only been a few days, but Tabitha had seen more animals than she’d managed in a month in Seattle. It was fantastic. Gone were annoying bosses, terrible hours, and an hour-long commute. In its place was a tidy apartment above her very own practice and an assistant worth her weight in gold.

  The icing on the cake? Her patients actually needed help.

  Eat your heart out Seattle, you’ve got nothing on Pinetree, Alaska. It might only house two thousand people in the winter, but it was her brand-new home. Stepping inside the vet clinic for the first time was up there with winning her first hand of blackjack and unwrapping the five-speed bike she’d never stopped talking about one Christmas.

  Thank God she’d taken a leap and answered that newspaper ad.

  She showed Dave and his dog to the door and took a moment to wash her hands. Up next, the curious goat. Tabitha stepped into the hall when a voice boomed out.

  “Where’s the vet?”

  She frowned. The guy sounded more like the city than anyone she’d seen that day. Arrogant and full of attitude. She snorted and walked toward the exam room without a glance. Too bad, buddy. You’ve got to wait in line like everyone else. Her assistant could handle him.

  Becky had been working in the vet clinic since she’d graduated high school five years before. She’d been there when Dr. Randall got too sick to keep the place open and encouraged him to solicit a buyer from Seattle. She knew all the locals and had been practically running the place for a year. Thanks to Becky, Tabitha could focus on the patients.

  She reached for the door handle of the exam room when a wham shook the wall. Did he just hit the counter?

  “No! I can’t wait. It’s an emergency.”

  “Jake! You can’t just—”

  Footsteps boomed into the hall and Tabitha exhaled. Great. He’s the macho type. Probably some hunter with a wounded retriever. She spun around, about to let the guy have it, when she stopped still. Whoa. He wasn’t the camo wearing, rifle-toting man she’d expected.

  No, sir. He towered over her with ice blue eyes and a determined expression that said all business. The Alaska State Trooper uniform screamed he meant it.

  Tabitha swallowed. “Officer. What can I do for you?”

  He pointed at the front door. “I’ve got a moose calf in the back of my Jeep. She’s been shot by poachers.”

  She held up her hands. “I’m a vet, not a processor.”

  His jaw ticked, his eyes narrowed and as he took a step forward, Tabitha shivered. “She’s not dead yet. You need to save her.”

  What? Tabitha’s head spun. He had to know she wasn’t equipped for something like that. She wasn’t even set up for surgery yet. But on a moose? She shook her head. “I’m not prepared to handle emergency surgery. I’ve only been here a few days.”

  He crossed his arms. “Are you a veterinarian, or not?”

  Tabitha straightened up. “Of course I am.”

  “Then shouldn’t you at least try?”

  She glanced past his hulking figure as Becky popped into the hall. The tech gripped a clipboard to her chest and stared at the man like he’d gone crazy. No help there. Damn it. Tabitha hadn’t performed surgery on a large animal since vet school. She’d had state-of-the-art facilities there. Here all she had was the back room and equipment she hadn’t tested. Could she even do it?

  What if the animal died? She turned back to the trooper. “I can’t promise anything. I don’t have the equipment and the place isn’t sterilized—”

  “While you’re talking, she’s bleeding out.”

  Tabitha exhaled. “She’ll probably die anyway. Remember that.” She pushed past him and grabbed Becky by the arm. “I need a tourniquet, clean towels, and the room set up for surg
ery. We’ve got to help a moose. Tell the rest of the people waiting we’ll have to reschedule.”

  Becky nodded with saucer-wide eyes. “O…kay.”

  Tabitha pushed up her sleeves and marched through the waiting room to the front door. She tugged it open. Here goes nothing.

  Jake ran a hand through his hair and ground his teeth together. Asking the vet every ten minutes whether the moose would make it wasn’t helping. Next time, she’d probably stab him with a scalpel. She’d made it perfectly clear he was a major pain in her ass.

  He knew it was a long shot to save the animal, but he was tired of finding the remains of illegal hunting. This time, he’d been tracking a set of hunters when the shot rang out. Five minutes of running through brush and trees and he’d found her. From her size and gangly limbs, he knew she was only a baby.

  The poor animal had bleated when he’d kneeled at her feet and that was it. Jake had to try. He’d hoisted her two hundred plus pounds of awkwardness into his arms and hauled ass until he’d made it to his vehicle. A drive through the backcountry, a turn onto Main Street, and in minutes, Jake had whipped into the clinic’s parking lot.

  The trooper in him said he should have left her to die and tracked the men responsible. If the guys at the station found out, he’d get one hell of a ribbing. But if he saved the calf, it’d be worth it. He could track the hunters back to their camp tomorrow. Right then, he needed some hope.

  As the vet worked, Jake’s eyes wandered. First to her hands as she checked the calf’s vitals. Then to the curve of her backside as she bent over. Those clothes didn’t come from the general store down the street.

  She might have covered up with a white lab coat, but underneath, the veterinarian dressed for the city. Jake couldn’t help but wonder. What on earth brought a sexy, sophisticated woman from the lower forty-eight to the edge of nowhere?

  No one moved to Pinetree for the view. But the one he was getting right now? Better than any mountain range or babbling brook. At last, the vet straightened up and turned to him. Brown hair tied off her face, matching eyes, and a glare that said don’t even try. Damn. She was one feisty woman.

  He held out his hand. “Jake Travers. Alaska Wildlife Trooper.”

  She stared for a beat before slipping her hand into his grasp. “Tabitha Boone.”

  Warmth spread into Jake’s fingers before she pulled away. It’d been a long time. He cleared his throat. “Will she make it?”

  Tabitha paused and Jake dug his fingernail into his palm to focus.

  “I think so. I’ve stopped the bleeding. The bullet went clean through. You’re lucky it was a rifle and not a shotgun. She’ll need to be sedated at least overnight, maybe longer.” She glanced at the sleeping baby and he could tell she was holding back.

  “What is it?”

  She looked up and through the exhaustion, he could see regret. Sadness. “The mother. Did you catch it?”

  Jake frowned. “No. I was focused on getting this one out alive.”

  Tabitha nodded. “If she recovers, I don’t know if it’ll be soon enough. The calf isn’t more than three moths old. The longer she’s gone, the lower the chance the mother will accept her. Without an adult moose to guide her, I’m sorry, but I don’t…” She trailed off and turned away.

  Damn it. He’d risked so much to get the animal there and it probably wouldn’t matter. Jake balled his hand into a fist. Sometimes he hated his job. Just once, he’d like to save someone or something instead of just putting the bad guys away.

  He stepped up and patted her shoulder. “It’s okay. You did the best you could.”

  “You’re damn right I did.” Tabitha shrugged his hand off and her eyes blazed. “I have shoddy equipment, I’m not set up for surgery, she has to weigh three hundred pounds and—”

  He held up his hands to cut her off. “More like two-fifty.”

  “You’re an ass, you know that?”

  “Been called worse.” The grin spread before he could stop himself. Pushing the good doctor’s buttons hit Jake somewhere deep inside. Somewhere he’d locked up a long time ago.

  When he’d heard a new woman had moved to town, he never thought he’d be asking her to get elbow deep in moose blood and drop everything to help him. Or that he’d be pissing her off once she’d done the impossible.

  One look at the scowl on her face told him he’d managed just that. Me and my big mouth. Jake exhaled and forced his face into a small frown. “I’m sorry. We’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.” He should have stopped with an apology but something about Tabitha had his tongue running away with his thoughts. “How about I make it up to you?”

  “I think you’ve done enough for one day.”

  “What about tonight? Are you busy?”

  Her cheeks flushed and she pressed her lips together. Guess he still had it. Somewhere.

  “No. I’m not.”

  “How about I pick you up around eight? We can go to Mabel’s for dinner.”

  “Is it fancy?”

  Jake snorted. “Mabel’s Diner? Unless you count stainless steel counters as fancy, no. This is rural Alaska, Tabitha. There’s nowhere fancy here.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Are you always so difficult?”

  “Only when beautiful women don’t answer my questions.”

  She blushed hotter and Jake had visions of her body pressed against him at the end of the night. Too bad he’d never act on it.

  “Eight o’clock sounds great.”

  He stepped back. “Then I’ll be seeing you soon.”

  Jake spun on his heel and strode out of the clinic’s back room before he changed his mind. He had a few hours to remind himself that this wasn’t a date. It was a thank you for saving the moose. That was all.

  Becky glanced up as he walked through reception. “Leaving so soon, Officer Travers?”

  He tipped his head in her direction. “There’s a few things I’ve got to wrap up at the station.”

  “Why’d you bring the moose in? That’s not your usual style.”

  “Guess I got sick of seeing the bad guys win.”

  Becky nodded. “If anyone can save her, Tabitha can.”

  “You’re pretty confident about someone you just met.”

  “She’s a good woman, Jake. A keeper.”

  Jake managed a sad smile. “Maybe for somebody, Becky. But that’s not my thing anymore.” He pushed open the front door and hopped up into his Jeep. Whatever Becky thought about him and Tabitha didn’t matter.

  He might be imagining her luscious curves in his bed but the last thing he needed was a relationship. Women only complicated matters. It’d start off simple—a tumble in the sheets, date night. Then it’d be emotions and heartbreak and Jake would end up alone. Better to not go down that road at all.

  But he could look and pretend. One dinner with the sexy new veterinarian couldn’t hurt. At the end of the night, he just needed to say no.

  “Are you sure Jake asked you out on a date? Jake Travers?”

  Tabitha wiped down the exam table with disinfectant before glancing up at Becky. “It’s just dinner.”

  “That’s the thing. Jake doesn’t do dinner.” Becky stood in the doorway, clipboard in hand, looking more confused than a dog chasing its own tail.

  Tabitha threw the paper towel in the trash and tucked the spray bottle beneath the counter.

  “All right. Out with it. What is it about Officer Travers that I should know?”

  Becky’s mouth opened and shut but no sound came out.

  “Come on, you can tell me. I’m a big girl. Whatever it is, I can handle it.”

  At last, her assistant caved. “He doesn’t date. At all.”

  Tabitha cocked her head. A man with a body made of steel and blue eyes that could melt the coldest heart didn’t date? “Not ever?”

  Becky shook her head. “Never.”

  Wow. Tabitha turned back to the moose with a frown. The poor thing had lost a lot of blood, but she’d survive. Tabitha only wi
shed she’d been able to do more.

  If she’d gotten to her quicker…If the bullet hadn’t done so much damage…maybe she’d be back out in the wild with her mother. Tabitha wasn’t naïve. At this rate, she knew the chances that the little gal would make it were slim. She needed her mother.

  In the morning, she’d get Jake to cart her back out to where he’d found her and she’d reverse the sedation. If she could wake up in her natural habitat, maybe she could reunite with her mother. Tabitha swallowed. If she made it through the night.

  Becky recorded the moose’s vital signs as Tabitha hooked up another IV. She’d only worked with her for a few days, but Becky had already proven herself more than capable. She managed the front desk and all the locals like a real pro. If she didn’t have her, she’d be a wreck. “Thanks for all of your help today. You did an amazing job.”

  “No problem. Sorry if I overstepped about Jake. It’s just…you’re a nice woman and I don’t want to see you get your hopes up.”

  Tabitha smiled and let out a sigh. If Becky only knew. She’d given up on men a long time ago, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t ogle now and then. Maybe, if she played her cards right, she’d even get him to come inside.

  “How about we lock up and call it a day? I should probably take a shower before I go to dinner.”

  Becky grinned. “Mabel wouldn’t care, you know. Her family’s had a restaurant here since the town first started. She’s seen it all.”

  Tabitha could imagine. The office’s walls weren’t the only things rough around the edges in rural Alaska. Most of the people were, too. It suited her fine.

  She hadn’t moved to Pinetree to find a boyfriend. She’d moved to start a life for herself, on her own terms. No reason one of them couldn’t be hooking up with a sexy-as-sin State Trooper. He might not be the relationship sort, but a man who checked out a woman’s ass in the middle of surgery didn’t scream celibate. One night with Officer Travers might be just what the doctor ordered.