Forbidden Fruit by Anne Rainey Page A

boss and every other man she comes across.”
    “What does her boss have to do with it?”
    Yeah, that’s what she’d like to know.
    “I’ve been to the clinic where she works and I’ve seen the good doc giving her the once over. If she came to work looking all…
    girly, he’d be on her quicker than a cat to cream.”
    “You’ve been to her clinic?”
    “Yep.”
    “What the hell for? You don’t even own a pet.”
    “Jesus, Luke, for such a ladies man you can be real dense sometimes.”
    Enough was enough, Ava decided. Time to retrieve the cat and give Luke a piece of her mind in the process.
    Without waiting to hear anymore of Luke’s cutting remarks, Ava swung the screen wide and strode right in. Both men turned to her with twin-horrified expressions on their handsome faces. Ava didn’t waver. She asked where the cat was and Luke showed her to the backyard. The poor cat was on the brink of starvation. Judging by the bowl of food on the porch, Luke had apparently been trying to fatten the poor thing up. But one look and Ava knew the neglect-ed animal would need to be looked over by her boss, Dr. Ryan.
    She moved slowly towards the scared orange tabby and picked her up, nearly crying when she felt the animal’s ribs. She made soft, reassuring sounds to her and went back into the house. But she didn’t head for the front door. Instead, she sat the cat gently on the floor, walked right up to Pete, and kissed him.
    On the mouth.
    Tongue and all.
    Pete reached out and placed his palms on her head, holding her still while he plunged and ate at her mouth. She pulled back finally, breathless and shocked that she’d done something so brazen.
    Shocked that Pete had let her.
    “Friday night, seven o’clock. You and me.” Ava demanded, not bothering to play the shy schoolgirl. She just wasn’t cut out for it.
    For a minute, Pete just stared at her, as if trying to figure her angle and then he whispered, “Anything you want, darlin’.”
    She nodded briskly and then went to Luke. His gaze was a mixture of anger and surprise. Ava was pleased. She smiled at him and his eyes narrowed. Then she brought her knee to his groin. Hard.
    Luke’s smile disappeared as he fell to the floor, cursing.
    “Pete’s right, you can be real dense sometimes, Luke McGiffin.”
    Then she’d picked the cat back up and left. Her body vibrating with rage and hurt and even fear. Fear that she’d never be able to get over her infatuation for a man that viewed her as nothing more than an oddity.

    ***
It was now Thursday and they had a full day ahead of them. She nodded to her friend, grabbed the few articles of clothing Jen had picked out for her, and groused, “Fine then, let’s do this thing.”
    A few minutes later, Ava was looking in the mirror of the tiny dressing room. The woman staring back at her was a stranger. She didn’t even recognize herself. Amazing the difference a few scraps of material could make. And that’s all they were too, a few very small scraps of material.
    She shored up her nerve and swung open the curtain. “Well, what do you think?”
    Jen stared, her jaw dropping, eyes bugging out. She stared for so long it made Ava snap out, “If you can’t even form a coherent sentence then it must be even more horrid than I thought!” She threw her hands up and started back into the dressing room.
    Finally, Jen found her voice.
    “My lord in heaven, Ava. You look absolutely gorgeous. I really had no idea.”
    That had her stopping and turning. “Gee, thanks, Jen,” Ava said ruefully and planted her hands on her hips.
    Jen shook her head and beamed a smile at her. “No, what I mean is, I knew you had a body under all that material, but lordy that skirt looks fabulous on you. Luke is going to swallow his tongue when he sees you, I can promise you that. I know my brother, Ava. He’ll stop, he’ll stare, and then he’ll pounce.” Then Jen’s brows drew together in concern. “As a matter of fact. Pete may just