Natural Born Trouble by Sherryl Woods

retorted solemnly. “Knowing Jordan, it’s probably a family tradition. But I’m afraid you’ve finally come up against something you can’t control.”
    â€œDon’t be absurd. Of course, I can control it.”
    â€œHow?” He grinned. “By avoiding me completely?”
    â€œThat’s one way.”
    â€œThe obvious one,” he said disparagingly. “I would have thought you’d be a little more original, maybe prove yourself under fire, so to speak.”
    Dani’s gaze narrowed. “You are not going to trick me into spending time with you, Duke Jenkins.”
    He grinned unrepentantly and shrugged. “Ah, well, it was worth a shot. I guess I’ll just have to rely on circumstances to throw us together.”
    â€œWhat circumstances?” she asked suspiciously.
    â€œIt’s a small town. I work for your father. Your family thinks we’re a good match. I have three kittens. You’re the town vet. Those circumstances.”
    â€œYou’re a manipulative troublemaker, aren’t you?”
    His booming laugh filled the narrow corridor. “Darlin’, coming from an Adams, that sounds a whole lot like the pot calling the kettle black.” He pushed open the half-closed door to the waiting room, then paused and winked. “See you around.”
    â€œWhat about the kitty litter and cat food you came in here for?” she blurted.
    â€œDon’t worry, darlin’. I’ll be back.”
    A half-dozen speculative gazes followed Duke’s exit. Dani figured it would be less than an hour before the news was all over town that she and Duke Jenkins had had some sort of a lovers’ tiff right in the middle of her clinic. Her family would be thrilled.
    She, to the contrary, was not thrilled. She was worried. In fact, she was very close to panic. She might not be the most experienced woman on the face of the earth, but she recognized temptation when it was staring her in the face. She was tempted by Duke Jenkins, all right. Trying to convince him otherwise was going to require all her wits and then some. She wasn’t even going to bother wasting her energy trying to convince herself.

    * * *

    By the time the clinic closed at five and the last pet, except for Honeybunch, had been shuttled home by its anxious owner, Dani had almost managed to put Duke’s visit out of her head. She closed up and wandered down to Dolan’s to get a lemonade and a little friendly conversation with Sharon Lynn. Her cousin could always be counted on to brighten her spirits.
    Big mistake, she realized when she saw her cousin’s eager expression.
    â€œYou sit right here and tell me everything,” Sharon Lynn said at once, automatically filling a tall glass with ice and lemonade and placing it on the counter in front of Dani.
    â€œMake that to go,” Dani said.
    â€œToo late. Come on, spill it.”
    â€œThe lemonade?”
    â€œVery funny. What exactly happened when Duke came to call today?”
    â€œNothing happened.”
    â€œThat’s not what I heard.”
    â€œGossip is very unreliable.”
    â€œUsually, there’s enough truth in it to make it fascinating, though. So, tell the truth, did he kiss you again?”
    Dani stared at her in astonishment. “How the heck would anybody know about that? The door was closed.”
    Sharon Lynn grinned. “So, he did. I suspected as much.”
    â€œAre you admitting that you didn’t know that already?”
    â€œWell, there was a fair amount of speculation. And Maggie peeked once. She seemed to think she had caught a glimpse of you in his arms.”
    â€œI am firing her first thing in the morning,” Dani vowed.
    â€œNo, you’re not. She needs the job and she’s good at it. It’s not her fault you and Duke decided to get it on in plain sight.”
    â€œWe did not get it on, as you so charmingly put it.”
    â€œBut he did kiss