Their Divine Doctor(Divine Creek Ranch 9)(44)

Duke laughed at Ace’s teasing and replied, “Thanks, man. The self-defense lessons were enough. I think we’re holding our own tonight.”

Lydia snorted and pointed at Gage and Emma, who were kissing as “Cowboys Like Us” by George Strait drew to a close. “Uh, yeah. Looks like it. Is he swabbing her tonsils?”

Duke had known Lydia since he was a teenager and looked upon her as a younger sibling. He poked her in the ribs, and she giggled as she patted his shoulder. “You and Gage seem very happy, Duke. It’s good to see you getting out and socializing in the land of the living.”

“Damn, were we that antisocial?”

Lydia smiled at him indulgently. “No. We always knew where you were. It’s just nice to see you out and about is all. I had no idea you didn’t know how to dance.”

Duke grinned at Lydia and replied, “That’s because we hid it well behind out sarcastic, geeky wit.” He shrugged and added, “It’s not like we were deprived or anything. And now that we know Emma enjoys dancing we’ll bring her here again.”

Lydia nudged him with her elbow and said, “I like that she seems to understand that part of you. And you aren’t as sarcastic as some geeks I’ve known. At least when you crack jokes I get them most of the time.”

Duke and Gage had friends growing up who hid behind their cerebral wit to the point that no one got their jokes but themselves. At that point they were no longer fun to be around and wound up ostracizing themselves socially. Luckily Duke and Gage had never felt the need to be like that. They liked computers and technology, but they liked having friends, too.

“That’s because I’m such a nice guy, sweetie,” he replied. Lydia rolled her eyes and laughed as he added, “If you’ll excuse me I’m going to go claim another dance from the gorgeous doctor.” Duke leaned over and kissed the top of Lydia’s head and nodded at the others. He met Gage and Emma halfway as Gage took his phone from his pocket and frowned at it.

Duke asked, “Everything okay?”

“I’m going to have to change my phone number, again. I don’t know how Amy could’ve gotten my new number.”

“Did she ever respond to your last e-mail?” Duke asked, already guessing the answer which was confirmed by the brief negative shake of Gage’s head.

Emma reacted to the name and said, “That’s the one you told me about, right? She’s really stalking you?”

Gage nodded tersely then slipped the phone back in his pocket. “It looks like you’re going to spend most of your time on the dance floor, angel.”

Gage kissed her quickly, and she replied, “That would be just fine with me, honey.” Emma put her hand in Duke’s, and he led her back to the dance floor.

“Whoo. That was fun. I do believe I could grow to love dancing with the two of you,” Emma said, obviously relieved. Duke pulled her into a dance embrace as “Tomorrow” by Chris Young played.

“Summer and Lydia just arrived with their men. We broke our ‘dance cherries’ in the nick of time,” Duke said as he watched Gage slip into the club foyer with his phone to his ear.

Emma snickered at his word choice and looked toward their table and waved back at Summer, who looked very proud of herself. “Our ‘dance cherries’? We’re just popping cherries all over the place.”

Duke chuckled and kissed her throat. “We’re pervy that way.”

“The bucket list has been good for all three of us, hasn’t it?”

“It has, Em. I’m looking forward to the next one on our list.”

“For vacation time, right? I wish you’d tell me what we’re doing.”

Duke grinned and replied, “And spoil the fun we’re having teasing you? Never. Just pack for camping and you’ll be in good shape. Let us take care of everything else.”

“I can’t wait.”

Duke slid his hands down to her ass and stroked her garter belt through the silky fabric of her dress and said, “I can’t wait for tonight.”

Her relaxed hold on him and her contented sigh against his chest made him smile. Not every item on their bucket list had to be earth shattering or life threatening to be fulfilling.





Chapter Eleven



“Tree camping? Oh, excellent!” Emma said excitedly as she looked up into the tree. “This is why I needed gloves and long underwear, huh?”

Duke and Gage looked very pleased with themselves as they set their supplies at the base of the tree. Their adventure had begun with a nearly twelve-hundred-mile road trip that brought them to Helen, Georgia. From there, they’d entered the Chattahoochee National Forest.