Burn of Summer (Knife’s Edge, Alaska #3)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Ace Osprey was bleeding again.

Not a surprise. The guy showed up bleeding at least once a week. At this point, Dr. May Smirnov had spent more time stitching up the handsome jackass than she had with her own skin care routine. Which, admittedly, consisted of soap, water, and inexpensive lotion.

She had walked back into her clinic after a quick lunch down the street and now stared at him in the quaint waiting room while trying, really hard, to hold on to her temper.

Pictures she’d taken of the outlying wilderness decorated the walls and failed to provide peace for once.

As the small Alaska town’s only doctor, she had to act like a professional, even though she wanted to smack him atop his stubborn head.

“What now?” Okay. That sounded more like a ticked off girlfriend and not a doctor. She was not his girlfriend and never would be. “Ace?”

He lounged on the newish green leather chairs she’d managed to obtain just a day ago, his legs long, his eyes a mellow green tonight. “I tripped and fell.”

She ground her back teeth together and moved toward him, leaning to study the cut above his left eye. The flow had slowed to a trickle that ran down the side of his face to land on his grey T-shirt. “Looks like a ring caught you.”

He grinned. “You’re good at this, Doc.”

The cut wasn’t bad. She could bandage it with a butterfly. “Will I have another patient coming in?”

“Nah. I dropped him fast with a punch to the gut. He was coughing out blood a bit, but I didn’t damage anything inside him. The guy was already pretty tuned up with booze, and he went back to eating his lunch.” Ace still hadn’t moved.

She knew a lecture wouldn’t help. Even so, she owed him the truth as his doctor.

“You need to stop this nonsense, Ace.” The guy was always getting in fights, but he never hurt anybody.

Not really. And something told her he could if he chose.

It was as if he wanted to punish himself. “Again, I have several names—”

“I don’t need a shrink, Doc,” he drawled.

The heck he didn’t. “Even if you won’t see a professional, why not drop by Smitty’s?” She could not believe she’d just suggested the old mountain man help Ace, but the guy was known to fix a head or two. At least, that’s what she’d heard. “It can’t hurt.”

“You don’t know that.” The smile widened, making Ace look even more roguish. “When Paul Leithy went up to Smitty’s for advice last week, Smitty threw him out a window. I guess Paul was being a moron.”

They were all morons. All men. Well, not all.

But most. May straightened, fighting the very real urge to brush a lock of Ace’s dark brown, almost black, hair away from his angled face.

He was at least half Inuit and had the strong features of his people.

The very handsome features. Touching him in such a way would be very un-doctorlike, and she battled with herself every day to keep professional with him. “I’d like to throw you out a window.”

He barked out a laugh, and even that held charm. Well, a rough-edged, born and bred in the Alaskan wilderness, charm. “You know I’d let you put your hands on me any way you want.”

Ah, the flirty Ace was back. She wondered, not for the first time, what he’d do if she took him up on one of his invitations.

Probably run for the jagged mountains surrounding them and disappear.

He thought she was safe to flirt with because she worked as his doctor.

True. He had a right to believe that. Besides, he’d been playing with plenty of the tourists in town for the fishing season.

Young women looking for adventure, and from what she’d heard, they’d found plenty of it with Ace.

Apparently the Alaskan native was a ‘god’ in bed.

Hah. She found that very hard to believe. The guy was immature and selfish, although she had noted a kindness in him.

“Are you going to patch me up, or what?” The blood had begun to congeal.

“That’s my job,” she said dryly, studying his eyes.

Clear with normal sized pupils. “Before we move to an examination room, do you have any other symptoms?” It was doubtful, but if he passed out, she’d have trouble getting him up by herself.

Ace was a muscled machine at well over six feet tall, and she, well, wasn’t.

“Dizziness, nausea, headache, ringing in the ears?”

He gingerly probed the wound. “Nope. My face just hurts.”

“It’s killin’ me,” she retorted, slapping his hand away. “Don’t touch it.”

“Don’t hit,” he groused.

She sighed. “I didn’t hit you, you big baby.”

He grasped her wrist as she started to move back. “Doc? Why don’t you give in and just let me take you out one of these nights? As a thank you for all the stitches, if for nothin’ else.”

She easily twisted free of his loose hold. “You know? I should just take you up on that so you stop asking. We both know you don’t mean it.”

He sobered, his eyes turning an even deeper green. Or maybe it was just the soft lighting in the waiting room. “I do mean it. I’d give you a night you’d never forget.”

Something ached inside her. “I have enough of those. Believe me.”

His gaze narrowed. “What does that mean?”

Yeah, she sounded sad and not amused. “Not what you think.” She slid her hand beneath his arm to pull him up. “Come on. Let’s clean that and put a butterfly bandage on it. I don’t even need to stick you with a numbing needle this time.”

He stood, easily towering over her. “See? You’re coming around.”

Humor tickled through her just as the door opened again and Ivy Carter hurried inside, a latte cup in her hand. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail and her blue eyes sparkled.

May paused. “Ivy? I thought you were taking the afternoon off?”

“Yeah, but I saw you come back, and I wanted to make sure you didn’t need me.” Ivy tilted her head. “What a shock. Ace is back and bleeding.”

May bit her lip to keep from smiling. Hiring the young nurse last month had been an excellent decision, although that had meant scrimping on luxuries.

Like coffee for the clinic. “I think I can handle it. Enjoy this afternoon and go out tonight. It’s Friday.

” She tried to let her staff, which included Ivy as her nurse, her friend Nancy as a part-time receptionist, and a college kid as her overall helper, time to have lives.

Unlike her. She was always on call. Before Ivy could turn, the door opened again, and a trio of men walked inside.

May jerked, her heart rate accelerating. It couldn’t be. The man out front of the pack, wearing a suit in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, smiled at her. He held up a swollen hand with bruised knuckles. “I think I might’ve broken my wrist.” His blue eyes sparkled. “Hi, May. Miss me?”

May went cold.

The hair rose on the back of Ace’s neck, and he stood fully upright. Instinct told him to step between May and the newcomers, so he did just that.

Shockingly, she didn’t push him out of the way.

Instead, the woman took a moment and then moved to his side, remaining surprisingly close. “Senator. I hadn’t heard you were in town.” She sounded polite in a manner Ace had never heard before.

Senator? Ace studied the man. It was Senator Kyle Mercer. The guy appeared older than his mid-thirties on television. “Looks like you hit a wall, Senator,” Ace drawled.

The guy kept smiling with his perfectly white teeth. Were those caps? “Nah. I just fell. It happens.” His gaze didn’t leave May. “I know what a good doctor you are, even out here in the middle of nowhere. I hope I don’t need an x-ray.”

May’s chin lifted. “We’ll see.” She glanced at Ivy. “Would you please take the senator to Exam Room Two? I’ll be there in a minute.”

Curiosity was stamped all over Ivy’s pretty face, but she nodded. “Of course.” She gestured to the senator. “Sir? Your staff needs to stay here in the reception area.” She focused on the other two men, both wearing suits. “We just got new chairs yesterday. They’re comfortable.”

“Coffee?” The youngest looking guy asked, his suit a bit more off-the-rack than the others.

Ivy winced. “Budget cuts. Sorry.” She brightened. “However, you can get a decent cup from Sam’s Tavern across the street, or there’s Hitty’s one street and a bit of a walk over. She has lattes and fancy cappuccinos. We’ll take good care of your boss.”

The guy ruffled his blond hair. “That’s kind of you, ah…”

“Ivy Carter.”

“I’m Jack Jones. Thanks for the tips.” The guy flashed a full-wattage smile.

Ivy blushed. “Ah, all right. Senator? Would you come with me, please?” She walked gracefully around the reception desk and opened the door to the rest of the clinic.

“Of course.” The senator followed her, leaving an oaky cologne trail in his wake.

Jack looked at the older guy, who had grayish blond hair and was typing furiously on his phone. “Pete? This’ll take a few minutes. Let’s go grab coffees. The senator will want one.”

Ah. Peter Langford, the senator’s chief of staff. Ace had seen him on television the other day campaigning for his boss. Peter looked up from his phone, nodded, and turned on a polished Italian leather shoe to head out the door. Didn’t say a word.

The younger Jack followed him, also tugging out his phone and starting to text.

Ace couldn’t remember where he’d even left his own phone. He glanced down at May, who stared at the now closed door, her face pale. “May?”

She jumped and then turned, facing him. “Oh. Sorry.” Squinting, she looked up at his face. “Let’s get a bandage on that.”

He grasped her arm, warning flowing through his veins. “What’s going on?”

She shook her head, sending her platinum blonde hair spinning over her narrow shoulders. Her sapphire blue eyes were sharp behind her oval-shaped glasses. In her lighter green scrubs with a pale white shirt beneath them, she looked both smart and fragile. “Nothing.”

That was bullshit if he’d ever heard it. “Let me help you.” Not the words he intended to say. At all.

She blinked. “I don’t need help.”

Frustration had him clenching one hand into a fist. “How do you know the senator?”

“I really don’t.” There was enough irony in her tone that Ace’s spine stiffened. He had the most basic urge to go punch the politician in the face, which wouldn’t hurt his day in the slightest. It might get him arrested, however. “Do you want me to come in with you?”

Her finely arched brows drew down. “To get the bandage? Yes, Ace. I need your face in the examination room.” Light pink slid into her cheeks.

At least he’d brought color back into her face.

“Tell you what. You go deal with the senator, and I’ll wait right here in reception until you’re finished.

Then you can fix my face.” He expected a smart ass comment about there being no fixing his face.

Or an eyeroll. Hence his shock when she paused, looked at him, and then slowly nodded.

“Okay,” she said faintly. Then she visibly steeled her shoulders, turned, walked beyond the reception desk, and made her way down the long hallway.

He stood for a moment, watching her, letting surprise take him.

The woman wanted him to stay in the clinic while she tended to the senator.

Why? Fear wasn’t an emotion he equated with May.

She seemed fierce on a daily basis. So he sat and checked his pockets for his phone.

Excellent. He’d shoved it into his back one.

That was rare. Pulling it out, he looked at the screen.

He had three brothers, all with different skills and backgrounds.

Damian probably had the best connections. Ace punched in a number.

“Hi, Ace. Tell me you’re not in jail,” Damian answered easily.

“Not today.” Ace looked at the now empty hallway. “D? Tell me everything you know about Senator Kyle Mercer. And I mean everything.”