“No. I went to Hope High.”

“Oh, okay. The Burnetts on Willow. Your sister is Molly Burnett, then, right? She dated my friend Carter Richards in high school.”

Hope was such a small town. Everyone knew everyone else. “Yes, Molly’s my little sister. Did you go to Hope High, too?”

“No. I went to Oakdale.”

That’s why she didn’t recognize him right off. He’d gone to the high school nearer to the county line. “Your name sounds familiar to me, too. Did you play football for Oakdale?”

“Yeah. Wide receiver.”

Now she knew why she recognized his name. He’d been some kind of football star. She remembered reading about him in the newspaper. He’d been good. But they hadn’t known each other back then.

“So this is your clinic now?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

She grabbed the film and slid it in.

“Luke.”

She looked up. “Excuse me?”

“Call me Luke. Not officer, and definitely not sir. Too formal.”

He’d cracked a smile. He had a quirky, kind of off-kilter smile, and greenish-blue eyes that went really well with his dark hair. He had a rugged face, a square jaw and again, that really sexy mouth.

Not that she was looking at him in that way, because she didn’t do that anymore. She and men were definitely off-limits. She’d learned her lesson the hard way.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be nice to her clients. “Okay, then, Luke. Let’s get this X-ray going. I need you to position his leg here for me, then if possible, ask him not to move.”

“No problem. Boomer—stay.”

Boomer lay perfectly still as they went behind the screen so she could take the shot.

“Good boy.” Luke said to Boomer after the X-ray was taken. He swept his hand over the dog’s back and neck, showing care and affection.

She liked seeing that in a dog’s owner.

“Just one more film and that should do it. I need to turn him this way.”

Luke helped her, and she couldn’t help noticing his hands. Strong. Big. Masculine, with a fine sprinkling of dark hair on his forearms. He hadn’t worn a coat inside, and he had some serious upper arm muscles peeking out from the sleeve of his uniform shirt.

But she wasn’t looking, and she definitely wasn’t interested, despite the pinging in her nerve endings that conveyed otherwise.

Chemistry couldn’t be denied. But that was biology. She had a choice, and she already knew what her choices were these days regarding men.

She took Luke behind the screen and captured the second X-ray.

But he did smell really good, though it wasn’t cologne. Shampoo, maybe? Or soap? Did they make scented soap for men? She had no idea.

But she wasn’t interested, so it didn’t matter what kind of soap he used.

“Are we done?”