by Janice Lynn
“They don’t bother me much. Just get sore occasionally.” The woman dismissed his concerns.
“Still…” he flashed another smile “…can’t have me fixing your heart and your feet slowing you down.”
Kimberly saw three other cardiac patients with him and accompanied him during a pre-op consultation for CRT placement with a sixty-nine-year-old barrel-chested woman named Sarah Allen, who’d opted to schedule the procedure for the following morning.
“Go over with me why I’m getting a pacemaker again,” the woman said, batting her lashes at Daniel in a blatantly flirtatious way.
Kimberly almost smiled.
“Basically,” Daniel explained, taking her wrinkled hand in his, “the electrical signal that tells your heart to contract is hitting the right side of your heart the way it should. But, in your case, it moves to the left side too slowly. This causes the four heart chambers to contract out of sync. When the out-of-rhythm chambers contract, blood isn’t pumped efficiently through your body. This leaves your body hungry for oxygen.”
“And this pacemaker will make my heart chambers work together again?”
He nodded. “The CRT conducts an almost simultaneous electrical impulse to all four chambers, generating proper in-sync contraction, and will have you feeling like a new woman almost immediately.”
Daniel explained more about what the woman should expect from the procedure. “Kimberly will be in the cardiac lab tomorrow when you get the CRT pacemaker.”
Kimberly smiled at the curious woman. “I work for the company that makes the pacemaker. Dr. Travis is training me this week.” The woman didn’t seem impressed, actually seemed annoyed at Kimberly’s inclusion in the conversation. So Kimberly started over. “That’s a gorgeous Afghan rug on your bed. An amazing piece of craftwork.” She’d noticed the brightly colored design the instant she’d entered the room. “Did you make it?”
Old blue eyes shifted to Kimberly, looking at her properly for the first time. Visibly, her demeanor changed.
“My granddaughter did.” The woman smiled, tenderness shining in her bright eyes. “She brought the Afghan for me to wrap up in tomorrow after the procedure. When I had my gallbladder taken out, I nearly froze afterward.” Arthritic fingers clutched the knitted rug. “She said I’m not going to be cold tomorrow.”
“No, I’d say not.” Kimberly shook her head, running her fingers over the beautiful pattern. “Your granddaughter did an excellent job. You must be very proud.”
“Taught her myself.”
Having put the woman at ease, Kimberly chatted with her about her procedure while Daniel made notes in the chart. She would make notes herself on why the woman had opted to go with the CRT. Had it been because of Daniel’s recommendation or had there been second-opinion consults? She asked other questions that might come up when she started marketing the pacemaker.
The more she learned, the better she could do her job.
Of course, if she told the truth, she’d admit she found working with Daniel fascinating.
There had never been a time when she hadn’t found everything about Daniel Travis fascinating.
Which explained why she found this week so scary.
Late that evening, Kimberly sat in an upscale Boston restaurant eating delicious seafood fresh from the Boston harbor. If she hadn’t been so nervous, she’d have said the company was quite nice. Two of Daniel’s partners had joined them, along with two local Cardico employees, one female, one male.
Walking into the restaurant they’d caught the eyes of several people. With Daniel looking fabulous, Dr. Jessup holding his own in any crowd, and the local Cardico employees having that svelte one-of-the-beautiful-people professional salesperson look, no wonder people stared with interest.
Honestly, she and Tom Underhill, a slightly balding cardiologist, probably stuck out like sore thumbs. She’d found herself sitting between Gregory and Tom, which had left Daniel sitting across from her, sandwiched between her Cardico colleagues. The female Cardico employee obviously had a thing for Daniel, but otherwise Kimberly instantly liked the busty brunette.
Candlelight flickered on each table, giving the restaurant an intimate air. A basket of melt-in-your-mouth dinner rolls tempted her to have another. Just one more, she thought, biting into one and thinking she’d crash later from so many carbohydrates—but the mouthwatering taste was worth it.
“I just love your accent,” Tom said to Kimberly, sucking the meat from his crab leg. “I think we should just all shut up and listen to you talk.”
“You never say that about my accent,” Daniel reminded his partner from across the table, the slight furrow between his brows the only indication he might be serious.
“Yeah, well, there’s a reason for that.” Gregory smiled good-naturedly. “Shut up, pal.”
“I’m just saying that I’m from the South, too.” Daniel’s tone sounded laid-back, amused, and she got that cat-and-mouse vibe again. “Just outside Atlanta, as a matter of fact.”
Kimberly shot him a warning glare. She’d prefer the table not know they’d once known each other.
“That’s where you’re from, right?” Sage asked, taking a sip from her white wine. She looked back and forth between Daniel and Kimberly and must have seen something. “Did you two know each other?”
“Atlanta is a big city.” Kimberly forced a smile and took a calming drink of her soda. She’d forgone alcohol as she didn’t want to risk letting her guard down around Daniel. “Fortunately.”
Having driven to the restaurant, Daniel opted for soda as well, but Kimberly noted the others enjoyed various alcoholic beverages. Perhaps a bit too much, based on the noise level of their laughter.
“Oh,” Gregory teased, while Tom ribbed Daniel, too. “I think you just got put in your place, bud.”
“Good thing my ego isn’t easily bruised.” Daniel smirked. His gaze lazily challenged Kimberly.
They’d gone back to a semi-peaceful truce after his brusque comeback to her praise of his accomplishments, but she trusted him about as far as she could throw him. Not even that much. She wouldn’t let her guard down, wouldn’t open herself to his scathing remarks again.
Staying away from him, keeping distance between them while not at the hospital, was her number-one priority and if she could have gotten out of this dinner, she would have. Room service and her laptop suited her needs just fine.
But tonight was business, of sorts, and had been arranged by her Cardico colleagues prior to her arrival.
Fluffing her dark hair, Sage giggled. “I’m sure any number of women would volunteer to stroke your ego, if needed, Daniel. Myself included.”
“Now, Sage, hon, you know it would never work between us.” Daniel’s blue eyes skimmed the marketing representative, then landed back on Kimberly. “I’ve always had a thing for blondes.”
“I could go blond for you,” the slightly tipsy brunette flirted.
Kimberly desperately pretended the conversation meant nothing to her, that she didn’t even hear the exchange. Because listening to a beautiful woman hit on Daniel was not her idea of a good time.
Actually, the thought of coming to Boston and meeting the woman in his life had tortured her ever since she’d found out she’d be spending a week under Daniel’s tutelage.
But there didn’t seem to be a permanent woman in his life. Just a multitude of wannabes.
“You’re beautiful just the way you are.” Daniel smiled, causing a dimple to dig into his left cheek.
Kimberly wanted to crawl under the table. Why did he have to be so sexy? If he’d lost all his hair and had a paunch, she might have survived this week without the beginnings of an ulcer.
“And I’m sure Robert prefers you as a brunette,” Daniel continued.
Just hearing his voice reminded Kimberly that Daniel’s attraction went much deeper than his looks. He had a magnetism that would shine through even if he lost all his hair, teeth, and gained a spare tire. Daniel’s appeal came from wit
hin and just happened to be deliciously eye candy–coated as an added bonus. Who was Robert?
“You’re right,” Sage agreed with a frown. “But it could have been fun giving it a whirl, and I’m so mad at Robert that I’d like to give his neck a whirl.” She sighed softly. “You could at least be a gentleman and make him think there’s a reason to be jealous.”
Daniel laughed, and that was the end of the exchange.
Or so a relieved Kimberly thought.
Gregory poked her with his elbow. “Just for the record, that’s not Daniel’s usual mode of operation when it comes to the opposite sex.”
“Oh?” she asked, feigning little interest.
“Robert and Sage are having problems, but they’ll work them out.” He shot Sage a questioning look and she nodded with a slight huff. “Daniel doesn’t make moves on other men’s women. Actually, he doesn’t have to make moves at all, because the women chase him. I hadn’t been on the cardiology unit but a few days before the legend of Dr. Daniel Travis made itself known.”
“It’s the nurses’ and interns’ fault,” Tom said from Kimberly’s right. “They love to pretend Boston Memorial Hospital is their very own real-life soap opera.”
Daniel grimaced, but didn’t say anything.
“Daniel plays the role of Dr. McDreamy, with all the women walking around wanting to run their fingers through his hair and stare into those baby blues,” Gregory said, grinning mischievously toward Daniel. “I’ve been thinking about getting contacts.”
“No piece of plastic is going to hide the nonsense in those brown eyes,” Daniel warned with a glare from the baby blues in question.
Kimberly took a sip of her soda and wished she’d ordered something stronger. She really didn’t want to hear this.
How the heck had they even started on the subject of Daniel’s prowess with women?
One minute they had been having a friendly discussion, the next one of her colleagues had been hitting on Daniel, and the next his partners were telling her about his sexual prowess.
Like she needed a play-by-play.
Not.
“Me and the rest of the boys live vicariously through him,” Tom continued, ignoring Daniel’s wry comment. “Women fall at his feet as if he really was one of those television doctors. A through and through bad boy when it comes to the ladies, that’s our Dr. Travis.”
Gregory lifted his glass in a salute to Daniel’s expertise.
Kimberly scowled. “Gee, maybe he should have gone into gynecology. That way he’d have a ready supply of women with their legs spread.”
“You weren’t paying attention,” Daniel scolded, looking amused. She suspected it was her flustered expression entertaining him, though, rather than his partners’ admiration.
“Getting women to spread their legs isn’t a problem,” he clarified, giving her a knowing look that stripped her bare and had her knees defensively clenched together beneath the table. “Never has been.”
Kimberly’s mouth fell open. How dare he? Anger shot through her at the telling gleam in his eyes.
“If you’re implying—” Fortunately the singsong buzz of her cell phone cut off the tirade she’d been launching into. A tirade that would have revealed too much. Way too much. About the past. About the present and how he currently affected her. About how the television-doctor stuff burrowed under her skin and infested her with jealousy.
Flashing a look of disapproval at Daniel, she murmured, “Excuse me.”
She answered her phone without looking to see who the caller was. “Hello.”
“We won!” Ryan’s voice came over the line, pulling her to reality with a quick thud.
“That’s wonderful, dear,” she answered, acutely aware that, despite the conversation going on around them, with his boys still extolling his studly virtues, Daniel’s attention zeroed in on her phone call. Could he hear Ryan?
Murmuring another “Excuse me” to no one in particular, she got up from the table and headed to a back hallway that led to the restrooms. Not wanting to talk to Ryan in the ladies’ restroom, she lingered in the empty hallway.
“I scored fourteen points and had eight assists. Tyler hit six foul shots in a roll, and Jonathan fouled out at the end of the fourth quarter.” Ryan’s words gushed, without pausing for a breath. Kimberly smiled at his excitement. His exuberance for life always energized her.
“I wish I could have been there.” She smiled politely at a woman coming out of the restroom with two toddlers held protectively in her grasp. “Sounds like I missed a great game.”
“Me, too, Mom. It was an awesome game. You’d have loved it.” Someone spoke to Ryan and he answered, probably with his hand over the speaker as his words were mumbled. When he returned his attention to her, he said, “Tyler’s mom’s taking us out for pizza to celebrate. That okay?”
“Sounds like fun. Just make sure you aren’t up too late and that you finish your homework.”
“I always do,” he said, and she could just picture him rolling his eyes.
“I know.” She smiled, feeling lighter just from hearing his voice, feeling that special bond between them. “Just didn’t want you getting any ideas, with me being out of town, kiddo.”
“Hmm, maybe I will take a night off,” he teased.
“You’d better behave.”
“Aw, Mom, you just won’t let me have any fun. Don’t you know that when parents go out of town, it’s a kid’s responsibility and civil duty to be wild and throw parties?”
“Kimberly?”
She glanced up and saw Daniel squeezing past a group of young girls who’d just come out of the ladies’ room. Curiosity shone in his eyes. And concern.
Although he’d clearly been on his way to the men’s room, he crossed his arms and took on a protective stance. “Everything okay?”
Dear Lord, how long had he been standing there?
Heat suffusing her face, she gave him a quick nod. “Fine.”
“Fine? Are you sure, Mom?” Ryan asked, clearly not believing she’d agreed with his assessment. “I get to be wild and throw parties?”
Although she wanted to look away, her gaze held Daniel’s. Just being so near him while on the phone with Ryan, looking into eyes identical to their son’s, tightened her throat.
“Sorry, but, no,” she clarified, “you cannot throw wild parties. I was speaking with—” your father “—the heart surgeon I’m training with this week.”
“Cool.” Ryan sounded duly impressed, but quickly became distracted when someone spoke to him. “Gotta go, Mom. We’re headed for pizza.”
Why didn’t Daniel walk away? Do whatever it was he’d come to do?
Her heart thundered against her rib cage, but she’d perfected her professional persona years ago and knew she looked poised even if she felt anything but. “Have fun,” she told their son.
“’Night, Mom. Love you. Bye.”
“’Night, Ryan. Love you. Bye,” she automatically repeated, aching with how much she missed him.
“Who’s Ryan?”
Keeping her emotions masked, she clicked her phone shut and clasped the cellular device tightly in her palm.
“My son.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“YOU have a son?” Daniel’s head spun. He’d been on his way to the men’s room when he’d overheard Kimberly’s side of the conversation. A gentleman might have kept going or pretended he hadn’t heard. Perhaps that’s what he should have done.
Kimberly had a son.
She’d been married. Of course she’d have children. He should have realized. Still, the thought of her as a mother boggled his mind. Try as he may, he couldn’t imagine her curvy little body swollen with child.
She glared at him with a stubborn set to her chin. “My personal life is really none of your business, Daniel.”
“But you do have a son?”
“Do you not understand what ‘none of your business’ means? Just because we called a truce for work, it doesn’t mean you
have a right to anything about my personal life. Go.” She glanced around the hallway with a touch of desperation he didn’t understand. “Go make your boys proud and pick up some hot babe or something. Just leave me alone.”
“No.” He should leave her alone, but being confronted with the one woman from his past whom he never quite got over made “should” a moot point.
Her gaze lifted to him. “What do you mean—no?”
“Just that.” He liked how, in anger, gold flecks dotted the green of her eyes, giving them a catlike appearance. “I’m not going to leave you alone. For the next week, you belong to me.”
All day his emotions had flip-flopped between anger, lust, surprise at seeing her, and feelings he couldn’t begin to label, but he knew his words to be true. He didn’t want to leave her alone.
“That’s ridiculous, Daniel,” she huffed. “I work for Cardico, but they don’t own me. No one does, and certainly not you.” She straightened her shoulders and placed her hands on her hips.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
Her eyes darkened to a forest-green and she outright glared. “If you’ve been sleeping with your former trainees, I understand how you’re getting such glowing reviews, but I’m off-limits.” She pursed her lips. “Been there, done that, remember?”
Ignoring the last bits, he grinned. “Are you saying I was a good lover, Kimberly?”
He hadn’t slept with any Cardico employee and, despite the way his pals told it, very few others. He liked women, liked sex, but hadn’t taken the time to pursue either in months. Not since a ski trip to Colorado with his last girlfriend and they’d ended the moment she’d started hinting she’d wanted more. Relationships didn’t seem worth the energy these days, and sex for the sake of sex had stopped appealing years ago.
Which begged the question of exactly what he wanted from Kimberly. Because he’d never trust her with his heart again, yet he definitely wanted sex. If it wasn’t sex for the sake of sex, then what was it?
“No.” Color rose up her neck.
“No, you’re not admitting I was a good lover, or no, I wasn’t? Because I distinctly recall you enjoying it when I touched you.” To prove his point he grazed his knuckles across her cheeks. The caress was for her benefit, but his heart quivered at the contact, proving instead how much he’d enjoyed touching her and apparently still did. Just as he enjoyed teasing her, seeing the real emotions flutter across her face before she could hide beneath her professional veneer.