KALEB WOKE UP to an empty bed. And sunlight streaming through the window of the swanky hotel.
Where was he? And why was he...?
He sat up in a hurry. Whoa. He’d spent the entire night there? Holy hell.
For him, that was unheard of. It was one of his taboos, along with several other things. The only explanation that made any sense was he’d been more exhausted than he thought last night. After the awful day he’d had, it was no wonder.
Snatches of the previous evening came back to haunt him: the soft, insistent press of kisses on his body. Hands that skimmed pleasure points he didn’t even know he had. And an explosion that had taken him down a rabbit hole, where the experience was repeated several times. His body reacted to the memories.
But to spend the night?
Damn. Thank God she hadn’t waited around for him to wake up. That might have been awkward, no matter how spectacularly she’d fit against him. No matter how intoxicating her fragrance was. No, he would have just kissed her on the lips and said his goodbyes. He paused. Well, the goodbyes might have come after he’d acted out a few more scenes with...
Nicola.
He murmured the name in his head. Tasted it on his tongue. He didn’t know her last name. It hadn’t been important at the time. All that had mattered was the way her eyes had touched on him in the bar and then returned several times. There’d been a hint of uncertainty in their depths that had done a number on him. So he’d gone over and bought her a drink. One that she’d accepted. A half hour later, they were out of there and in a hotel room. And what happened next had been...
Heaven.
No. Not heaven. Just another night. Just another woman.
Except he’d slept there—his arm holding her naked form to his—instead of getting up and gathering his clothes, like he normally did. Why? Was it the thrill of being there with a perfect stranger?
Maybe, except he’d had one-night stands before this. And that he was dissecting his reasons for staying made him think that something had been different this time.
Only it wasn’t. Maybe it was a good thing he hadn’t asked what her full name was.
Avoiding commitment was the best decision he’d ever made. Whatever his reasons for staying over, they didn’t change that fact.
He lay back, lacing his fingers together behind his head. He would probably never see this Nicola person again, unless she frequented that bar, and he was pretty sure that was the first time he’d ever seen her there. She’d been alone. No wing person, not that she’d needed one. And that trace of something in her gaze had awoken instincts he’d thought were long dead.
Maybe not dead. But they’d been submerged in a sea of disillusionment.
Hell. He did not want to start tracing the origins of that word.
He pried himself out of bed and strode to the shower, turning it on full blast. He had about an hour before he needed to be at work, so he would change once he got to his office. Soon he would be able to put all thoughts of last night and the mystery woman out of his head, and get back to life as he knew it. Life as he wanted to know it. Without any Candices or Melanies or Nicolas cluttering it up and making him wonder if he’d made the wrong decision about remaining a bachelor. About not being a father. He hadn’t. It had been the best thing he’d ever done. And nothing, or no one, was going to convince him otherwise.
Nicola’s mind was wandering, and her thoughts slid in and out of places that were best left for another time. The hospital was huge and the names of people she’d been introduced to were starting to squish together inside the confines of her skull.
And as the space grew even tighter, something had to give. So squeezing between the cracks came the memory of a night five weeks ago. And the tall stranger she’d fallen into bed with.
She swallowed. She still couldn’t believe she’d done that. What had she been thinking?
She hadn’t been. And that had been the idea. She hadn’t wanted to think, to talk...to remember. She’d just wanted to feel. And, God, had she ever. She’d...
“Kaleb, could you come over here for a moment?” Harvey Smith’s voice shocked her back to reality, making her blink. “I want you to meet the newest member of our team, Nicola Bradley. Her specialty is internal medicine with an emphasis on diagnostics. She’ll be helping us crack the tough cases.”
As the hospital administrator continued to speak, she turned to greet the newcomer, and a wave of shock knocked her flat, setting off all kinds of sirens and alarms.
“Nicola, meet Kaleb Sabat. He’s New York City Memorial’s chief of reconstructive surgery.”
She somehow met the man’s cool blue eyes without flinching. How was this even possible? Was this some sort of cosmic joke? If so, the punch line was lost on her.
The man she’d shared a crazy, impulsive night of sex with was NYC Memorial’s chief of reconstructive surgery? Oh, God. What should she do? What could she do?
Quit? Run down the hallway until she found the nearest exit? No. Nicola was no chicken. At least she hoped not.
She was going to pretend it never happened, that’s what she’d do. And hope that he did the same. Or maybe he didn’t even remember her.
Please, God...
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Sabat,” she murmured, placing the slightest emphasis on his title.
The man’s head tilted sideways for a second, his eyebrows coming together as a host of changes came over his face, the last of which was sardonic amusement.
Oh, no. He remembered. Remembered!
They’d both had a little too much to drink that night five weeks ago, and she’d hoped...
If she’d had any idea he’d worked at the hospital she was transferring to, she would have moved off that barstool quicker than anyone believed possible. But she’d been grieving and needed to forget.
Kaleb had given her a few hours of respite...and more.
But it was behind her. Needed to stay behind her.
“You live here in the city?” His sharp eyes were on her. Watching.
She blinked. “I do now. I just moved from a facility in New Jersey.” She shifted, hoping he wouldn’t see something in her expression that gave her away.
“Oh? Which facility?”
Aware that the hospital administrator was taking in their conversation, she flipped her hair over her shoulder, then regretted the move when Kaleb’s eyes followed the gesture. “Grace Central. It’s a small private clinic.”
“I’m familiar with it. It specializes in research and grants, does it not?”
That surprised her. Most people had no idea Grace Central even existed. But it had been where she’d landed after finishing up medical school. A few years later, she’d branched out, into consulting on cases from neighboring clinics, before her hospital’s administrator—a man who’d been like a second father to her—pulled her aside and said that while he knew Nicola loved working there, she could do more good at one of the bigger hospitals, as much as he hated to lose her. But after her brother, who’d also worked there had... Well, she’d needed to leave. Find someplace new. Someplace that didn’t have those devastating memories attached to it.
“It does. Why?” She clamped her jaws shut as she felt herself grow defensive. One of her worst personality traits, but it was really none of his business why she’d decided to move to NYC Memorial.
“No reason.”
She was very glad he didn’t refer to the night they’d spent together or tell Harvey that they’d already met. Repeatedly. In more ways than one.
“Actually a good friend suggested I transfer here, and I agreed with his assessment. It’s a wonderful opportunity. One I couldn’t pass up.”
Something else chased across Kaleb’s face—speculation. “Yes, it would be a shame to let opportunities like this pass you by, wouldn’t it.”
Before she could work through his meaning, Harvey spoke, drawing her attention back to where it should be. “Yes, indeed. I think you’ll like working here. Thousands of patients come through our doors every month. We pride ourselves on trying to give each of them the answers they need. Kaleb had a tough case himself last month. I told him to take some time off, but he wouldn’t hear of it. That’s the kind of dedication we like to see.”
Last month. Was that tough case part of the reason he’d wound up in that bar slugging back whiskey like it was water?
“Positive outcome, I hope.”
“I’m afraid not.”
Her glance jerked back to Kaleb’s face. Not a muscle moved in those hard features, but those piercing eyes had chilled even further.
“I’m so sorry.” It was hard to imagine what kind of case a plastic surgeon would find difficult other than some kind of body dysmorphic disorder, but as neither of them offered more details there was no way of knowing.
Had the patient felt lost? Like there was no way out? The way her brother had?
“It’s why we’re so glad you’re here.”
Kaleb held out his hand. “Sorry. I’ve got to run. I have a patient in a few minutes. Nice to meet you, Dr.... Bradley.” The amusement was back. It was in the way he said her last name. Maybe because she’d purposely avoided telling him her full name.
A hesitation on her part would have given her away, so she slid her hand into his and forced herself not to shudder as the contact set her nerve endings to dancing. It was a reminder of all the other places he’d made her body dance.
Then it was over, and Kaleb was striding down the hallway away from them. She drew a shaky breath, then released it.
Harvey chuckled. “Sorry. Kaleb can be a little rough around the edges at times, but he’s a good doctor. One of the best we have.”
She bet. He was one of the best she’d ever had, too. That was part of the problem with seeing him again. It had been a whole lot easier being uninhibited when she’d thought they’d be going their own separate ways. And now a part of her cringed at the explicit things she’d said...and done. She’d never been like that with anyone before. Not even her ex. At the time, she’d chalked it up to the liquid courage the bartender had placed in front of her. But she had a feeling it was the man himself that had drawn those things from her. Things she didn’t even know she was capable of.
The only good thing she could pull from her current situation was that it wasn’t likely she would be working with Kaleb on a regular basis. It was more probable she’d be paired up with cases from neurology or oncology, or even orthopedics. But reconstruction was, for the most part, cut-and-dried. No sifting among ambiguous symptoms to find a root cause of illness.
And yet, Harvey said he’d had a hard case. Had offered him time off.
She couldn’t stop herself from asking. “You mentioned Dr. Sabat had had a difficult case not long ago.”
“Yes. Tragic, really. A twenty-five-year-old came in with what was thought to be a deviated septum. She’d always had problems with snoring, and having what she said was clogged sinuses. A sleep study had ruled out apnea, so she and her husband met with Kaleb to discuss surgery. He sent her for imaging to see what he would be working with.” The man sighed. “Everyone was shocked when there turned out to be a tumor in her nasal cavity. A biopsy showed primary melanoma, which had spread to her brain. As you know, it’s a rare place for melanoma to start. Unfortunately, the patient went home after hearing the diagnosis and ended her life.”
A horrified shudder went through her. What were the chances? That had to be why he’d been at the bar that night. They’d both had something they wanted to forget. Needed to forget.
And now, all Nicola wanted to do was forget what her “wanting to forget” had caused.
“I’ve read about melanoma occurring in the nasal cavity, but have never been involved in a case. It carries a poor prognosis, doesn’t it? And with it having already metastasized...”
“Yes. And because she’d always had sinus issues and just considered it a minor annoyance, it took longer for her to get fed up enough to seek help. By then, it was probably too late. It’s tragic no matter how you look at it.”
Yes, it was. “For her husband, as well.”
“She also had two toddlers at home.”
“God.” She couldn’t imagine the emotional pain the woman had gone through. And to leave two toddlers behind? Nicola was about ten years older than Kaleb’s patient and had no children of her own. Although she’d always hoped someday...
“How terrible.”
“It was a blow to everyone who worked on her case. Kaleb took it especially hard.” He shook his head. “Well, let’s finish showing you around so you can get back to your day. Are you starting next week?”
“Yes. I’ve wrapped up all of my cases at Grace Central, so I should be good to start on Monday.”
“Perfect.”
Showing her around and introducing her to some of the other staff members took another hour. If names and titles had blurred together before, they now had stopped registering at all. Especially after the shock of seeing Kaleb again.
The administrator opened the door to yet another room. “And this will be your office.”
“My...?” She blinked. She actually hadn’t expected to have four walls and a door to call her own. Grace Central had an open office concept, so there were very few private offices outside of two conference rooms. Most of the staff worked in areas that were divided into sections that, while a step up from cubicles, would definitely not qualify as offices. They were more like wide melamine shelves with a chair underneath. Just to house a computer and maybe a picture or two.
“I really don’t think I need something this...big.” What Nicola meant was that she didn’t really need anything with a door.
Harvey glanced inside and then at her with a smile. “This is one of our smaller offices, actually. I was afraid you might feel insulted.”
“Not insulted at all.”
He was right. The space wasn’t large. It housed a desk with two office chairs in front of it and a bookcase behind. There was a coatrack to the side and a laptop already on top of the desk. As if reading the question on her face, he nodded. “We’d rather you use our computer equipment rather than your personal laptop due to privacy concerns.”
She could understand that. “This seems like a luxury compared to what I had before.”
He glanced around again, maybe trying to understand her reservations. “You’ll be meeting with doctors and patients alike, so it’s better to have a place to do that rather than having to keep checking to see if there’s a room open on the fourth floor. It’s where all of our conference rooms are.”
This hospital had one whole floor dedicated to meeting space? It was going to take some getting used to. Grace Central’s staff was close-knit and worked well together, probably because of the small size. But after her brother’s death, the words of consolation had become too unbearable. She had several friends there that she’d promised to keep in touch with. She had a feeling it would be a lot harder to forge those kinds of relationships in a hospital as large as NYC Memorial, where she knew no one.
Strike that. She knew one person.
Really? “Knew” might be stretching it a little. Although learning about his patient had been a jolt. And it was good to know he didn’t normally hang out drinking his troubles away at a bar.
Yikes. Is that what he thought she did? Maybe she should set him straight at some point. The last thing she wanted was for him to think NYC Memorial’s newest doctor had a drinking problem. Or go to Harvey with his “concerns” and ignite all kinds of questions and rumors.
Yes. She was going to have a little chat with Dr. Sabat and set some things straight.
Except she’d pretended not to know him. So that might be a very awkward conversation. She wavered a second or two before deciding to let it drop. If he told on her, she could just as easily tell on him.
And now she was acting like they were both children, ready to retaliate against each other. They weren’t. At least she wasn’t. Unless his behavior endangered his patients, she wasn’t about to say anything to anyone about what had happened. And she definitely wouldn’t mention it to Kaleb.
So she was going to put that night into her past. Once and for all.
She decided to speak what she hoped would become a prophetic statement. “I love the office and the hospital. I have a feeling I’m going to be very happy at NYC Memorial.”