CHAPTER THREE

JAKE COASTED ONTO the hospital grounds, using the designated bike path that continued from the road onto the medical center’s property. Matt’s fever from the other day, as suspected, had been the result of the cephalosporin, and yesterday, he’d had the first surgery on his lower jaw. The damaged teeth on the right side had had to be removed, which he knew the boy had been upset about, but with the advent of dental implants, no one would ever notice. The more worrisome thing was hoping the bone graft taken from the teen’s fibula would take. It had been a multi-surgeon effort, with Dr. Julle performing the bone graft in consultation with a dental surgeon who would later do the tooth implants.

Jake had done the skin graft surgery to cover the site on the boy’s leg, harvesting tissue from his buttock. Everything had gone according to plan. If all went well, he would have normal function to his jaw.

Heading toward the bike rack the hospital had installed in the grass near one of the main entrances, he saw that someone else had just stopped their bike and was hooking it up.

He slowed further as he came up behind her and called out to let her know he was there. She turned to look and Jake jerked on the handlebars and nearly toppled his bike. It was Elia. In her Lycra biker pants, tennis shoes and a racing top that bared her shoulders, she looked very different from the nurse who’d sported loose scrubs the other times he’d seen her. She was sexy as hell.

Not that she hadn’t been that before, but she was even more stunning.

She smiled at him. “Careful. You might wind up in your own ER. The thing about never forgetting how to ride a bike is we’re sometimes a little more wobbly when we get on after not having ridden for a while.”

Not having ridden? Hell, he rode here once a week. “You just startled me, that’s all.”

Funny that those were the same words she’d used when she’d jerked away from him the other day.

“Okay.”

She didn’t believe him. Why did it matter? But for some reason it did. “I actually ride in to work fairly often.”

But he was almost positive he’d never seen her bike here before. It was a sleek red racing-style bike with black handlebars and spokes, which showed that she knew a thing or two about bicycles.

“Ah, got it. I actually haven’t tried that before today. But I thought with the festival coming up, riding in would give me a chance to train without having to make a special effort.” She finished attaching her chain to the bike stand, then slung a backpack over her arm. “The only pain is having to change clothes when I get here.”

And there it was. The flash of an image that he’d done his best to prevent. Of her slowly rolling those tight pants over her hips and down her legs. He gritted his teeth to banish it.

“Yep, I get it. I only live about ten miles out, so mornings are okay. But the afternoon heat definitely takes it out of you on the way back home.” And he didn’t say that he had an office with his own bathroom to change in because that sounded kind of privileged. And really, it was. It was on the tip of his tongue to offer to let her use his space, but he knew if he did, that image he’d just suppressed would come roaring back whenever he went into his office.

“Where’s a good place to ride around here? I’m from Austin, so that’s all I know as far as areas to ride.”

“It depends on what you’re looking for and how far you want to go. Several of the bike shops offer group rides, including one that I’m in that does a longer Saturday ride. It begins and ends at University Park and makes a big loop around the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. You’re welcome to come along if you want to.”

He wasn’t sure why he’d offered, but he did. And now that he had, he felt he needed to add some more details, just in case. “It’s a forty-seven-mile trip.”

“Not too bad. I’ve done longer, but they’ve normally been in the spring or late fall when it’s a little cooler.” She paused for a second. “Do you mind my coming along? I promise I’ll find my own niche, but it would be nice to see a familiar face the first time.”

Something about the hesitant way she said it made him glad he’d asked. “I don’t mind at all. You’ll find most of the biking community in Dallas to be pretty welcoming.”

“So you do this a lot?”

“It’s something I enjoy.”

She nodded. “Me, too.”

Her eyes searched his face for a long second before turning away. “Well, I’d better head in.” Then she turned back. “I was off yesterday. How did Matt’s jaw surgery go?”

He locked his own bike and they headed in together. “It went well. And the girlfriend came for it.”

She still had that little hitch in her gait. He couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from but seemed to be in her right leg. It was barely noticeable, but it was there just the same. Even so, she had no problem keeping up with him.

“That is so great. Has he agreed to see her yet?”

He nodded. “Finally, when he came out of surgery. But he was pretty bandaged up so maybe he wasn’t as worried about what she’d see.” He’d seen that in many patients who’d undergone some type of life-altering event, such as a severe burn.

They got on the elevator and Jake pushed the button for the fourth floor. “Did you get to do any of the skin grafts yet?”

“Just the one to cover the donor site, where they harvested the bone. The facial reconstruction grafts will need to be done a little later.”

They arrived on the floor and got off. “So you’re on for Saturday?”

“I am. What time?”

“The ride starts at eight. Come with a water bottle and any snacks you might need.”

She smiled, and those areas below her cheeks hollowed out again, showing off her beautiful bone structure. “Yep. I’ll come prepared. Thanks again for the invitation.”

“You’re welcome. See you on the floor.”

“See you.”

As he passed the cookie jar, he noted that they were almost gone. She’d said she was off yesterday. But he also didn’t want her to feel like she needed to keep supplying the floor with free snacks, especially since they took so much effort. He made a mental note to mention it when he saw her next. And he also put Saturday’s ride in his calendar. There was no need to register, it was just a “show up” kind of thing. Sometimes there was a leader from the shop, sometimes it was self-guided. There were folks who did this every week and could kind of let newcomers in on what to expect and where the places were to wait for help, if needed. They also liked to know if you opted to quit early so they didn’t worry about something having happened and send a rider out to try to find you. Just normal trip etiquette types of things.

But for now, he wanted to review patient charts and plan his day. He had two surgeries today that had nothing to do with burns. One was the repair of a cleft palate. And the other was a revision surgery for someone who’d had an earlier surgery for skin cancer at another hospital that had healed badly and left a larger scar than necessary. He felt with an hour’s worth of work he could coax the skin to give a little more and to lie a little flatter across her cheek.

As he changed his own clothes, he wondered again about Elia’s leg and if her limp had to do with muscle weakness. If so, was a long ride going to be taxing for her? She said she rode regularly, so he assumed she’d done this before. But maybe he should ask.

No. She was an adult who could make her own choices. If she felt she could do the ride, then who was he to second-guess that? He certainly wouldn’t want to have it done for him.

He chuckled. Of course she’d thought he was just starting to ride a bike again. That’s what he got for letting her get under his skin.

And she was doing it. No matter how much he might try to deny it. Would Saturday make it even worse?

He could only hope not. Again, he wondered if being around her might be a good thing, almost like a desensitization process that made him notice her less.

It might work. But then again, he never really noticed when other women wore biking shorts and cool tops. But at least it wouldn’t be a surprise on Saturday when she came.

And this next time, he’d keep hold of his composure and show her that he really did know his stuff when it came to cycling.


She arrived at Walter’s Bike Shop on Saturday morning and parked her car. There were several people already here, but there was no sign of Jake, yet. Maybe he wasn’t coming. No, he’d seen her again at work yesterday toward the end of the day and said he’d see her here. She’d almost backed out. But then she felt like she’d have to explain why she didn’t want to go, and she really didn’t have a good explanation other than he still made her uneasy. Every time she’d seen him over the last day or two, he’d still had the power to make her face heat up and her nipples tighten. That was the worst thing of all. She’d had to choose a specific sports bra today, one that did a good job keeping that kind of thing under wraps. It wasn’t the most comfortable contraption to wear or the easiest to get into. But at least he wouldn’t notice if her stupid body decided to betray her.

She unhooked her bike from the back of her car, tucked her ID card and a debit card into the little pack she had for the handlebars and then slid her water bottle into a holder on the frame of the bike.

Jake pulled in beside her just as she was pulling her hair up into a high ponytail that would keep it out of her face and off her neck.

“Hi,” she said as he got out of his car.

“Hello, yourself. I see you made it.”

Sporting the ubiquitous biker shorts and a nylon T-shirt, he looked totally as at home in this world as he did at the hospital. She couldn’t believe she’d thought he was just starting out the other day when he arrived at the hospital. His helmet hung from the handlebars of his bike. Hmm... She’d brought one in her car, but Texas law had made bike helmets optional. This wasn’t Austin, where she’d ridden mostly in designated bike areas, though, and she had no idea what the conditions would be. And when she looked around she saw the majority of other folks also had helmets.

That made her decision. She put down her kickstand and unlocked her car, pulling out the helmet. She’d have to readjust her hair to get the thing on, and she hated how hot it could be. But the others knew a thing or two about the road conditions in this part of the state. She would follow their lead. Of course everyone but her was in shorts, too, but that wasn’t something she was likely to ever change.

“I did make it.” She glanced around. “How many do you normally have ride with you?”

“Around fifteen or so. But for special events there might be forty.”

“Wow. The club I was part of in Austin wasn’t that large. But it wasn’t organized by a bike shop, either, so maybe that’s where the difference comes in.”

“I think different clubs each have their own feel. This one is pretty laid-back.” He nodded at someone who’d moved toward them. “Hi, Randy, how are you?”

He chatted with the other man for a minute before introducing them. “This is Elia. She’s new to the area and thought she’d give the club a shot.”

He smiled at her. “Well, we’ll try not to scare you off, although if Jake hasn’t already done that by now, then you should be good. He’s the scariest one of all.”

She could agree with that. Oh, not about the scary part, but about the scary reaction she had to him. It was kind of like when Matt had had that febrile reaction to his antibiotic. The man somehow made her feel feverish just by being in the vicinity. It was actually a relief to talk to someone else and get her mind off of it.

She decided to play it all off as a joke. “I work with him, so I’m used to him.”

Not hardly, but she could pretend, right?

“Does anyone ever get used to Jakob Callin?” Randy asked.

Time for another quip. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

“I think it would take a rare individual.”

Jake rolled his eyes, and those in the vicinity all laughed.

A few seconds later, more people gathered around and were chatting. These folks obviously had a good rapport and had done many rides together. It might be easy just to fall in with them, but she wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. Maybe it would be better to try out one of the other shops and see what they had to offer. But it was nice to be included, even if it was because of her being Jake’s “plus-one.” Except she wasn’t really. She was just in his orbit for this one ride. And then she would pop right back out of it, if she knew what was good for her.

Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was eight o’clock on the dot.

As if reading her mind, Randy spoke up. “So it looks like Brian—our fearless bike store leader—put me in charge of today’s ride, since he’s in Florida on vacation. Anyone know if others are coming?”

At the shake of several heads, he rubbed his hands together. “Okay, let’s gear up, then.”

Elia followed their lead and adjusted her ponytail so it trailed down her back and slid her helmet on, buckling it in place. “How fast do you all ride?”

Randy evidently overheard her and said, “It’s pretty much a set your own pace thing. It depends on what you’re working toward. Some of us have races coming up. Some are just here for pleasure. If you drop out, though, please let someone know. Speaking of which, can I have your name and phone number?”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jake frown. But why? Was he afraid she’d start pushing her way into the group? If that was his worry, he needn’t. She wasn’t likely to try to stick around longer than this one ride. Maybe she should reassure him.

But that would be awkward.

She gave her name and cell number to Randy, and he put them into his phone. “If we lose each other, I’ll text you to make sure all is well.”

She glanced around. No one else seemed to think that was something out of the ordinary. Except Jake was still frowning.

How fast were they planning on riding? She leaned toward him. “Are you guys going to run thirty miles an hour or something?”

“No. Don’t worry. I won’t lose you.”

The way he said it made her shiver, even though she knew he didn’t mean any more by it than Randy had. And the inference that she might be the only one to fall behind should have irritated her, but it didn’t. But it did spur her to make sure she held her own. No leisurely pedaling like she might have done in Austin, where her group was more about scenery than distance traveled.

“How do you know I won’t lose you?”

He chuckled. “Is that a challenge?”

That made her gulp. “Actually no. The group I rode with did scenic rides with lots of chatting within the whole group. We pretty much stayed in a clump.”

“I see. This group is a little more competitive than that, but it’s definitely not a race. For most of us, at least. There are always one or two who like to be in the lead the whole way.”

But evidently Jake was not one of those. And yet he led the way in the burn unit, and from what she’d heard he was one of the best reconstructive surgeons in the Dallas area. So he was certainly out in front. But maybe that wasn’t about being competitive. She had a feeling he cared much more about his patients than he did about his rankings among other plastic surgeons.

They all got on their bikes and started off in a big group. Within a mile, though, it had spread out a little so they weren’t all on top of each other. Jake stayed with her, and she hoped that wasn’t just to be nice. She didn’t want to hold him back if he wanted to go on ahead. But she liked the fact that he didn’t feel the need to show off, either. Randy was definitely up ahead, although he wasn’t the leader of the pack.

There were only two people that she saw who weren’t wearing helmets. And probably 75 percent of the group were men. If she hadn’t had her injury, would she have taken up biking as a competitive sport?

It was kind of a moot question, because she had been injured and cycling was one of the most comfortable ways she could think of to keep the range of motion in the leg as close to normal as she could.

“Is this a comfortable pace for you?” Jake’s question made her wonder if he’d read her mind.

“This is good. It’s a little faster than I normally go, but I’m definitely not having any problems keeping up.” And it was true, she didn’t even feel winded.

Jake pointed to the right. “We’re in the neighborhood of University Park right now.”

With its tall trees, manicured landscaping and dappled bike path, it wasn’t the concrete jungle she’d always pictured Dallas as. “It’s a pretty area.”

“It is. It’s one of the shadier areas on our route. It’ll be a lot warmer around the airport. But we should be done around noonish or a little before, so definitely before the heat of the day sets in.”

They started to go down a long hill and Elia stopped pedaling, adding a little brake when her speed picked up. “I guess I should have asked about the topography. Are we in for some steep inclines?”

“Not super steep, but we will start climbing at around the ten-mile mark, where we’ll stay until mile twenty-five-ish, where we’ll start back down. The rest of the ride will be pretty flat. How were the rides in Austin?”

“Austin is in hill country and most of our rides end up going downhill first—since Austin itself is higher than the surrounding areas—and then climbing to get back to our starting point.”

Steep climbs were the only things she found difficult in cycling. For some of it she had to rise out of her seat to pedal, and that required her right leg to straighten to the point that she felt a sharp pull behind her knee from the contracted tissue. She could do it, but normally ended up having to go home and ice the back of her leg. She was wary of using more painkillers than absolutely necessary. She glanced over at him. This was probably the most relaxed she’d ever seen Jake. He definitely liked coming out and riding. And he looked far too good for comfort as he leaned over the handlebars. He had the proportions of a cyclist, the snug athletic shirt showing off the long line of his back to perfection. And the muscles in his calves...

She turned her attention back to the road in a hurry. Time to occupy her thoughts with something else. “Are you the one who came up with the idea for the bike festival?”

“No, actually, it’s been around for quite a while. But when I came to the hospital, I was already a cyclist so it fit in with who I am. I haven’t missed a year yet.”

“It’s just a little different. I normally see hospitals doing marathons or the like.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little different.”

She would agree with him, although there was a time when she’d felt so different from everyone else that she struggled with anxiety. She’d gotten counseling as a teen that had helped her realize that her burns made her more empathetic to those with challenges. In Austin, she’d helped with the Special Olympics in the area and had loved being a part of something so affirming.

“No. There’s not.” She said it because it was what was expected of her, but realized she’d actually come to believe it.

“We’re coming up to a busier area, so we’ll have some traffic lights to contend with. And the path will merge onto the road as part of the far right lane.”

Just like he’d said, she saw the first major intersection of the trip was up ahead. Traffic next to the bike path was picking up, as well. And within fifty yards, the path veered onto the street, where a marked-off section identified it with a bike symbol painted on the asphalt.

They stopped for the light, catching up with a big part of their group, the ones who’d lagged behind reappearing and joining them. The light turned green. She put her foot on the pedal and pushed off, only to hear a shout, then Jake’s hand reached over and grabbed her handlebars, pulling hard and knocking them both off balance. The pavement came up to meet her, and she heard the squeal of tires. She braced for what she thought was coming, but shockingly nothing hit her or ran over her. But she did hear a scream from someone, and Jake, who was on the ground beside her, leaped to his feet, glancing at her. “You okay?”

“Yes, I think so.”

She still didn’t understand exactly what had happened until she started to climb to her feet and her eyes caught on the sight of a car who’d hit a nearby tree. And under its tires was a dark blue bike. And the rider... She used her hands to shield her eyes from the sun as Jake and some others ran to an area beside the tree, where a figure lay in the grass, looking far too still.