time she couldn’t let such a fantastic opportunity pass by. “I’d love to help create a protocol. Anything we can do in the field to save lives is worth the effort.”
“I agree.” Seth raised a brow. “I’m not trying to cross your boundaries—clearly you’re already involved in a relationship—but my schedule is tight. We may need to meet over a lunch hour, since that might be the only available option.”
Kylie stared at him suspiciously, wondering if he was really being sincere or if he was simply probing for more information. Either way, it didn’t really matter. This job was a promotion for her, and since her sole reason for taking the job and moving to a safe, rural area was to provide a better home life for Ben, she wasn’t about to do anything to mess it up.
Which included falling for Seth Taylor’s not-so-subtle charm.
“I do have a man in my life,” she said, playing along with his assumption. The man was her six-year-old son, but Seth didn’t need to know that. “I’ll try to be as flexible as possible, though, in order to meet your needs.”
“Great. You’re a beautiful woman, Kylie, and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” Seth pulled out his PDA and scrolled the buttons on the tiny screen. “Okay, how does next Monday work for you? Say about twelve-thirty?”
Beautiful? He’d actually called her beautiful? No man, not even Ben’s father, had ever used that word to describe her. Cute—pretty, maybe, in a girl-next-door type of way—but never beautiful.
Seth Taylor was charming, and she was just beginning to realize how dangerous his smooth charm really was—especially when she was feeling at her most vulnerable. Living in a new town, with people she didn’t know, wasn’t easy. And she’d been so focused on helping her son adjust to his new day care that she hadn’t done anything for herself. Luckily she wasn’t interested in relationships, or she might have been tempted.
She found her voice. “Monday at twelve-thirty is perfect. Thank you.”
As she stood and moved to leave, he called out, “Kylie?”
She turned. “Yes?”
“I hope the man in your life realizes how lucky he is.”
She doubted Ben would think so. At least not in the way Seth meant. But she nodded and quickly escaped before she blabbed the truth.
If Seth knew she didn’t really have a man in her life outside her son, Ben, then he might just continue his charming assault on her defenses.
And she wasn’t too certain she possessed the strength to withstand a second attack.
CHAPTER TWO
SETH finished the rest of his shift and then made his way to the cardiac cath labs located on the third floor, hoping he’d run into Michael. He wanted to know how their cardiac patient, Marilyn Warner, was doing.
His colleague, dressed in scrubs, walked out of the cath lab door as Seth came in. “Hey, Seth.”
“Michael.” Seth tucked his hands into the pockets of his lab coat as he turned to fall into step with Michael. “I’ve come to find out how Marilyn Warner is doing.”
“You mean our patient from this morning?” When Seth nodded, Michael grimaced. “Not so good. She needed emergency surgery, so I had to send her off to Trinity Medical Center in Milwaukee via Air Flight.”
Damn. Emergency surgery was not a good sign. Especially emergency open heart surgery, after a full arrest and resuscitation. Seth’s shoulders slumped and he scrubbed a hand over his face. “I see. I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything from the cardiothoracic team in Milwaukee yet?”
Michael shook his head. “No, but I’ve been busy. I just finished my last case for the day.”
Seth understood. He’d been busy, too. The hospital census had been jumping lately, and the ED in particular had been one nonstop revolving door.
“Seth, she’s not your mother,” Michael said softly.
“I know.” His sharp response caused Michael to raise his brows in surprise. Michael, along with many other hospital staff members, had attended the funeral. Seth had appreciated his colleague’s support through the difficult time. “My mother didn’t die of a heart attack. She had an aneurysm in her brain. But Marilyn is the same age, and I just wish we’d been quick enough to save her.”
“You were.” Michael clapped his hand on Seth’s shoulder in a reassuring gesture. “We’ve given her a chance, Seth. Not just once, after you brought her back in the ED, but now again, in surgery. She could have died in the ambulance on the way over, or in the ED, or in the cath lab—but she didn’t.”
“Yeah.” Yet with each setback her chances of survival grew slimmer. Seth knew his friend was right, but he couldn’t get over the feeling that their efforts hadn’t been good enough. Second-guessing yourself wasn’t always helpful, though, so he tried to change the subject. “I hope you’ve been practicing your pitching. The big baseball game is only a week away.”
Michael grinned. “As a matter of fact I have. Don’t worry, we have a good chance of winning.”
The Cedar Bluff Hospital’s annual baseball game had become a highly competitive event. Each year the nurses challenged the physicians, and despite the gender differences—there were generally more women nurses than men, and more male physicians than female—the games were very close. The winning team got free meals in the hospital cafeteria for a month. Not that he really cared about the food, but Seth did like to win.
His motto was to live in the moment. Because life was too short for regrets.
“Do you want to head out to the batting cage?” Michael asked.
Seth glanced at his watch. “Not tonight. Maybe this weekend, though.”
“You’re on,” Michael agreed. “See you later, then.”
“Later,” Seth echoed as he turned and strode toward the parking lot.
On the way home Seth’s thoughts lingered on Kylie Germaine. He didn’t like to be conceited, but it wasn’t often he was shot down so completely at a first meeting. Women generally liked him. Too bad she was already in a relationship, because he hadn’t felt that spark of attraction for anyone in a long time.
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he headed for his condo, located just ten minutes from the hospital. He needed to forget about Kylie. There were always plenty of women to go out with. He’d never stayed with anyone for more than a few weeks anyway. There was a new nurse who’d started recently—what was her name? Cherry? Or Cheri? But even as he tried to picture the new nurse working up on the second floor he couldn’t seem to dredge up his usual enthusiasm.
For some peculiar reason his libido seemed stuck on a particular honey-blonde who clearly wasn’t interested.
Kylie woke up feeling a bit grumpy as she’d suffered a restless night’s sleep—which was all Seth’s fault, since his wicked smile had haunted her dreams.
Seth? Seth? What was wrong with her? What had happened
