different from other women he knew. She always had a wall up. So when she hadn’t shown up he’d hidden his disappointment. Ruby reminded him of his mother. Always bound to the north and her work. That kind of woman was a kind that he didn’t want to get attached to. Yet, he had married Ruby anyway.
He was crazy.
So he hadn’t expected his mother to come down to San Diego. And he definitely hadn’t expected his mother to offer him a job.
When his mother had offered him a chance to work on an elite trauma team—like working on the front line, but without enemy fire—he’d felt a faint glimmer of hope again. It had crushed him completely when he’d been injured and unable to go back to the front line, and working in a military hospital was something he didn’t want to do. He liked to be out in the field, saving lives.
Of course when he’d heard that the leader of this team of trauma surgeons, paramedics and nurses was none other than his fake wife, he’d almost thought about backing down. He knew Ruby wouldn’t like it.
He didn’t know much about her, because she never let anyone in, but he admired her tenacity—which was why he’d proposed to her. He’d wanted her to make her dream become a reality and he’d valued their work friendship.
It hadn’t hurt, either, that Aran had always thought she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on, and for one brief moment in that time just after they were married—just before he shipped out—he’d wished that he could get to know her better. Wished he had more time to bring down those walls of hers.
He had been hoping that their years apart would have changed the attraction he felt for her. Only they hadn’t. She was just as beautiful and feisty as ever. With those dark eyes that seemed to pierce right through his soul, her pink full lips, and the black hair that was really a rich dark brown and shot through with hues of auburn.
But she was unobtainable to him, and he knew that a relationship with a woman so connected to her work and to the north would never work out for him.
Now he was really wishing he had said no to the offer of working up here in Anchorage. He should head back to San Diego.
You made your bed. Now lie in it.
Ruby shook out of his grasp. “Fine. I will give you a chance. But if you can’t keep up then I’m sorry but I can’t use you on my team.”
Aran nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Are you going to keep up with physiotherapy?” she asked.
“Yes. I’m about to head there now, and then on to Human Resources.”
“I’ll walk with you and explain a bit about what I’m doing.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
Ruby walked slowly. He appreciated that she was trying to be nice, but it was actually harder on his leg than walking quickly.
“We can speed it up, you know.”
“What?” she asked.
“It’s actually better for stretching out the muscles if we move a bit faster.”
“Sorry.” A blush tinged her warm tawny-colored cheeks.
“It’s okay. I’ve been adamant about getting back into fighting form. I didn’t want to lounge away in a hospital bed for long.”
She nodded. “Do you mind if I ask exactly how it happened? I was told it was an IED, but nothing else. They didn’t give me any more details.”
Yes, I do mind.
Only he didn’t say that out loud. He hated talking about it—but he didn’t have to talk about everything that had happened the night he was injured. He just had to talk about his leg wound. She didn’t need to know the rest and he wouldn’t tell her. That was his business and he wasn’t going to let it interfere with his work here. He was going to make damn sure of that.
“No, I don’t mind. I was transporting some wounded soldiers to a field hospital and there was an IED explosion.”
Cold sweat broke across his brow and he hoped she wouldn’t notice. He had thought he was over the initial trauma of talking about it, after he’d recounted what had happened countless times to his superiors and his counsellors during his recovery, but telling Ruby changed the game, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
He hoped that she wouldn’t pry further. He really didn’t want to talk about it, and just thinking about the incident was making him a bit dizzy.
“I’m sorry,” Ruby said, and didn’t ask anything further. “Well, keep up with the physiotherapy.”
Aran nodded curtly. “I will.”
“I don’t know what your mother has told you about the team I’ve put together...” She trailed off.
“I remember your ideas for it from back when you were first talking about it.”
The blush crept into her cheeks again. “You do?” she asked in amazement.
“I thought it was a good idea—which is why I offered to marry you so you could stay here. I still think it’s a good idea. You’ve done a great job.”
“Thanks,” she said.
He nodded curtly and looked away. He couldn’t let himself get sucked into her life. She was off-limits. Every relationship was off-limits. He didn’t have it in him to pursue one. Not until he got his life back on track.
“Look, I know that it’s physically taxing. You’ve said as much. But I won’t hold you back. I have a lot of expertise working in some of the roughest conditions and working with minimal resources to save lives. I would like to continue that work. It’s my passion.”
A smile tugged on the corner of her lips and made his pulse race. He liked it when she smiled. Since he’d met her all those years ago he hadn’t seen her smile genuinely once. Her smiles on their wedding day had been forced and for show.
This smile—it was genuine. It was as if she understood him.
“It’s mine as well.” She cleared her throat and looked away, the smile disappearing. She stopped, pointing at a door that led to another hall. “Physiotherapy is down the hall. Third door on the left.”
Aran nodded. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” She turned to leave.
“Ruby, maybe...” He couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “Can I take you to dinner tonight?”
“WHAT?” RUBY COULDN’T believe what she was hearing.
“I asked if I could take you, my wife, out to dinner?” His blue eyes were twinkling and he was smiling at her.
