smile that no doubt had women flocking around him like seagulls. And yet again she looked like she’d been through the heavy-duty wash cycle and hung out to dry.
What was Alec doing here?
“Hello, Dr. Armstrong. What can I do for you?”
His dark eyebrows rose as he slipped off his sunglasses. “Oh, so formal. What happened to the old ‘Hi Alec, come on in’ you used to greet me with?”
How was she supposed to answer that? She wanted to say that had been back when she’d been young and naive and worn rose-colored glasses, but there was no point in going there. “I wasn’t sure if I should call you Alec, as you’re an attending and I’m a student.”
“It’s fine for you to call me Alec when we’re not in the hospital. Unless you particularly like guys in scrubs and want to call me ‘Doctor.’” The teasing grin he gave her was downright dazzling, and she turned away from its power, opening the door fully as she doubted he’d stopped by just to say hello then leave.
“Funny. Though perhaps you’re saying that because I know that you particularly like women in scrubs. Or, even more, in nothing at all.”
Crap, had she actually just said that? Her cheeks burned and she couldn’t figure out what part of the room to focus on, because she sure as heck wasn’t going to look at him now. She quickly walked over to the pile of stuff she’d pulled out of a box and left on the sofa yesterday.
“Katy Pappas, I’m shocked that you—”
“Sorry the place is a bit of a mess,” she interrupted, the deeply amused rumble of his voice making her blush all over again. She did not want to hear whatever he’d been about to say in response to her extremely ill-advised comment. She grabbed up her things and shoved them back in the box. “I haven’t had time to put away all my stuff yet.”
“Don’t worry, I saw the housekeeping police are busy a few blocks away. I think you’re safe until tomorrow.”
His voice still held laughter and she focused on the box. Not. Going. To look at him. “As you can see, I haven’t had a chance to change my clothes. Excuse me while—”
Excited woofs drowned out her words as Nick’s two yellow Labrador retrievers bounded through the house to greet Alec, slamming against Katy and nearly knocking her off her feet. “Whoa!” she yelped, her tired legs not quite balancing the way they should. Before she tumbled to the floor Alec lunged to grab her and hold her upright, flattening her tight against him.
Her hands slapped up against his muscular shoulders as the feel of his firm chest against her breasts, his strong arms around her sent her breathing haywire. Their eyes met, and the grin faded from his, replaced by what looked like a slightly confused frown.
The seconds ticked by and both stood motionless, oddly frozen, until Katy grabbed what wits she had left. She pushed against his shoulders and stepped back as his arms dropped to his sides, but their gazes remained locked. The tingling of her nerves and the imprint of his body that she could still feel against her own must be some sort of “muscle memory” thing, from the years she’d written in her journal about how much she wanted to be held close by Alec.
“I see you still have a little clumsiness problem.”
Her gaze moved from the oddly disturbing eye contact to his lips, which disturbed her in a different way. She looked down at the dogs for a distraction. “I don’t think being knocked into by these crazy pups of his makes me clumsy,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as breathless as she felt. The dogs wagged their tails and rubbed against her for attention, leaving dog hair all over her black skirt. As if she wasn’t already enough of a mess. “Nick can’t have much company—they’ve acted like this every time someone comes to the door. If they hadn’t been outside, we would have been mauled the second you came in.”
“They’re still young and rambunctious.” He looked oddly serious, considering his teasing of just a moment ago. “And in case you don’t remember, your dogs pretty much all acted this way at your family’s house. I remember your mutt, Buddy, chewing up one of my shoes that I’d left at the door.”
She looked up at him as she scratched the dogs’ heads. “You had to put up with a lot at our house, didn’t you? Utter chaos, with six crazy kids and badly behaved dogs.”
“I think the term would be bedlam.” The smile was back on his face, and why she was pleased to see it again she wasn’t sure. “But I enjoyed every minute of the time I spent with Nick. And you. And the rest of your family, of course.”
“You two sitting out there, socializing, with your feet up?” Nick’s voice called from the kitchen. “Katy has the night off, but you don’t, Alec. I need a hand here.”
“Coming in a sec. Just realized I left the wine I brought in the car.” His index finger reached out to give her nose a gentle flick, a soft stroke from between her brows to its tip as he’d done more times than she could possibly count, but the expression in his eyes seemed different than in the past. Hotter, more intimate, somehow, and her heart stupidly sped up in response.
Thankfully, he turned and went back out the door, and Katy sucked in a breath. She would not allow her old, youthful crush to muscle its way in and crowd out her older, smarter self. No way, no how.
She moved toward the kitchen, resolutely passing by the hallway to her bedroom with barely a longing glance. She hadn’t planned to do anything more than wash her hands for dinner and refused to give in to her sudden urge to clean up a little and change her clothes. Maybe it would even be a good thing, she thought as she shook her head at herself, if Alec noticed she didn’t exactly smell perfume fresh.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d invited Alec for dinner?” she asked Nick in a whisper, even though she hadn’t heard the man come back into the house.
“Because he’s my best friend, and I didn’t realize until tonight that you still felt such animosity toward him.” Her brother glanced at her before he turned his attention back to the dinner. “Which I frankly hope you’ll get over.”
“No animosity. As I told you, I just don’t want to be friends with him anymore.” And her darned shortness of breath and flippity heart and awareness of his hunkiness quotient was far different from feelings of friendship anyway, dang it. Which made it even more important that they not be together anywhere but at work until her smart brain prevailed over her not-so-smart one. “But obviously, since he’s my instructor for the month, I’m perfectly fine with spending work time with him. I just would’ve appreciated a heads-up.”
“Okay. Hey, Katy-Did.” Nick turned to her, the evil big-brother smile on his face she was more than used to. “Alec’s coming over for dinner.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks for telling me. If I’d known it wasn’t just the two of us, I wouldn’t have dressed up in my nicest clothes.”
As Nick chuckled in response, Alec’s voice filled the kitchen, followed by his tall, broad form. “You look good in whatever you’re wearing, Katy.”
She looked up at his eyes that were all golden and warm again, accompanied by a beautiful smile that seemed absurdly sincere, since she knew she couldn’t look much more of a wreck if she tried. Why did the darned man have to have the kind of charm that made it all too easy to overlook his not-charming characteristics?
“Thank
