realized all too well the potency of sisterly ties. He was the baby in a family with three female siblings. He’d barely survived all that womanly camaraderie. Not to mention the lack of bathroom space. “Okay. If I decide I might want to give Michelle Lewis a shot, I’ll proceed with caution.”
“I’m not betting on that horse.”
Jared knew him all too well. Yeah, he did thrive on challenge, but was Michelle Lewis worth the trouble? Whatever did transpire between them, he would definitely make sure he wasn’t the one to get burned.
But somehow Nick knew that when he was around Michelle Lewis, he was already standing too close to the fire.
As it was now nearing lunchtime, Michelle decided to take a break from her work and make the call she’d needed to make since yesterday. She needed to apologize to Brooke for her harried departure from the party. She also needed answers as to why Brooke hadn’t told her sooner about the baby. Maybe something was wrong aside from Brooke’s asthma. Something Brooke hadn’t told her yet. That prospect frightened her. She couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to her little sister.
“Hey. You got a minute?”
Michelle’s grip tightened on the phone at the sound of that voice—a voice belonging to a doctor she had thought about much too often in the past twenty-four hours. She couldn’t seem to get him out of her head. She certainly didn’t need him in her office, invading her space at work and worming his way back into her stubborn psyche.
Michelle dropped the phone onto its cradle and stared up at Nick Kempner’s disarming smile. She glanced at the door he had managed to close behind him without her noticing. She was trapped in a small room with a man who emitted sensuality like a nuclear-powered aphrodisiac.
On the heels of his surprise appearance, she was amazed she found her voice. “Good afternoon, Dr. Kempner. What brings you to the administrative offices?”
Without an invitation he pulled back the chair in front of her desk and sat, one leg crossed over the other as if he planned to settle in for a while. “I have a question for you.”
The doctor looked much too good in his tailored white shirt and conservative blue tie, his shiny brown hair as slick as his smile. Not that he hadn’t looked great in swim trunks.
Get a grip, Michelle. “Okay. What is it?”
His grin expanded. “Just say yes.”
“Yes to—”
“Good. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
The man was incorrigible. And sexier than any man had a right to be. “Tonight?” That wasn’t at all what she’d intended to say. And she darned sure didn’t mean to say it with such enthusiasm.
“No. Saturday night. I figured since we’re both attending the fund-raising gala, we might as well go together. Unless you already have a date.”
“I’m not going.”
His dark brows drew down over his equally dark eyes. “What do you mean you’re not going? This thing’s supposed to raise money for your pet project.”
Exactly what Michelle’s assistant had said when she’d asked her to fill in at the gala. “Actually, I’m going to the reception with the benefactors that afternoon. But I’m not going to the dance that night.”
“Care to tell me why?”
No, she didn’t, at least not the whole truth—that a few years back she’d met a doctor at a similar event who, little had she known at the time, belonged to someone else. “Large crowds aren’t exactly my cup of tea.”
“Mine, either. But I’m required to put in an appearance. I assumed you would be, too.”
“Not this time. I need to continue working on finalizing the ad layouts. Besides, no one will even miss me.”
“I will.”
Darn him. And darn her renegade smile that picked that exact moment to come out of hiding. She willed it away. “I appreciate that, Dr. Kempner, but I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else to escort.”
“What if I don’t want to escort anyone else?”
She stacked some papers that didn’t need stacking, in avoidance of his tempting eyes. “There are probably, say, four single male doctors in this hospital and about ten times as many unattached women. That makes the odds in your favor. So I’m sure you can find someone who would more than appreciate your company.”
“And you don’t?” He slumped lower in the chair. “Man, you really know how to hurt a guy.”
In all honesty she did appreciate his company. More than she should. Not that she would ever make that confession, especially to him. “Let’s just say I’m not looking for companionship at the moment.”
She glanced up and met his intense stare. “What are you looking for, Michelle?”
Not the kind of trouble he was offering. She didn’t have time to date, and with her lousy track record with gorgeous doctors who were much too compelling for their own good, she didn’t have the desire, either. “Success in my work and taking care of my family, first and foremost.”
He leaned forward, giving Michelle a lethal dose of his cologne and a good look at his serious expression. “That won’t keep you warm at night.”
“I manage okay.”
“I’m sure you do. Or at least you think you do. But take it from me, after a while burying yourself in your work won’t give you the satisfaction you need. And your family can only offer you so much comfort.”
“And what satisfaction are you referring to?” Did she really just ask such a thing?
His smile made another grandstand appearance. “The kind that makes you really feel alive, and believe me, you won’t find that in ad layouts or Sunday dinners.”
Michelle abruptly stood, looking for an escape from his truths. Looking for a way out from underneath all the heat the man was generating in her turncoat body. “Well, right now I have a lot of satisfying work to do, so I’ll see you out on my way to the copy room.”
She grabbed up the papers that didn’t need copying and quickly moved from behind her desk, but the doctor was much quicker.
He stood by the door, one hand braced on the facing, the other hidden away in his trouser pocket. She grasped the doorknob, but before she could turn it, he said, “There’s one more thing I need to say.”
She dropped her hand from the knob and faced him with the papers clutched against her chest. “What?”
“Speaking as a doctor, you need to get some rest. You look tired.”
A nice way of putting she looked like pond scum. “Your advice is duly noted.”
He took his hand from his pocket and traced a path underneath her eyes with one sturdy fingertip. “Dark smudges. Looks like you’re not getting
