laughter rang out and Benedict slanted a quick glance in Poppy’s direction. God, she was beautiful. The red dress hugged her body like a second skin.
“Want to hit the Flying Crane with me?”
Benedict jerked his attention back to Tripp.
“On the fourteenth.” The hospital administrator’s eyes took on a hopeful gleam.
“That’s Valentine’s Day,” Benedict reminded him. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want to spend the evening with me when you could be with her.”
He gestured with his head to where Tripp’s bride stood speaking with the hostess. Adrianna, or Anna as she’d recently instructed him to call her, was lean and voluptuous with thick dark hair and a face that belonged on a cover of a fashion magazine. She was also a well-respected midwife.
Tripp shifted his gaze and Benedict experienced a stab of envy at the pride and love in the newly married man’s eyes.
“Anna will be at the Crane participating in a Torch Singing competition that night.” Tripp snatched a canapé from a passing waiter’s silver tray. “It’s a fund-raiser for Community Safety Net.”
“A worthy cause.” It was impossible to live in Jackson Hole and not be aware of all the good work being done by the nonprofit. The organization provided shelter and advocacy to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
“I thought you might want to come and help me cheer her on,” Tripp added.
Since he wasn’t dating anyone special, Benedict hadn’t given much thought to Valentine’s Day. He supposed spending an hour or so at the popular bar knocking back a couple of beers with Tripp while watching Anna sing could be fun. “What exactly is torch singing?”
Tripp hesitated. His face took on a pained expression. “The contestants sing sentimental love songs—”
The words came more quickly at Benedict’s snort of laughter.
“—with a distinctly jazz and blues influence.”
“I’ll check my calendar,” Benedict told him. “If it turns out I can’t make it, tell Anna I’ll happily make a donation.”
“Coward.”
Benedict laughed. He sobered when he saw Winn Ferris swagger over to speak with Poppy and Lexi. His gut tightened as Lexi sauntered off, leaving Poppy alone with the man.
Last summer, Winn had blown into Jackson Hole as an emissary of GPG. His employer, a large investment firm based in Atlanta, had deep pockets and a mission to develop every inch of Jackson Hole.
Although Winn pushed and pushed hard, his golf course project had gotten hung up in the environmentally sensitive guidelines passed by the county several years earlier. Those who expected Winn to give up and return to Georgia with his tail between his legs had been mistaken. He’d stayed and continued to fight.
Benedict liked the business executive, had found him to be intelligent with a good sense of humor. But Winn wasn’t the right guy for Poppy. She needed someone different, someone more...grounded in Jackson Hole.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her flash Winn a brilliant smile. When Winn responded by looping a friendly arm around her shoulders, a knife twisted in Benedict’s gut. Though he’d planned to stay and enjoy the evening, Ben had the feeling if he didn’t walk away now he might do something stupid. Like tell Winn to back the hell off.
With frustration fueling his steps, Benedict was halfway across the room when Poppy’s eyes met his. He told himself to just keep walking. But something inside him locked into place at the connection.
She held his gaze long enough for him to see the heat shimmering in those beautiful green eyes. Heat directed not at Winn Ferris, but at him. Then Winn touched her arm and Poppy shifted her gaze back to the business executive.
Yet there was no denying for that one instant there’d been a tangible connection between him and Poppy. Benedict found himself whistling as he walked out the door.
* * *
Over the next two weeks, Benedict’s thoughts strayed to Poppy at odd times. But he didn’t have a chance to do more than wonder how she was doing. A rash of skiing and motor vehicle accidents had kept his surgical schedule full.
After finishing an emergency open reduction of a comminuted tibia fracture, Benedict left the hospital to return to his office. He still had to see the handful of patients who’d chosen to wait, rather than reschedule. To his surprise, he discovered that one of his associates, Dr. Mitzi Sanchez, had stayed to help him out.
By the time the last patient limped out the door, even the receptionist had gone home. Apparently most of the staff had plans for Valentine’s Day.
Other than me, he thought. And Mitzi.
He and his beautiful colleague had once been involved. Now they were simply friends.
Benedict sat behind his desk and dictated a letter back to a primary care physician thanking him for a referral. So many surgeries in the past fourteen days had left him behind on such paperwork. Since he didn’t have anything going this evening, he told himself it would be a good opportunity to get caught up.
“Tell me you’re not hanging around here all night.”
Benedict recognized Mitzi’s voice and a jolt of uneasiness swept through him. He hoped she wasn’t on the verge of suggesting they go out for dinner or something equally crazy.
“Your concern about my social life warms my heart.” He kept his tone light and his eyes focused on the monitor.
“What’s the matter, Ben? Couldn’t find a date?”
He heard a hint of laughter in Mitzi’s tone as well as the familiar bite.
Finally glancing toward her, Ben noticed she’d exchanged her white lab coat and work clothes for a dress that hugged her curves and reminded him of stretchy silver lace. High heels in the same color showed off slender legs. He didn’t blink an eye when he noticed her hair. Instead of the color of honey streaked with caramel as it had been yesterday, it was now a rich dark walnut.
He narrowed his gaze even as relief flooded him. There was no way she’d gotten herself all dolled up for him. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
Her full lips lifted. “Kelvin Reid.”
Ben had treated the NFL linebacker several months earlier when he’d been injured in a skiing accident while vacationing in Jackson Hole. “Proximal humerus fracture with dislocation.”
Mitzi chuckled. “Kelvin will be happy to know you remembered him so personally.”
Pushing back his chair, Benedict stood, but remained behind his desk. “I didn’t realize the two of you were friendly.”
“We chatted several times when he came into the office to see you,” she said with a studied nonchalance deserving of an Academy Award.
“If he came back to take you out on Valentine’s Day, you must have hit it off.”
“What
