he kissed her.
At first it seemed like a light kiss, maybe a thank-you kiss, maybe a no-one-has-said-that-in-a-while kiss. But as soon as their lips met, the sensual pleasure of kissing him again kicked up Emily’s pulse. The kiss must have done the same to him. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her tight against him. His T-shirt and her blouse were thin barriers to all the heat they were generating. So much heat, so much desire, so much pent-up longing.
When he broke the kiss, he shook his head. “I never intended for that to happen again, but the chemistry between us seems more powerful than good intentions. I’ll understand if you want to work under another doctor in the practice rather than me.”
“I don’t want to work for anyone else, Jared.”
He looked relieved for a moment. Then the creases along his eyes deepened. “You have to understand something, Emily. The last thing I want to do is get involved with anyone.”
Had his marriage been so rocky that he didn’t want to consider marrying again? Had his divorce been so painful? Had he still loved his wife but she hadn’t wanted to be married to a doctor?
Emily had her own doubts about the way she was starting to feel about Jared. Was it too soon after her divorce? Was she seeing qualities in him that weren’t really there? How could she trust her judgment after Richard?
“You have a lot on your plate,” she responded. “Your daughters, your mom, your profession. I’m trying to get my life back in order. I’ve only begun to build it again here. So we’ll deal with this—” she waved her hand “—chemistry. We’re adults. We hardly see each other in the office, except to go over patient charts.”
“So all I have to do is go back to looking at you as a colleague again.” His mouth quirked up at the corners.
“Right, and I’ll just see you as my boss.”
After a long studying appraisal, he broke eye contact and checked his watch. “I’d better get going so you can go home at a decent time.”
Crossing to the counter, he picked up his car keys. “My cell number’s on the refrigerator. Don’t hesitate to use it if something happens. Courtney doesn’t usually wake up more than once in a night.”
“I’ll just handle her like you did if she does.”
He nodded and went to the door. After a last, prolonged look at her, he left.
Emily knew they were both deluding themselves. Chemistry wasn’t easily kept under wraps.
Unless Jared wasn’t feeling the intensity she was. If that was the case, then there was nothing to worry about at all.
Midafternoon the next day, Emily was escorting a patient to the desk to make a follow-up appointment when the door to the reception area opened. Jared’s daughters came running in, followed by a striking blond woman who looked to be in her forties.
“Emily!” they cried when the twins saw her.
She stooped down to greet them. “What are you doing here?”
“See Daddy,” Amy said with certainty.
Chloie extended her hand. “You must be Emily Diaz. I’m Chloie Madison, Jared’s cousin. He asked me to bring the girls in because he might not get home until after they’re in bed tonight.”
Jared came out of his office and saw them standing in the hall. “Way past their bedtime,” he said, and crouched down to tickle them both and give them a hug.
After he straightened, he explained to Emily, “My mother’s having surgery this afternoon and I’m going over to the hospital for the rest of the day.” He took the girls’ hands and led them to his office. “You can tell me all about what you did this morning with Chloie. About fifteen minutes,” he mouthed to Chloie.
She nodded.
Then he disappeared to spend some time with his daughters.
Chloie and Emily moved to an alcove in the hall. “Am I keeping you?” Chloie asked.
“No, I had a cancellation.”
“I hear you witnessed one of Courtney’s night terrors. Scary, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it was. But Jared handled it so calmly.”
“I’ve watched him a couple of times myself, so I think I’d know what to do if she has one when I’m there. It still spooks me a bit, though.”
“I’m concerned about Amy as well as Courtney,” Emily said.
Chloie nodded. “That makes sense. She’s connected to her sister in ways we’ll never imagine. That’s the way twins are.”
“Did you and Jared grow up together?”
“Yes, we did. I was two years younger but we were friends and watched out for each other.”
“Are you friends now?” Emily knew she was prompting a bit, prying too much maybe, but she was curious about Jared’s life and his relatives.
“After Valerie died, he became a totally different person.”
“In what way?”
“He put walls up where there shouldn’t have been walls. He didn’t try to reach former friends who lived here. He said all he cared about was doing a good job and helping his girls grow up strong.”
“It’s not unusual to withdraw when you lose someone you love. Even though they were divorced, he must have still cared about his ex-wife.”
“It was the way he lost her,” Chloie said.
“The way?” Emily questioned.
“I shouldn’t say any more. You’ll have to ask Jared about it if you want to know. Secrets have hurt Jared more than once in his life. That’s why he doesn’t trust easily and why he rarely lets anyone get close.”
Rarely lets anyone get close. Emily wondered about her own secret and what effect that would have on Jared. Should she tell him now about what had happened in Corpus Christi?
She remembered their second kiss and how it had made her feel…how Jared made her feel. Yet he’d clearly told her he didn’t want to get involved.
Did she? Hadn’t Richard shown her men walked away when marriage got hard? Hadn’t he abandoned her when she’d needed him most?
If she was smart, she’d forget about getting involved with Jared at all. Finding another job wouldn’t be all that easy. She liked her life here.
Yet something about Jared tugged at her.
The question was—would she give in to the tugging?
Maybe. But she’d also keep her secret to herself.
For now.
