another word he stood and walked out. Suddenly she was alone. It’s what she wanted and it should have made her happy, but it didn’t. And it had everything to do with her damned attraction to that man. It simply refused to go away. What she needed was anger, buckets and buckets of being mad as hell. That’s what had gotten her through the first stages of grief after losing her husband.
She needed to get angry and channel her mad, use it in any way possible to protect herself.
But she shouldn’t have to work so hard. The allocation of that much energy didn’t make a whole lot of sense given the fact that she didn’t have an especially high opinion of Jake. His medical expertise was exemplary. His moral high ground? Not so much. And yet, her mouth still tingled every time she saw him.
The trick would be not seeing him at work as much as possible.
Twenty-four hours after running into Hope, Jake was still intrigued and annoyed in equal parts. He walked into the office he shared with his partners where their billing and paperwork were done. Mitch and Cal’s specialty was emergency medicine, which meant no long-term care. Jake had a single exam room for his occasional follow-up on a surgical patient. In the back, their conference room held a classy, mahogany table and three high-backed leather chairs for monthly status meetings. He was hoping that seeing his friends would take his mind off Hope.
She was deliberately trying to piss him off. Really working at it. What the hell had he ever done besides kiss her? He had to admit it was a really great kiss, but still …
“Are you going to stand out here in the hall and daydream?” Mitch had walked up behind him. His smile was set on screw-with-a-friend. “We were foolishly hoping our fearless leader would come inside and celebrate his shiny new promotion with the peasants.”
“It’s not daydreaming if one is gathering one’s thoughts,” Jake defended. Only he knew the lie for what it was.
“You have that look on your face,” Mitch said. “The confused-about-a-woman expression.”
Just then Cal walked by and made a dramatic show of putting his hands over his ears. “I don’t want to hear. I’m an impressionable and sensitive man.”
“Sensitive like a water buffalo.” Jake was glad his partner had given him an excuse to ignore the “woman” comment and dodge that bullet.
The three walked in the conference room and took seats around the table with Jake taking the head and his friends on either side, as usual. They were barely settled when Cal pulled out his wallet. As usual.
“Before we get down to business you have to see this picture.”
Mitch took the photo and grinned. “Look at those blond curls Annie’s got.”
“Looks just like me,” Cal said proudly.
Jake studied the photo of Cal, his daughter and wife, Emily. “Annie’s really getting big.”
“So is Em. At least she will be,” Cal answered. “Before I’m accused of being a pig, you should know she’s pregnant. We’re going to have another baby.”
“That’s great.” Mitch reached across the table for a congratulatory handshake. “How did she pull that off? Surely you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Yeah. Right. Immaculate conception.” Cal glared. “Buddy, you need a refresher course in anatomy and the reproductive process.”
“Hardly.” Mitch wasn’t intimidated by the glare. In his glory days he could give lessons on the care, feeding and fringe benefits of a really good glare. “Samantha and I have the whole birds-and-bees thing goin’ on just fine.” He slid his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and took out a picture. “Equal time. This is the latest one of Lucas.”
Cal took it and smiled. “Tall, dark and dandy, just like his dad. Look at those teeth.”
“Two on the bottom and he’s working on the uppers.” Mitch’s tone was rueful. “He’s waking up a lot at night and Sam thinks it’s teething.”
“I feel your pain.” Cal tucked his picture away. “Annie is getting her two-year molars and it’s not pretty.”
“Great. More to look forward to. I can hardly wait.”
Without comment Jake listened to his two friends go back and forth about who was losing the most sleep. Once upon a time they’d both resisted love, even after meeting the right woman. Compelling personal reasons had put a fear of commitment into each man until a lonely future was far worse than taking a chance. Now when they gathered to discuss finances, goals, problems and growing their practice, the monthly status meeting started with an update on married life and growing their families.
Jake had always tolerated this part of the monthly meeting, not that he wasn’t happy for his friends. It’s just that he had career goals and success aspirations different from theirs. But today he was having a strange reaction to news about wives, kids and a new pregnancy. He always cared, but only half listened. Today he was interested. What was that about?
It was definitely new and he wondered what was different since last month. There were only two changes. His appointment to chief trauma surgeon.
And Hope.
He heard his name and realized they’d been talking to him. “What’s wrong?”
Mitch’s expression was intense. “That’s what I’d like to know.”
“Yeah.” Cal rested his forearms on the table. “You have something against marriage?”
“Not if it’s working for you.”
“It definitely is,” Mitch said. “Marrying Sam was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”
“So says the man who in this very room swore up and down that he didn’t need conflict resolution counseling and it would be a waste of time,” Jake reminded him.
“You neglected to tell me that my counselor would be sexy. And smart. And the love of my life,” he added.
“My bad.” Jake grinned.
He remembered when Mitch’s attitude had ticked off most of the Mercy Medical staff, some of the physicians and administration. His behavior had put the trauma practice in jeopardy of not having their contract renewed. That would have dealt his own career trajectory a serious blow. But his friend salvaged the professional relationship with the hospital and found personal happiness.
“Darn right your bad,” Cal said. “I’m grateful every day that Emily came back into my life and gave me another chance. I don’t know what I’d do without her and Annie.”
“You sound like girls,” Jake teased.
The two looked at each other before Mitch said, “We’re okay with that.”
“So you guys are blissfully happy and recommend marriage. Good for you.”
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” Mitch cautioned.
“I’m not
