FIVE
DUNCAN REACHED OUT just as Rebel crashed into him. The only way he would not bowl her over was to grab hold of her hips and bring her close against him. The papers in her hands flew into the air and seemed to drift in slow motion to the floor.
He pulled her against his hips with one arm and braced them against the doorframe with the other. Eyes wide in shock, she clutched his upper arms with both hands and caught her breath with a squeal.
With her trim frame and lower body weight, she would certainly have bounced off of him and landed on the floor had he not caught her. Now that he had caught her, he found himself in a very interesting position. Holding her was inappropriate, yet letting go of her seemed equally so. She was tiny beneath the figure-erasing scrubs. It was a crime against man to cover up such a beautiful body. He looked down at her and realized that if he’d wanted to kiss her, she was in the perfect position to do so.
He watched as she licked her lips and pressed them together. What an enticing mouth she had. Unfortunately, he had to release her before any opportunity to taste those lips occurred. As a man experienced in the ways of romantic coworker relationships, that was a treat best left unsavored. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?” Reluctantly, he released her. With some amusement he watched a vivid blush cruise up to her neck and into her cheeks. She was not as unaffected as she pretended to be. Interesting. Off limits, but very interesting.
“Yes, sorry about that.”
They retrieved her paperwork, and she shuffled it back in place. They left the room with a respectable two-foot distance between them. Duncan had had enough of losing the women in his life. His mother, a sister and his fiancée. The last one had about killed him, and he’d sworn off of emotional relationships for a while to rest his heart and soul. Rebel was the most interesting woman he’d run across in a long time and, still, he hesitated. That last relationship had burned him to the core, and he hadn’t really recovered from it. She’d been a colleague, too. He paused, thinking. Perhaps it was time he at least tested the waters again.
“It’s Duncan, please. And it was just a little accident of timing. No fault.”
She cleared her throat, focusing on the tile pattern on the floor. “So are you going to help me cheat on this scavenger hunt, or what?” She quickly diverted the conversation.
“No.” He snorted. As if. But he did like a challenge.
Her gaze flashed to him. “No? So how am I going to get through all of this without dying of hunger or thirst? We are in a desert, you know.”
He gave a quick laugh. He liked humor in his coworkers. Made shifts a lot more interesting. And it was safer than where his thoughts had been going. “Isn’t there a map on there?”
Now she snorted. “If you can call it that. The copier must have run out of toner at an inopportune time. I need a GPS to get through this hospital.”
“If you can navigate to the cafeteria I’ll buy you some lunch.” His stomach had been reminding him of his skimpy breakfast for some time now.
“You’re on.” She started toward the elevators, and he followed along behind, admiring the view. Puzzled, he frowned as he observed her gait and the way she moved her body.
“What do you do?” Now, more curious than ever, he began to ignore that finely tuned alarm system in his head. Pursuing her might be worth the pain.
She hit the elevator button. “Do about what?”
“For exercise. Working out.” He gave her a once-over glance and liked what he saw. “The way you walk and the way you carry yourself is different. I can usually pick out how a person stays fit by the way they move and their body shape. It’s a little game I play with myself. Swimmers look one way, runners look another way, cyclists another way, but you I can’t figure out.” The feel of her body beneath those scrubs had been firm, yet still very feminine. “You aren’t a body-builder either.” He frowned and tried not to ogle her in public. Administration wasn’t kidding about sexual harassment.
At that, a genuine grin covered her face. “Yoga.” She stood on one foot and clasped her hands together over her head with the paperwork flattened between her palms. “Like this.”
“Yoga?” He glanced over her again, dumbfounded. “Really? Just yoga? I thought you just sat in impossible situations and chanted to the universe for enlightenment.”
Rebel laughed. “That would be meditation. You should try yoga sometime. Strengthens the mind and spirit as well as the body.” She resumed her standing position without even a wobble. Show-off.
Duncan tried to mimic her pose and was able to get his hands over his head, but standing on one foot at the same time was not happening, and he almost crashed into the wall. Very uncool.
“I’m a more brute strength, linear kind of guy, like running, hiking, that sort of stuff. If I have to think about it too much, I won’t do it.” He laughed. “Just put me on a bike in a straight line, and I’m good.”
“So how do you get back, then, if you just go in a straight line?”
He laughed, liking her quick wit. “Eventually, I stop, turn around and go in another straight line until I’m back where I started.”
“You need to expand your horizons, Doctor.”
“I like skiing.”
“Skiing in the desert—really?” The bemused look on her face betrayed her skepticism at his statement.
“Yes. Ice hockey, too. You’d be surprised what kind of landscape the desert has to offer. We’re considered high desert since we’re higher in elevation than other desert areas of the southwest.”
“Oh, so not like Phoenix or Death Valley?”
“Right. Way too hot for me. Went there for a conference once and about cooked my brain.”
The elevator arrived, and they were off on the scavenger hunt. Rebel successfully negotiated her way to the blood bank, lab, central supply, and finally to the cafeteria.
Duncan sniffed appreciably. “I can smell the green chili from here.” He closed his eyes, savoring a fond memory. “I’m in the mood for green chili cheese fries, how about you?”
“What’s that?” Innocent curiosity showed in that gorgeous face of hers. Stunned, Duncan looked at her. She was serious.
“You’ve never heard of green chili cheese fries?”
“Nope. Or green chili anything.” Duncan’s jaw dropped, and he swore his heart skipped several important beats. He may have seen stars, but he wasn’t certain. “I think I may have a coronary right now.” He placed a hand over his chest. “Get the AED.”
“Why? What did I say?” Eyes wide with concern, she pressed her lips together. “Did I say something totally stupid?”
“I know you’re new in town, but green chili is the number one agricultural crop of the entire state and has been the foundation for my family’s holdings for the last two hundred years.” He took a breath and frowned. “My grandfather should never, ever, hear you don’t know what green chili is or it could start another highland
