what brings you to Paris?”
“Well, as I said, my work has to do with yours.” And could there be a much worse situation? The very first time she had a one-time thing with a man, he turned out to be someone she’d be working with closely.
She still couldn’t quite wrap her brain around this mess. With a nervous laugh threatening, she pulled on her shirt, relieved to be finally clothed. After all, being naked when they made their formal introductions would be all kinds of ridiculous, wouldn’t it?
She smoothed down her clothes and took a deep breath as she turned to him.
“As you know, your company hired the designer of the first valve replacement catheter to come study and observe the trial of your new one. That designer would be me.”
His mouth actually fell open as he stared at her. It seemed he shook his head slightly, and that jittery laugh finally burst out of her throat. Clearly, he was as shocked by this crazy coincidence as she was. Though maybe it wasn’t so crazy or much of a coincidence—after all, the Crilex Corporation was putting them both up at the same hotel where they’d met.
“You can’t be… Dr. Girard,” he said, still wearing an expression of disbelief.
“I am. And I’m equally shocked that you’re Dr. Dunbar.” Awkwardly, she stuck out her hand. “Avery Marie Girard. Nice to meet you.”
That slow, sexy smile she’d found all too attractive throughout the day slipped onto his face again before he laughed. He reached to shake her hand, holding onto it. “It’s an honor, Dr. Girard. Obviously, I’ve read about all you’ve accomplished. Your designs for various medical devices. Studied them for more hours than I care to think about as I worked with engineers to design the one we’ll be testing. I… can’t believe that you’re… her.”
“Because I’m young?” Or more likely because he’d already seen her naked, but maybe she could pretend it hadn’t happened. As though that was possible.
“Because you’re beautiful. And fun. And spontaneous. With silky hair you don’t wear in a bun and crazy, colorful clothes instead of drab gray. Rain boots with ducks instead of orthopedic shoes.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “I’m obviously guilty of thinking of a very stereotypical brainiac scientist, and those stereotypes don’t include any of the things you are.”
“Jack Dunbar!” She shook her head mockingly, having heard it all before. “You shouldn’t admit any of that. The Society of Women Scientists will publicly flay you if you say that aloud. Maybe mount your head on an energy stick and parade the streets with it, denouncing stereotypes of all kinds.”
“And I’d deserve it.” The eyes that met hers were warm and admiring. That admiration would doubtless change into something else if he knew about her true role in his project. A slightly sick feeling seeped through her. Why, oh, why, hadn’t she learned who he was before she’d slept with him?
“Glad you admit it. Scientists come in all ages, sizes, genders and personalities.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry.” He got out of the bed as well, and she averted her gaze from his glorious nakedness. “Sounds like you buy into some stereotyping, too, though. That cardiologists are all egotistical and impressed with themselves.”
Guilty. But she had good reason to believe that, and it wasn’t based on a stereotype. It was based on personal experience. And then, today, she’d dived into bed with another one. How stupid could she be? “Let’s agree to set those preconceived ideas aside, shall we?”
“Agreed.” He shook his head as he pulled on his own clothes. “Wow. I’m just blown away by this. I’d been interested in meeting the famous Dr. Girard and pleased to have her participate in the trial with me. Little did I know she’d be an incredible tour guide, have the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen and…” he paused to look at her, speaking in the low, deep rumble that did funny things to her insides “… the sweetest lips on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.”
Oh, my. And his were beyond sweet, as well. “Except you realize this was a bad idea. Now that we know we’ll be working together.”
In fact, he didn’t have any idea exactly how bad an idea it had been.
Robert Timkin, the Crilex CEO, had spun to Jack and everyone else involved that Avery would be there just to observe the trial for her own education. But the company knew she had concerns about the new device and had really hired her to evaluate the data, giving her the power to stop the rollout of the next trials if she thought it necessary.
Jack had worked on designing the new device and organizing the trial for over a year, and he’d doubtless flip out if the data forced her to shut it down.
“Working together.” His warm smile faded and his brows lowered in a frown. “I guess you’re right. That is a problem.”
“It is.” She drew a calming breath. “Listen. This afternoon was wonderful. A lovely day in a wonderful city between two strangers. But now we’re not strangers. And I have to be an objective observer as I gather data on the trial. From now on, we’re just working colleagues, nothing more.”
He stared at her silently for a moment, his expression serious, before he nodded. “You’re right. Business and pleasure never mix well.”
“No. They don’t.” Not to mention that she’d sworn off cardiologists for good.
He stepped forward and pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers in a soft, sweet kiss. Despite her words and thoughts and conviction, she found herself melting into him.
“That was from Jack to Avery. Thank you for an unforgettable day,” he whispered against her lips before he stepped back. “Dr. Dunbar will be meeting Dr. Girard tomorrow in the cath lab as we both concentrate on why we came to Paris. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He dropped one more lingering kiss on her mouth before he picked up her coat and draped it over her arm. She stepped out to the hall and the door clicked quietly behind her. She lifted her fingers to her lips, knowing with certainty this had been the only one-time fling she’d ever have. That she’d savor the memory, and pray that over the next thirty days it didn’t come back to sting her in more ways than one.
AVERY STOOD BEHIND a wall of glass to one side of the operating table in the hospital’s cath lab, watching the procedure on the X-ray fluoroscopy viewing monitor. She’d gowned and masked like everyone else in the room, but unlike anyone else, she held a tablet in her hand to record the notes she’d be taking.
“The prosthetic valve is made from cow tissue,” Jack said to the nurses and doctors assisting or observing the procedure, as he and Jessica Bowman, the nurse he’d brought with him from the States, readied the patient. “This version doesn’t require a balloon to open it as the previous one did.”
He continued to explain, as he had last night during his presentation, how a transcatheter aortic valve implantation, TAVI, worked. The details of how the catheter was designed, and why the stent and valve were in an umbrella shape, designed to push the diseased valve aside before the umbrella opened, seating the new valve in its place. With the procedure not yet started, Avery had a moment
