“I even told Lisa where the bathroom was.”
Okay, it was past time for him to make an exit. No wonder he rarely dropped by this office. “Can I get you ladies anything on my way back?”
“That’s very thoughtful of you.” Valeria leaned back in her chair and raised her brows comically high. “I’d love a coffee. Black, no sugar. And if they still have doughnuts, I wouldn’t mind one.”
He nodded, knowing news of his “visit” would spread through the office like pinkeye. “Black, no sugar,” he repeated. “What about you, Ms. Pine?”
“I think it’s about time for her break,” Valeria said before she turned to Lisa. “Just leave the files where they are. Come back in fifteen?”
When Daniel looked at Lisa, he caught her staring back, a light blush staining her cheeks. For God’s sake, he was thirty-four years old and he couldn’t have handled this more awkwardly if he’d tried. Talk about showing his hand.
“I could use a cup of coffee.” Lisa put down the work and gave Valeria a nod before leading him down the hall.
For the life of him, Daniel couldn’t come up with a decent opening line. Though he was content to enjoy the view. Lisa had a nice, easy sway to her walk. Too bad she hadn’t worn a skirt. He’d bet she had great legs...
“I understand you’re a neurologist,” she said with a backward glance. “And that you’re single.”
“What?” he said, taken aback until he caught the mischievous look in her eyes.
“And you not only graduated from Harvard, but did your residency at Johns Hopkins and just finished a neurology fellowship at Mount Sinai.”
He sighed. Gossip was as ubiquitous as penicillin at the clinic. Until today he’d primarily been exempt from it. Or so he’d thought. Nothing he could do about it, though, and in this case, he wasn’t sure he minded. “Alarmingly true, but I bet you don’t know my blood type.”
“O-positive.”
He stopped so fast the nurse behind him almost bumped into his back. “Seriously?”
Lisa gave him a wicked grin. “Educated guess. It’s the most common blood type.”
He pointed his file at her. “You’re fixing Valeria’s coffee,” he said as they entered the lounge. “And even if there are any doughnuts left, she’s not getting any.”
Her laugh was as charming as her smile, which made the sound of his cell phone ringing in his pocket an unwelcome intruder. What was worse, it was a call from Warren. Even though he let it go to voice mail, his mood plummeted. Of course he knew what his brother wanted. Just as Warren knew Daniel wasn’t ready to discuss joining the Center.
He might as well stop thinking about Lisa Pine. Starting something with any woman, let alone a volunteer, was out of the question while his world was in flux. The only thing that mattered to him at the moment was working until he crashed from exhaustion and then repeating the cycle. Filling every nook and cranny of his life with anything that wasn’t thoughts of his future. Eventually, he’d have to face his obligations. But not today.
A row of lockers against the wall, the pair of ugly corduroy chairs and two overworked coffeemakers sitting on a folding table allowed for limited space in the small room. It could hold four people nicely; six was pushing it. He reached around Lisa for a cup while watching her carefully study the pitiful selection of leftover doughnuts.
She really was a classic beauty with her flawless complexion, electric blue eyes and blond hair. She wore some makeup, but not much. She didn’t play up her looks at all. If anything, she played them down.
She must’ve felt him staring. Probably regarded him as just another sucker overtaken by her beauty. Hell, her smile alone could make a man do very stupid things. Even a physician who knew a lot about the brain and how it worked.
“I assume Valeria knows these are stale by now,” Lisa said, then glanced down and frowned. “Dr. Cassidy? Your phone?”
He still had the cell in his hand. It was his brother again. Daniel didn’t have the luxury of turning his cell off, so he might as well deal with this now. “Excuse me,” he murmured as he handed her the empty cup.
He was halfway down the hall, planning what he’d text to Warren to make him go away, when it occurred to him he should’ve said something more to Lisa. It was tempting to go back, apologize for his rudeness. But why bother? Walking away seemed to be what he was best at.
* * *
“YOU CAME BACK. I’m impressed.”
Lisa nearly ran Dr. Cassidy over when she stepped into the hall on her way to the ladies’ room the following morning. The heat rushing to her cheeks was as mortifying as the way she’d dipped her chin until she was looking at him through her lashes. She had no idea where that reaction had come from. The only thing missing was twirling her hair around one finger. “I committed to three days,” she said.
“Right. Valeria mentioned that. Another scintillating day of filing?”
She shook her head, very aware of her hair brushing across her shoulders. She’d spent a stupidly long time with her flatiron this morning. “Nope. Screening patients.”
“Ah.”
Daniel had his lab coat on, but it was open, revealing his dark-colored pants and pale blue oxford shirt. He’d worn a tie, dark blue, and oh... “Are those little pink ribbons?”
He nodded, touching the half-Windsor knot. “Breast-cancer awareness. I have a collection of message ties. They’re useful for starting a dialogue with patients. For example, have you done a self-check lately?”
She blushed again. Not because of what he’d said, but because of the image that had popped into her mind. The same image of his hands on her breasts that she’d imagined last night while repositioning her pillow a thousand times.
Their gazes locked. His serious eyes and those slightly parted lips made her mouth go dry while her vaginal muscles tightened. Appalled at the unexpected flare of arousal, she looked away first. This sort of thing—this overwhelming desire to touch and be touched—hadn’t happened to her in ages. It wasn’t welcome, either.
Daniel cleared his throat as he leaned back, distancing himself without taking a step. “I’ve got—” He held up the file in his hands. “Maybe I’ll see you later in the lounge.”
She nodded, unable to think of a thing to say. Although she did release a big sigh when he walked into exam room 1.
She continued on her way, more aware than ever that she’d made a critical error when she’d dressed that morning. Mercifully there wasn’t a full-length mirror in the ladies’ room. Regardless, Lisa saw her mistake the moment she looked at herself in the mirror above the sink.
Technically, she hadn’t needed to return to the clinic, not for the case. Sure, she’d signed up to volunteer for three days but she could have backed out.
In the end, she hadn’t been able to resist the allure of Dr. Cassidy. In addition to discovering why he was working at a free clinic, she wanted to know why a phone call had changed his
