he possibly think she’d engineered their meeting on purpose? Why on earth would she? On her first day of freedom she’d gone sailing on Lake Michigan with her roommate, Margie. Afterward, they’d headed over for a drink at a bar called Shipwrecked. She’d had no idea who Jake was when he’d approached her. The instant physical attraction sizzling between them had been something she’d heard about but never experienced firsthand.
She wished now that she’d ignored him. But she hadn’t. She’d been in a celebratory mood and had flung caution aside to go home with him.
And now they would be forced to work together.
The way he glared at her fueled her temper. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped back. “If I recall correctly, you weren’t wearing a sign that said Chief of Trauma Surgery: Chicago Care Hospital across your chest when we met. How could I possibly know who you were? Today was my very first day taking care of patients.”
“I’m sure you recognized me from the welcome reception on Friday night,” he said, refusing to give an inch. “I don’t blame you for wanting to advance your career, but, really, sleeping with me was a bit over the top, don’t you think?”
Horrified, she gaped at him. He was serious! He actually thought she’d planned the whole thing? Talk about having a healthy ego. “No, in fact, I wasn’t able to attend the welcome reception. But you know what? I’m sorry I didn’t because if I had attended the reception I would have known exactly who you were and I could have avoided this embarrassment altogether. Trust me, if I had one inkling of who you were, I would never have, you know...” She stopped her frantic babbling with an effort. Enough already!
There was no way to salvage this. Better to just move forward from here, find some way to regain a sense of professionalism.
“You really expect me to believe you didn’t know who I was?” he asked in a skeptical tone.
She lifted her chin. She hadn’t gotten this far in her career without the ability to stand up for herself. “You can believe whatever you want, Dr. Holt,” she said coolly. “It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. As far as I’m concerned, we can pretend that unfortunate situation never happened.” His eyes narrowed as if her comment stung. Hanging on to her composure wasn’t easy. “I worked really hard to earn a spot in this residency, and I will not do anything to mess that up. So are we clear on that subject? Or do we need to beat it to death some more?”
The flash of uncertainty in his gaze gave her a small sense of satisfaction. And for a moment she desperately wished things could be different. If only Jake wasn’t so darned gorgeous. And sexy. And the damn freaking chief of trauma surgery! Of all the guys to fall into bed with, she’d had to pick this one! Trust her to screw up her last night of freedom. No pun intended.
He lifted a shoulder, as if he didn’t care one way or the other. “Fine. Consider the night forgotten.”
The sudden sense of loss caught her off guard. For some reason she was thoroughly annoyed he’d given in so easily.
Of course, this was exactly what she wanted. Right? Right. She forced a tight smile. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
She frowned and narrowed her gaze. Was that a sexual innuendo? No, of course it wasn’t. He was just being nice. Polite. Professional.
She pasted a smile on her face and turned to make her way to the lounge door. Time to put this entire incident behind her once and for all.
“Dr. Stewart?” Once again, his voice stopped her.
The formal way he addressed her was slightly reassuring. She had to stop being suspicious about every conversation. After all, they were going to be spending the entire month together. A very long month. No doubt he wanted to ask her something about their patient. “Yes?”
“I have a firm rule about never dating anyone I work with, so I truly hope you’re going to be professional about this.”
Oh, he had a rule, did he? Well, good. Being an intern was all about following rules. And why on earth did he think she wouldn’t be professional? His gall was too much. “Of course. Is there anything else? If not, I’m going to check on Mr. Turkow.”
“No, that’s all.”
His dismissive tone grated on her nerves. She headed back to the locker room, more disturbed by his parting comment than she wanted to admit. She opened her locker and retrieved her lab coat, slamming the door with more force than was necessary.
Why was she suddenly feeling as if she was the one who’d stepped out of line? As if this entire mess was her fault and her fault only? As if he hadn’t participated one little bit?
Their night together had been more his idea than hers. He’d been the one to approach her. He’d been the one to take her hand, hauling her from the bar. Granted, she hadn’t exactly fought him off, but still.
He was the one who’d suggested they go to his place! And like a fool, she’d tossed common sense aside to go with him.
Experiencing the most incredible night of passion she’d ever had in her life.
For a moment she rested her heated forehead on the cool metal locker. Their night together had affected her more than she’d realized. But she needed to get over it. She had to follow Jake’s example and strive to remain professional.
She’d worked too damn hard—served countless drinks, endured hundreds of passes, cleaned endless offices and studied for thousands of hours—to get where she was today.
As far as she was concerned, Dr. Jake Holt could pick someone else to scorch with his good looks.
CHAPTER THREE
ASSAILED by a truckload of doubt, Jake stared at the lounge door that remained closed behind Hannah, fighting the insane urge to go after her.
Had he really been wrong about her?
The horror in her eyes had been too real to be faked. And the confrontation hadn’t gone at all the way he’d thought it would. She’d stood up to him. Tossed his accusations back at him. And she hadn’t thrown herself into his arms, begging for forgiveness.
The way Allie had, once he’d discovered her true motives for going out with him.
No, Hannah had almost looked hurt. Claiming that if she’d known who he was, she wouldn’t have gone anywhere near him. And he’d sensed that much at least was the truth.
The desolate sense of loss surprised him.
He took a deep breath and shoved the wave of self-doubt aside. Did it really matter if Hannah was telling the truth? No, because that fact changed nothing. She was still an intern in the residency program and he was still the chief of trauma surgery.
He’d learned the hard way, thanks to Allie, the perils of dating someone who worked at the same hospital. Someone you were forced to see almost every day. Where everyone knew everyone else’s business.
If he’d been smart, he would have left Minneapolis a long time ago. But he’d refused to run away. He’d taken this job because it was a promotion. Not because he couldn’t take the
