by Janice Lynn
Pursuing relationships with pretty brunettes wasn’t on the cards. He could barely juggle his current schedule, much less adding someone else to the bedlam. He’d always excelled at everything he’d done. Who’d have thought it would be an adorable little kid who’d have him ready to pull his hair out?
He turned back to the portly gentleman from Shriner’s Hospital, smiled as they exchanged business cards, then heard a voice behind him.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
Knowing who it was even before their eyes made contact, Matthew turned, his gaze connecting to the brunette’s. He could feel her presence as succinctly as if he had sonar outlining her shapely curves. “Excuse me?”
Her face took on a sheepish expression. “Sorry, I guess there was no reason for you to tell me, but I can’t believe the coincidence that you’d be on my plane.”
Not a coincidence, but there wasn’t a reason to tell her about his meeting with Memphis Children’s Hospital and that the job she was vying for had been offered to him. He’d turned it down when his terms couldn’t be met. Natalie need never know she wasn’t always the top contender.
He smiled, thinking she was even more attractive up close. Her eyes sparkled like sunshine hitting honey. Her skin was smooth and naturally tan with a few light freckles scattered across her nose. Her hair flowed silky and dark to just beneath her shoulders.
She wore a red skirt suit with a crisp white shirt that loosely hugged her curves.
“I see the airline was able to book you another flight.” Perhaps it was wrong to tease, but he couldn’t resist. Something about her made him want to tease, to watch her facial expressions and burn every detail into his memory.
“Too late to make it on time, though,” she mused, her painted red lips curving into a smile. “Thank you for filling in.”
Matthew resisted the urge to loosen his collar. “No problem. I was with the conference coordinator when he was discussing what to do with your time slot. Pediatric heart surgery of any kind is a subject I’m passionate about, so I offered to step in.” He grinned. “He jumped at my offer.”
“I’m sure.” Another flash of those sparkly eyes and dynamic curving of her full lips. “Are you staying for the next presentation?”
At her smile, all his blood traveled south and brain operations came to a halt, making logical thought impossible. Did she have any idea of the power her eyes held to bewitch a man? Absolutely stunning.
“If so, there’s an open seat next to mine,” she continued. “Maybe you’d like to join me?”
Matthew stared at the biggest temptation he’d ever faced, wished the timing of meeting her had been prior to three months ago, when his life hadn’t been in such upheaval. “If not?”
Uncertainty flashed across her face, but then with a determined look, she lifted her chin, stared straight in his eyes, and said, “If not, then maybe we could meet later for the conference opening dinner reception and you could tell me all about your work, because you fascinate me. Your work does, that is.”
CHAPTER TWO
NATALIE WAS WAY outside her comfort zone. But her BFFs would be proud, right? She had walked up to a man she found enthralling on paper, sexy in real life, and she’d expressed her interest in him.
And in his work.
He might think her a fool. For all she knew, he had a girlfriend.
Duh. Of course a man as gorgeous as Matthew had a girlfriend. What had she been thinking? She’d practically been drooling prior to finding out who he was, and after? Well, the man mesmerized.
Not that she’d dreamed in a million years that she might act on their suggestions, but when Suzie and Monica told her to have a fling to put Jonathan out of her mind once and for all, they should have been more specific. As in, making sure who she wanted wasn’t already taken. Yes, she had noted at the airport that he didn’t have a wedding band, but even that didn’t mean anything beyond that he wasn’t wearing a ring. The star-struck look in her eyes had probably terrified the poor man.
Still, he didn’t look the type to easily scare.
“I have a seat.” He turned, gesturing to a spot on the front row.
Ouch. Married, dating, or whatever, she’d been shot down.
Trying not to let her disappointment and embarrassment show, she glanced around and was grateful to see the next speaker at the podium. “Okay, well, it’s time to restart, so...”
Awkward.
Not waiting for a response, she high-tailed it to her back row seat to shrivel up and die of humiliation. So much for going after what she wanted.
Ugh. Could this day possibly get worse?
Later that evening, Natalie stared at her reflection in the hotel room mirror.
For a few insane moments, she had let herself be guided by pure feminine interest and she’d made a fool of herself with Matthew Coleman.
Because he was a sexy beast or because of his surgical skills?
Or both?
He was brilliant. She’d read enough of his articles and research to know the man was a genius. That alone would have had her introducing herself, wanting to discuss his work, pick his brain and soak up everything he said.
That he was utterly gorgeous, well, that was a bonus.
Or could have been, had he been interested. She’d thought she’d seen interest, but she must have been wrong.
He wasn’t. Had shot down her offer. End of story. Major embarrassment and utter failure at her first show of interest in the opposite sex since her and Jonathan’s split, but not the end of the world. The opposite sex wasn’t a priority. Her career was and she had that—so no big deal, right?
Still, the conference wasn’t so big that she wouldn’t bump into Matthew. She’d act as if her invitation had been casual, that she’d only been interested professionally. She was Dr. Natalie Sterling, a pediatric heart surgeon with some pretty fabulous credits to her name, thanks to having met Dr. Luiz during her residency and his having pulled her onto his research team.
No harm done in asking Matthew to dinner. It wasn’t as if she’d verbalized that looking at him made her want to take off his clothes and do wild and crazy things.
With one last look in the hotel bathroom mirror, she applied a fresh coat of lipstick, checked to make sure she didn’t have any smeared on her teeth, and left the safety of her hotel room to go to dinner. Maybe she’d get lucky and she wouldn’t see Matthew this evening.
Or, as her luck for the day would have it, he’d be the first person she saw when she stepped off the elevator.
Seriously, the elevator door slid open and there he was, just outside the elevator bank.
Sometimes life wasn’t fair.
The man’s looks weren’t fair. Those eyes. So unusual. So mesmerizing. So zoned-in on her.
How was she supposed to act professional when he made her giddy as a schoolgirl? Ha. She hadn’t been a giddy schoolgirl. She didn’t recall ever having felt so inferno-hot inside.
His gaze raked over her red heels, up her bare legs to where her red skirt brushed the tops of her knees. His visual perusal continued, up and beyond to where her waist dipped in beneath her white blouse and matching red jacket. The fire burning in his icy blue eyes had her insides battling the urge to run back to the elevator versus leaping into his arms and ripping off his clothes.
He made her feel alive, hot, very female. That scared her. Probably because she wasn’t one for letting her body dictate her actions and he made her body want to act. Logic. That was what dictated her life. Logic, and...
Those wicked blue eyes connected with hers.
Forget logic.
Her breath caught. Her skin prickled with awareness. Her thighs clenched. Any moment her heart was going to pound its way free of her chest. She might spend most of her time locked away in the sterile confines of the hospital, but she wasn’t a f
ool or oblivious. Desire shone in his eyes and matching want burned within her.
“I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind about dinner.” He smiled, his voice deep, warm, drawing her further under his spell. “I’m glad I waited.”
Natalie’s legs liquefied. She remained upright. Somehow. Matthew had just given her a complete once-over and now he was saying he’d been waiting on her? Had she really awakened from the light nap she’d taken, sitting on her room’s balcony?
“I have a table near the front and asked a couple to save our seats,” he continued. “I hope that was okay.” When she nodded, he placed his hand low on her back and guided her toward the hotel ballroom, where their dinner keynote presentation would take place. “You look lovely, by the way.”
His hand burned through the material of her suit, searing her skin with its warmth and making her feel a little woozy. His actions were familiar, as if he had the right to touch her. Obviously he did, because she wasn’t complaining.
“I looked for you after Dr. Epsteiner’s lecture, but never spotted you, not then or at any other point this afternoon.”
Insides rattled at his admission, Natalie focused on each step she took and prayed she didn’t stumble in her heels. Carefully, she made her way across the room. Why hadn’t she slipped on her trusty flats prior to coming down?
She’d skipped the rest of the afternoon’s sessions to sit on her balcony, eyes closed, listening to the surf, letting the breeze and sun compete against each other to caress her skin, to de-stress from the day’s events. From life.
And to think about Matthew.
“Were you avoiding me?”
She stumbled, but recovered quickly enough that she hoped he hadn’t noticed. She had been avoiding him, but she wasn’t admitting that.
“Why would I avoid you?” Because she’d acted foolish. “I don’t know you.”
He shook his head. “I thought... Never mind. You’re here now.” His lips curved. “Let’s have an enjoyable evening and remedy you not knowing me by our getting to know each other.” Although he was smiling and charming, his face took on that dark and dangerous look that, no doubt, made women fall to their knees to do his bidding, as he added, “A lot better.”
Willing her legs to keep her upright, Natalie gulped, accepting that she was powerless to resist his powers, and that, even if she could, she didn’t want to. He was a fantasy come to life. Never would she have imagined he’d been looking for her.
She wasn’t sure what had changed from his earlier decline of her offer, but now he wasn’t attempting to hide his interest, his intent.
Good. Neither was she. Life was too short for silly games.
Getting to know each other better should have been easy enough during the delicious meal since their chairs were next to each other, but there were six other people at the table. Two couples who’d introduced themselves, and two male pediatricians who had gone to medical school together and met up once a year at a continuing medical education conference for old times’ sake and a catch-up. All six people vied for Matthew’s attention. He included her in the conversation, stopped several times to ask her opinion, but with the others at the table Natalie could barely get a word in edgewise.
Which was okay by her. She sat back, watching and listening in fascination as Matthew discussed his work. Part of her wasn’t quite able to believe she sat next to the Dr. Matthew Coleman she’d quoted in several of her medical school papers. Another part wasn’t able to believe she sat next to the sexiest man she’d ever met. All of her was dazed that both could be the same man, and that when he looked at her his eyes burned with pale blue fire.
Soon after their table had finished the meal, the moderator took the podium and called the room’s attention to the front, silencing conversations around the room. Ending his discussion with the two pediatricians, Matthew turned, caught Natalie watching him—probably with a goofy I want you expression on her face—and grinned. Dark and dangerous had been right, because that grin threatened all her good sense.
Then again, sitting next to him made perfect sense.
Why wouldn’t it? Despite her three-year relationship with Jonathan, they weren’t together any more. With his devotion to his career matching hers, he’d easily fit into her life because he didn’t mind the large amount of time her job ate up. Or so he’d said, right up to the moment he’d defended his sleeping with another woman by pointing out Natalie’s refusal to commit more time to him and marry him.
Fine. Good riddance and thank God she hadn’t been willing to marry a man who’d so readily cheat. She wanted marriage, to connect completely with another person, to someday have a family, but something had held her back from saying yes to Jonathan. Maybe it had been that she was still building her dream career.
No matter. Jonathan was history. She was free to do whatever she chose. With whomever she chose.
Her gaze connected with Matthew’s.
He leaned close to her ear, giving her a waft of his spicy aftershave. “This hasn’t exactly been conducive to getting to know each other.”
The man smelled amazing. She wanted to breathe him in and hold her breath for ever.
“Is that what we’re doing?” she whispered back, knowing her eyes revealed everything she was feeling in case he’d missed it in her husky voice.
“You want to leave?”
Yes!
“And miss the keynote?”
His lips twitched with amusement. “You want to go first and meet in the lobby in fifteen minutes or shall we leave together?”
Whether it was for her privacy or his, she liked that he was giving her the option to choose to leave together, which implied he didn’t mind anyone knowing he was with her, or their leaving separately so no one would be the wiser. It was up to her to decide how they proceeded.
Still, she had a few things to clarify first.
“Are you single?”
Obviously startled at her question, he nodded.
“Then meet me by the fountain in ten.” She pushed back her chair and quietly excused herself from the group at their table.
As she weaved her way through the tables to where she could make her escape, Natalie fought kicking up her high heels with joy. She felt good, light, feminine. And, even though she worried about stumbling, she was glad she had on her heels because they plumped her calves and made her legs look toned. She wanted to look good because Matthew’s gaze was on her. She could feel it as surely as if his hands traced over her skin.
She made it out the door just before a happy giggle bubbled from her lips. This was crazy. She was behaving like a teenager sneaking out of the house to meet a boyfriend. She was a grown woman sneaking out of a conference keynote to meet an attractive man in the lobby.
Despite her bravado at the idea of a short-term affair with Matthew, she hadn’t actually ever had an affair. She and Jonathan had dated for several months prior to their having sex, and she’d cared about him. She’d never had any desire for a physical relationship prior to him. She’d been too busy focusing on her studies, her career, determined to make a difference in pediatric cardiology.
Honestly, despite Monica’s and Suzie’s advice to “get laid” this weekend, she’d had no intention of doing so. Not until she’d seen Matthew at the airport and he’d cast a spell over her mind and body to where she craved him.
Still, what if she couldn’t go through with sex for the sake of sex and Matthew got upset?
She hesitated outside the ballroom door.
Stop it, she scolded herself. Just stop overthinking and go with the flow. Emotional commitment was overrated. Just look at what had happened with her last committed relationship.
Whether it was because of the blow Jonathan’s cheating had done to her ego or because she was hundreds of miles from home, or some unknown reason, she wasn’t going to let her brain get in
the way of her having a good time. Excitement surged through every inch of her body. Excitement that she was doing something outside her comfort zone. Excitement that a sexy man looked at her as if he wanted to yank off her clothes and kiss her all over.
For the next three days she’d let whatever happened between her and Matthew happen, and not dwell on the possibility that after the conference ended it was unlikely she’d ever see him again.
Wasn’t that actually perfect? Because she needed to focus on Memphis Children’s Hospital and upping their pediatric cardiology department to the next level. To stepping up to the new role the hospital was going to offer her. She didn’t need Matthew, or anyone else, distracting her.
But at the moment she was in Florida at a gorgeous resort hotel and she was going to enjoy the rest of the evening.
With Matthew.
Suzie and Monica would be proud.
Unable to drag his gaze from Natalie’s retreating backside, Matthew knew he wasn’t fooling a single person in the room. At the moment he didn’t care.
He should care.
He had a child to think about, so his behavior mattered. He had to set a good example for Carrie.
But Carrie was in Memphis with his mother, as Matthew had signed up for this continuing education conference before he’d known he was going to be raising his god-daughter. He’d started to cancel, but his mother had pushed him not to, saying he needed a weekend to decompress after the past few months. Carrie was better off with his mother than she was with him anyway.
His heart pinched as he thought of Robert and Carolyn. The couple had died much too soon in a small plane crash, leaving their most precious possession to him. Four-year-old Carrie.
What had his best friends been thinking? Although serious in his professional life, he’d been a happy-go-lucky bachelor who knew how to have a good time without the burden of commitment.
Robert had been Matthew’s best friend since grammar school. They’d gone through university then med school together. He’d been there when Carolyn had stolen his friend’s heart, had been best man at their wedding, had been there for Carrie’s birth.
