by Janice Lynn
His forehead still against hers, his breathing ragged, he searched her eyes. “What was that for?”
“A token of my appreciation.” Legs feeling a little shaky, she lowered them from his waist to tentatively support her weight. She felt so languid, she might collapse on the floor.
“I’m the one who needs to be expressing my gratitude, and my apologies for not hauling your delectable body up here the moment that first workshop finished.”
“No worries. I have every intention of giving you lots of opportunity to express your, um, gratitude.” Her tone was flirty and it felt good. “And to let you make up for wasting time.”
Had she ever flirted with a man before?
She’d always been focused on school, on her patients, her research, her career. Focusing on a man hadn’t ever been a priority. But she liked flirting with Matthew, liked the quick smile that transformed his handsome face.
Reaching for her skirt, she tugged the wrinkled material down her hips, then pressed a quick kiss to his lips. Aware that his gaze tracked her every move, she walked to the mini-fridge, took out a bottled water, twisted off the lid and took a drink.
“Thirsty?” She offered the bottle.
He took a long swig, then handed it back to her. “Not now.”
His tone implied it hadn’t been the water that had quenched his thirst.
Eyeing him, Natalie placed her lips over where his had been and took another drink, letting the water cool her throat.
“Thank you, Natalie.”
“For?”
“You know.” Winking at her, he went to the bathroom, she assumed to dispose of the used condom, then returned to the room with his pants restored.
That was when she got her first real look at his chest and abdomen. Earlier, she’d been distracted with need and sex, and had been up close to his body, but now... Oh, my.
Matthew without a shirt was a beautiful sight.
She’d touched that chest, kissed that chest, been pressed up against that chest, all hot and sweaty.
Feeling quite smug that she’d just had sex with the hottest man alive, she couldn’t help but smile. “Now what?”
He shrugged. “Not any more of that, unless we make a protection run, I’m sad to say.”
She eyed him curiously. She’d not really considered that they could have a repeat that night. Jonathan had never more than once... Oh, forget Jonathan. “Would you really be able to do that again?”
“Just say the word.”
Surely he was exaggerating, but his answer still stroked her ego. She knew she shouldn’t keep comparing what had just happened to her relationship with her ex, but he’d have rolled over and been asleep already.
Then again, she would have been, too.
Intrigued, and more than a little smug, she asked, “If I said now, you’d want to again tonight?”
He arched a brow. “You have to ask after what we just did? Of course I want to do that again.”
* * *
“One box isn’t enough. Buy two.”
Matthew grinned at the woman tugging at his arm and grabbed another box off the shelf. “Two boxes for three nights? You trying to kill me?”
“You’re the one who bragged you were able to repeat the deed anytime I said the word,” she reminded with a saucy flash of her eyes.
Wondering why he’d ever hesitated in allowing himself this three-day break from reality, Matthew laughed. “You saying the word? If so, I’m sure we can find a vacant corridor.”
Her eyes widened momentarily, but she quickly looked intrigued. So much for his prim and proper impression of her at the airport. Thank God he’d given himself permission to forget the real world and just play for three days. Three days to spend with this surprising woman.
Chuckling, he grabbed her hand. “Come on, Natalie. Let’s go pay for our two boxes.”
They’d opted to walk the beach to a neighboring hotel’s gift shop rather than risk one of their colleagues seeing them stock up at the conference hotel. Matthew had enjoyed the sea air and having Natalie’s hand clasped within his during the nighttime walk, but the fifteen minutes back to their hotel suddenly seemed like a long time.
“How did you get involved with the Libertine robot project?” she asked once they were back on the beach and headed toward their hotel.
“You want to talk shop?” He just wanted to get back to the hotel and get her naked. Completely this time. He had a lot of exploring to do and was looking forward to discovering every nook and cranny.
“The Libertine fascinates me,” she continued, her hand snug in his. “I’ve watched you perform surgery with it, you know.”
He shot a look at her, the moonlight casting just enough light across her face to illuminate her beautiful features. “No, I didn’t know.”
“I couldn’t tell much about you, since you were wearing a surgical mask, glasses and cap and the film clip pretty much only showed the surgery. I guess technically I watched a video of your hands doing miraculous things, because I don’t recall anything of your face and I wouldn’t have forgotten your eyes had I ever seen them.” She smiled sheepishly, then went on. “From how long I’ve been seeing your name quoted in the cardiology world, I had thought you much older.”
He got that a lot. He’d been fortunate to become involved with the Libertine from early in its inception as a surgical tool. Near the end of med school, his passion had shifted his interest to surgical advances being made in treating congenital defects in utero. Robert had followed suit.
Working for a robotics company, Carolyn had been one of the key design engineers on the Libertine. It was how they’d all met. He and Robert had been practically inseparable since grade school. Carolyn had changed that somewhat, but Matthew had felt more as if they’d added a third player to their team, rather than their friendship losing anything, when his best friend married the brilliant engineer.
He missed them so much. Three months and it didn’t seem real that he’d never see them again, never discuss the Libertine, or difficult cases. Never catch another football game while Carolyn laughed at their long-term rivalry of the Cowboys against the Steelers. Never again—
“You okay?” Natalie’s voice broke into Matthew’s memories.
Fighting back the hollow ache in his gut, he clenched his teeth. How had he let such depressing thoughts in tonight when he felt alive, truly alive, for the first time since before he’d gotten the call that Robert and Carolyn’s plane had gone down?
“Just got lost in thought.” He flashed a smile that wasn’t as real as he’d like, but there wasn’t enough light that she’d likely be able to tell. “How old do you think I am?”
She glanced his way a few moments, making him wonder if perhaps she saw better in the low light than he’d given her credit for, but she seemed to make the decision not to push. Maybe because she didn’t want to know what he’d really been thinking about.
“Uh-uh.” Her smile was wide, bright, not so over-the-top as to come across as completely fake. “I’m not guessing your age. If I go too high you might be offended. If I go too low, you’ll accuse me of robbing the cradle.”
Her voice was light, but her grip on his hand had tightened, offering a comfort he soaked up and was amazed at how much better her smile and touch left him feeling.
He chuckled. “No chance you robbed the cradle, Natalie. That would be me. I’m probably a good ten years older than you.”
“I seriously doubt it.” She told him her age.
“Eight years older,” he corrected. “I’m the one who robbed the cradle, it seems.”
“Eight years isn’t that much,” she assured. “You’re barely into your forties.”
A memory of his fortieth birthday, spent with Robert and Carolyn, popped into his head. They’d rented out their favorite restaurant’s back room, invited a ton of
mutual friends and acquaintances and surprised him with a birthday bash.
“Hey—you okay?” she asked again.
Why had his friends popped back into his head so quickly when he’d just scolded himself for letting them in on a night meant to drown them out?
His gaze cut to Natalie. Why did he find himself wanting to tell her about them?
“You quit walking,” she pointed out. “And you’re squeezing my hand as if you’re afraid if you let go the wind might carry me out to sea.”
Matthew forced his fingers to pry loose from hers, raked them through his hair. “Sorry.”
“That sensitive about your age, huh? I’ll keep that in mind and be sure not to make any more age references.”
Pushing thoughts of his friends from his mind yet again, Matthew shook his head and gave in to Natalie’s teasing. “I’ve no problem with being called an old man.”
“Old man?” Natalie laughed, took his hand back into hers and gave him a little squeeze. “You aren’t an old man. Admittedly, it’s a bit kinky, but I’d be happy to oblige if that’s what you want me to call you.”
His smile was real. “As long as you’re calling me, I won’t complain.”
Her gaze searched his. “For the rest of the weekend, right?”
“Right,” Matthew agreed, but suddenly found it difficult to keep his smile in place. “For the next three days, I’m all yours.”
Then he’d fly back to Memphis, stay at his mother’s for a night, then he and Carrie would drive back to Boston because the little girl was terrified of the thought of getting on a plane, and he hadn’t forced the issue.
Back to trying to figure out life without Robert and Carolyn.
Back to him struggling to raise their precious daughter in a way that wouldn’t disappoint them, which seemed impossible for a sworn bachelor who still couldn’t even put Carrie’s hair up without missing handfuls of it from the bun.
Too bad the position in Memphis hadn’t worked out so his family would be close to shower Carrie in their love and guide him in the right direction as he got this parenting thing all wrong time and again.
What did he know about raising a kid?
Nothing. His friends had been foolish leaving Carrie’s upbringing to him. Robert had known Matthew had no plans to marry or have children. Truly, they couldn’t have chosen a worse guardian for Carrie.
“Your hand is getting tight again,” Natalie warned.
He loosened his hold. “Sorry.”
“Want to talk about whatever keeps bothering you?”
He couldn’t blame Natalie for asking. She’d let it go more than once, but he kept going back to places he didn’t need to let his brain go.
“It’s not important.” Which was a lie. Everything about Robert and Carolyn was important. How he was going to handle fatherhood was important. Part of him wanted to tell Natalie, to spill everything out to her, to tell her what a screw-up step-in parent he’d been so far and that he wished he could give Carrie to a couple who knew what they were doing so the kid wouldn’t turn out messed up. But losing his best friends, and his failed parenthood, weren’t decent conversation for a three-day affair.
For the next three days, he was just Matthew. The dedicated heart surgeon and researcher, the fun-loving man, the devoted short-term lover.
CHAPTER FOUR
NATALIE MADE IT to breakfast just before the hotel wait staff cleared the buffet trays.
Having gone earlier to his hotel room to shower, Matthew had arrived before her and was at a table with two other men and a woman, eating breakfast. Wearing his khaki pants and blue button-up shirt with the sleeves folded to mid-forearm, a smile on his handsome face, he stole her breath.
She could hardly believe she’d had sex with him. Hot, needy, carnal sex.
Natalie lingered, overfilling her plate with sliced fruit. There was no reason she couldn’t join Matthew and the others at his table, but she procrastinated, toying with toasting a slice of wheat bread.
She’d seen and touched every part of his body. With her hands, her mouth. They’d done things that just recalling was enough to make her blush and wonder who that wanton woman in bed with him had been. After all that, was she really hesitating to sit down beside him to eat breakfast?
When she’d finally gotten her plate and headed in his direction, Matthew rose from his chair.
“There’s a seat at our table, Natalie. Join us.”
He’d made it easy. As if he were inviting an old friend or colleague to join his table. No big deal. Only, when their gazes met, his unusual eyes held a warmth that conveyed that his smile was for her alone. Nothing had changed from the time he’d left her room. He had no morning-after regrets.
Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and she fought the urge to lean over and plant another good-morning kiss on his magic lips.
Those lips had kissed her all over. More than once. Places she’d never been so thoroughly kissed. Those hands had held her, touched her, coaxed responses she’d not known her body able to give.
Natalie gulped back the emotion looking at him filled her with. Pride, pleasure, passion. Maybe they should skip the conference and go back to her room? No, they’d decided they would both attend morning classes to earn their continuing-education credits. As much as she’d like to drag him back to her room, she’d restrain herself.
At least until morning break.
A little giddy at the thought, she smiled at the others as she joined the table.
“Natalie, this is Dr. Kim Yang, Dr. Steven Powers and Dr. Herb Fallows. They all practice pediatrics at Loma Linda in California.”
She set her plate on the table and shook the outstretched hands as Matthew continued the introductions.
“And this talented lady is Dr. Natalie Sterling.”
She’d swear she saw him wink at her from the corner of her eye, but she kept her focus on the others.
“Natalie is a pediatric cardiac surgeon at Memphis Children’s Hospital with Dr. Ramone Luiz,” he continued.
“Hi.” Smiling, she sat down and turned to ask Matthew something that had been nagging at her mind and hit her again when he mentioned the hospital. “I’ve been meaning to ask you—why did you fly in from Memphis?”
For the briefest moment his face took on the dark expression he’d had on the plane, but it quickly disappeared behind a smile. “I was visiting family.”
Reminding herself not to sound too personal in front of the others, she asked, “You have family in Memphis?”
Asking personal questions probably wasn’t a good idea when a woman was only having a three-day affair, but she hadn’t been able to curb her curiosity.
He hesitated a moment. “My mother lives just over the Hernando de Soto Bridge on the Arkansas side.”
Natalie’s pulse pounded at her temple. She lived on Mud Island. His mother lived just across the Mississippi River from her. That meant he probably came to Memphis from time to time to visit.
Natalie put a hold on her racing thoughts of possibly seeing him again in the future.
Three days. That was what they’d agreed to and what she’d stick to. They were only on Friday of their weekend together. They still had the rest of the day, all of Saturday and part of Sunday before she flew home. It would be enough.
Even if by some miracle Matthew wanted to continue to see her, trying to maintain a long-distance relationship would be near impossible. She already worked long hours. When she got her promotion she’d be working even longer ones, because she’d essentially continue to do her job but be taking over the parts of Dr. Luiz’s job he was relinquishing with his partial retirement.
If Matthew wanted to see her during his trips to Memphis, she’d say no. Sticking to the three days would be better than trying to stretch out what couldn’t last and turning a fantasy into something waiting to fall ap
art.
“West Memphis in Arkansas isn’t that far from where I live,” she said, feeling as if she should say something for the benefit of the other three at the table, who were listening in curiously.
Maybe for Matthew, too, as he’d become overly interested in his food.
If he thought he needed to worry that she would push to see him in Tennessee, he was wrong. She had her priorities, and a relationship beyond Sunday was not one of them, no matter how phenomenal a lover he was.
Fortunately, the conversation turned to the conference. A few minutes later, the two men left the table, but Dr. Yang stayed and chatted with Matthew and Natalie about everything from her vegan diet to her faith.
The room had cleared out except for the wait staff cleaning the room.
“I’ve kept you two from making it to the first session on time,” Kim said, glancing at her fitness wristband and wincing when she realized what time it was. “Sorry.”
“No problem,” Natalie assured, placing her fork and napkin on her empty plate. “I was late coming downstairs anyway.”
Not really late, but when she and Matthew had calculated how long they could stay in bed that morning they’d not allotted time for mealtime socializing.
“Maybe we can sneak into the back and catch the presentation highlights.”
When they rose to leave the table, Kim swayed.
Natalie noted how pale she was and moved around the table. “Are you okay?”
But she was too late. Kim’s eyes rolled back and her knees buckled, causing her to slump backward. Just before she hit the carpeted floor, Matthew grasped the woman, lowering her to the carpet.
“Dr. Yang?” He gently shook her. “Can you hear me?”
Natalie checked the woman’s pulse, normal at seventy-six beats per minute. Although unconscious, she was breathing okay, too. “Vitals are stable.”
Pulling a chair to Dr. Yang, Matthew propped her feet in the chair to cause increased blood flow to her vital organs anyway.
