Heart Surgeon To Single Dad

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 fool 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.

Having been only children to single moms, neither Robert nor Carolyn had had any living family and had asked Matthew to be Carrie’s godfather prior to her birth. Not believing he’d ever actually be raising the little girl, Matthew had agreed. Nothing was supposed to have happened to his friends.

But three months ago, it had. Something horrible that neither he nor Carrie would recover from, when the couple’s small-engine plane had crashed, instantly killing them both.

If only his friends had made better arrangements for their daughter. Surely anything would have been better than him.

Matthew paused outside the ballroom door. What was he doing? His life was in total upheaval. He should not get involved with Natalie or any other woman when his world was so topsy-turvy.

Wasn’t that why he’d hesitated to accept Natalie’s invitation to sit beside her?

To let her think there could be anything between them would be wrong. He had a whole new messed-up life he had to figure out. Until he did, Carrie had to be his priority. Only, so long as he made sure Natalie knew that whatever happened in Miami would end in Miami, there was no reason why they couldn’t enjoy the next few days. He needed the next few days. He’d not had sex in months. Not since before his friends had... Hell, he didn’t want to think of that anymore.

Natalie would likely tell him to kiss her lovely behind when he told her he couldn’t offer more than a few days of fun in the sun. Sure, there had been a rare moment when he’d been at Robert and Carolyn’s that he’d envied their relationship, the closeness they shared. But he had never actively thought about marriage or a long-term relationship for himself. He liked being single, liked being able to do what he wanted when he wanted with whomever he wanted, that if he wanted to stay at the hospital for twenty-four hours straight there was no one to complain or be disappointed that his work meant more than they did.

All that had changed with Carrie. Now, whether he wanted to or not, he had to keep a regular schedule, had to come home at night.

He raked his fingers through his hair. Yeah, he hadn’t been free to do much of anything over the past three months. Instead, he’d been trying to figure out what to do with the sweetest little girl he’d ever known, who was heartbroken over the loss of her parents and who had the unfortunate luck of being in Uncle Matthew’s care.

Uncle Matthew, who was now thrust into the role of Daddy Matthew.

For the next three days he got to just be Matthew, and to do what he wanted.

And what Matthew wanted was Natalie. Naked and beneath him.

There she was, waiting by the fountain, her gaze dancing with seduction and making his head spin. Would it be wrong if he threw her over his shoulder, carried her to his hotel room and took her every way he’d imagined over the course of the day? He couldn’t recall ever wanting a woman more than he wanted Natalie. Had to be the turmoil of the past three months and his need to just...escape. That, and the fact he’d not even thought about a woman or sex since Robert and Carolyn’s death. His reaction to Natalie was probably his subconscious guiding him to take what he could while he could.

He made his way to the fountain, took Natalie’s hand and practically dragged her toward the elevator bank where he’d been waiting for her earlier.

CHAPTER THREE

“I WANT TO make love to you, Natalie,” Matthew told her as the elevator doors slid shut behind them.

Natalie’s breath caught.

“But—” he began.

No! She didn’t want there to be a “but”. Please, the one time she was willing to just let go and have a fling with a man, don’t let him have a reason they couldn’t.

With his free hand he pressed the door-close button rather than a floor number, then continued. “I don’t want to deceive you in any way, and, if we go further without my telling you the truth, that’s what I’d feel I was doing.”

Had he lied to her earlier? Was there someone special in his life?

Please don’t be married or engaged or whatever it is that’s so horrible that you have to confess before having sex.

“You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman and deserve better than anything I’m able to give. Which is why I need to explain all the reasons why you should tell me no.” He took a deep breath, kept those pale blue eyes locked with hers. “Beyond the next three days, I have nothing to offer to you or any woman.”

Natalie’s breath caught, at his words and at his hand still clenching hers.

“I don’t understand,” she admitted, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

“What I’ve wanted from the moment you stepped off this elevator before dinner was to put you right back on it, go to one of our rooms and not come out for hours.”

He watched her as if he half expected her to pull her hand free and slap him.

As if.

“You’re not married?”

His look of shock gave answer before his words.

“There’s no other woman in my life, Natalie. It’s just that my life is complicated, and letting you think there could be anything beyond the next three days would be wrong. Whatever happens between us this weekend ends when we leave Miami on Sunday. When deciding what floor this elevator stops on, keep that in mind.”

So neither of them wanted anything beyond the next three days, and time was too precious to waste. She wanted him. He wanted her. They didn’t need to know anything more about each other.

Well, almost nothing more.

“Are you...?” How did she ask this? She’d been a virgin with Jonathan and was screened annually at the hospital, so she hadn’t had to do blood tests or anything of the sort. Trying to convince her it was time for them to take that next step, he’d gone on his own and given her a copy of his lab tests prior to their becoming physically involved. As time and their busy schedules had allowed, they’d fallen into a mutually satisfying relationship.

Or maybe it hadn’t been so mutually satisfying, since he’d been having sex with another woman.

Ugh. No. She was not going to let thoughts of Jonathan’s infidelity creep into this moment. All she needed to know was—how did couples usually bring up a clean bill of health? Or did they? No matter what other couples did. She would ask.

“I mean, do you have...?” She struggled to find the right words.

“I’m clean, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Relief filled her at his answer and at how easily he’d known what she was asking.

“Me, too,” Natalie assured, excitement coursing through her. Excitement and heat. White-hot heat that burned at her very core. She wanted Matthew. More than she’d ever wanted any man. Mentally and physically. She. Wanted. Him.

She reached for his hand. “We both know what we want, and it isn’t a relationship.” There. She’d said it. There could be no confusion. “So, truly, your comments, while gentlemanly, are a waste of valuable time when you could be impressing me in ways I’d appreciate much more.” Her boldness surprised her, but good grief, he seemed intent on being a gentleman when what she wanted was a rogue lover setting her body on fire. “My room is on the eleventh floor.” She reached over and pressed the button. “Are you getting off with me or not?”

* * *

Despite her brave invitation, Natalie’s hands trembled as she slid her card into the key slot. Her heart pounded as the little green lights flashed and she twisted the handle, opening the door to let Matthew into her hotel room.

Even as her feet moved, carrying her inside, she asked herself how this worked. Did she go to the bathroom and freshen up? Did he? Did she just take off her clothes and get into bed, as Jonathan had always preferred?

Once they were inside the room and she heard him secure the lock, she turned to him, hoping to break the silence that had enveloped them on their ascent to her room.

Before she could get a word out, Matthew pushed her back a couple of steps to sandwich her between the wall and his hard body, his mouth covering hers. There was nothing slow, indecisive or gentlemanly in his touch.

Finally, she thought.

His mouth was ravenous. His hands roaming over her body voracious. His lean hips pressing against her belly giving proclamation of just how much he wanted her.

She kissed him, touched him with equal intensity, running her hands over his arms, his shoulders, cupping his face in her hands as his kiss deepened.

One little kiss and they’d gone straight to fast and furious.

Ha. There was nothing little about how Matthew was kissing her. Big. Huge. Gigantic. That was how his kisses felt.

That was how his body felt grinding against her.

Fireworks went off in her head, in her chest, her whole body, at his mouth moving over hers, at his hands sliding over her, tugging her blouse from her skirt and letting in a swoosh of welcome cool air across her sensitized flesh.

“I can’t believe you’re here, that we’re doing this,” she murmured as he traced kisses along her neck, her collarbone. She dug her fingers into his hair.

“You aren’t changing your mind, are you?” he breathed against the indentation at her throat, his tongue darting out to dip into the sensitive flesh.

Natalie quivered.

“No. Never.” She arched against his mouth. “This is what I have played over and over in my mind today.”

What she needed. Crazy, but she did need him—this virtual stranger who was setting her body on fire. His touch, his kiss, his full attention. His body grinding against hers, hard, lean, thrilling.

“Tell me what you want, Natalie,” he coaxed, pushing her blouse off her shoulders and letting the silky material pool around her red heels, revealing her lacy white camisole and matching bra beneath. Cupping her bottom, he bent, kissing the valley between her breasts. “Tell me what you’ve been imagining us doing.”

“That,” she breathed, running her fingers into his thick, inky dark hair and holding him to her breast. “I like that.”

That. That. That, her body screamed.

“Me, too.” Pushing aside her camisole and bra, he took a puckered nipple into his mouth and gave a gentle tug.

Natalie almost died. Or exploded. Or imploded. Or all of the above, so many sensations shot through her electrified body. His hands held urgency as he continued to caress her, his mouth claiming everything in its passionate path. Within breathless minutes he pushed her skirt up her hips to bunch at her waist so he could slide his hands inside her panties to cup her bottom once more.

Yeah, she wanted that, too.

His hands were hot on her skin, electrifying. She wanted him. Desperately. She kissed him with that desperation. Touched him with that desperation. Moved her body against his with that desperation. Her fingers found their way to his waist, to where he strained against his dress pants’ zipper. After a moment’s fumbling, she had his pants to where she could touch him. She explored what she craved to feel deep inside.