The Playboy Doctor Claims His Bride

“Those aren’t bad qualities you’re describing,” Eric pointed out.

“She has her sights set on the top, pal. She’s made no secret that she wants a seat on the board and she’s put in the long hours to make sure it happens,” Jonathan warned, pretending to shiver. “Plus, she gives off those subzero vibes. Could give a man permanent frostbite.”

Frostbite? Eric had come closer to suffering heatstroke in Kasey’s company than frostbite. Jonathan and apparently every other man in Kasey’s life were blind fools.

Just so long as she didn’t plan to use him as her stepping stone to the top, Eric had no problem with a career-minded woman. Particularly when that woman attracted him the way Kasey did.

“She’s all business, rarely smiles,” Jonathan continued, listing all the reasons he thought Kasey was wrong for Eric.

She didn’t smile? Why did that make his chest hurt? Why did it make him want to do everything in his power to make her smile, and often? Just as he’d done on the night they’d met.

“Your loss, bud, because I’ve seen her smile.” She hadn’t smiled at first. But before they’d left for his hotel she’d laughed out loud several times. “She has an amazing smile that makes a man automatically smile back.”

He wanted to experience her smile again.

Jonathan’s gaze narrowed, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I think you’re suffering from brain freeze. Either that or you worked in that African desert for so long you can’t handle hot anymore.”

Eric grinned. Oh, he could handle hot all right. And he planned to.

Just as soon as he could convince Kasey.

CHAPTER TWO

ERIC leaned back in the expensive leather chair meant to impress guests invited into Rivendell Medical Center’s administrator’s office. With its original wall prints, expensive furnishings and lush greenery, the office screamed success.

“I know Dr. Douglas has already shown you around the ambulatory clinic, but would you like a tour of the rest of the facility prior to officially starting?” the lanky man he’d spent the morning with offered. “I know you practically grew up at the center, but that was before we moved to the new location.”

That had been three years ago while Eric had been in Africa as part of the medical mission team he’d joined straight out of medical school. A lifetime ago. Eric didn’t even feel like the same person who’d once lived in Rivendell.

He wasn’t the same person.

“The entire building is state-of-the-art. The in-house referral system streamlines care with great efficiency. We have close to a hundred providers of various specialties on staff now.” Clive gave Eric a grin. “Your grandfather would be proud. I know your mother is.”

His maternal grandfather would be proud of how far the clinic had come. The facility comprised a three-story building with multiple specialty departments, a fully equipped laboratory, radiology department, pharmacy and a same-day surgery wing that bore Eric’s grandfather’s name.

His mother was proud of the clinic, too, but Eric refused to let thoughts of her into his mind. He’d barely been home a week and already she was trotting Kentucky debutantes in front of him at every opportunity.

Eric shook his head at his mother’s matchmaking and at the administrator. “Jonathan showed me around the center when I was here two months ago.”

Just as it had then, the center felt right.

Like this was where he was meant to be despite years of adamant and rebellious denial of his heritage. Despite his mother thinking his move home meant he was ready to settle down and produce heirs.

“If there’s anything Rivendell can do to make your move smoother, let me know,” Clive went on, no doubt in an effort to impress Lena Woolworth’s only child.

“Actually…” Eric rocked back in the chair, eyeing the administrator through narrowed eyes. “There is something.”

Clive’s temple jumped with a nervous spasm. “Oh?”

“I’m going to work in the ambulatory clinic.”

The man’s unease faded into confused relief.

“The ambulatory clinic? But…” Remembering who he was talking to, the administrator nodded. “Of course. I should have realized you’d want to work directly with Dr. Douglas.”

Perhaps he should feel guilty for using his influence to change where he’d be working at the last minute. Hadn’t he sworn not to let moving home corrupt him? That he’d remain true to the man he’d grown into while thousands of miles away? But working in the ambulatory clinic appealed enough for him to ignore any doubts about his motives.

He had no doubts.

He wanted to be near Dr. Kasey Carmichael.

Whether or not wanting to be near her was a good thing remained to be seen.

Early that evening, Kasey finished seeing her afternoon patients and slouched into the comfy ergonomic chair at her desk.

Her office wasn’t much larger than a broom closet, but she’d been allowed to decorate the room to her taste. She’d gone with crisp white walls and black furniture. A vase of colorful Shasta daisies, looking so real people often reached out to touch a petal just to see, sat on the top of her bookshelf along with a model of a human kidney and a two-foot-tall skeleton she’d nicknamed “Bones”.

She kept a vanilla-scented air freshener plugged in to drown out the antiseptic smell that permeated the rest of the clinic.

The room wasn’t fancy, but at least she had a small private place to call her own.

Right now, she desperately needed privacy.

Eric was here. At the clinic.

Maybe he’d work on a different floor and she’d never see him. What kind of doctor was he anyway?

Dropping her face into her palms, she massaged her temples.

This couldn’t be happening.

Just seeing Eric in the hallway had made her want to push him into a room and perform a thorough examination of all his many attributes, right down to taste-testing him from head to toe.

Which shocked her.

She’d never been adventurous sexually. She and Randall had shared a good enough sex life, but they hadn’t been the stuff to burn down buildings.

One night with Eric and smoke still clouded her mind.

Intoxicating smoke that made her want to inhale deeply and give in to sweet fantasy.

Sweet? There hadn’t been anything sweet about her fantasies. Hot, enthusiastic, sweaty, yes, but not sweet.

Kasey’s fingers dug deeper into her scalp.

No way would she risk her career because of a man a second time. Not at Rivendell, where she’d made her fresh start and the potential to achieve her lifelong dreams dangled in front of her like the proverbial carrot.

A knock sounded at her door and she looked up. Eric watched her.

Realizing she was massaging her temples in overtime, she dropped her hands to her desk and tapped the sleek black surface. Which was no less nervous appearing than her temple massaging. Taking a deep breath, she flattened her palms against the desk to stay their fidgety tapping.

“I thought you’d left.” Brilliant conversation. Yet what did it matter? His family owned stock in the center. Could the situation be any more Randall-like? She needed to put Eric firmly in the past and keep him there.

If she remained steadfast, perhaps he’d take a hint and leave her alone.

Which was what he’d eventually do regardless. She was definitely like her mother in that regard. Men never stayed long. She’d thought Randall had been different. Steady, dependable Randall. But she’d been wrong. Horribly wrong and just look what that mistake had cost her in the long run.

Not to mention that she’d gone to Eric’s hotel room on the night they’d met. She didn’t respect herself, how could she expect him to?

“I did leave,” Eric admitted. His gaze roved over her in melted chocolate temptation that made her libido growl in hungry response. “I came back.”

“Why?” Why did he have to look so wonderful in his black slacks, blue shirt and tie? Like something on the cover of a men’s magazine. He’d taken off his suit jacket at some point since she’d seen him earlier and his tie was loosened around his neck, making her want to walk over to him and straighten it.

Or perhaps she just wanted a reason to touch him?

“You.”

“Me?” As much as she thrilled at his answer, he had to stop. She’d made a mistake the night they’d met. One she could forgive due to her mother’s death. But she couldn’t justify a repeat of their amazing night.

His family held power over the medical center.

They were going to be coworkers.

If she’d learned anything from her experience with Randall, she’d learned not to mix personal stuff with one’s job.

The consequences were too dire.

“Seeing you today was an unexpected surprise.” He stepped into her office, closed the door behind him, overwhelming the tiny room. Even Bones appeared to tremble in his presence. “I enjoyed our night together.”

What rabbit hole had she fallen into? Because he looked as if he wanted to touch her. As if he’d like to push her against her desk, hike up her skirt and run his hands along her thighs, along her— Kasey gulped. “No!”

At his startled look, she took a calming breath.

“That night was…” Amazing, wonderful, just what she’d needed. Embarrassing. She didn’t behave like her mother. Not usually. She wasn’t a woman driven by lust and she had no intention of becoming one. She’d worked too hard to make something of herself, to rise above her past, poverty and genetics. “Nice, but we both know it was a one-night stand kind of thing.”

“One-night stand kind of thing?”

He towered over her, not in a menacing way, but she fought the desire to lean as far away as possible…to ease the temptation of moving closer to those broad shoulders and talented hands.

“You’re wrong,” he continued, looking completely aware of her proximity dilemma and pleased by her reaction to him. “That night wasn’t a one-night stand. Far from it.”

“What would you call it?” Besides the most humiliating event of my life? No, that would have been when Skymont Hospital had let her go over her relationship with Randall. Or perhaps when her mother had shown up drunk at her high school graduation ceremony. Either way, her night with Eric had been a mistake. That’s what she repeated in her head, not allowing her hormones a word in edgewise.

“The beginning of something worth pursuing.” His eyes bored into her, daring her to deny his claim. Unbidden, her gaze dropped to the strong set of his jaw, to his lips. That mouth had kissed her. All of her.

“Stop.” She closed her eyes, fighting memories of the tender kisses he’d placed on her hair, her face, the way he’d kissed away her tears. Memories of tenderness that had given way to passion. To urgent kisses. “Our meeting that night was nothing more than a bad coincidence. We should forget it happened.”

“What you call a bad coincidence I call a stroke of good fortune. Just as I consider seeing you today good fortune.”

His words were sweet to her ears, but what he was really saying was that he wanted sex again. They’d slept together on the day they’d met. He wasn’t interested in a real relationship with her. Just sex. Toe-curling, life-altering sex but, still, just sex.

He moved further into the office, crowding her personal space by coming around to her side of the desk and half sitting, half leaning against the corner. His closeness zapped her ability to breathe.

“Why didn’t you wake me before you left, Kasey?”

Oh, God, why had he moved so close?

She shut her eyes, counted to ten, prayed for indifference to him. “That night shouldn’t have happened and wouldn’t have under different circumstances.”

Sad, but true.

“Yes, it would have.”

Spicy, sexy musk toyed with her senses. She squeezed her eyes more tightly closed because she worried that if she looked at him, she’d have to touch. Absolutely have to.

“I’m sorry you got dragged into my bad day,” she plunged on, needing to talk, needing to do anything that kept her from reaching out to run her finger over the cleft in his chin. “I regret the entire evening.”

“You regret meeting me?” He sounded as if he didn’t believe her.

Knowing they’d be coworkers, she should regret having met him, but her heart ached at the thought of not having the comfort she’d felt as she’d drifted to sleep in his arms. At not experiencing the mind-shattering passion his kisses had evoked. She’d had a bad day. He’d made her feel better. No matter how much she should, she didn’t regret them making love.

She couldn’t tell him that.

Doing so would only make what she had to do more difficult.

Indifference. She needed indifference.

“Yes,” she choked out. “I regret meeting you.”

“Open your eyes.”

She forced her eyelids open, looked into his dark eyes and swallowed. Hard. Lord, he looked as if he really had been hurt that she’d left him.

“Now, say you regret meeting me and mean it.” He shook his head when her lids automatically lowered. “Don’t close your eyes, Kasey. Look at me, and tell me you regret what we shared, because I don’t believe you.”

She wanted to scoot her chair toward the wall to put more distance between them, but she needed to make a strong stand. Her job, her peace of mind was at stake. She should push him off her desk, but didn’t dare touch him. To do so would send her few functioning brain cells into sexual dementia.

Focus on your goals, Kasey. She gave herself a mental pep talk. Career, helping others, social status, being a valued member of society. A fling with a coworker robbed you of that once. Eric is a coworker with an influential family.

“Is your ego so big you can’t accept that I made a mistake in going to your hotel room?” she accused, going on the attack. She had to destroy the chemistry between them. Because she had to deny it. She couldn’t go through what she’d gone through with Randall.

Somehow she suspected recovering from Eric would rob her of a lot more than Randall’s decision she was good enough to sleep with but not good enough to give his last name to.

“No, my ego isn’t that big.” He leaned across her desk, staring straight into her eyes, his breath caressing her lips. “But I was there that night.”

“I remember.” She hadn’t meant to sound nostalgic, but her voice held a touch of longing she couldn’t deny. She shook off the erotic memories and put on the flat affect she’d perfected in the days following the fiasco with Randall. In the days before Skymont Hospital had let her go. “I took advantage of you that night.”

“What?” His forehead wrinkled in surprise.

She sighed. How much could she tell him without also admitting how much being near him affected her? Was this what her mother had battled every time a sexy man had come near? This overwhelming need to touch? To be touched?

If so, Kasey was grateful the first thirty years of her life had passed without her knowing such carnal craving.

“Like I said,” she began, wishing he weren’t so close, that she didn’t feel every inch Betsy Carmichael’s daughter, right down to the burst of pheromones dictating she forget everything except how this man’s lips had felt against hers. “I had a bad day.”

“Which doesn’t explain how you used me.”

She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could pull off when she couldn’t breathe. “Don’t you get it? I didn’t want to be alone. You were convenient. End of story.”

A glimmer of anger shone in his eyes. “You’re saying any man would have done?”

“If it meant not being alone that night?” She called upon all her strength and lied through her teeth. “Any man would have done.”

He smoothly shifted to stand by the black leather chair wedged between her desk and the corner of the office. Genuine shock shone on his face. Would he realize she was oversimplifying the night’s events? She couldn’t give him that opportunity.

“When I saw you with Dr. Douglas this morning…” Sitting forward, she continued her assault before he regrouped his thoughts, an assault directed as much at her libido as at Eric. “I just wished you’d go away. I don’t do one-night stands. At least, I never had until that night. If I’d known I’d see you again, I never would have shared a drink with you, much less gone to your hotel room.”

How horrible did that admission make her sound?

How much did it brand her Betsy Carmichael’s daughter?

Was it even true? No. Eric had made her feel better, made her feel whole. She would have gone anywhere he’d led.

What scared her was that even now, when she was thinking more logically about her mother’s death, when she knew she’d slept with a man similar to Randall, Eric still made her feel dazed, made her want to go where he led.

“Then I’m glad you didn’t know we’d see each other again.” He crossed his arms, his fingers coming so close to touching her she imagined she could feel his body heat sear through her clothes. “I enjoyed making love to you, Kasey.”

“I imagine so.” She couldn’t keep the snideness out of her voice. After all, she’d just compared him to Randall and he was playboy Dr. Douglas’s friend. “You should be grateful I left before you woke.”

He leaned back, eyed her, his lips twisted with displeasure. “Grateful that you used me for sex and left while I was asleep?”

Was her face as red as it felt?

“Most guys would be grateful to avoid an awkward morning after.”

His gaze unwavering, he shrugged. “I’m not most guys.”

Yes, she’d noticed that about him.

“The day we met wasn’t a good day,” she said for lack of knowing what else to say.

“So you’ve said. Yet you haven’t said what was so bad.” His voice held a gentle, concerned quality that made her want to squirm.

She didn’t want him to be nice. She didn’t want to like him, didn’t want to believe in the light shining in his eyes that said she could trust him.

Whatever his game was, she wouldn’t, couldn’t, play along. Neither would she.

“What happened to send you into that bar?” Eric asked. “Into my arms?”

Her gaze dropped to the strong arms that had held her so securely. He sounded sincere. It would be so easy to give in, to lean on those broad shoulders.

She knew better, though. Randall had sounded sincere, had let her lean on his shoulders. Then he’d jerked the carpet out from under her feet and trampled on her while she was down.

“My life is none of your business.”

Unfazed by her snappish comeback, Eric stared into her eyes. “What if I want to make your life my business? What if I want to see you again because I wasn’t grateful you left without waking me?”

Was it even possible? She hadn’t thought so, but what if?

Each and every time she’d leaned on another person, she’d fallen. Even if Eric hadn’t been grateful she’d left, eventually the attraction would fizzle and then where would she be? Stuck working with an ex. The good-ole-boy system had already driven home how they dealt with sticky situations.

She would not be forced to start over again.

Not even for a man as appealing as Eric.

“I’d say you were out of luck, because the night we met was a fluke and is never going to happen again.” She liked her life in Rivendell too much to risk it.

“Kasey,” he began, pinning her beneath dark fire.

“Stop right there, Dr. Matthews.” She jumped from her seat, refusing to be trapped by his nearness. She held up her hand to ward him off. “What happened between us was a mistake. I don’t appreciate you coming to my office, pressuring me this way. I’m not interested. End of story.”

He paused, confusion flashing in his eyes. Not backing away, he stayed within inches of her face. “You’re serious?”

“Absolutely.” Much better to deny the sexual chemistry between her and the fascinating man tempting her to throw caution to the wind. As much as she’d once cared for Randall, he’d never lifted her to the heights this man had in a single night. She might not recover a second time. Not professionally. Not emotionally.

Although Eric looked like he wanted to say more, he clamped his mouth closed and conveyed his displeasure via his tight facial expression.

Resuming his perch on her desk, he watched her for so long she fought to keep standing. His eyes gleamed a deep brown, threatening to burn her with their intensity if she showed the slightest sign of weakness.

His gaze scorched into her soul.

Finally, he gave a curt nod and left. Kasey’s forehead crashed to her desk and she rolled her head back and forth against the hard, cold surface.

Eric was gone.

But he’d be back.

Every workday, he’d be back.

Just how was she going to stay steadfast when con fronted with Eric day in and day out?

CHAPTER THREE

A WEEK later, Eric winced at his twenty-year-old patient’s bright red skin. “How long were you out in the sun?”

“My boyfriend works on a horse farm and we were out riding. I ended up sticking around and helping him most of the day. Last night I was miserable. I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room,” the young woman admitted, holding her body stiffly.

“I’ll be as easy as I can.” He gently lifted her loose clothing away from her skin to peer at the burn. “Did you have on sunscreen?”

As impossible as it seemed, her face grew redder. “No. I was working on my tan.”

“I’d suggest you work on protecting your skin from permanent damage. A good SPF 30 sunscreen would have saved you a lot of trouble.” He motioned toward her burn.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry. I’ve learned my lesson. I plan to go buy the highest SPF in the store.”

Eric shook his head. “No need. SPF 30 provides all the protection you need. Once the sun is blocked, it’s blocked. Anything beyond just puts extra chemicals on your skin without any real extra protection.”

He slipped on his stethoscope and listened to her heart sounds. Normal S1S2 with a regular rate and rhythm. No murmur. Lung sounds clear to auscultation.

“You’re losing a lot of moisture through your burn. Make sure you drink a lot of water over the next few days. You want to stay hydrated.”

He tapped the RX emblem on the computer screen and entered a prescription for burn cream. He sent the prescription to the pharmacy and printed out a patient education handout on skin care and sunburn.

His next patient was a thin older gentleman with soulful eyes and slumped shoulders. After less than thirty seconds, Eric realized Shane Bresdan needed more than a prescription refill.

The man took a deep breath, stared at his hands. “My wife left.”

“Left?”

“Kapooie. She’s gone.” Shane’s tone was flat, as if he talked about the weather. But his eyes held a world of pain and his hands were clenched tightly in his lap.

“Where did she go?”

Sagging shoulders lifted then fell. “Don’t know. She just picked up and left while I was at work one day. Came home to a note saying she was gone and wouldn’t be back.”

And Eric thought he had female problems.

“Were you having marital issues?”

“No more than normal. She’s never left before. Never even threatened to.”

Poor man. After waking up in his hotel room alone two months ago, Eric wholeheartedly commiserated. He’d never had a woman walk out on him. He hadn’t cared for the experience.

He’d thought he and Kasey had hit it off that night. They had. But whereas he’d gone into the hotel room thinking they were starting something special, she’d gone in thinking of the ending to her bad day.

Eric sighed. Thinking about Kasey was futile when she refused to acknowledge they’d shared anything more than a one-nighter. Was he really such a bad judge of women? Hadn’t he learned to read who was sincere and who wasn’t? He’d thought so, but perhaps not.

He turned back to his patient. “How are you dealing with her leaving?”