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are persistent in your need to stay here, aren’t you?” she said, with a hint of admiration in her voice.

      “When it comes to my patients I am very persistent.”

      She looked up at him briefly and he knew by the way her eyes crinkled in the corners that she was smiling behind that mask. “Me, too.”

      “Dr. Chiu, I don’t see why we both can’t work together on Mr. Francis’s care. We don’t both have to stay at this hospital twenty-four-seven, waiting for a heart and lungs. Surely you have a life outside this hospital?”

      “What’re you implying, Dr. King? Are you implying I don’t have a life?”

      “On the contrary, I’m sure you have a life. Someone special.”

      “What?” she asked, not looking at him.

      “A boyfriend.”

      There were a few titters in the crowd and Flo quickly shot them all a dirty look, which silenced the laughter.

      “Not that it’s any of your business, Dr. King, but I don’t have a boyfriend. My work is my life.”

      “Oh, that’s a shame.”

      Flo groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those kinds of men?”

      “What kind of men?”

      “Men who think that a woman is worthless if she doesn’t have a boyfriend or a significant other.”

      “No, I’m not. It’s just...” Then he trailed off as he thought about Serena. “Life’s too short.”

      She looked up at him, her brown eyes warm and tender as if silently agreeing with him. As if she knew personally how fragile life was, and he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened in her life. Had she lost someone she’d cared about?

      Nate certainly hoped not. That was a pain he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy.

      “You’re right,” she said. “Life is too short. At least with this operation he won’t be one of the ten to fifteen percent who die while waiting. It will give him a chance to beat the odds.”

      Nate nodded, but didn’t say anything further as they worked together to attach Kyle’s left ventricular assist device. Kyle was lucky that they’d brought him to Dr. Chiu, in light of the fact that he himself was based in New York.

      There was talent here.

      There was skill.

      Together they could save Kyle’s life. There were always variables when it came to heart and lung transplants, but maybe together they could succeed.

      No. You can’t. Not together.

      Flo was the type of woman his old self would have pursued in a heartbeat and that thought scared him. If he had to work closely with her, then he would be tempted.

      How could he not be tempted by a woman like Flo?

      He had to keep his distance from her. It would be hard, but he had to put a wall between the two of them. It had to be professional. It had to be businesslike. That was all there was to it. Nate couldn’t risk his heart again.

      Risk was a dangerous thing and he wasn’t willing to play around with that.

      Look where his life of risk had gotten him.

      Don’t think about Serena now. You don’t deserve to mourn her.

      After the surgery was successfully completed, Nate didn’t say much. He just scrubbed out and then tried to find his way off the surgical floor. He needed air. It took him a few minutes, but he found his way back up to the roof, to the helipad. Maybe the height would get him out of the LA smog.

      It was hot out, different from New York, where the bitter remnants of March still clung to the city. He’d forgotten how much he missed the heat of California. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his jangled nerves.

      He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this.

      Since Serena had died he’d been busy burying his feelings in his work. He didn’t usually connect with anyone, but Flo had got under his skin.

      Even in the brief time he’d known her.

      She made him forget. She made him forget how he had a tight rein on his emotions. Absolute control at all times.

      “There you are,” Flo said behind him, making him jump slightly.

      “Why did you follow me up here?” he snapped.

      “Don’t get so testy. I followed you because I wanted to give you this temporary pass.” She held out the scan card in her delicate fingers. “If you don’t have this you can’t get access to Mr. Francis or basically get around the hospital.”

      Nate sighed inwardly and took the scan card from her. “Sorry. Thanks.”

      “I guess I could’ve kept it and you would’ve been trapped up here.” A smile played at the corners of her lips. “You would deserve it, too, asking all those personal questions during surgery. My team doesn’t need to know about my personal life.”

      “I was trying to lighten the mood in there.”

      Since when?

      In New York City he was always serious. Residents and interns alike quaked in their boots around him. He wasn’t known for lightening the mood, or even chatting in an operating room. He didn’t know what had come over him.

      She crossed her arms. “There was no need for mood lightening in there. Besides, from what I hear, you’re not exactly jovial all the time.”

      “Who told you that?” he asked.

      “Mr. Francis, when he first came in and was stabilized. When he found out his management team had called you he warned me about you. He said you were a bit of an arrogant brute.”

      “I doubt he said arrogant brute.”

      “You’re right,” she said, a twinkle in her eyes. “It was much more colorful.”

      Nate chuckled to himself. That sounded like something Kyle would do. And when he glanced at Flo he could see a soft side to her. She gave off the appearance of being a tough cookie in the operating room, but there was a softness about her. A warmth.

      Something he’d been missing in his life for so long.

      “Thanks for helping me in there. I’m so glad he’s stabilized. Let’s just hope we can keep him that way until UNOS calls you.” She smiled at him. “I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, just have me paged. I’ll be at the hospital for some time still.”

      She turned to leave, but Nate reached out and took her elbow to stop her. Flo turned, a questioning look on her face.

      “Thank you for being here to help my patient,” he said. “I’m glad a surgeon of your caliber was here to help him. And I’ll get UNOS to add you to the call list.”

      Her brown eyes widened in surprise and then she smiled, a pink blush tinging her round cheeks as she tucked an errant wisp of hair behind her ear. “Thank you, and of course.”

      Nate knew that he should let her go, only he couldn’t. He felt mesmerized by her and without thinking he pulled her tight against and kissed her.

      For one moment, while he tasted her sweet lips, he felt her melt against him, which prompted him to wrap his arms around her, deepening the kiss. Her petite body was pressed against his, his hands in her hair as he bent over to kiss her.

      Nate wanted to take this further. If they had been back at his place in New York, he’d be scooping her up in his arms and carrying her off to bed to make love to her, but he was standing with her on a helipad in Los Angeles.

      He was tumbling down a dangerous path.

      Then he remembered what he was doing.

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