LITMIR.BIZ

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Ruby shook her head and tried to walk away from him.

       Aran jogged up beside her and flashed her that bright smile that always melted so many hearts. Including hers, sometimes, but she’d never let him know that.

       “So you’ve told me before,” he said. “I’m not wrong about this, though.”

       Ruby stopped and crossed her arms. “A marriage of convenience? That’s something that’s only done in the movies or romantic fiction. In real life it’s fraud!”

       “It’s not fraud.”

       Aran took her hands in his and she tried to control the tremble of excitement he caused in her by his touch.

       “We’re friends.”

       “Work friends.”

       He sighed. “We like each other, at least.”

       “I’ll give you that.” She smiled. “What do you get out of doing me this huge favor right before you ship out?”

       “I’m doing this for you. I believe in you and you’ll owe me one.”

       “Okay. As long as you’re sure.”

       “Positive. Will you marry me, Ruby Cloutier?”

      Ruby shook the thoughts away. She had been attracted to him, but she didn’t want any kind of relationship. Her “marriage” to Aran had stopped a lot of friends from trying to set her up. Which had been great. Still, if Aran found someone else she couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t give him what he wanted.

       Can’t you?

      “Does he want a divorce? If that’s what this is about it’s no problem. Honestly, I’ve thought about getting it done and over with, but I’ve been so busy...”

      Jessica shook her head “It’s not that—and anyway you still don’t have a Green Card. Immigration will want to interview the both of you now that Aran has been honorably discharged.”

      “Then what is this about?” Ruby asked, hoping she didn’t come off sounding too testy. But she was exhausted and just wanted to get to the point.

      “Aran is coming here to work and I want him on your trauma team.”

      Ruby blinked a couple of times. She wasn’t certain that she heard Jessica clearly. “What?”

      “He has military training and he’s a perfect fit.”

      Only he wasn’t. Aran was a fine surgeon, and military training was an asset, but she remembered how much he hated the north. How he’d complained bitterly during the winter and through the darkness. He wasn’t suited to living up here. He’d told her so enough times.

       Maybe he’s changed.

      Ruby bit her lip. “I vet my team very closely. We all have to work together seamlessly. Aran didn’t seem interested in what my team does when I first talked about it. He supported it, yes, but didn’t ever seem keen on being a part of it.”

      It was a nice way of saying she’d thought Aran wouldn’t be able to hack it.

      Jessica folded her hands across the desk. “It’s the only way I can get him to come home. He will be on your team. You have a spot...”

      “No offense, Jessica, but I was going to interview someone else for that position.”

      “Ruby, you can do this favor for me. I’ve been able to facilitate your stay in this country, and I’m the one who fights with the rest of the board about keeping your vital services. Like you, I think it’s important that your venture expands and that you’re able to teach your services across the north. Too many people die needlessly because there is no access to healthcare or mental healthcare.”

      Ruby’s mind drifted for a second. Jessica was right. Too many people died because they couldn’t get help right away. Just like her father. Her father who had taught her everything about the north...

       “Momma, what’s wrong?” Ruby asked, peering through the doorway from the kitchen to the front hall.

       She could see her mother leaning against the door, her hand covering her face, her shoulders shaking. Beyond her stood two RCMP officers, their faces crestfallen.

       “Momma?” Ruby asked again.

       Lieutenant Alexander looked at her. He was her older brother’s best friend and his eyes were full of tears. He would tell her the truth. Ruby was a big girl of twelve.

       “Ruby, it’s your papa. There was an accident at the mine...”

      Ruby took a deep breath and tried to shake the memory away.

      This was why she was doing what she was doing, but she was selective about who was on her team and who wasn’t. Part of her didn’t want to take on Aran because she knew how he hated the north, but another part of her realized he was a man with military training.

      Although the leg injury worried her...

      Sometimes her work took them out into the wilderness, and they had to hike from where they could land the plane. And then there were natural disasters. If he couldn’t keep up, then what would happen?

      “Okay,” Ruby said cautiously. “But he knows that this is my team, right? He knows that I’m in charge? The Aran I remember from our resident days was very headstrong.”

      Jessica nodded and smiled. Ruby could see the relief on her face.

      “Yes, he knows that.”

      “When does he arrive?”

      “He’ll be here in five minutes. I know you’re tired...”

      “It’s fine,” Ruby said, though really it wasn’t. She needed to sleep. She’d been up too long, But she had to stay and talk to her husband of five years.

      That thought made her chuckle to herself.

      She was really tired.

      There was a knock, and then the door opened and Ruby turned in her chair, expecting to see the same man from all those years ago.

      Instead it was a very different man from the one she’d last seen five years ago who walked through the door.

      It was shocking what war could do to change a person. The jovial, confident and arrogant man she had known was gone.

      Aran was thinner, and instead of the short, buzzed and clean military hair he’d had on their wedding day his dark brown hair was longer, and there were a few grays mixed in there. A scar ran down the side of his face—faint, but still somewhat fresh. The cleft in his chin was hidden by a short-cropped beard and his bearing was not so ramrod-straight as it had once been. He seemed to bear his weight on his left and favored the right leg.

      It threw off warning bells. If he couldn’t physically handle working on her team he’d be useless to her. Still, Aran was handsome as ever—like on the first day she’d met him. In spite of herself, her heart skipped a beat...

       “Dr. Cloutier, you will work with Dr. Atkinson on post-operatives.”

       Ruby groaned and looked through the throng of residents. Figured that she would get the new guy. The son of the president of the board of directors. She’d heard he was cocky and privileged.

       And then she saw him.

       He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. And when those blue eyes settled on her, her pulse kicked up a notch. She had to control herself. She wasn’t going to fall for his charms.

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