LITMIR.BIZ

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that happen if I choose not to have surgery?” Mr Duke swallowed hard. “Won’t the stents you put in today be enough to keep me going? I wasn’t feeling that bad to begin with, just got out of breath easily.”

      “Maybe nothing will happen if you don’t have the surgery.” His expression having returned to normal, Oz shrugged. “But odds are you’ll go into heart failure or develop another serious heart condition such as atrial fibrillation. The stents have opened up the blocked arteries, but won’t correct your leaky valve.”

      Mr Duke grimaced. “What does this valve do? What does it matter if a little blood leaks?”

      “The mitral valve is the valve between your heart’s left atrium and left ventricle. When the valve doesn’t seal properly, some of the blood that is supposed to be pumped from the ventricle into your aorta washes back into the atrium. That means less blood goes into the aorta. To compensate for the decreased blood available to the body, the left ventricle enlarges so it can work harder to pump more blood.”

      Mr Duke digested Oz’s explanation, taking a moment before he responded. “You told me last week when you did the ultrasound that my heart was enlarged. Is this valve why?”

      “The heart is a muscle. If it’s working harder, it’s going to get bigger, just as your bicep enlarges when you work out.”

      “If I don’t do the surgery, my heart will keep getting worse?”

      “Absolutely,” Oz said without hesitation. “The longer you wait, the more damaged the valve is going to be, the more extensive the surgery will be. Currently, I can surgically repair the valve, which means you keep your own valve. If we wait, the valve will be so damaged you’ll have to have a mechanical replacement.”

      “A mechanical valve?” The man’s brows drew together. “Why mechanical?”

      “Because a tissue valve replacement would wear out. You’d be back in surgery in ten to fifteen years. With a mechanical, you’ll have to take a blood thinner, but the valve would last your lifetime. Still, the best option is to fix your own valve before you reach that point.”

      “I need some time.” Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the man sighed. “I don’t have to decide this moment?”

      “No.” Oz shook his head. “I’ll be by to see you later this morning. Right now, you do everything your lovely nurse tells you to do and you’ll be fine.”

      Blair ignored his silver-tongued compliment.

      “Thank you, Dr Manning. I’ll think about what you’ve said and discuss it with my family.” Mr Duke held out his hand toward Oz.

      “Blair will provide you with some literature and a video on mitral valve repair.” Removing his rubber gloves, Oz shook Mr Duke’s hand. “If you or your family have any additional questions or want more information, feel free to ask. Blair’s part of my cardiac team and knows about as much as I do about the repair procedure.”

      She doubted that.

      Still a little hazy, Mr Duke nodded.

      “Be sure to tell your son about the fund-raiser.” Oz sent a knowing look toward Blair. “If he’s lucky, Blair will bid on him.”

      Blair gave Oz a cool glare as she continued preparing her patient for transport to the recovery room. No wonder she didn’t like him. He was a total flirt, prone to insincere flattery, a womanizer, and an incessant tease.

      “Pay him no attention,” she advised her patient. “I think he’s sniffed anesthesia one time too many.”

      Oz laughed, deep and throaty, and Blair was suddenly overtaken by an acute attack of loneliness. Loneliness at just how long it had been since she’d spent any real time with a man, just laughing and enjoying together time.

      What was she thinking?

      She didn’t need or want someone like Oz making her question her life. He made her uncomfortable, made her heart pound as if she’d run a marathon in record time, made her lungs feel as if they couldn’t get enough air.

      All of which just made her like him that much less.

      After she had Mr Duke resting in Recovery, she headed back to the cardiac nurses’ station.

      The devil leaned against the counter, looking sexy as sin and flirting with two nurses. No surprise there.

      Kanesha Biles was happily married, but the nursing director was far from immune to Dr Oz. Her dark eyes glittering with delight, she slapped at Oz’s arm and giggled at whatever he’d said. Becky stared at him in pure, unadulterated adoration, as if she were ready to sell her soul for a night of his attention.

      “Oz Manning, you are bad,” Kanesha scolded, shaking her head with an indulgent look on her face.

      “You know what they say about bad boys, don’t you?” Oz asked, his attention shifting to Blair.

      She picked up a hospital memo, careful not to look into eyes so blue they’d been known to stupefy even the most staid of feminine souls. Eyes so blue they reminded her of another man who’d once hurt her by his careless use of the charms he wielded like a sword slaying a woman’s defenses. Her defenses.

      Just like Chris, Oz knew the effect he had on the opposite sex. He thrived on female attention.

      “What do they say, Dr Manning?” Becky urged when Oz let his words hang tantalizingly in the air. “Tell us, please.”

      Unable to stop herself, Blair glanced toward Oz. He stared straight at her as if he could look into her soul and know every thought, every desire she’d ever had.

      “Deep down, bad boys are really, really good.”

      His silky voice dripped with sin.

      With suggestion.

      With pure seduction. As if he was speaking directly to Blair and no one else in the world existed.

      With…oh, Lord, Blair’s lungs threatened to burst. Her knees buckled. She grabbed hold of the nurses’ station desk to steady herself.

      She didn’t like him. She knew he was a playboy who broke women’s hearts.

      No matter how he wielded power over all things female, Oz was too much like Addy’s father for Blair to ever lower the shield protecting her heart.

      Still, thank God she wasn’t hooked to one of the monitoring devices.

      Protective shield or not, all sorts of alarms would be blaring at the traitorous pounding against her rib cage.

      Chapter Two

      READY for a break, Oz made his way through the lunch line. Carrying his loaded tray, he grabbed a bottled water, then gave the hospital cafeteria checkout cashier his badge to scan.

      “How’s it going today, Gran?” he asked. The blue-haired lady’s real name was Wanda, but Oz had teasingly called her “Gran.” The nickname had stuck.

      Gran’s wrinkled cheeks flushed to a rosy shade of pink. “Not bad. My arthritis is flared a little, but when’s it not?”

      “You should let Will give you something for that.”

      Will Majors was Gran’s primary care physician and a friend of Oz’s. The two had hit it off during Oz’s visits and usually spent time windsurfing or sailing. These days both men had other priorities, Dr Talbot being Oz’s number one.

      “He’s tried.” The woman chuckled. “But I’m not going to take medications unless I reach the point where I have to. If I don’t ease up in a day or two, though, I’ll schedule an appointment with Dr Will.”

      “Take care, Gran, and keep making men pay you to stand there looking beautiful.”

      Beaming, Gran cackled with pleasure.

      It

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