LITMIR.BIZ

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eyes and blond hair. She wore some makeup, but not much. She didn’t play up her looks at all. If anything, she played them down.

      She must’ve felt him staring. Probably regarded him as just another sucker overtaken by her beauty. Hell, her smile alone could make a man do very stupid things. Even a physician who knew a lot about the brain and how it worked.

      “I assume Valeria knows these are stale by now,” Lisa said, then glanced down and frowned. “Dr. Cassidy? Your phone?”

      He still had the cell in his hand. It was his brother again. Daniel didn’t have the luxury of turning his cell off, so he might as well deal with this now. “Excuse me,” he murmured as he handed her the empty cup.

      He was halfway down the hall, planning what he’d text to Warren to make him go away, when it occurred to him he should’ve said something more to Lisa. It was tempting to go back, apologize for his rudeness. But why bother? Walking away seemed to be what he was best at.

      * * *

      “YOU CAME BACK. I’m impressed.”

      Lisa nearly ran Dr. Cassidy over when she stepped into the hall on her way to the ladies’ room the following morning. The heat rushing to her cheeks was as mortifying as the way she’d dipped her chin until she was looking at him through her lashes. She had no idea where that reaction had come from. The only thing missing was twirling her hair around one finger. “I committed to three days,” she said.

      “Right. Valeria mentioned that. Another scintillating day of filing?”

      She shook her head, very aware of her hair brushing across her shoulders. She’d spent a stupidly long time with her flatiron this morning. “Nope. Screening patients.”

      “Ah.”

      Daniel had his lab coat on, but it was open, revealing his dark-colored pants and pale blue oxford shirt. He’d worn a tie, dark blue, and oh... “Are those little pink ribbons?”

      He nodded, touching the half-Windsor knot. “Breast-cancer awareness. I have a collection of message ties. They’re useful for starting a dialogue with patients. For example, have you done a self-check lately?”

      She blushed again. Not because of what he’d said, but because of the image that had popped into her mind. The same image of his hands on her breasts that she’d imagined last night while repositioning her pillow a thousand times.

      Their gazes locked. His serious eyes and those slightly parted lips made her mouth go dry while her vaginal muscles tightened. Appalled at the unexpected flare of arousal, she looked away first. This sort of thing—this overwhelming desire to touch and be touched—hadn’t happened to her in ages. It wasn’t welcome, either.

      Daniel cleared his throat as he leaned back, distancing himself without taking a step. “I’ve got—” He held up the file in his hands. “Maybe I’ll see you later in the lounge.”

      She nodded, unable to think of a thing to say. Although she did release a big sigh when he walked into exam room 1.

      She continued on her way, more aware than ever that she’d made a critical error when she’d dressed that morning. Mercifully there wasn’t a full-length mirror in the ladies’ room. Regardless, Lisa saw her mistake the moment she looked at herself in the mirror above the sink.

      Technically, she hadn’t needed to return to the clinic, not for the case. Sure, she’d signed up to volunteer for three days but she could have backed out.

      In the end, she hadn’t been able to resist the allure of Dr. Cassidy. In addition to discovering why he was working at a free clinic, she wanted to know why a phone call had changed his demeanor so drastically yesterday. An emergency she would’ve understood, but he hadn’t even answered it. One second he’d been joking with her and the next, he’d walked away as if she’d ceased to exist. He hadn’t even returned for his cup of coffee.

      But who was she kidding? The way she’d dressed and the way she’d reacted when they’d spoken made her primary reason for returning embarrassingly obvious. She’d wanted to see him again. She wanted to feel that same jolt of excitement she’d felt yesterday. That yearning for a man’s touch she thought she’d smothered for good. For the past year, she’d been very careful, kept to herself, focused only on her new career. The four months before that she’d barely left her apartment. After what she’d been through, she knew better than to get close to anyone, let alone become involved.

      But maybe her perspective was too narrow. Sex didn’t necessarily mean involvement, right? According to Dr. Cassidy’s trading card, he was looking to get married, but before he met his soul mate, she doubted Daniel would object to a night of no-strings sex.

      Besides, he wouldn’t be with her. Not really. He’d be with Lisa Pine. After two days or even a week, she would disappear and that would be that. It would be like college. She hadn’t gone out often, but when she had, she’d made sure there would be no complications. His place only, first names, no sleeping over. The three one-night stands she’d had had been great. Of course that was before she’d met Miles. But she wasn’t going to think about him, except as a reminder that she was terrible at picking both friends and lovers.

      There was one more hurdle to clear before she could even contemplate sleeping with Daniel: Heather Norris. The odds of her choosing a doctor who worked for free were close to nil. But the fact remained that if Lisa decided she wanted to bed the good doctor, she needed to be damn certain Heather wasn’t interested.

      Because Lisa sure was. Although sex with him or any man would be a big step for her at this point. One reckless move could have devastating consequences.

      She focused once more on her reflection and sighed. No wonder the patients she’d been screening all morning had seemed distrustful. Their vague responses on the intake questions and the way they wouldn’t meet her gaze had puzzled her. Until now. It hadn’t been because she was a stranger but because she’d dressed to impress Dr. Cassidy, not to blend in.

      Rookie mistake. A private investigator was supposed to remain inconspicuous.

      The time she’d taken with her makeup should have been a clue. And what the hell had she been thinking, wearing her pale peach silk blouse? She never wore it unless she had somewhere special to go. Helping sick people fill out forms didn’t qualify.

      Of course she hadn’t brought another blouse with her. Or jeans and comfy flats, which would have been appropriate. Luckily, there was a thrift store a few blocks away where she was bound to find another top to wear. A quick glance at her watch told her she had ten minutes to go on her break, but wearing her five-inch heels, she’d never get there and back fast enough.

      Instead of worrying when there was nothing to do but wait until lunch, she stopped by the lounge. There were a few doughnuts left, so she fixed a coffee for Valeria as well as for herself and picked up two honey glazed to go.

      Valeria’s reaction to the impromptu gift was so appreciative it made Lisa squirm. Her motives hadn’t been pure, that was for sure. The woman was a font of knowledge when it came to the staff. Maybe Lisa could ask her out to lunch tomorrow.

      Very aware of the time, Lisa leaned against the credenza, swallowed a big bite of doughnut and said, “I can’t believe I dressed so inappropriately. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

      “You were thinking about Dr. Cassidy,” Valeria said. “Can’t say I blame you. But don’t get your hopes up. You aren’t the first girl to try to get something started with him.”

      Lisa considered pretending to be outraged, but what for? Even if she hadn’t come to work wearing silk, Valeria was too sharp to have missed what was going on. “He is puzzling, though. While we were in the lounge yesterday, he got a phone call and he couldn’t escape the room quickly enough. I figured it was a medical emergency, but he was wearing a pager, so maybe an ex-wife?”

      Valeria shook her head. “Nope, he’s never been married,” she said as she pushed her chair back far enough to put her heavy black boots up. “I might

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