LITMIR.BIZ

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she still couldn’t imagine herself living like this. She’d gone into medicine to help people, not to become rich and famous.

      Fantasy time was definitely over.

      Shaking her head at her foolishness, she picked up her clothes, strewn from one corner of the room to the other. She blushed again as she pulled on her yellow bikini, limping as she favored her sore toe. She pulled on the blouse and shorts over the top, slipped her feet into her flip-flop sandals and reached for her purse.

      “Going somewhere?” Jake asked.

      Her heart shot into her throat and she gasped, spinning around toward him. He stood in the hallway wearing nothing but a scowl on his face and low-slung boxers. Refusing to be distracted by his muscular bare chest, she tried to keep her gaze steady as the seconds dragged out into a long, uncomfortable minute. “Yes. I—uh, have to go.”

      His gaze bored into hers. “Without saying goodbye?”

      Embarrassed, she glanced away. Okay, maybe she was out of practice with this stuff but, really, what did he expect? They didn’t even know each other’s last names.

      She shoved aside the flash of guilt. People did this all the time, right? Right. “Look, it was great. Spectacular, really. You were...absolutely amazing. But I have an important meeting to attend this morning so I really need to get home.”

      His gaze never wavered. “Fine. I’ll drive you.”

      “No!” Her refusal came out more harshly than she’d intended. But for some reason she wasn’t anxious for him to know where she lived. Besides, from this day forward her life was not her own. She had no idea what he did for work, but whatever it was, she was certain he’d have far more free time than she would. “I mean, don’t bother. I’ll get a cab.” Or the subway.

      “Hannah,” he protested, starting toward her, but she picked up her purse and quickly opened the door, effectively cutting him off.

      “Goodbye, Jake. You’ll never know how badly I needed what we shared last night. Thanks for everything.” She slipped out of the condo and hastily walked down the hall to the elevators. She held her breath, hoping, praying he didn’t follow.

      When the elevator dinged, she couldn’t help throwing a glance over her shoulder, surprised to discover he’d followed her out. Standing there, his broad-muscled shoulder propped up against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest, he looked incredibly sexy, especially with the way his tousled black hair framed his hard, chiseled face.

      A wave of regret hit hard and she stumbled, almost falling flat on her face.

      Dear God, he was like a giant magnet pulling every cell in her body back toward him. She really, really didn’t want to leave.

      But she had to.

      It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to regain her equilibrium, flashing him a weak smile and a tiny wave before disappearing inside the waiting elevator.

      As the doors closed she heard him murmur, “Goodbye, Hannah.”

      She closed her eyes and slumped against the wall of the elevator, running a hand through her hopelessly tangled hair. Tears of regret stung her eyes and she quickly swiped them away. What in the world was wrong with her?

      He was just a man. An incredibly sexy, fiercely attractive man, yes. But still a man.

      It was better to make a clean break. As much as she had enjoyed being with him, she didn’t have time for a man.

      Or a relationship.

      Not that Jake had even remotely offered such a thing, she reminded herself sternly.

      People had one-night stands all the time, and she was pretty sure none of the participants stood around dissecting every moment after the fact. So why was she second-guessing herself? Sex was good. Sex was healthy. They’d had a great time together and now it was over.

      End of discussion.

      Hannah hailed a cab and rode through the dark streets to the less glitzy part of town. The warehouse apartment she shared with Margie was scantily and eclectically furnished, but boasted huge windows along two walls. True to form, her roommate wasn’t home. Margie had obviously spent the night with her boyfriend, Bryan.

      Relieved to discover that Margie wasn’t there to grill her over what had happened, she made her way to her bedroom.

      Normally she liked to drink a cup of coffee while looking out at the sun rising over the water, but today she was too anxious to try to relax so she simply showered and dressed. The subway ride to the hospital didn’t take long and she made it to Chicago Care with fifteen minutes to spare.

      Thank God she wasn’t late on her very first day. In fact, she felt oddly energized.

      A night of spectacular sex could do that for you.

      She tried her best to wipe the crooked grin off her face.

      The general-surgery conference room on the fifth floor contained about thirty-five people—interns, just like herself, waiting to start their first day as doctors.

      A sliver of anticipation mixed with a healthy dose of fear filled her chest. This was it. The moment she’d been waiting for. She was officially a doctor.

      Dr. Hannah Stewart.

      Yesterday, she’d celebrated the end of her old life. The eight-year grind of working, studying and then working some more. Balancing two jobs to support herself and her family while managing to keep decent grades through medical school hadn’t been easy. She’d spent most of her time during medical school alone. Hadn’t she deserved one night of fun, of recklessness? Of letting loose and having fun? Of doing something just for herself and no one else?

      Maybe she’d taken her celebration a little too far by going home to spend the night with Jake, but that didn’t matter. There was no point in ruminating over the past. She was moving on to the next stage of her career. She’d waited for this day for what seemed like forever. Growing up, they’d lived from one paycheck to the next. And, truthfully, her years of college and medical school hadn’t been much different. Even with a massive loan to pay her tuition, she’d still struggled to make ends meet.

      Despite the odds that had been steeply stacked against her from the moment she’d left high school, she’d made it. She’d passed her medical boards. She’d been accepted into the surgical residency program.

      Hannah lifted her chin stubbornly. She’d made it this far, and she was bound and determined to make it through the grueling five years before her, too.

      Nothing and no one was going to stand in her way.

      * * *

      Hannah was sharply disappointed to discover the entire first two days of being a new intern meant being stuck in new-employee orientation training for hours on end. Granted, the information was obviously important, and full of rules she tried hard to commit to memory, but sitting in the large lecture hall had been extremely anticlimactic.

      Being with her fellow interns wasn’t too bad. She bonded a little bit with one of the few female residents, a strikingly beautiful caramel-skinned young woman by the name of Andrea Barkley. It was a little disturbing to know that the odds were, in fact, stacked against them. The surgical residency program was brutal, one of the reasons many women rarely got in. Or, if they did get in, they didn’t make it all the way through the program.

      Or so she’d heard from her former boyfriend, Alec, who had been an intern when she’d been a junior medical student. No wonder their brief relationship hadn’t lasted very long.

      The jerk hadn’t been the least bit supportive of her dream to become a surgeon. In fact, she’d had the sense he was threatened by her knowledge and determination. As if they were in some sort of competition or something. He never hesitated to make her feel stupid. And he wasn’t supportive of her family issues, either. Or of her need to work two jobs.

      She was much better off without him.

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