LITMIR.BIZ

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shuddered. Yeah, the less time she spent in his presence, the better.

      * * *

      “Craig, I hope you’re not teaching my son any bad habits or spoiling him.” Derek Logan switched his cell phone to his other ear. He leaned against the sill of the floor-to-ceiling window in the small hospital waiting room, glad to hear his brother’s voice.

      “Your son is in good hands, bro. I’m teaching him everything I know.”

      “Yeah, that’s what concerns me. I’ve already had to break him from claiming every girl or woman he meets as his girlfriend.” Craig’s hearty laugh flowed through the phone line. Sure, he was laughing, but when Jason had asked his teacher to be his date, Derek had been caught totally off guard.

      “Well, since I married Toni, Jason and I don’t discuss girlfriends.”

      “Good. He’s four years old. As far as I’m concerned, he shouldn’t know anything about girlfriends.”

      “Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Now I’m teaching him all about what it’s like to have a wife.”

      Derek shook his head. He knew his brother was joking, but ever since Craig married Toni Jenkins a year ago, all his brother talked about was how wonderful marriage was and how much he loved being a father. Their infant son had mellowed his brother out. As a Cincinnati police detective, he had been wound tighter than a politician on election day before he’d married and had a baby. As far as Derek was concerned, Toni was the best thing that had ever happened to Craig.

      “So I assume you’re calling to talk to the kid.” Craig cut into Derek’s thoughts.

      “Uh, yeah.”

      “Well, he’s not here. Toni took him and the baby over to her grandparents’ house. I’m sure they’ll be back soon. I’ll have Jason call you when he comes in.” Derek heard pots banging over the phone line and assumed Craig was cooking. Out of the four of his brothers, Craig was the best chef, though they all could hold their own in the kitchen. “So how is Noah doing?”

      “About the same. His doctor said there was nothing else they could do for him.”

      “Ah, man, I’m sorry to hear that. I guess the better question would be, how are you doing with all of this?”

      Derek had always seen Noah as invincible. For fifteen years, Noah had served as his mentor as well as a father figure, being there for all the big events in Derek’s life. He couldn’t imagine his life without the old man, as he lovingly referred to him.

      They had met in Cincinnati the summer before Derek started college. Noah had been a presenter at a three-day seminar that Derek attended, and they immediately hit it off. When Noah had offered Derek, who was majoring in architecture, an internship at his company the following summer, their relationship took off from there. Derek spent every summer while in college at Price Architectural Firm.

      “I’m all right. The whole situation is still a little unbelievable. Before I left his room, he mentioned that he was tired. I’m not sure if he was just tired...or tired of fighting.” Derek dropped down in a nearby chair, inhaled deeply and released his breath slowly. He’d had about six hours of sleep in the last forty-eight hours, and exhaustion consumed his body.

      “Well, you know if you need any of us, just say the word and we’re there.”

      “I know. Thanks, man. I appreciate that. With you taking care of my lil’ man, that’s all I can ask.” When Derek’s wife walked out on him and Jason four years ago, he had raised his son by himself, and though at times it was hard, he couldn’t imagine not having Jason in his life. He also couldn’t imagine not having the support of his family members, who were always willing to step in and help.

      “So how are you dealing with, uh, what’s her name? Macy?”

      “What do you mean?” He glanced at his Movado watch, a gift to himself after he landed a huge contract to redesign an office building a few months earlier.

      “I mean, have you gotten to know her better? You do realize that you’re not getting any younger, don’t you? What better way to get back into the dating scene than with a doctor? She could probably teach you things that—”

      “Man, I’m not trying to start anything here,” Derek said, though he’d been attracted to Macy from the moment he met her. “My main and only focus in Atlanta is Noah. Macy is like a daughter to him, so we’re cordial but nothing else. My life is in Cincinnati. You know that.”

      “You’re a freelance architect. You can work anywhere. If she’s as hot as you described, maybe you should be trying to get to know her. It’s way past time you got back out there and started dating again.”

      Derek sighed and ran his hand over his head. It seemed as if he was getting the same speech from everyone lately, especially from Craig and their brother Keith, who was two years older than Derek. He could understand Craig’s insistence, but not Keith, who was in the middle of a divorce.

      He and Craig talked for a few minutes longer before Derek disconnected. It was time to check on Noah.

      The moment he stepped into the room, Macy’s pager went off. She glanced at it and blew out a breath. Derek knew she was a pediatrician, but didn’t know much else about her, which was okay with him.

      If she’s as hot as you described, maybe you should be trying to get to know her. Craig’s words flitted around in his head. She might have been fine as hell, with blemish-free skin, light brown eyes and a smile that could stop a man in his tracks. But Derek didn’t have time for dating, especially dating long-distance. So what if he was curious about whether her long hair was as soft as it looked or that her full lips tempted him beyond belief? He wasn’t going to start something he had no intention of finishing.

      “When Noah wakes up, can you tell him I’ll see him a little later?” Macy asked.

      Derek nodded and she surprised him by handing him a business card. They had been keeping vigil over Noah for days and this was the first time she had given him her contact information.

      “The hospital knows how to reach me, but can you call me if anything changes?”

      Derek accepted the card and glanced at it before returning his attention to her. He had to be careful around her. Those eyes, accented with long eyelashes, could do a brother more harm than good.

      “Will do.” He slid the card into the front pocket of his pants, his gaze following her as she headed for the door. She had the type of body, curvy without being too skinny or fat, that typically made him take a second glance. She was always casually dressed whenever he saw her, but he could tell that beneath the clothing was a hot body.

      He shook his head and chastised himself for allowing his mind to even go there. He didn’t need that type of distraction right now.

      “You can stop faking sleep, old man,” he said when he approached Noah’s bed. “She’s gone.”

      “Nobody likes...a smart-ass,” Noah said in a voice just above a whisper.

      Derek smiled. He hadn’t been sure Noah was awake and had spoken the words just for the hell of it.

      He took in the older man’s appearance. His once-full head of gray, wavy hair was very thin, and his sunken eyes made him almost unrecognizable. Once a large man, Noah barely tilted the scale at a hundred and forty pounds now, and the realization that he was looking weaker by the day unsettled Derek.

      “Look out...for her.”

      Noah’s words pulled Derek back to the present. “Excuse me?” He leaned in close.

      “You heard...me.” Noah’s voice suddenly seemed stronger and he met Derek’s gaze for the first time in days.

      Derek hesitated. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for his mentor, but he wasn’t exactly sure what Noah was expecting of him when it came to Macy. He knew

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