LITMIR.BIZ

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in height on her. “I know you are James’s friend, and I’m told you are good at what you do. Also that you are part of a royal family, which is perhaps why you feel you can do as you please.”

      “I can do as I please.”

      The arrogance of the words wasn’t diminished by the even modulation of his deep voice. Her heartbeat upped its tempo to double time, and that burning sensation prickled her scalp again. “Maybe you can in a lot of places, but not here, Dr. Moreno. I may be a midwife and not a physician, but I assure you that I’m the person in charge of the day-to-day operation of The Hollywood Hills Clinic’s maternity ward. While I am grateful you came quickly to see Cameron when James requested you to, I don’t appreciate you walking in and just taking over. Completely ignoring the notes I made on Ms. Fontaine’s chart and utterly dismissing my medical opinion and recommendation. Even worse, you said and did it all in front of the patient. That was insulting and rude, and frankly could have very well undermined her confidence in me, my knowledge, and my skills.”

      The expression on his smooth, angular features didn’t change, but in the depths of his eyes there was a sudden, dangerous glint. Her breath caught and held in her chest during the long pause that crackled between them before he finally spoke. “Anything else?”

      “Yes, actually.”

      Gabby slowly walked around from behind the desk, taking that moment to get the air moving in her lungs again, hoping to calm both her tripping heart and her frustration. For the first time in her life she wished she was taller than her five feet six inches, but was so angry she came to stand nearly toe to toe with him anyway.

      “I resent you saying that room was a mess, that it was substandard, and by association that I’m substandard. Even worse that you said it in front of our patient as well. I work very hard to keep my ward immaculately clean, organized and running smoothly, to keep these rooms as luxurious and beautiful as James insists they be, and our patients expect. But as an obstetrician you should certainly know that when there’s any kind of medical emergency, like the difficult twin births I was dealing with prior to Cameron arriving, it tends to mess up a hospital room. Is it possible that you never give that a thought, though, since an OB can often run in, catch a baby, play hero, then leave the cleanup to someone else?”

      “I assure you,” he said in a silky-soft voice at odds with that glint sparking in his eyes, “I am well versed in hospital room chaos, having worked in all kinds of clinics around the world. I resent your implication that I’m a spoiled and selfish man unwilling to take on any task required of me. That is an unacceptable insult. Who and what I am is a doctor who prides himself on paying attention to every detail, and the fact is that the disarray of that room was obvious evidence that I had to take control of the situation.”

      The small gap between them closed, and with his narrowed gaze so close, so intense Gabby found she had to break their eye contact before she got dizzy from it. Which then had her staring at his mouth, at lips that were hard and uncompromising, and somehow at the same time so soft and sensually shaped that her stomach did a strange little flip that didn’t feel at all like the anger pumping through her veins.

      “And I assure you that was a misconception, and you taking control of the situation was both unnecessary and unwelcome.” Gabby resisted the urge to stroke her hand down her throat, swiping away the sweat she was sure must be forming there. Why did it suddenly seem so hot in this room? Was it her anger making her heart quiver, and was it her imagination that all that heat seemed to be shimmering right between them, practically pouring from his big, masculine body? “If you end up coming back to see Cameron, and I frankly would prefer a different physician do so, I would appreciate you showing me respect in front of our patient, and I will continue to show you that same respect.”

      “Oh, I’ll be back, Ms. Cain, have no doubt about that. Whether you like it or not. When I make a commitment to a friend like James, and to a patient, I always see it through to the end.” His eyes were still narrowed, his words still spoken in that silky, soft tone that sounded odd, coming from lips that had been firmly clamped together the whole time she’d spoken. Then, to her utter shock, he reached for her hand and lifted it to those beautiful lips, pressing them to the back of it.

      Both soft and firm, he kept them there for three long seconds, causing that weirdly disconcerting spark to fly up her arm again. Then he released it and, without another word, turned and strode out the door.

      Gabby stared blindly at the wall beside her door, absently running her palm from the back of her other hand up her arm, feeling the gooseflesh still making all the little hairs stand at attention. “Well, Gabby, that went well,” she muttered to herself, barely able to catch her breath. “When it comes to verbal sparring to handle a problem, that man is clearly way out of your league.”

      Which left her with a very difficult question. What she was going to do next to keep him from taking over her entire ward?

       CHAPTER TWO

      “YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN a workaholic, but your schedule seems insane to me,” Rafael said as he sat across from James, glad his friend had finally found time to stop by the cliffside home Rafael was renting. “I thought I might be moving on from L.A. before we had a chance to share another drink.”

      “Hey, I do things other than work.”

      “Like what? Are you taking up golf?” Rafael asked with a grin, since he knew the man had zero interest in spending that much time on a game.

      That drew a return grin from James. “No, but I do have a date in about...one hour,” he said, glancing at his watch. “And what do you mean, you might be moving on from L.A. soon? Is rolling stone Rafael already thinking about leaving? I thought you’d come here to go into hiding for a while.”

      “Doesn’t seem to have worked too well. One or the other of my parents calls me practically daily with disapproving updates on the photos and completely exaggerated stories still showing up in the gossip magazines about me.”

      “If you didn’t date strippers, maybe you wouldn’t have that problem.”

      “I didn’t even know she’d been a stripper until it was splashed across all the papers.” He shook his head, wondering why everyone had to make such a big deal out of it anyway. “But if I hear one more word from my family about having to find a ‘suitable’ girlfriend, I may just become a monk.”

      “Like there’s any chance of that,” James said with a smirk. “One of the reasons I always liked hanging out with you was because women flock around a prince like ants to a piece of candy. A good way for me to meet the cast-offs.”

      “Because you have such a problem with meeting women,” Rafael said dryly. “Didn’t you just tell me you have a date tonight?”

      “Yeah.” James’s face instantly settled into an oddly serious expression, and it struck Rafael that his friend might be getting back into a relationship with Mila Brightman, his former fiancée.

      “I heard you’re having to spend time with Mila now you’re working with her charity,” he said casually, hoping James would talk to him about it if he felt a need to. “Are you seeing her again?”

      “No. That was over long ago.” James seemed to be studying the condensation droplets on his iced-tea glass very intently, and Rafael wondered if it was to avoid looking him in the eye. “But I do think dating someone new is a good idea to, you know, distract me from thinking about the past.”

      Rafael frowned. He knew their breakup had been hard on both James and Mila, but it had been James’s idea, after all. How much was he still bothered by it? “Maybe you and Mila—”

      “I don’t really want to talk about it.” James set his glass down and put on the cool, professional face Rafael had seen many times when James wanted to put distance between himself and others. “Tell me about how things went with Cameron Fontaine. And by the way, I don’t think I’ve told you how much I appreciate you seeing

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