LITMIR.BIZ

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so long since he shared the burden, that giving even a little of it up, for however short a time, was like being able to breathe again.

      The moment stretched into many, into time he couldn’t measure, before the comfort she offered and he grasped at became too much to accept and he very carefully pulled out of her embrace. Still within touching distance, they stood looking at each other and for the first time, he saw her as a woman and not the doctor who’d stepped in to help a stranger in need. She was barely to his shoulder, on the thin side of slender, and there was a delicacy about her, as if she were finely made and vulnerable to the rigors of life. Her dark red hair was gilded with copper and gold in the dim light, her eyes an unusual shade of light brown. He might have, at first glance, dismissed her as merely decorative, with little substance, except he had felt the strength in her hands, seen the intelligence and empathy in her eyes, been touched by her warmth even when he thought himself immune.

      She accepted his study for a minute or two and then dropped her eyes and took an uncertain step back. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

      “Don’t be.” Duran resisted the urge to reach out to her, to reassure her that she’d misinterpreted his moving away from her; he’d been alone for so long it had become habit to throw up his defenses when he was most vulnerable. “I appreciate everything you’ve done so far. You’ve gone way out of your way to help us.”

      “Yes, well, that is my job,” she said briskly. She avoided eye contact with him and busied herself taking Noah’s temperature again. “I’ll have the nurse check him again in a couple of hours. If there’s no change, then we’ll start the IV. But we’ll keep our fingers crossed he won’t need it this time. I’ll be back first thing in the morning, unless there’s a problem before then.”

      For some reason, her determined return to professional detachment irritated him. It felt jarringly out of place, though by all rights, it shouldn’t have. “Does this mean I have to start calling you Dr. Kerrigan again?”

      “You haven’t called me anything,” she said. A slight smile touched her mouth, bringing back a whisper of the warmth. “At least out loud.”

      “Okay, Lia,” he said deliberately. “Then we’ll see you in the morning.”

      This time the smile blossomed. “Count on it.”

      Lia left the hospital, her body tired, but thoughts and emotions too unsettled to let her rest. It was late, nearly ten, but the notion of going home and confessing her sins to her elderly cat didn’t appeal. Instead, she decided to stop by Morente’s and see if Nova could spare half an hour for a glass of wine.

      She and Nova Vargas—six months now Mrs. Alex Tréjos—had been friends for a decade, ever since Lia had come to Luna Hermosa as a young intern and decided to make it home. Nova had been waitressing at the local diner—they’d met the first time Lia, new in town, came in search of a serious caffeine transfusion—and almost from the first they’d started a ritual, Lia sticking around after the diner closed, the two of them having coffee or a drink, sharing grievances and confidences. Since last year, when Nova had taken over managing the upscale Morente’s and then in February, had married the local middle-school principal, they’d had less time together. But they both resolved to keep their weekly ritual, even if it meant an hour in Nova’s office, sharing a margarita and whatever chocolate dessert was left over from the kitchen.

      “Hey, girl, I didn’t expect to see you here tonight,” Nova greeted her with a hug before stepping back to give Lia a critical once-over. “I thought you were going to go home and actually relax for once.”

      “I was, but something came up.”

      “I hope he was tall, dark and gorgeous.”

      “He is, but he comes packaged with a short, dark and cute one,” Lia said, smiling when Nova’s mouth pulled up in an expression of serious disbelief. “I promise to tell all, if you’ve got time for a glass of wine.”

      “I can make time for this,” Nova said and gestured Lia to follow her to the back office.

      A few minutes later, settled on the office couch with a glass of wine and a generous serving of wickedly rich chocolate soufflé, Lia told her about Duran and his reason for coming to town to find Jed. She knew Nova wouldn’t gossip. She was Cort’s former lover and had married his best friend, and the three of them had stayed close. Besides, news got around fast enough in Luna Hermosa without Nova’s help. Lia gave it less than a week before everyone would be talking about it.

      Nova, like her, shrugged off the revelation of Jed fathering two more sons. “Everyone knows Jed Garrett likes women and lots of them. So what’s this Duran Forrester like?”

      “Tall, dark and gorgeous,” Lia said lightly. She felt herself coloring and reached for another bite of soufflé to cover it, hoping Nova wouldn’t notice. Bad enough she’d practically thrown herself into his arms back in Noah’s room. She didn’t need Nova deciding there was more going on than just her normal concern for the father of a seriously sick child.

      “And?” Nova prompted.

      “And he’s a single father who loves his son and would make a deal with the devil to save his life.”

      “Ah.” Taking a sip of her wine, Nova studied her for a moment. “You seem to have gone above and beyond to help him out.”

      “It’s my job.” Lia repeated the same excuse she’d given Duran.

      “And you’re doing it very thoroughly.”

      “It’s not like that at all.”

      “Sure it isn’t.”

      “Oh, for pity’s sake, we spent most of our time together in a hospital room with his sick child. What could possibly have happened?”

      “I don’t know, you tell me,” Nova said and Lia wanted to answer, nothing, absolutely nothing, except it felt like a lie. “I can imagine it’d be pretty easy to get attached to a sick little boy and a devoted single dad who came to a town full of strangers looking for someone to help save his son’s life. And if he’s as hot as you say he is—”

      “I didn’t say that,” Lia protested.

      “You didn’t have to. Just be careful, okay? I know you want to help, but I also know how you are when it comes to getting too involved.”

      Her friend probably did, but Lia didn’t want to be reminded of it right now. “And how am I?” she asked, knowing Nova would tell her if even if she didn’t.

      “I love you, but you have this way of sabotaging every relationship you’re in because you’re afraid it might work,” Nova said.

      “Oh, please, that’s not true. And a few hours with a stranger hardly qualifies as a relationship.”

      “Look what happened with Tonio,” Nova continued. “He started to get serious and you decided you were too busy to spend time with him. You kept pushing him away until he finally got fed up and left you. He and Rita Pérez are dating,” she added, mentioning the name of one of Morente’s waitresses. “In case you’re interested.”

      It was hard, coming up with a defense, when Lia suspected—no, she knew—that Nova was probably right. “I’m not,” she grumbled. “And you aren’t exactly a model for a successful relationship, you know.”

      Nova laughed. “Until Alex, I never wanted one. My dad walking out on Mama and me cured me of wanting to tie myself to anyone for too long.”

      “You and Cort were together for years,” Lia pointed out.

      “Cort and I were lovers but we were never together. We were always just friends. Good friends,” she added at Lia’s skeptical look. “I liked being with him and he’s one helluva lover. But, trust me, neither of us ever had the least intention of making it permanent.”

      “And now you’re married,” Lia said, emphasizing the word. “That can

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