At the husky, somewhat familiar male tone, prickles of anticipation, of excitement, tightened her skin. Breathless, her heart racing, she lifted her head. “Oh. Leo. Hi.”
Leo Montesano, all six-plus feet of tall, dark and dazzling, raised his eyebrows as he stepped back. “Ouch. No need to sound so disappointed.”
Maybe she had sounded less than enthusiastic about running into him. Poor guy probably didn’t know what to do with a female who didn’t fall at his feet.
She smiled, both to ease her initial reaction and because, well, it wouldn’t hurt to try her flirting skills on him. God knew she needed the practice. “Don’t be ridiculous. What woman could be disappointed to see you?”
It went against human nature. Shaggy dark hair with just the right amount of wave fell in artful disarray around a face designed to make women thank the Lord for one of His greatest works. Brown, soulful eyes, a sharp jaw, full lips and a Roman nose completed what was, all in all, a mighty pretty package. Throw in an abundance of charm, good humor and the fact that as a firefighter he saved lives for a living, and he was the very definition of Fantasy Man.
Then again, with his perfect, muscular body—honestly, he had to spend a good portion of his day in the gym—he could be dog-ugly and dumb as dirt, and women would still write poetic odes about his broad shoulders, bulging biceps and top-notch rear.
He made a humming sound of disbelief. “Nice recovery attempt, but I saw your face. It’s like you were expecting Brad Pitt and instead, you got stuck with me.”
“Yes, that would be quite the letdown.”
His lips quirked. Clearly the man knew what he looked like. “Who is it?”
“Who is what?” she asked over her shoulder as she walked into the empty break room.
Leo followed, leaned against the door frame. “The guy you’re tossing me over for. It hurts. Really. If you’re not careful, you’re going to break my heart.”
Pouring coffee into her favorite mug, she snorted. Oh, yeah, he was full of charm. And bull. “I highly doubt it.”
He grinned, and she could’ve sworn she heard every female within a mile radius—along with a few angels up in heaven—sigh in pleasure. “Don’t underestimate yourself.”
She didn’t.
But she was smart enough to know her limits. She’d learned her lesson with Kane. She’d tried out for the big leagues when she would have been better off staying on the bench. Kane and Leo were cut from the same cloth: too sexy, too enigmatic and way too experienced for the likes of little ol’ her.
“Did you come in just to boost my ego?” she asked, adding cream to her coffee and pulling out a protein bar from her lunch in the fridge. “Or have your Saturday nights become so boring you’ve resorted to hanging out at the E.R. instead of bars?”
“Hey, now, I don’t just wear this because the ladies love it,” he said, gesturing to his dark firefighter uniform. “I’m on the clock. We brought in an elderly man with chest pains. The new doc is looking at him.”
“Dr. Louk?” she asked, proud she sounded casual and barely curious.
Leo lifted a shoulder, not giving her any info about the new physician, such as which room he’d taken the patient to so she could oh-so-casually walk past. After she’d checked her hair and makeup, of course.
“You hear about James and Sadie taking off next weekend?” Leo asked.
Nodding, Char unwrapped the bar, bit into it and wanted to spit the chalky, faux-chocolate thing right back out. “Sadie’s really looking forward to it,” she said around her mouthful.
She swallowed. Considered taking another bite, but no one should ever be that hungry.
“You think it’s a good idea?”
Char tucked the bar into the pocket of her scrubs. “They’re going to a bed-and-breakfast outside of DC. Not traveling to some politically unstable hot spot overseas.”
“No, I mean...” He stepped farther into the room and looked around. She looked, too, but the room was still empty. “Them getting married.”
Charlotte went absolutely still. She laid a hand over her chest to make sure her heart still beat. “Sadie and James are eloping? Oh, she is so dead. The only question is, who’ll kill her first? Your mom or mine?”
“They’re not eloping. James would never do something that spontaneous.”
“Then what—”
“He’s going to propose to her.”
“Did he tell you?” Char asked, for some reason matching Leo’s scandalized whisper with one of her own.
He nodded. “Last night.”
Well, what do you know? James was going to ask Sadie to marry him.
It stung. Just a little. Enough to remind Char that not long ago, she’d dreamed of James getting down on bended knee in front of her. But mostly she was happy for her sister. Really, truly happy.
She and Sadie had made up. It hadn’t been easy or quick, but they were once again as close as they had been before their horrible fight. Closer—both figuratively and literally—now that Sadie lived in Shady Grove instead of traipsing around the country. It was impossible to stay mad at Sadie and, as much as it pained Char to admit it, she had, perhaps, gone a bit overboard with her crush on James.
“That’s so great,” Charlotte said, her smile widening as she imagined her sister’s surprise. Her happiness.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
“You don’t think they should get married?”
“I just don’t see why they want to rush into anything.”
“They’re both thirty-three and have known each other since they were kids. I’d hardly call that rushing.”
Leo’s radio went off and he checked it as he said, “You ask me, it’s always too soon to commit to being with one person the rest of your life.”
“That’s about the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard,” Charlotte faux-gushed. “I hadn’t realized you had such a deep, emotional side. You’re just a big romantic, aren’t you?”
He sent her another grin, this one more devastating than the last. Seriously, if she was made of weaker stuff, she might be swooning about now. “I have plenty of emotions,” he assured her. “And I’m all for commitment—for other people. Me? I like to have options. Lots and lots of options.” He sent her a sharp salute. “See ya later, gorgeous.”
Thank God she hadn’t fallen for him, Char thought as Leo left. It’d been bad enough making that mistake with someone like James, a good guy who’d let her down as gently as possible. Sure, Leo would’ve been kind. He wasn’t a jerk. Just careless with the hearts he held in the palm of his hand.
But women who fell for men like him—men who kept their options open, their bed partners varied and a tight grip on their single status—were only asking for heartbreak.
And she liked her heart in one piece, thanks all the same.
After rinsing out her coffee cup, she went out to triage, picked up a folder and opened it.
“Hello, Charlotte.”
The papers fell from her suddenly clumsy fingers. She picked them up, swallowed, then turned. “Hello, Doctor.”
She winced. Shoot. What was supposed to be a friendly, casual greeting had been more of a squeak.
“Please,” he said with an easy grin. “Call me Justin.”
Some doctors—mostly of the younger generation—preferred to be addressed