Michelle hadn’t seen him in two years because she’d been out of town on one nursing job or another during those times.
Caring for various patients in their own households had been her panacea to get on with her life after losing her husband to Lou Gehrig’s disease. The last contact she’d had with Zak had been at Rob’s funeral.
“I just finished a job in Murrieta.”
She didn’t add that her patient, Mike Francis, the prominent Californian pro golfer on the PGA circuit, now recovered from his severely broken leg because of a car accident, had asked her to fly to Australia with him for an invitational tournament next month.
Beneath the conventionally handsome golfer’s arrogance lived a man with a great deal of charm who could make her laugh. On top of that, she’d never been to Australia. The thought of exploring a little of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef sounded intriguing.
Although she’d applied for a passport in anticipation, Michelle was still trying to make up her mind whether she should go. She suspected he would always love his ex-wife, yet she knew he was trying to make a new beginning with Michelle.
In the course of being his nurse, she’d learned enough about him to know he wasn’t a man who made a commitment lightly. If she didn’t want a new beginning with him just as badly, then she had no business going away with him.
Neither of them needed more pain in their lives.
“As long as we’re on the subject, how grouchy is our patient this morning?” she teased in the hope of putting Lynette in a better mood.
“He’s still asleep and won’t want to be disturbed.”
Her niece was definitely warning her off. At some point this summer Lynette had left her girlhood behind.
“I’m up now,” came a deep masculine voice sounding an octave lower than she’d ever heard it before. Surprised, Michelle wheeled around.
Her breath caught.
“Zak—”
His six-foot-two frame was braced in the doorway at the end of the hall. Alarmed to realize what an effort he was making to remain upright, she started toward him.
“I thought I heard you talking to Lynette,” he said as she drew closer. “It’s been a long time, Michelle.”
She swallowed hard.
Suddenly she had the answer to her niece’s drastic transformation.
The last two years had brought changes. Adult changes. Still and always seven years younger than Michelle, Zak Sadler was a grown man now in every sense of the word. His black hair and strong masculine features made him utterly fascinating.
The aloofness that had characterized him years ago had turned into a compelling sensuality that threw out a male challenge Michelle couldn’t possibly ignore.
He wore the bottom half of a pair of gray sweats and nothing else, unless you counted the bandage wrapped around the ribs of his chest.
Zak was all hard-muscled male with a bronzed tan that came from working in the California sun. At twenty-eight, he was a man in his prime, the head of Sadler Construction Company in Carlsbad, a beach city close to two hours away from Riverside depending on the traffic.
He’d always worked construction and knew how to save his money. Refusing Graham’s financial help, he’d put himself through college to earn his construction engineering degree. According to her brother and Sherilyn, he’d built up an enviable business by bringing many of his former co-workers together. Apparently it was thriving.
Michelle couldn’t help but admire him for knowing what he wanted and going after it with single-minded determination.
But right now all she could think about was Zak’s impact on her. She’d known him for years as Sherilyn’s adopted brother, but she’d never thought of him in a physical way until now.
Struggling to keep her voice steady she said, “It’s good to see you again, Zak, but you shouldn’t be out of bed yet. I was bringing you some fresh ice bags.”
“Just what the doctor ordered.”
Something in his tone produced a quivery sensation in Michelle’s stomach that made no sense at all.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lynette had walked up next to Michelle, her avid gaze fastened on Zak. “I could have gotten some for you.”
He gave a negligent shrug of his broad shoulders, bringing more muscles into play. “I appreciate that, but I didn’t know I was hurting again until I came awake a minute ago.”
The whole time they’d been talking, his unsettling gaze had been narrowed on Michelle. Now it flicked to Lynette.
“Aren’t you going to be late for school? With the high cost of tuition these days, you can’t afford to miss class. That’s no way to start your freshman year.”
Michelle shivered because she already knew how Lynette would react to those remarks.
Her niece’s complexion lost color before she shot Michelle a hostile glance. In the next instant she flung around and headed for the stairs without saying a word.
Zak started for the bed with difficulty.
“Weren’t you a little hard on her?” Michelle asked, hating to have been caught in the cross fire.
“Not hard enough,” came the cryptic reply. “If you’ll play nurse for a while, I’ll tell you a story.”
Heat swamped her cheeks to realize she’d almost forgotten about his broken ribs. That was one of the reasons she was here, to provide medical assistance.
By the time she reached him, he’d managed to lie down on top of the queen-size bed. His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. The long thick lashes lay against his burnished skin. As she drew closer she noticed beads of perspiration along his hair line and black winged brows.
The shadow on his hard jawline and above his compelling mouth reminded her he was a man who could use two shaves a day, though she didn’t imagine he had the time or inclination for more than one. Either way, he was so incredibly good looking her mouth went dry.
Michelle averted her eyes, horrified to discover that she felt an attraction to Zak.
How was that possible?
She moaned deep down as Lynette’s words came back to haunt her. He’s not really my uncle. There’s no blood tie between us.
To her consternation, her body broke out in perspiration.
She placed the ice bags against his left side where she knew several two-by-fours being hoisted at a construction site had broken free to deck him and fracture two vertebrae.
“Ah…that feels good,” Zak murmured.
While she was bent over to listen to his heart and lungs with her stethoscope, an errant strand of silvery gold hair trailed against his hard-boned cheek. His eyes opened.
Through shuttered lids she felt their hazel depths absorb every feature of her face. He seemed to take his time studying her softly rounded chin, the lines of her pliant mouth. His gaze lingered on her finely arched brows and lashes which were darker than her hair.
“Still the same pansy-blue eyes though they’re not drenched with pain anymore. I’m glad to see the worst of your sorrow has passed.”
Shaken by his words, the intensity of gaze, she purposely flashed him her professional smile in an effort to conceal her awareness of him. “I’m much better these days, thank you.”
After she’d finished taking his blood pressure, she stood up and put her equipment away. “You’re the one your sister’s worried about. A collapsed lung is no joke. You shouldn’t have gotten up without someone to assist