“Okay, then. You’re a bit of a hard nut to crack,” he said, keeping up with her pace.
She rolled her eyes and handed him a pile of charts. “Here are your cases.”
“Thanks,” he muttered, and then stood in front of her. “Look, I think the key to a good medical partnership is to at least be friends. We can be civil to each other, can’t we?”
Ruby felt guilty for being so cold to him. She was so used to pushing people away. “I suppose... I’m sorry.”
He smiled brightly at her. “There—that’s better.”
She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “Just do your job and do it well, then we won’t have a problem.”
“Aran, glad you could finally make it.”
Jessica got up and went to embrace her son. He hugged her back, but Ruby could tell that it was grudgingly. In fact, it looked as if her touch caused him pain.
Jessica moved away. “Have a seat, Aran. I was just talking to Ruby about you joining her trauma team.”
Ruby watched as he limped to the chair beside her and took a seat. He winced slightly as he sat, but didn’t look at her. He was obviously annoyed she hadn’t gone down to San Diego, despite what he’d told her. Still, it was the discomfort he was in that worried her. Military man or not, if he was this stiff, in this much pain, he couldn’t be on her trauma team. He wouldn’t be able to keep up.
“I’m sorry, Jessica,” Ruby said.
“For what?” Jessica asked, surprised.
“Aran, you’re an excellent surgeon, and your military training would be an asset, but clearly you’re not healed enough to be on my team.”
She glanced over at Aran and saw he was finally looking at her. His expression was that of a broken man who had seen too much violence. She felt bad, she truly did, but he had to be able to handle tough situations. Extreme weather...rough conditions... And she wasn’t certain that he could. She hated hurting him like this, but he just wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“I can move fine, Ruby. I was just on a very long flight from San Diego to Juneau, then a flight to Anchorage and a cab ride here. Once I start moving I’ll be able to perform my duties adequately,” Aran said stiffly.
“Ruby, the board of directors wants Aran on your team. It would be in your best interests—”
“I’m sorry, Jessica.” Ruby stood up. “He needs to be in better physical condition. I’m sorry.”
Ruby couldn’t look at Aran as she left the office. And she didn’t get very far before she felt a hand slip around her arm and turn her around. It was Aran and she was surprised.
“Is this fast enough for you?” he asked.
She could see the anger in his eyes. She shook out of his grasp. “So I misjudged your physical endurance...”
“Yes, I’m stiff. Yes, I’m still recovering from my injury. But I can keep up with the work on the trauma team. I can help your team if you just give me a chance.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and his expression softened. “Besides, you owe me this. You owe me a favor, remember?”
* * *
Aran held his breath as he looked down into the dark black eyes of his wife and now potentially his boss. When he’d been injured and honorably discharged, he’d been surprised when his mother had showed up in San Diego. She’d never left Alaska—not even when her marriage to his father had been at stake. His mother loved the north.
He’d been glad she’d come, but he’d been disappointed that Ruby hadn’t shown. Even though he’d told her she didn’t need to come, he’d thought they were friends as well as fake spouses.
He’d always cared for Ruby. Always had a soft spot for her, always desired her. But she’d never been interested. So he’d befriended her. The only woman he’d ever befriended who hadn’t turned into a short-lived romance.
Ruby was different from other women he knew. She always had a wall up. So when she hadn’t shown up he’d hidden his disappointment. Ruby reminded him of his mother. Always bound to the north and her work. That kind of woman was a kind that he didn’t want to get attached to. Yet, he had married Ruby anyway.
He was crazy.
So he hadn’t expected his mother to come down to San Diego. And he definitely hadn’t expected his mother to offer him a job.
When his mother had offered him a chance to work on an elite trauma team—like working on the front line, but without enemy fire—he’d felt a faint glimmer of hope again. It had crushed him completely when he’d been injured and unable to go back to the front line, and working in a military hospital was something he didn’t want to do. He liked to be out in the field, saving lives.
Of course when he’d heard that the leader of this team of trauma surgeons, paramedics and nurses was none other than his fake wife, he’d almost thought about backing down. He knew Ruby wouldn’t like it.
He didn’t know much about her, because she never let anyone in, but he admired her tenacity—which was why he’d proposed to her. He’d wanted her to make her dream become a reality and he’d valued their work friendship.
It hadn’t hurt, either, that Aran had always thought she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on, and for one brief moment in that time just after they were married—just before he shipped out—he’d wished that he could get to know her better. Wished he had more time to bring down those walls of hers.
He had been hoping that their years apart would have changed the attraction he felt for her. Only they hadn’t. She was just as beautiful and feisty as ever. With those dark eyes that seemed to pierce right through his soul, her pink full lips, and the black hair that was really a rich dark brown and shot through with hues of auburn.
But she was unobtainable to him, and he knew that a relationship with a woman so connected to her work and to the north would never work out for him.
Now he was really wishing he had said no to the offer of working up here in Anchorage. He should head back to San Diego.
You made your bed. Now lie in it.
Ruby shook out of his grasp. “Fine. I will give you a chance. But if you can’t keep up then I’m sorry but I can’t use you on my team.”
Aran nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Are you going to keep up with physiotherapy?” she asked.
“Yes. I’m about to head there now, and then on to Human Resources.”
“I’ll walk with you and explain a bit about what I’m doing.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
Ruby walked slowly. He appreciated that she was trying to be nice, but it was actually harder on his leg than walking quickly.
“We can speed it up, you know.”
“What?” she asked.
“It’s actually better for stretching out the muscles if we move a bit faster.”
“Sorry.” A blush tinged her warm tawny-colored cheeks.
“It’s okay. I’ve been adamant about getting back into fighting form. I didn’t want to lounge away in a hospital bed for long.”
She nodded. “Do you mind if I ask exactly how it happened? I was told it was an IED, but nothing else. They didn’t give me any more details.”
Yes, I do mind.