As he sat down to dine alone, his thoughts shifted back to Jaclyn Campbell. He’d assumed he had fixed his problem when he’d sent her to work the nightshift in E.R. for a while. Usually she would have left the hospital by the time he would arrive. But on one particular morning there had been a school bus accident resulting in a number of injured kids. E.R. had been quite busy that day and everyone, even off-duty personnel, had been called in to assist.
And he had seen her. He had worked alongside her that day, and finally admitted to himself that he didn’t want distance between them again. He would just have to learn how to control his attraction. So far he had. However, there were days, like today, that could test him to the fullest.
While they were in Mr. Spencer’s room together, he had looked at her face and thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He’d seen the long dark lashes and how they’d fanned across her face, her beautiful hazel eyes, her chin-length, straight brown hair and creamy fair skin. Although she’d never confirmed or denied it, he’d heard that she was the product of a biracial marriage. Her father’s family hailed from Scotland and her mother was African-American.
After completing his meal, he stood to stretch his body when his cell phone rang. He smiled when he pulled the iPhone from his back pocket and saw the caller was his sister.
“Yeah, kiddo?”
“Everyone, especially Nana, will be particularly glad to hear you’re coming home for Christmas. Tell me it’s true, Lucien.”
He chuckled. Although both he and his sister were naturalized citizens of the United States, “home” was their birthplace of Jamaica. He, his sister, Lori, and a slew of cousins had all left Jamaica about the same time to attend college in the United States and had eventually made it their home. But for the holidays everyone tried returning for what they considered a family reunion. Due to work obligations he’d missed attending the last two years.
“It’s only August, Lori. Any reason you want to know so soon? You’ve got four months.”
“Four months will be here before you know it, Lu. Besides, we need time to plan and to prepare Nana for the disappointment if you aren’t coming again. It will be three years. I wish you can make it this year.”
Lucien didn’t have to be reminded. His grandmother did that every time they spoke. He hadn’t been home since he’d taken the position of chief resident at the hospital. With the job came new obligations as well as a number of sacrifices.
He smiled. “You’ll get your wish, Lori. I’m going home for the holidays. The time off is already on the hospital schedule.”
Not wanting to risk getting a busted eardrum, he held the phone from his ear when she began screaming in excitement. He was older than his sister by a year and they had always been close, although they now lived thousands of miles apart. She was an attorney working and living in Los Angeles.
He placed the phone back to his ear when he felt it was safe to do so. “Doesn’t take much to get you excited, does it?”
“Oh, you,” she admonished softly. “This is great news, so don’t try to downplay it. Nana is going to be counting the days.”
And he would, too. As far as he was concerned his grandmother was the wisest women he knew and always had been. And she was the kindest and most motivating. Not only had she raised Lucien, but she had also supported everything he’d ever wanted to do and had extended this same support to his sister and his two cousins whom she’d also raised. That’s why one of the first things the four of them had done after achieving their goals in America was to build Nana a beautiful and spacious home in Kingston, Jamaica, that had a picturesque view of the Blue Mountains from every room.
A short while later Lucien ended the call with Lori, looking forward to the two weeks he would be home. But he had a lot to do before he left Alexandria for Kingston. He had to get some normalcy in his life. And the way to achieve that goal was to get a handle on his attraction to Jaclyn Campbell. He’d tried it before and it hadn’t worked. This time, no matter what, he couldn’t fail.
Because he knew if he did, he was headed for deep trouble.
Chapter 2
“Have you given any more thought to my suggestion that we get a puppy, Jaclyn?”
Jaclyn glanced across the stretcher at her roommate Isabelle Morales as they quickly rolled a pregnant woman down the hall toward the delivery room. A Jennifer Lopez look-alike, Isabelle wanted to go into pediatrics when her residency ended, and Jaclyn considered her friend one of the brightest interns at Hopewell.
“I honestly don’t think a puppy is a good idea, Isabelle. With the hours we spend at the hospital who’s going to make sure he’s fed properly?” she replied.
Before Isabelle could respond, the patient, who’d been enduring her labor pains quietly, suddenly screamed. She had been in labor for the past ten hours and, last timed, her contractions were less than three minutes apart. Her obstetrician was already in the delivery room waiting.
“The two of you are talking about puppies and I’m about to die here,” the woman snarled at them.
“You’re not dying, Mrs. White, you’re having a baby.”
Ignoring what Jaclyn said, the woman then added, “And where is my husband?”
“He’s washing up. He’ll be in the delivery room when we get there,” Isabelle added.
“I don’t want him there. He’s the one responsible for my condition.”
Jaclyn cast a glance over at Isabelle and fought back a smile. She pitied Mr. White about now.
As soon as they wheeled the mother-to-be through the double doors, several nurses took over. One of them was Jerome. “It took both of you to bring her here?” he asked grinning. “Better not let Miss Thang see you. She’ll think you’re goofing off with nothing better to do.”
“I was on break,” Isabelle said smiling. “Besides, I needed to talk to Jaclyn about something.”
At that moment Dr. De Winter walked out of the operating room and Jaclyn had to quickly compose herself. The man did things to her without even trying. Not that he would try because he didn’t have the same interest in her that she had in him.
He stopped before them. “Dr. Morales and Dr. Campbell. How are you two doing?”
“Fine,” they responded simultaneously.
He looked solely at Isabelle. “Dr. Morales, Dr. Thornton has requested that one of my interns be ready to assist him tomorrow. He’s performing an advanced surgical procedure on the throat of a six-year-old boy. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
Jaclyn thought the smile on Isabelle’s face was priceless. “Yes, sir. Very much so,” she said in an excited voice.
“Then be here ready to scrub up at eight in the morning.”
“Thanks. I will.”
“Good.” And without saying anything else, or giving Jaclyn a second glance, he walked off.
Jaclyn’s gaze followed him until he was no longer in sight. She then switched her attention back to Isabelle who was grinning from ear to ear. Dr. De Winter’s recommendation that one of his interns be present during surgery was a big thing and every intern under him knew it.
“That’s a good opportunity, Isabelle. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. I can’t believe he chose me.”
Jaclyn chuckled. “I can. He recognizes how good you are and knows you’re planning to go into pediatrics. You deserve it.”
The smile slowly faded from Isabelle’s face. “Not everyone will think so.”
Jaclyn