“It’s Jed.”
“Jed,” she murmured. “We’re getting questions about you from patients.”
“Like…?” he prodded.
Taking a deep breath, she plunged in. “Whether you’re married, where you held your last position, how old you are….”
“That’s it?” he asked, amusement evident in his tone.
“For starters.”
At that he laughed, and the deep richness of it seemed to ripple through Brianne. Shaking his head, he responded, “Since I’m from Sawyer Springs, I know the grapevine is several miles long. So here are the basics. I’m almost forty and worked in Deep River, Alaska, for the past three years.” More seriously, he added, “And I’m divorced. If anyone needs to know more than that, tell them to ask me directly. Now I think we have a patient waiting in exam room 3.” He nodded toward the door.
Flustered by her reaction to him, Brianne headed for the room at the same time he did. Their shoulders bumped, and his arm went around her to steady her.
Her breath whooshed from her chest. His arm was strong, his woodsy cologne intoxicating. When she gazed up at him, time once again seemed to stand still. There were sparks in his eyes that caused a crazy, wild sensation in her tummy.
As he released her, she tried to regain her composure, warning herself to deny the attraction she felt. He’s too experienced, too masculine, too confident…too everything, her common sense told her.
Neither of them said a word as Jed stepped into the exam room and she followed.
At the end of the day, Jed told Dr. Olsen he would take the last patient, who was a walk-in, if Brianne didn’t mind staying. She didn’t mind. Besides, she wanted to show her new boss that her tardiness this morning wasn’t a sign of lack of dedication to her profession.
Around six-thirty, they’d finally finished with the patient, who’d cut his arm and needed stitches. Switching off the computer printer, Brianne watched the man’s wife lead him outside.
When Jed stepped into the front office, he was wearing his suit coat and looked distinguished and handsome. Brianne felt her stomach skitter again, and decided she was simply hungry.
She lifted her coat from a hook on the wall. “This has been a long first day for you.”
“I was sometimes on duty forty-eight hours at a time in Deep River.”
“You were short on staff?”
With a wry smile, he took her coat from her. “Staff consisted of me and a nurse. There were only ninety-nine residents in the village.”
As he held her coat for her, she slid her arms into the sleeves, then turned around. “Did you enjoy your work there?” she asked. They were mere inches apart. She could see the small lines around his eyes and mouth, the few strands of silver at his temples.
His gaze found hers and stayed for a few moments. “Practicing there was challenging.” He cleared his throat. “All the supplies had to be flown in.”
Realizing he’d evaded her question, she had the feeling he didn’t want to talk about anything personal. Even though he’d given her the basics earlier, he didn’t seem to want to divulge more than that. “I can see how practicing in a remote village would be challenging.”
The atmosphere in the office was thick with tension as they stood there. Brianne stepped away from him so she could think straight. She wanted to apologize once more for this morning. “I’m sorry about my lateness today. I don’t have a good excuse. I have a digital alarm and I mistakenly set it for p.m. instead of a.m. On top of that, I didn’t sleep well and I was late awakening. Lily and Megan usually make enough noise to—”
“Why didn’t you sleep well?” he interrupted.
Though he apparently didn’t like answering personal questions, he didn’t mind asking them. She might as well tell him the truth. “I was anxious about today. Working with a new doctor and all.”
“From your performance, I don’t see why you were anxious. You’re good with the patients and more than competent in the exam room.”
The compliment blindsided her and she felt her cheeks grow warm. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry I was gruff this morning. I didn’t sleep well, either, last night. My father has insomnia and rattles around in the kitchen at 2:00 a.m.”
“He should try chamomile tea,” she suggested impulsively.
Warm humor lit up Jed’s eyes. “He’s set in his ways and doesn’t take advice well. But I’ll mention the tea.” As she crossed to the doorway, he offered, “If you’re on the way out, I’ll walk you to your car.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary.”
“I feel responsible keeping you this late. I want to make sure you’re safely on your way home before I leave.”
In spite of safety alarms in her heart warning her to keep her distance from Jed Sawyer, she was disappointed there was nothing personal about his offer. She realized he was simply one of those men who was a protector.
She gathered up her purse. “I have to set the security system.”
Nodding, he let her precede him out of the office.
A few minutes later, when they stepped outside into the black, early January night, Brianne took in a huge breath of the cold air. “I guess Wisconsin weather is mild compared to Alaska’s.”
Jed walked beside her, his words coming out with white puffs of vapor. “Deep River was a whole different world. We had wind chill of fifty-eight below in December. Yet when the northern lights lit up the sky, none of the rest seemed to matter.”
She thought about Alaska and the aurora borealis…and Jed watching it. Then she motioned toward her car, the only one in the parking lot. “You walked?” she asked.
“I’m about six blocks away.” He was staring at her car. The parking lot lights flowed over the white foreign sports car as if spotlighting it.
“Would you like a ride?” she asked. “I can drop you off.”
“Thanks, but I enjoy walking.”
From what she could tell, Jed was extremely fit, and she wondered if he did more than walk. He was still eyeing her car.
She opened the driver’s door, and the smell of leather was noticeable.
He glanced inside, then focused once more on her.
They were standing very close. So close that Brianne found it hard to breathe again. He was a good seven inches taller than she was, and she felt fragile, small and out of her depth standing before him. She tipped her chin up a little, and she could have sworn he leaned a bit closer.
Neither of them spoke as the pines along the building swayed in a breeze and a truck rattled down the street. Her heart beat faster than it ever had.
Then Jed lifted his head and put a few inches between them. With his hand on the frame of the sports car, he said, “This is a beautiful car. You don’t find many of them in Wisconsin.”
She felt memories flood over her, and heat came to her cheeks despite the cold. “It was a graduation gift from my parents,” she said in a low voice.
“You must have very generous parents.”
Her parents. Irrevocably gone. Unbearably missed. Two days before her graduation, as they drove to her college, a tractor trailer had swerved into them.
Her voice caught as she managed to answer, “They were very generous. They’re gone now.”
Seeing the uncertainty on Jed’s face at her