She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Why did it have to be that the first time Alec saw her at the hospital, she looked like a wreck?
And why did she care, anyway? The man was a player through and through.
Never would Alec have guessed he’d someday have Katy Pappas on his surgical teaching service. The cute but clumsy little girl who’d bugged the hell out of him and her brother Nick when they’d been young, tagging along on their adventures and asking nonstop questions, for some reason believing they’d know the answers.
The worshipful gaze of her blue eyes had always made his chest puff up a little with pride. Despite how much he and Nick had complained about her hanging out with them, he’d always secretly liked it when she had. That someone had thought he was smart and worthy of that kind of adulation had felt damned good, since it had been in very short supply in his own home.
The nonstop criticism his father had doled out had made Alec want to live up—or down—to his father’s expectations of him. He’d worked as hard at partying as he had at football, and probably the only reason he hadn’t gone down in flames had been because he’d had the steady support of the Pappas family, and Dr. George Pappas in particular.
After he and Nick had headed off to college and medical school, he hadn’t seen the Pappas clan again until five years ago at a family wedding. Gobsmacked that Katy, awkwardly geeky child and studious teenager, had morphed into a drop-dead gorgeous twenty-one-year-old woman, he remembered standing stock-still, staring at her in disbelief. Shocked that he’d found her attractive in a way that was not at all brotherly.
He’d been even more shocked when, standing in a quiet corner at the reception, a champagne-tipsy Katy had grabbed his face between her hands and pressed her mouth to his. A mouth so warm and soft and delectable that every synapse in his brain had short-circuited and he’d found himself kissing her back. Their lips had parted and tongues had danced as he’d sunk deeply into the mind-boggling pleasure of it.
Then sanity had returned and he’d practically pushed her away, horrified. No way could he have anything like that with Katy Pappas, little sister of his best friend. She was totally off-limits. Period.
He’d tried to make a joke of it. Katy, however, hadn’t thought it was remotely amusing when he’d told her he didn’t feel that way about her, and that it would be all wrong if he did.
If she’d been pressed closer against him, she would have known part of that statement was a lie. But appropriate? Hell, no.
He sighed. From that moment on his friendship with Katy had been pretty much over. She’d been cool at other family functions since then. Aloof, even.
Alec had shoved down his feelings of disappointment that she was no longer the Katy who’d thought he was great. Hell, after the mess he’d made of some things in his life, he shouldn’t expect anyone to feel that way.
Then he’d walked into the coding patient’s room and seen her, wrinkled, messy, and nervous. Beautifully messy and nervous, yes, but so much like the Katy he’d once known he hadn’t been able to help but want that old friendship back.
And just like the old Katy, in the midst of all the chaos she’d still shown what a brainiac she was. That she was good at figuring out what to do in any circumstances, despite being brand new at the art and science of doctoring.
Maybe it was absurd, pathetic even, but he wanted to see again the Katy who used to like and admire him, who had tolerated and even enjoyed his teasing.
Alec remembered well the feel of her lips against his. But a woman like her no doubt had so many boyfriends that a little kiss five years ago would have been completely forgotten.
AS ALEC STRODE down the hall, he could see the residents and interns waiting for him at the end of it, but his gaze stuck fast on Katy.
She’d changed into street clothes and a lab coat, and had obviously found a minute to brush her hair, which was no longer in a tangle but instead covered her shoulders in lustrous waves. He remembered that thick hair of hers always falling into her eyes and face as they’d studied things together, and he’d gotten into the habit of tucking its softness behind her ears so she’d been able to see whatever he and Nick had been showing her.
Her hands waving around as she spoke—another thing that was such a part of who she was—Katy was talking intently to the young man next to her, a frown creasing her brows, which made Alec smile. If he had to guess, she was regaling the other new intern with details about some condition or patient she was wondering about, because that brain of hers never rested.
“Good morning, everyone. I’m Dr. Alec Armstrong, as most of you know.” He forced his attention from Katy to look at the young man she was speaking with. “You must be Michael Coffman, one of our new interns. We’re glad you’re here. Please tell us about yourself.”
“I’m going into general surgery, planning to specialize in urology.”
“Excellent. Our other intern here is Katy Pappas.” He smiled at her, but she just gave a small nod in return. “Tell us about your intended specialty.”
“I’m going into family practice medicine. I really enjoyed working with all kinds of people during med school.” She looked at the group around her and her expression warmed. “Older folks and little ones and everybody in between. Figuring out what their medical problems are, when sometimes it can be a bit of a mystery, fascinates me. Knowing I’m helping individuals and families alike. I’m going to love doing that kind of work.”
She spoke fast, her blue eyes now sparkling with the enthusiasm he remembered from their childhood whenever she had been tackling a puzzle or been deep into a science project, and his own smile grew.
“I’m glad you’ve discovered your calling. Figuring that out is sometimes the hardest part of medical school.” He found himself wanting to keep looking at her, wanting to hear her speak and see her smile, but he made himself turn to the rest of the group.
“So let’s continue our introductions. This is our fifth-year surgical resident, Elizabeth Stark, who performed some of the surgeries on the patients we’ll see this morning. You met our second-year surgical resident, Todd Eiterman, this morning on work rounds.”
Alec finished the spiel he always gave new interns, hoping they actually listened. “Beyond the nuts and bolts of diagnosis and surgery I want to teach you how to talk to people, to ask questions and listen carefully to the answers, which is the only way to truly learn their histories. Conclude what you think the working diagnosis might be then order tests based on those conclusions.”
“Excuse me, Dr. Armstrong, but last month Dr. Hillenbrand said the opposite, so I’m confused,” Todd, the second-year resident, said with a frown. “I thought we were to order tests then, based on those tests, come up with a working diagnosis.”
“Technology is an amazing thing, Todd. But it can’t replace hands-on doctoring, which is the single most important thing I want you to learn on my rotation.” Alec studied the expressions on the faces before him. Smug understanding from Elizabeth, who’d heard it more times from him than she wanted to, he was sure, and also liked to play suck-up to the doctor evaluating her. Skepticism from Todd. Bewilderment and confusion from Michael. And avid concentration and focus from Katy’s big blue eyes, which made him wish he could pin a gold star on her before rounds had even begun.
The thought sent his gaze to the lapels of her coat and the V of smooth, golden skin showing above her silky blouse, and he quickly shifted his attention to Todd. She was his student, damn it. And perhaps someday again his friend. But thinking of her as a very attractive woman? An absolute no-no.
“We’ll be seeing patients who