Strictly Business

Copyright  2013 by Lisa Eugene

KINDLE EDITION

All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to institutions or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover Design and Interior by

The Killion Group

www.thekilliongroupinc.com

DEDICATION

To
 my husband, John, who keeps me sane.

CHAPTER ONE

Saturday nights were always chaotic in the emergency room. Dr. Nina Henley’s long shift was finally winding down. The last multi-car accident victim was stabilized, and the heart attack in prep-room two was just wheeled to surgery, leaving just the steady flow of level-one traumas and minor wounds. The yawning space of the room buzzed with activity. Weary nurses scurried past and orderlies navigated stretchers around knots of medical clutter. Hums and beeps of intricate machinery sang a background chorus while bright florescent lights bathed everything in a stark yellow reality.

She rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers and checked her watch for the fourth time that hour. Almost three a
.m. She adjusted the knot on her baggy scrub bottoms and sank into a chair at the nurse’s station, the nucleus of the cavernous room. She pulled out the admitting sheet and scanned the list of patients. Peeking over the partition of the nurse’s station, she checked the length of the line in the waiting room.

Two more
. She groaned inwardly. One man was holding a very bloody shirt against his nose and moaning while a woman, who Nina guessed was his girlfriend in tight spandex pants and a top that threatened to spill out her large double D breast, spit obscenities at him. Nina could hear her berating him on his fighting skills, or lack thereof. From his glower, the poor guy looked like he was about to demonstrate his skills on her.

Her
gaze moved to the patient waiting behind them. He was cradling his arm in a makeshift sling. It appeared he had slung a tie over his neck and used it to elevate his arm to keep it immobilized. If Nina weren’t so tired she would’ve been impressed by his cleverness. What did impress her were the angular lines of his face that looked like they’d been chiseled by the hands of a sculptor.

His square jaw was masculine and would have hardened his expression
, but a slight smile tickled the sensual line of his lips as he observed the brawling two in front of him. What she guessed was a day’s growth of beard shadowed his strong jaw and made him look sexy and mysterious. He had high cheekbones and a slightly crooked nose, barely perceptible except that she was trained to notice these things. Dark wavy hair covered his head. She knew its glossy thickness would feel coarse and lush if she were to run her fingers through it.

His eyes were startlingly blue against the con
trast of his tanned skin and inky hair. They curiously narrowed as he scanned the room, taking in the cubicles on the far side, the beeping machines, the nurses, the attendants, and the patients that all took part in the symphony that was the emergency room.

He shifted uneasily in
his chair and grimaced as he stroked his hand along his injured arm, causing her to inhale sharply. She absorbed the way his shirt stretched across his chest, showing a landscape of muscles bunching beneath the material. Her eyes roved further down his body, drinking in his narrow waist, then somehow settled at an impressive swell between his thighs.

She absently wet her lips as uncharacteristic
ally salacious thoughts bloomed in her head. She imagined what she’d find beneath the dark material of his trousers if she were to inch down his zipper, wondered if he’d be thick and heavy, hot against her probing fingers. Unexpected desire stirred in a place that had long been dormant from inactivity, causing her to blush hotly.
What was she doing?

She straightened her head and was about to sink low into her seat, but before she could turn away, her gaze collided with steady blue eyes. She felt his deep hypnotic stare penetrate to the tips of her toes. He’d been aware of her blatant perusal the entire time.
Oh my God…
She groaned inwardly. Her cheeks heated a crimson red and she dropped into her chair behind the partition. Before her mortification was complete, she caught a glimpse of the knowing smile that crept across his lips. He’d even had the audacity to nod a greeting in her direction.

She
flipped opened the chart in front of her.
Oh God!
She couldn’t believe she’d just overtly ogled this total stranger and entertained very perverted thoughts about him. When someone tapped her from behind she almost jumped out of the chair. Her heart drummed chaotically in her chest.

“It’s almost over.” Sally, a nurse and also her best friend smiled down at her
. “What a night tonight, huh?” she slumped into a chair beside Nina.

Nina
offered a distracted nod, still rattled by her brazen behavior.

“I think we should open a satellite ER over at McFadden’s bar. That way we can save the patients the trip here. We can treat them right at the bar. Now that’s expediting care. Take that to those managed care execs huh?” S
ally droned caustically while ticking off points with her fingers. “We’d get more patients. It would save money, and we may even be able to sneak a drink or two ourselves.” She giggled. Her elbow jabbed Nina’s ribs, punching air from her lungs. “I think that might give a boost to work morale.”

Nina managed a weak smile, rubbing
her hand across her forehead. She was surprised at the warmth there.

“Are you feeling okay?” Sally questioned, her
large brown eyes concerned.

“Yeah
...I’m fine.” Nina waved a dismissive hand in her direction. “It’s just been a long night.”

“Well, one more
patient then you can get some sleep. I’ll tell triage not to page you unless it is absolutely urgent.”

Nina nodded as Sally handed her
the chart of her next patient.

“I gave one patient to Dr.
Tanno and one to you. I’ll bring him into room four.” 

Nina looked down at the chart
with trepidation as it dawned on her that her patient could very well be the hunk she’d just devoured with her eyes. He was indubitably the source of her still flushed cheeks and the dull ache humming between her legs
. How could she get out of this?

“Is everything okay?”

“Ah, yeah, it’s just that…” 
How could she say it?
What would her reason be for switching patients with Dr. Tanno if indeed the blue-eyed hunk was assigned to her? She sighed.
She couldn’t very well admit to the ignominy of checking out his package!

“I know what’s wrong.” Sally nodded
knowingly.

“You do?” Nina
’s eyebrows darted up.

“I saw you looking.”

Her eyes bulged. “You did?”
Oh God…

“Yeah.” Sally leaned close in a
conspiratorial whisper. “They’re quite a pair—the couple fighting in the hall. I think the girlfriend is the one who socked him in the nose. They’ll be here all night. Don’t worry though. I gave you the looker with the gorgeous blue eyes and the tight buns. I watched him walk in. And...
wow
!” Sally smiled smugly, thrilled that she’d done her friend a favor.

Nina
was dumbstruck. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly like a dull guppy, but no words came out.

Sally’s
eyes grew round and her brows scrunched up thoughtfully. “You know…his face looks really familiar to me. I can’t quite put my finger on where I’ve seen him before, but I never forget a face.” Sally shrugged. “Oh well, it’ll come to me. Did his face look familiar to you?”

“I—I didn’t really see him
…” Nina lied, feeling a slow heat rise again. She didn’t want to confess that it wasn’t his face she’d been preoccupied with.

“Since things have slowed down I’m going on my break. When you’re done with the exam just call for an orderly and they’ll take him next door to X-ray
if he needs one.”

She
opened her mouth to protest, but lost her words as Sally scooted away. Instead she took the chart, read the information, and with a deep sigh, proceeded to the exam room on the far side of the ER. Her spine straightened with each step.
This was ridiculous! She was a professional!
When she had a job to do she performed it without distraction. Besides, he was the one who’d come in with the complaint of a possible broken arm. She was certain that he’d just stumbled over from McFadden’s and was probably now stuporous with intoxication.
What did she have to be embarrassed about?
She’d examine him quickly, send him off to X-ray, and be rid of him.

Wade Connolly
praised his luck as a very attractive female physician walked into his little room. He’d seen the other doctor, an elderly peppered-hair no nonsense man. The older gentleman had entered the hall, his eyes cast downward as he’d ruminated over the chart in his hand. After adjusting the wire-rimmed glasses to the very tip of his nose, he’d called for the patient next to Wade. Wade’s injury was the only thing that had kept him from jumping with joy when his name wasn’t announced.

He’d watched the
bickering couple next to him gather up their scattered belongings which included a half bottle of Jonnie Walker and a bag so furry he couldn’t discern whether it was an animal or an accessory. He thought he’d heard it growl as it was dragged down the hall behind them.

He hoped
he’d end up with this lovely lady and he’d lucked out. He’d noticed her earlier blatantly checking out his ah…assets. He could tell by the shade of red she’d become that she was embarrassed he’d caught her, and somehow he found her blushing adorable.

He wasn’t egotistical or arrogant
, but genetics along with an active lifestyle had bestowed him certain attributes that ladies seemed to admire. Besides, life was too short for games or missed opportunities. If there was something he desired he went after it. He’d learned early that opportunities could be lost and precious things could easily slip away.

He was glad he’d
unbuttoned his shirt while he waited. He’d attempted to take it off, but was in too much pain. He noticed her eyes flutter briefly over his bare chest before they froze into a stoic professional gaze. He waited, perched on the end of the narrow exam table. The room was tiny with no windows and a bright fluorescent light overhead. A ceramic white sink occupied one corner and on the opposite end was a small wooden desk with a chair that looked like it belonged in a sixth-grade classroom.

Wade
donned his most inviting smile as the doctor placed his chart on the table and took a pen from the pocket of her scrub top. He noticed that she positioned herself behind the small table, as far away from him as she could manage in the tiny square room. She preoccupied herself with reading the contents of the chart and ignored his presence. He cleared his throat and she looked up as if just realizing he was sitting on the exam table in front of her.

She looked straight at him, her face tig
ht. She was all business. Wade attempted his smile again, trying to the raise the temperature in the room a few degrees. The only indication she wasn’t totally indifferent to him was the flickering pulse at the base of her neck and the faint blush of color in her cheeks.

His eyes
caressed her face, resting on her generous lips. She had auburn curls pulled behind her head in a futile attempt at order. A forgotten pen was lodged there. Her green eyes were the color of a silk leaf he’d once plucked from a tree on his uncle’s farm in Virginia, and he thought they were the most beautiful color he’d ever seen. Even with a shadow of fatigue beneath them, they sparkled with sober intelligence.

He couldn’t make out the shape of her body beneath the scrubs that fit like oversized pajamas. He guessed she might be just a little too skinny
, but curvy in all the right places. She asked a few questions briskly which Wade answered, trying to take his mind off the frenzied pulse at the elegant line of her creamy neck and the physical havoc it was creating inside him.

He’d been helping his best friend Mike move into his apartment. They were just putting the last of
several boxes on a high shelf when Wade lost his footing and fell from a ladder onto the hard wood floor of his friend’s living room.

Mike had
urged him to go to the emergency room immediately, but Wade had objected, disregarding the searing pain in his left shoulder and arm. He’d assured his buddy that all he needed was to go home and ice his injury.

Hours later he
hadn’t been surprised to see the large bruise that was already turning an ugly shade of black and blue snaking down the entire length of his arm or the swelling that had ensued. What had surprised and concerned him was the intense discomfort. Every time he tried to move his arm, even just a little, a searing pain would stab at him and leave him nauseous and dizzy.

After a few hours
of volleying between foggy agony and rational thought he’d reluctantly decided to come to the emergency room. He omitted the part about his disdain for hospitals and doctors. Ever since he’d lost his Aunt Bev he’d done his best to avoid them in any personal capacity. He was used to treating his own ailments, thankful that they were few and far between. Plus given all the recent events at work, a hospital was the last place he wanted to be.

The doctor
efficiently recorded his history, interjecting with a few elucidating questions. She finally stuffed her pen in her hair and took a step towards him. Wade must have held his breath because when she drew close, his lungs greedily sucked in her scent. He could smell a trace of lavender in her hair as she examined his arm and it stirred his senses.