In His Corner. Vina Arno

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      The clerk nodded. “Dr. Feldman used to give her a dozen red roses quite often.”

      Dr. Feldman again. A stinging reminder that Siena was an Ivy League graduate who was out of Tommy’s league. It was best to forget her. He had a whole lot of training to do and a high-stakes fight to win. He should just stick to the plan.

      He was about to head for the door, when Nancy said, “We can’t give you Dr. Carr’s phone number, but this is a hospital. Nobody can stop you from coming here to bring flowers.”

      Jonah shot Nancy a conspiratorial look. “Tomorrow, anytime between seven in the morning and four in the afternoon would be a fine time to stop by.”

      “She works from seven to four?” asked Tommy.

      “Tomorrow, at least. Her schedule can change just like that.” Jonah snapped his fingers to drive the point home.

      “Dinner after work tomorrow would be nice too,” added Nancy. “Around seven would be great. That would give her a few hours to go home and dress up. A girl needs time to get out of those dreary scrubs.”

      Tommy chuckled. “Wow, thank you. You two have saved me a lot of thinking and handwringing. I owe you guys. I won’t forget this.”

      Jonah gave him another high five. Tommy had a thousand questions about Siena, but an ambulance arrived with a man complaining of chest pains. All of a sudden, the ED was very busy.

      He didn’t get any additional information, but that was all right. He would ask her directly. He would win her affection and make knockout love to her. The hell with Dr. Feldman or whoever the competition was. He wasn’t known as the Juggernaut for nothing.

      Siena Carr had ambushed him without mercy, but now he was ready for her.

      Chapter 3

      On Monday morning, the front desk paged Siena while she was attending a once-a-week staff assembly. Did someone cut off his finger while slicing a bagel? A slip and fall? God forbid it was a stroke. As an ED attending physician, she could leave any meeting. Patients always came first.

      She ran down the stairs from the third floor to the lobby. She was panting by the time she got to the receptionist’s counter. “What’s the emergency?” she asked the clerks, both women.

      They looked knowingly at each other before one of them said, “You have a visitor, Dr. Carr.”

      “A visitor?” Siena swung around. The Juggernaut was standing near the entrance with a long-stemmed red rose in his hand.

      Her heart skipped. He was not there as a patient. The rose was a giveaway. Also, no torn jeans and hoodie this time. He wore a plaid shirt and dark jeans that were a perfect fit. “Special-ass jeans,” as Siena’s best friends, Kristin and Molly, would have called them since the fabric clung to his butt beautifully. Now that his face was healed, he was more gorgeous than the first time she’d seen him.

      He walked toward her with that swagger of his that drove her crazy. She thanked the clerks and met him halfway.

      “Hi. What are you doing here?” Her voice came out unnaturally high-pitched. At the back of her mind, she’d been hoping to see him again. She led him to the waiting area.

      Their singular encounter had jolted her to the core. How many hours had she spent Googling him? He had intrigued her to the point of sleeplessness. In the aftermath of her breakup, she was emotionally susceptible. What should have been a passing fancy had turned her into a basket case overnight. He had barged into her thoughts at all hours, impossible to evict.

      “I want to thank you in person.” He handed her the rose.

      “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” She smelled the flower. “I was just doing my job. There’s no need for this.”

      “It’s not just the stitches. It’s also about Zach O’Riley. Thank you for not talking to him.”

      “Oh, him. Yes, he was quite persistent. I don’t even know how he found out that I treated you. I tried denying it, but he knew the day and time you were admitted.”

      “Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?”

      “Excuse me?”

      He stifled a chortle. “You like to say that a lot.”

      “Because you like to ask questions that come out of left field.”

      “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”

      “Are you asking me out on a date? I don’t go out with my patients.”

      “I’m not your patient anymore.”

      He was right. “It’s still not a good idea.”

      “It’s just dinner. If you like burgers, we can go to Loin Burgers. It’s definitely not a place to go on a date.”

      “Loin Burgers? As in Tenderloin District?”

      “It has the best hamburgers in all of San Francisco.”

      She’d never ventured into the Tenderloin District because of its bad reputation. Its name implied mean streets and corrupt cops, the term referring to the expensive meat they could afford to buy courtesy of the bribes they accepted. Perhaps that was just folklore. Even so, it was not a neighborhood she and her friends visited.

      He noticed her hesitation. “Are you one of those snobs who never set foot in the Tenderloin?”

      “I’m not a snob.”

      “Yes, you are. You’re an Ivy League snob. That S on your blouse stands for Siena the Snob.”

      The guy knew how to push her buttons. Worse, she couldn’t stop staring at his mouth. If only she could kiss those plump lips. The urge made the sensitive spot below her navel twitch.

      “All right, I’ll have a hamburger with you at the Loin.”

      He was grinning. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

      “Why do you have to pick me up if it’s not a date?”

      “Because finding a parking spot on Jones Street is going to be a problem. We’re better off with just one car. Do you want to pick me up instead?”

      Oh, the impudence! Did he have to be so handsome when he was being cocky? The more charming he was, the stronger her inclination to escape. It was called self-preservation.

      Throw her anything that required brain power any time. She could ace the toughest science courses and the most rigorous medical licensing exams. But she was timid at heart, especially with men. Anyone with a persona so large it required a moniker like the Juggernaut was too much for her.

      Back east, her mom and her sister had steered her toward bland but reliable men with solid careers and family backgrounds. Her normal and sheltered childhood meant she was drawn to guys like Michael who were predictably safe.

      She didn’t СКАЧАТЬ