Healing The Md's Heart. Nicole Foster

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      “Duran…” she said softly, and his name from her lips came with a sigh of longing.

      “You’re so beautiful.” The words spilled out before his thoughts formed them.

      Her lips parted, her tongue slid over them and Duran inwardly groaned. After a long moment, she whispered shakily, “I don’t know what to say.”

      “You don’t need to say anything. You are beautiful, inside and out.”

      Glancing away, she shook her head. “Thank you.”

      Behind them, the shouts and laughter of the group in the pond seemed distant. Duran gestured to the tree and without a word, she joined him to sit with their backs against it. This close, her shoulder brushing his, he could smell her light perfume, his urge to touch her becoming an ache.

      Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea, at least for him. Lia appeared oblivious to the effect she was having on him, smiling as she watched the play in the pond. Duran wished his body would get the message this interlude was about relaxation, not other, more tempting pursuits.

      “This is great, isn’t it? I mean, whoever takes time out to relax like this? It’s just good for the soul, you know?”

      Duran’s mind was far from the soul, his or hers. “Huh?” he heard himself ask, sounding like an idiot.

      Shading her eyes, she turned her face to him. “I said it’s good to take time away from work, isn’t it?”

      “Oh, yeah, definitely.”

      “But it’s hard to do that when there are so many pressures every day.”

      “Pressures. Yeah, constantly.” The pressure he was feeling at the moment had nothing to do with work. Forcing himself not to stare openly at her, he focused on the boys. Maybe if he didn’t look at her he could regain some inward composure because right now, red flags aside, all he wanted to do was lean in and kiss her breathless.

      “Duran?”

      “What?” He turned back to her. She seemed to have moved even closer, as though she’d read his thoughts and was as eager as he to accommodate them. He could kiss her now and he doubted she’d object, but wondered if they’d both regret it letting it happen.

      Probably, an inner voice cautioned him. But at the moment that voice could easily be silenced if she moved a fraction closer, if her lips so much as brushed his.

      He shifted, sliding his hand up her arm and she caught her breath. One slight motion and there wouldn’t be any room for regrets, only feeling. He slanted his head to hers—

      And in the same instant, Lia glanced toward Noah.

      He knew a warning when he saw one. It shattered the sensual spell, frustrating him, but at the same time he appreciated her thinking of Noah, and the possibility his son might see them and interpret their physical closeness as much more.

      She turned her face toward the endless panorama of jagged cliffs and rugged purple peaks far beyond, avoiding his eyes. There was nothing he could say that felt right and so he sat with her in the shadows of the trees, in silence, wondering how quickly things had become so complicated.

       Chapter Seven

      “Dr. Kerrigan’s gonna be there, isn’t she?”

      Duran glanced up from the last e-mail he wanted to finish before he and Noah left for the afternoon. Sawyer, Tommy and Cruz’s wife, Aria, all had July birthdays and in celebration, the family had decided to throw a large barbeque at the ranch, inviting—it seemed to Duran—most of Luna Hermosa. Everyone, Noah included, automatically assumed Duran and his son would be there, and Duran had made the same assumption about Lia, although no one had specifically mentioned her name.

      “I don’t know for sure,” he told Noah, who was standing by his chair with Percy under his arm, shifting from foot to foot, impatiently waiting for an answer.

      “Then call her and ask her,” Noah insisted.

      “I could, but it’s not our party. If she didn’t get invited, then I can’t ask her to come.”

      “Why not? Don’t you want her to come?”

      He did, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to admit that to Noah. In the course of a few weeks, she’d somehow become an important part of their lives. Lia was great with Noah. His son loved being the center of her caring attention and was quickly forming an attachment to Lia that wouldn’t be easily broken. And that was fast becoming a problem.

      “Dad—”

      “Okay, I’ll call,” Duran said, avoiding answering Noah’s question. “But I can’t promise she’ll say yes.”

      Lia had given him her cell number but she sounded surprised he’d used it, asking immediately if something was wrong. “I was on my way out there for the party, but I can meet you in town if there’s a problem.”

      “There’s not. One of your admirers just wanted to know if you were coming by the ranch today, but since you’ve answered that question, we’re good.”

      He could almost hear her smile and with it, relax. “Well, it’s nice to know I have admirers. Tell Noah I’m looking forward to seeing him.”

      “How about Noah’s dad?” he asked.

      “Him, too,” she admitted softly. “I’ll be there soon.”

      By the time she arrived, little less than an hour later, it was nearly five, most everyone else had arrived, and behind the big ranch house the talking, laughter and music signaled the party was well underway. Duran, finding himself in a group with Sawyer, his wife Maya and several of their friends from the fire department where Sawyer worked, was trying to remember all the introductions while keeping a watchful eye on Noah, playing a short distance away.

      Within ten minutes of them walking into the party, his son had been drawn into a group of children around his age that included Sammy and the two Gonzalez brothers, sons of the doctor Maya worked with at the town’s wellness clinic. They were all now engrossed in building various structures out of sticks and rocks for an eclectic assortment of action figures. Noah looked happy and busy and Duran thought that, if nothing else, this trip had given his son a chance to forget his problems for a while and enjoy being a kid.

      “Oh, there’s Lia,” Maya said, pulling Duran’s attention from Noah. She smiled and waved Lia in their direction. Duran found himself watching her, momentarily oblivious to everyone around him, as she made her way toward him.

      She wore low-riding jeans and sandals and a tiny, deep-gold sleeveless top, and she’d left her hair loose so it framed her face, straight and smooth. She smiled for him first before greeting everyone else, the smile slipping momentarily when she recognized one of the men in the group.

      “Hi, Tonio, I haven’t seen you for a while.”

      He nodded, his return smile brief. “Likewise. How’ve you been?”

      “Fine. Busy. How about you?”

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