Tempted By Her Single Dad Boss. Annie O'Neil
of their lives had imploded. Alex had been a recent widower and Cody’s marriage had just ended. It had sounded as though a lot of his marriage hadn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs. That’s why they’d dreamed up the clinic. The in-house childcare. The built-in routines their families needed now they no longer had wives.
Alex loved routine. He wasn’t as sure about Cody. Though they’d been on the island for three years, the poor guy seemed to be doing about as good a job at leaving the past behind in California as Alex was at remembering where he’d left the happy-go-lucky man his wife had fallen in love with.
Maggie washed the air between them with her hands. “Doesn’t matter. I’m sure it’ll be fine for now.”
“You said it was for health and safety reasons. If there’s something I should know...”
Maggie features turned serious then brightened again as if she’d just hit on a solution. “Right. Well. This definitely falls into the super-duper embarrassing department, but it looks like Cody might’ve forgotten to tell you something important about me.”
“Which is?”
He didn’t do guessing games. And by the change of her expression she clearly didn’t reveal things about herself lightly.
Snap.
She gave her arms a brisk rub as if chivvying herself up to tell him. What on earth could be so big a confession that this force of nature would be wary to reveal it to him?
She hitched up her trouser legs and looked down.
“I’m a double amputee.”
“Ah.” Alex looked down and saw her prosthetics neatly fitted into her trainers. “It looks as though Dr. Brennan did neglect to mention your...situation.”
“Yeah. Double below-the-knee amputations when I was thirteen. Ain’t bacterial meningitis a bitch?”
For the first time in a long time, Alex’s poker face befriended him.
“Yes. I suppose it can be.” He looked into Maggie’s eyes. Infinitesimal flashes of worry flashed through her chocolate-colored irises as she waited for his response. A total sea change from the fiery woman he’d met on the rocking deck of a grounded ferry.
Everything he’d presumed about her was flipped on its head.
She wasn’t overzealous. She was determined.
She wasn’t irresponsibly spontaneous. She was resourceful.
Every single thing she did came with a set of calculated risks.
And she took them.
Grit. Stamina. Pride.
Those were the things that had seen her through the challenges that came each and every day. Not foolishness. He knew the traits well. They were all traits required of a soldier on a battlefield.
She hadn’t asked for help. Not once. All her energies had been focused on looking after her patients. Just like any other medical professional. Which was clearly how she wanted to be treated.
And just like that his respect for her doubled again.
Not that he was going to tell her. Maggie struck him as the type who’d see compassion as pity and heaven knew he was no stranger to being on the wrong side of the pity stick.
As nonchalantly as he could he said, “It looks as though some alternative arrangements will have to be made.”
She pushed out her lower lip and tipped her head back and forth as if this sort of thing happened all the time.
“No problem. In other news. I’m still freezing. Any chance we can get me a blanket or I can find some other way to get up to the apartment? I’m sure a few days there will be fine. It’s not like you get massive lightning storms setting places on fire in the dead of winter, do you?” She gave her arms another rub.
Actually...
Before he could tell her there were a bunch of meteorology students holed up in one of their parents’ mansions on the far side of the island, hoping for a rare thunder snowstorm, she batted away her own question.
“Don’t listen to me. I’m a bit of a babbler. I mean, sometimes you should listen to me. Like when I’m talking about patients. But right now? Probably best to ignore just about everything I say. Except about the being cold part.”
Alex nodded as things clicked into place at a rate of knots. The slight hitch to her gait on the docks. She’d been fine on the ferry, or so he’d thought, but suddenly the guide ropes made more sense. She had needed them for the extra support if she’d been as bashed about as he had been on the journey back, and, of course, the incident with Salty had had her literally on her knees... Hell. The pain she must be in.
Clearly mistaking his lack of response for uncertainty about her work ethic, Maggie launched into another one of her high-speed monologues. “It won’t impede my work in any way. I’ve got several sets of legs, all made to exacting specification for each patient I work with. If it’s hydro, equine, or a long slow walk on the beach, I’m covered.” She grinned. “I even have an awesome new pair of snow boots.”
Alex pulled a blanket from a nearby storage cupboard, belatedly spurred into action by the sound of her chattering teeth. They both stared at it as he held it aloft, torn between simply handing it to her or snapping it open, wrapping it round her then pulling her to him. Feeling his body heat cross over to her. Letting his warmth become her warmth.
Shards of anger replaced the carnal thoughts. She was a colleague, not a love interest. Even if his below-the-belt brain insisted on picturing her in his bed for the night, his actual above-the-shoulders brain did not. The woman clearly brought chaos in her wake.
Some people were just like that.
Hurricane Maggie.
Patients stranded at sea in a winter storm. Salty’s broken leg. He didn’t need any more drama in his life other than what crossed his desk professionally. He cleared his throat with a sharp cough and handed her the blanket. “No. The apartment is out of the question. I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know I take OSHA regulations seriously.”
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