One Night To Change Their Lives. Tina Beckett

       CHAPTER ONE

      PEARLS WERE NOT her thing. Not anymore.

      Adelina Santini dropped the necklace into its velvet lined jeweler’s box, snapped the lid shut and put it in the growing stack of things to donate to the hospital’s charity auction. Five years of marriage and the necklace and her wounded pride were the only things she had to show for it.

      The bed had been stripped of sheets, pillows and the comforter—she’d jammed everything into the trash along with her wedding pictures. But even with brand-new bedclothes, she couldn’t face sleeping in that room. So she’d spent the last six weeks sleeping on the couch, and that was where she’d stay until she could decide what to do about the bed, about the house…about everything. Divorce papers were filed and her soon-to-be ex had moved in with the woman she’d caught him cheating with—the same day she’d walked in on them. Getting rid of those pearls—his wedding gift to her—was the first step toward leaving an ugly part of her past behind. At least she hoped so.

      All she wanted was to wash her hands of him and never see him again. But he was an EMT who regularly brought patients to her hospital. Unless she moved to another city, she would see him. Daily at times. So far, those encounters had been far from fun. There was no way she was going to let her distaste at seeing him drive her out of her job, though.

      Abandoning her task for the hundredth time that week, she went to shower and get dressed for work. Right now, her job was her only salvation. The fact that she arrived before her shift started and left long after it was over was no one’s business but her own. With that thought, she stepped under the stinging flow of hot water and waited for it to wash away all her troubles.

      A half hour later, juggling five boxes of items for the auction, she walked through the doors of the emergency room of Miami’s Grace Hospital and headed for the staff lounge to drop off what she’d brought. Five feet from the door, a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

      “Dr. Santini, could I see you in my office for a minute?”

      Peering over the stack, her eyes widened as she saw she was right. Garret Stapleton, the hospital administrator, stood with one shoulder propped against a nearby wall, arms crossed over his chest. A hint of biceps made a rare flush of warmth go through her.

       Lord, Addy, what is wrong with you?

      Then he moved toward her, and she took a quick step back, the parcels teetering for a second. The heat in her face turned red hot.

      “Let me help you with those.”

      “It’s okay. I’ve got them. Just a few things for the auction.”

      Why did he want to talk to her? Had she done something wrong? She’d been at this hospital for several years—longer than he had, in fact. And ever since her husband had walked out, her view of the world had shifted, opened up. That view now encompassed the sexy administrator in a way that made her cringe.

      In her growing panic, the boxes tilted sideways, the jeweler’s container sliding off and falling to the floor. The lid popped off and the pearl necklace spilled onto the tile.

       Yikes!

      Dr. Stapleton reached down and scooped up the necklace with his right hand, letting it dangle from his fingertips. He peered at it, a frown puckering his brow. “These are real.”

      She swallowed. “I—I know.”

      “This is for donation?”

      “It is. Just clearing out five years of debris.” The words tumbled out faster than she meant for them to, and the frown swung her way.

      He nodded at the rest of the boxes. “Any other valuable ‘debris’ in there?”

      “No.”

      “I think I’ll put this in my office safe for security’s sake.” He paused. “And in case you change your mind, you should probably have them appraised, if you haven’t already.”

      “I won’t change my mind.” She didn’t tell him why, but hopefully he could read the conviction in her voice.

      He opened the door to the staff lounge and waited while she put the rest of her items onto the table with the others. By now her legs were shaking. She’d hoped to leave everything there without anyone seeing her. But he was right. It was probably better to safeguard the pearls than to leave them lying around, not that she thought anyone on staff would take them. At least the hospital would benefit from her mistake.

      Speaking of mistakes, did she really want to sit in his office on a day her eyes had trailed over the muscles in his arms?

      Turning to face him, she asked, “What was it you needed to talk to me about?”

      “Let’s go into my office.”

      Ugh. There was no getting out of it. And it sounded serious. The last thing she needed right now was “serious.”

      * * *

      Garret Stapleton stretched the fingers of his left hand and winced as the act pulled tendons and ligaments that were tight from disuse. He knew better than to try to grip the lock to his safe with the twisted digits. Or a scalpel.

      Why were his thoughts heading in that direction today?

      He knew. And he’d be damned if he’d sit back and let someone else make the same mistake he did. He’d heard what had happened with Addy, even though he did his best not to listen to the rumors that floated around. He was sure there were plenty out there about him and his hand.

      The “five years of debris” comment made him think that those donations had something to do with her marriage. He shifted the long flat box so that it was under his left forearm as he quickly turned the tumbler right and then left, opening the safe. Then he took the box and slid it on top of a set of files. His files. Files that mapped out what his own errors had cost him.

      “Have a seat.”

      She skirted one of the leather chairs and folded herself into it.

      Was she thinner than when he’d first arrived in South Beach three years ago? Or maybe he was imagining things.

      “I’m not sure what this is about.”

      “Aren’t you?”

      She tipped her head, sending several locks of dark hair cascading over one shoulder.

      Maybe calling her into his office to have this conversation wasn’t such a good idea after all. But where else could he do it? Certainly not in the staff lounge.

      The thumb of his damaged hand scrubbed over his pinkie finger; he wasn’t quite sure how to approach this. But if he didn’t drop the ax and something happened… “Whenever a doctor’s name appears on a chart, it’s entered into the system. If the computer finds a disparity between assigned hours and actual hours worked, it sends up a red flag. Do you want to guess how many flags you’ve generated in the last several weeks?”

      “I’ve had a lot of free time and so I—”

      “Try again.” He softened the words with a smile. He didn’t want to come across as a game warden.

      Her chin went up and green eyes flashed. “Why are you asking those questions? If you have a problem with my work, surely that’s a matter for Human Resources.”

      “Normally I’d say you were right and shoot it up to them. But the Emergency Department is the heart of Miami’s Grace Hospital. So it’s important to me. To the entire hospital.”

      “My working a few