Their Hot Hawaiian Fling / Unlocking The Ex-Army Doc's Heart

“No, no. I’m good. I just want to know my son will be okay.”

“He’s in the best hands possible,” Leilani said. “Let me go check on his status again and I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Schrader said. “I’m sorry I don’t know your name.”

“Dr. Kim.” She gave him a kind smile. “Just sit tight and I’ll be back in as soon as we know more.”

“Thank you, Dr. Kim,” Mr. Schrader said.

Leilani left him and headed up to radiology to check in with Holden. She’d no more than stepped off the elevators when he waved her over to look at the films.

“See how narrow this is?” Holden asked her, pointing at the films of the kid’s trachea. “There’s definite swelling in his airway. In fact, given that there’s maybe only one or two millimeters open at most, it’s starting to close off completely. There should be a finger’s width all the way up.”

Definitely not good, especially since the airway normally narrowed at that point anyway, right before the vocal cords. Which brought up the next issues.

“What about his voice box?” she asked.

“That’s my concern,” Holden said, the grayish light from the X-ray viewer casting deep shadows on the hollows of his cheeks and under his eyes. “Looks like the surfboard made a direct hit on that area. The voice box could’ve been broken from the impact. It’s a high-risk injury in a high-risk area of the body.” He shook his head and leaned in closer to the films. “At least this explains his trouble breathing.”

“Are you going to operate?” Leilani asked.

Holden exhaled slowly. “No, not yet. Hate to do that to a kid so young. My advice would be to treat him with steroids first and see if the swelling goes down. Watch him like a hawk though. If conservative treatment doesn’t work, then I’ll go in with the thoracoscopy.”

“Agreed.” Leilani stepped back and smiled. Working with Holden felt natural, comfortable. Like they were a team. “Best to keep him in the ER then for the time being. That way if he needs emergency assistance, we’re there.”

“Yep. Let’s do it.”

She and Holden rode back down to the trauma bay with the medical team and Tommy, then called his father into the room.

Holden and Leilani exchanged looks, then she nodded. He stepped forward to take the lead. “Mr. Schrader, I’m sorry to tell you this is a very, very serious situation. Your son’s airway is currently compromised due to swelling from the surfboard strike. It’s possible his voice box had been damaged. If that’s the case, it could have long-term effects on his speech.”

“Oh God.” Mr. Schrader moved in beside his son and took the kid’s hand. “I told you not to go surfing today. I was so worried.”

“I know,” Tommy managed to croak out, clinging to his dad’s hand. “Sorry.”

“Our biggest concern though, at this point,” Holden continued, “is that if his larynx—his voice box—is too badly damaged, your son runs the risk of losing his ability to breathe. We need to keep him here at the hospital, in the ER, for at least the next twelve hours for observation. That way if his condition worsens, we can rush him into surgery immediately, if needed. I’d also like to get a consult from one of the throat specialists on staff to get their opinion.”

“Whatever you need to do,” Mr. Schrader said. “I just want my son to be okay.”

“Great. Thank you.” Holden stepped back and glanced at Leilani again. “Both Dr. Kim and I will check on Tommy periodically through the night to keep an eye on him then.”

“Yes, we will. You won’t be alone.” Leilani leaned in to place the call button in the kid’s hand and give him a reassuring smile. Once upon a time, that had been her in a hospital bed—scared and unsure about the future. “And if you feel your breathing gets worse at any point, you just press that button and we’ll rush back in right away, okay?”

Tommy gave a hesitant nod.

“Someone will always be here for you, Tommy,” Holden said, meeting Leilani’s gaze. “I promise. We’re not going to let anything else happen to you.”

The kid swallowed, then winced.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be in here checking on you so often you’ll get sick of seeing us.” Leilani winked, then headed toward the door with Holden. “Promise.”

“And I’ll be here too, son,” his dad said, pulling up a chair to the beside.

She and Holden walked back to the nurses’ station, discarding their masks and gowns in the biohazard bin and stopping to wash their hands at the sink nearby. His limp seemed less pronounced today, though he still used his cane to take the weight off his right leg.

She glanced over at him and smiled as she soaped up, then rinsed off. “You handled that case well.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, then winced, tossing his used paper towels in the trash and reaching up to touch the sutures in his lower lip.

“Stitches bothering you?” she asked, leaning a bit closer to inspect his wound. “Looks like it’s healing well.”

“I’m fine. It just stings a bit when I forget it’s there,” he said, holding up a tube of lip balm. “This helps though.”

“Glad to hear it.” Leilani turned away from the cherry flavored lip balm he held up. That was her favorite flavor. And now, for some reason, her mind kept wondering what his kisses would taste like with cherries in the mix. Ugh. Not good. Not good at all. She stepped back and looked anywhere but at him. “So, I should probably get back to work on another case then.”

“Yeah, me too.” He fiddled with the head of his cane, frowning slightly. “Hey, um, I meant to ask you about the luau.”

“Luau?” she repeated, like she was channeling her pet parrot. Her pulse kicked up a notch. Damn. She’d been hoping he’d forget about all that. Apparently not. She forced a smile she didn’t quite feel and flexed her fingers to relax them. Considering she’d just been having inappropriate thoughts about this man—her coworker—if she was wise, she’d get the heck out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, her feet seemed to have other ideas, because they stayed firmly planted where she was.

At least he seemed as awkward as she felt about it all, shuffling his feet and fumbling over his words. It was actually quite endearing... Leilani’s heart pinched a little at the sweetness, before she stopped herself.

Keep it professional, girl.

“The other day, last week, uh,” he said, keeping his gaze lowered like he was a nervous schoolkid and not a highly successful surgeon. “Anyway, I think your dad mentioned the luau at the hotel and I’d seen some flyers on it too, and I wondered if you still wanted to take me.” He hazarded a glance up and caught her eye. “Not that I’ll hold you to that. I just...” He exhaled slowly and ran his free hand through his hair, leaving the dark curls in adorable disarray.

No. Not adorable. No, no, no.

But even as she thought that, the simmering awareness bubbling inside her boiled over into blatant interest without her consent. Damn. This was beyond inconvenient. Of all the men for her to be interested in now, it had to be Holden Ross.

He huffed out a breath, then cursed quietly before straightening and meeting her gaze head-on as his words tumbled out in a rush. “Look. I don’t get out much and I’d like to see some sights while I’m here, and since you offered the other day, I thought I’d take you up on that, if the offer...if it still stands. Not a date, because I don’t do that. Just as two people, colleagues...” He hung his head. “I’m off tomorrow and Friday.”

Leilani blinked at him a moment, stunned. Blood thundered in her ears and she turned away to grab her tablet from behind the desk, needing something, anything, to keep herself busy, to keep herself from agreeing to his invitation and more. Because for some crazy reason that’s exactly what she wanted to do.

Think, girl. Think.

Saying yes could lead to a friendship between them beyond work, could lead to those uncomfortable tingles of like for this guy going a whole lot further into other l words. Not love, because that was off the table, but another one with a capital L. Lust. Because yeah, Holden really was just her type. Tall, dark, gorgeous. Smart, funny, sexy as all get out.

So, she should definitely say no. He was her coworker, her potential rival.

Except that would be rude. And she just couldn’t bring herself to be rude to him. Maybe it was that haunted look in his eyes she spied sometimes. Maybe it was his obvious awkwardness around commitment.

I don’t date.

Well, neither did she at present. Or maybe it was the air of brokenness about him that called to the same old wounded parts in her.

Whatever it was, she didn’t want to turn him down, even though she should.

There was one problem though.

She looked back at him over her shoulder as she brought up the next patient’s information on her screen. “Malu Huna’s luaus are only on Friday nights. And I have to work tomorrow. If you wanted to see the sights on Friday,” she said, taking a deep breath to calm her racing nerves, “then I guess we could. It will make for a long day though. Are you sure you’re up to that?”

“I am if you are,” he said, his cane clinking against the desk as he moved closer. “I’ll double up on my pain pills so I’m ready for anything.”

Ready for anything.

Damn if those words, spoken in that deep velvet voice of his, didn’t conjure a whole new batch of inappropriate thoughts. The two of them on the beach, holding hands and running into the waves together, lying in the sand afterward, making out like two horny teens, the feel of that dark stubble on his jaw scraping her cheeks, her neck, her chest, lower still...

Oh boy. I’m in trouble here.

Heat stormed her cheeks and she swiveled to face him, not realizing how close they were until it was too late. Her hand brushed his solid, warm chest before she snatched it away. Holden’s hazel eyes flared with the same awareness jolting through her, before he quickly hid it behind a frown.

“Look, if you don’t want to—”

“No, it’s fine. I promised you and I always keep my word.” She focused on the file on her screen again, trying in vain to calm her whirling thoughts. This was so not like her. She never went gaga over men. Yet here she was, blushing and stammering and acting like an idiot over the last man on Earth she should be attracted to. And yet, she was. Much as she hated to admit it.

Gah! Images of them lying together on that mat in the hotel gym zoomed back fast and furious to her mind. No. If she was going to get through this with her sanity and her heart intact, she needed to think logically about it. She’d show him her island home, not just the tourist sights, but her favorite spots too. Besides, it might give her a chance to find out more about his relationship with Dr. King and his real motives for being here in Hawaii. Taken in that light, she’d be a fool not to take him up on his offer, right? She took a deep breath, then set her tablet aside. “Fine. We’ll tour the town, then end with the luau. Meet me in the lobby at the hotel at 8:00 a.m. the day after tomorrow and don’t be late.”

Holden opened his mouth, closed it, then he smiled—the slow little one that made her toes curl in her comfy white running shoes. Ugh. No more of that. She turned away to head into her next exam room as his surprised tone revealed an equal amount of shock on his part. “Uh...okay. Eight o’clock on Friday it is.”

Four hours later, Holden was finishing up his shift by checking for the last time with Tommy Schrader. The kid was lucky. The steroids had helped reduce the swelling in his larynx and it didn’t look like the thoracoscopy would be necessary after all.

When Holden arrived upstairs to Tommy’s room, several of the kid’s surfer friends were there, along with Tommy’s father. Tommy was holding court like a king on his throne from his hospital bed, sun-streaked shaggy blond hair hanging in his face and his voice like gravel in a blender. But the fact the kid was speaking at all was a minor miracle. His injury could’ve been so much worse, and Holden was glad such a young guy wouldn’t carry lifelong scars from his accident.

Unlike Holden himself.

He cleared his throat at the door to the hospital room to announce his presence. “Sorry if this is a bad time. Just wanted to check in on my patient one more time before my shift is over.” He limped into the room with his cane and smiled at Mr. Schrader and the new guests. “Tommy’s very lucky.”

“Dudes, you have no idea,” Tommy rasped out, smiling at Holden, then his friends. “They were gonna stick a camera up my nose and down my throat and everything.”

“Whoa,” his friends said, both as shaggy and sunburned as Tommy. “Man, that’s gnarly. You were gonna be awake for that?”

“Patients are usually awake for thoracoscopy, yes,” Holden confirmed as he reached Tommy’s beside and leaned closer to examine the kid’s throat. The swelling was greatly reduced, even from the last time Holden had checked him about an hour prior. He’d be fine to discharge.

He straightened and turned to Mr. Schrader, who was sitting on a chair near the window. “Your son appears to be healing just fine now, though Dr. Kim will continue to check on him for the remainder of his stay. I don’t imagine there’ll be any lingering effects, but I’ll leave orders to discharge him with another round of steroids and some anti-inflammatory meds too. Then have him check in with your family physician in two weeks.”

“Sounds good.” The father shook Holden’s hand. “Thanks so much, Doc. Now that I know my son’s gonna be all right, once I get him home I’ll make sure his older brothers keep an eye on him too. And try to talk him out of surfing so close to a full moon again.”

Holden grinned and turned back to Tommy. “Listen to your dad. Take care, Tommy.”

“Thanks, Doc. Mahalo,” the kid said, shaking Holden’s hand too. “I’ll be sure to thank the pretty lady doc too. You guys make a good team. She your girlfriend?”

“Son,” Mr. Schrader said, his voice rife with warning. “Don’t mind him, Dr. Ross. That’s all him and his friends think about these days when they’re not surfing. Girls.”

“I’ll pass along gratitude to Dr. Kim,” Holden said, dodging the uncomfortable questions and ignoring the squeeze of anxiety in his chest it caused. “Take care, all.”

“Mahalo, Doc!” Tommy called again as Holden walked from the room to the nurses’ station down the hall.

He should feel relieved to have another successful patient outcome under his belt, but now all he could think about was Leilani and their upcoming date on Friday.

Wait. Scratch that. Not a date.

He hadn’t lied when he’d told her he didn’t do that. Life was too unpredictable for long-term commitments. The shooting had taught him that. Nothing was permanent, especially love. So now he chose short, sweet, no strings attached affairs. No deeper, messy, scary emotions involved, thanks. No connections beyond the physical. No chance to have his heart ripped out and shredded to pieces. Because that’s what he wanted.

Isn’t it?

Not that it mattered. He and Leilani Kim were work colleagues, nothing more. Best to keep his head down and focus on his work, then move on when this stint ended. That was the safest bet. And Holden was all about safety these days.

She’d show him around the city, then take him to the luau at the resort, as promised. That’s all. Nothing more. And sure, he couldn’t stop thinking about the feel of her beneath him on that stupid gym mat, the sweet jasmine and lemon scent of her hair, the warm brush of her skin against his and...

Oh God.

He was such an idiot. What the hell had he been thinking to bring up her invitation to the luau? He hadn’t been thinking, that was the problem. Or more to the point, he’d been thinking with his libido and not his brain. Memories of her dressed in those formfitting leggings and tank top at the gym that day, how she might wrap those shapely legs of hers around him instead, and hold him close, kiss him, run her fingers through his hair. He shuddered.

No. No, no, no.

With more effort than should be necessary to concentrate, Holden finished electronically signing off on his notes on the Tommy Schrader case, then left instructions for his discharge for Leilani before handing it all over to the nurse waiting behind the desk.

“Dr. King asked to see you upstairs in her office when you have a moment, Dr. Ross,” the nurse said.

“Thanks.” Probably about that project she’d mentioned to him before. He took a deep breath, then headed for the elevators. The clock on the wall said it was nearly time for him to leave. Good. He’d see Helen, then head back to the ER to hand off his cases to the next physician on duty before going back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep.

Besides, talking to Helen should be a good distraction from his unwanted thoughts about Leilani. The elevator dinged and he stepped on board then pushed the button for the fifth floor, where the administrative offices were located.

He had to get his head on straight again before Friday. Hell, if he was really serious about keeping to himself, he’d cancel the whole day altogether. Given the surprised look on her face when she’d offered to show him around, she’d probably be glad to be rid of him as well. But then if he did cancel, she might take it the wrong way, and the last thing he wanted was to offend her. They still had to work together, after all.

You guys make a good team.

Tommy’s words from earlier echoed through his head. The worst part was, they were true.

Working with Leilani on that case had felt seamless, effortless, right.

Which was just wrong, in Holden’s estimation.

He didn’t want partnerships anymore, professionally or personally. Getting too close to people only made you vulnerable and weak, especially when they could be taken from you so easily.

Ding!

The elevator doors swished open and Holden stepped out into the lobby on the administrative floor. Thick carpet padded his footsteps as he headed over to the receptionist’s desk in the middle of the plush leather-and-glass sitting area.

“Hi. Holden Ross to see Helen King, please,” he said, feeling out of place and underdressed in his shift-old scrubs and sneakers.

“Dr. King’s been expecting you, Dr. Ross.” She pointed down a hallway to her left. “Last door on the right.”

“Thanks.” He gave the woman a polite smile, then headed for the office she’d indicated. The other times he’d met with Helen here in Hawaii, it had been outside the hospital, either at her home near Waikiki or at the fancy restaurant she’d taken him to on his first night in the city. Other than that, he’d never been up here, since regular old human resources was in another building entirely, half a block down from the medical center. He made his way to the end of the hall and stopped to admire the amazing view from the floor-to-ceiling glass wall beside the office before knocking on the dark wood door.

“Come in,” Helen called from inside, and Holden entered the office.

For a moment, he took in the understated elegance of the place. It was Helen to a T, no-nonsense yet comfortable. “Wow, this is a big step up from Chicago, huh?”

Helen chuckled, her husky voice helping to soothe his earlier anxiety. “It doesn’t suck. Please come in, Holden. Have a seat.”

He did so, in a large wingback leather chair in front of her desk that probably cost more than his rent back home. As always, Helen’s desk was spotless, with stacks of files neatly placed in bins and every pen just so. “The nurse downstairs said you wanted to see me?”

“I wanted to see how you’re settling in,” she said, sitting back in her black leather executive chair that dwarfed her petite frame. With her short white hair and sparkling blue eyes, she’d always reminded Holden of a certain British actress of a certain age, who took no crap from anyone. “We haven’t talked in a few weeks. How are you liking things here at Ohana?”

“Fine.” He did his best to relax but found it difficult. He and Helen had been friends long enough for him to suspect this wasn’t just a social call. They could’ve gone to the pub for that. “The facilities are top-notch and the staff is great.”

Better than great, his mind chimed in as he recalled Leilani.

Not that he’d mention his unwanted attraction to his coworker to Helen. The woman had been trying to get him married off since they’d worked together back in Chicago. If she even suspected a hint of chemistry between him and Leilani, she’d be all over it worse than the Spanish Inquisition.

“Glad to hear you like it.” Helen steepled her fingers, then watched him over the top of them, her gaze narrowed, like M getting ready to assign her best secret agent a new kill. “But do you like it enough to consider staying?”

“What?” Holden tore his gaze away from the stunning views of the ocean in the distance and focused on Helen once more, his chest tightening. He frowned. “No. I’m locum tenens.”

“I know,” she said, sitting forward to rest her arms atop her desk. “But what if you weren’t.”

The low-grade anxiety constantly swirling in his chest rose higher, constricting his vocal cords. “But I am. You know I don’t want to get tied down to anywhere. Not yet.”

Maybe not ever again.

Helen blinked at him several times before exhaling slowly, her expression morphing from confident to concerned. “I’m worried about you, Holden. You’ve been on your own since the shooting, jetting off to a new place every few months, no connections, no home.”

“I’m fine,” he said, forcing the words. “Look, I thought you called me here to talk about that project you mentioned, not dissect my personal life.”

“Are you fine though?” Her blue gaze narrowed, far too perceptive for his tastes. She sighed and stood, coming around the desk and leaning her hips back against it as she changed the subject. “Well, all that aside... Fine, let’s discuss the project then.”

Holden released his pent-up breath, his lungs aching for oxygen, and stared at the floor beneath his feet. Helen had saved his life after the shooting. Stitching up his wounds and staunching his blood loss until the orthopedic surgeons could work their magic on his leg and shoulder. Without her, there was a good chance he would’ve ended up six feet under, just like David.

An unexpected pang of grief stabbed his chest. Even a year later, he still missed his best friend like it was yesterday. The funeral. The awful days afterward, walking around like a zombie, no emotions, no light, no hope.

Still, he was here. He was coming back to life slowly, painfully, whether he wanted to or not. Like a limb that had fallen asleep, pins and needles stabbed him relentlessly as the emotions he’d suppressed for so long returned. Maybe that was why he felt so drawn to Leilani—her vibrant spirit, the sense that perhaps in some weird way she understood what he’d been through, how she made him feel things he’d thought he’d never feel again.

Plus, he owed Helen a debt he could never repay. That’s why he was here in Hawaii. Why he was here now. She’d saved his life and his leg. The least he could do was hear her out. He cleared his throat, then asked, “What kind of project is it?”

“Twofold, actually.” Helen clasped her hands in front of her. “First, our national accreditation is coming up for renewal next year and we need to make sure all of our security policies are up-to-date for the ER. I’d like you to help with that.”

Holden swallowed hard and forced his tense shoulders to relax. “I can do that.”

“Good.” Helen glanced out the windows then back to him again. “Secondly, you know I’m looking for a new director of emergency medicine, yes?”