One shy nurse...

One liaison of a lifetime!

When surgical nurse Riley King shares an unexpected night of passion with heartthrob surgeon Justin Brothers, she vows that their intense connection is for one night only! Riley’s not looking for a relationship—she’s been there and been left at the altar to prove it. But there’s more to Justin than meets the eye... Can she let her past go and allow herself to risk her heart?

JANICE LYNN has a Masters in Nursing from Vanderbilt University, and works as a nurse practitioner in a family practice. She lives in the southern United States with her husband, their four children, their Jack Russell—appropriately named Trouble—and a lot of unnamed dust bunnies that have moved in since she started her writing career. To find out more about Janice and her writing visit janicelynn.com.

Also by Janice Lynn

Winter Wedding in Vegas

Sizzling Nights with Dr Off-Limits

It Started at Christmas…

The Nurse’s Baby Secret

The Doctor’s Secret Son

A Firefighter in Her Stocking

A Surgeon to Heal Her Heart

Heart Surgeon to Single Dad

Friend, Fling, Forever?

A Nurse to Tame the ER Doc

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

The Nurse’s One Night to Forever

Janice Lynn

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-008-90226-1

THE NURSE’S ONE NIGHT TO FOREVER

© 2020 Janice Lynn

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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To Macy

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

FOR THE HUNDREDTH time since Riley had arrived at the engagement party Dr. Justin Brothers found himself watching her pretend she was having a good time. She wasn’t.

Which didn’t make sense as he knew she and Cheyenne were close friends. And Paul was a great guy. Surely Riley was happy at their engagement?

Still, if ever a woman was faking it, Riley was now. Her eyes begged to be rescued, even though she was laughing at something someone had said.

Justin wanted to don some armor and do just that.

He knew better.

Riley King fought her own battles and would cut down any man who got in her way. Or maybe it was just him she cut down.

The only place she was relaxed around Justin was in the surgery suite. There, she’d give tit for tat. He loved working with her, watching her take charge and make sure everything went smoothly. It always did with Riley at the helm.

“Go talk to her.”

Justin cut his gaze to his friend Paul. “You worry about taking care of your own love-life.”

Faux-punching Justin’s shoulder, Paul grinned. “This whole shindig is about my love life and how awesome it is.”

A pang of envy hit. Was it only last summer that Justin had almost walked down the aisle himself? That he’d thought he’d found “the one?”

How quickly things changed.

Although Justin wasn’t lonely, he wasn’t opposed to meeting someone special and being in Paul’s shoes.

His gaze went back to Riley. The curvy nurse who was so quick to put him in his place, had captivated him from the moment he’d met her.

“You like her.”

“Never said I didn’t,” he reminded his friend, dragging his gaze from Riley yet again. “It’s more that she doesn’t like me.”

Paul gave a look of disbelief. “Never known you to strike out.”

“It happens.” Unfortunately. He couldn’t recall the last time prior to Riley, but she was a biggie.

Too bad she’d laughed when he’d asked her out. Laughed and told him no in no uncertain terms.

His gaze drifted back to her, taking in the body-hugging green dress that flounced at the hem and made his eyes pop. She had her dark hair pulled up, but several tendrils had worked loose and framed her pretty heart-shaped face. At work she wore scrubs and no-nonsense shoes. Tonight she had stilettos on that made her legs look a million miles long and gave a gentle sway to her hips when she walked.

Just looking at her had Justin struggling not to reach for his collar to loosen a few buttons. Riley made him hot.

Because she was hot.

And smart, and funny, and—not interested.

Only he’d swear she was...

From across the terrace her big green eyes collided with his gaze and she failed to hide the initial flicker of awareness. The same awareness he felt every time they were together but that she seemed to find easy to push aside and deny.

She’d had a bad break-up a year or two ago. He didn’t know the specifics, but you couldn’t work in the same hospital unit and not pick up on gossip. She didn’t date. Perhaps she was still hung up on her ex. That theory made the most sense but, right or wrong, the thought of her wanting another man irked him.

Cheeks blushing a rosy pink, she averted her eyes, took a drink from her champagne glass, then pretended to listen to whatever her friend was saying.

The same way Justin was pretending to listen to what Paul was saying.

Justin grimaced and told himself to stop with the Riley fascination and acknowledge the woman Paul was now introducing to him.

The single woman who’d just joined them had a hopeful look in her eyes. If she triggered half the sparks Riley did, he’d consider himself a lucky man.

Too bad he felt nothing when he looked at the tall blonde and everything when his gaze wandered back to the brunette whose gaze was on him again...

For so many reasons surgical nurse Riley King hadn’t wanted to attend her coworker’s engagement party. But she adored Cheyenne, and hadn’t been able to think of a single excuse that wouldn’t have their close-knit workgroup rallying to make sure Riley was okay.

This party was about Cheyenne—not a wake for expressing grief over Riley’s jilting at the altar. She had to at least make a quick appearance, even if she knew she’d be one of the few solo attendees and would get looks of pity and offers of blind date set-ups.

No, thank you.

She didn’t want pity, blind dates, real dates, or to be anywhere that had anything to do with the opposite sex and especially not with weddings.

Like this engagement party.

Still, she had to go on smiling and pretending she was having the time of her life, and that she wasn’t hungry when she was actually longing to give in to the temptation of the yummy-looking calorie-laden appetizers at various locales on the beautifully decorated patio.

Even worse, she had to pretend that the engagement and wedding excitement didn’t trigger flashbacks to sitting in her fancy white dress, alone on her wedding night.

Johnny’s exit had just been more dramatic, but every man Riley had ever cared for had left, leaving her done with romantic involvements.

So why was her gaze constantly on the man on the opposite side of the party venue? The very gorgeous man she couldn’t keep her eyes from straying to no matter how many times she dragged them away?

Hot, steamy Dr. Justin Brothers—the heartthrob orthopedic surgeon all the females at the hospital oohed and ahhed over twenty-four-seven.

Riley didn’t ooh or ah over Justin. Much. Sure, he was tall, muscular in a non-gym-rat kind of way, and had the most amazing blue eyes and smile. But she knew his type. Male—which equated to love ’em and leave ’em.

Justin was one of those fast guys who didn’t waste time before declaring, “Next!” From the moment he’d arrived on the Columbia Hospital scene, he had never been with the same woman twice. He wasn’t interested in pretending he’d stick around.

Wasn’t that what Karen, one of his more recent exes, had told Riley when they’d bumped into each other at the grocer’s? Justin was fun while it lasted, but knowing that hadn’t prevented the woman from being heartbroken when he’d moved on.

Riley did not want to be the next Karen. Or Nancy. Or Stephanie.

So what if she enjoyed their hospital banter? The way he made her fight laughter more often than not? Made her fight the awareness that, although she’d sworn off romance, her body was still young and hormonal?

Regardless, she wouldn’t risk a repeat of what had happened with Johnny. Not ever, ever, ever.

That was why she’d told Justin no when he’d asked her to dinner.

Twice.

She hadn’t been sure he was serious the first time, and had figured the second time had been about wounded pride.

But if ever she was tempted to date again, Justin would be the one to make her do it.

When Justin had come to work at the hospital six months ago she had felt good old-fashioned lust surge to life. Something she’d thought impossible to feel again. Something she hadn’t wanted to feel again.

Which was why she avoided him when she was outside the safety of the hospital.

The less she knew about Justin, the better.

The more she thought of him as a player—no better than any other man who’d ever walked the earth, looking for a female’s heart to crush—the better.

The sooner she snuck away from this party, the better.

Why had she thought she could attend an engagement party? Wasn’t that like having all her shattered dreams tossed right into her face? A vivid reminder of her own engagement party?

Romantic happiness was like a vapor. Here one moment, gone the next. Riley had sworn off pursuing that elusive mirage. Life was so much better since she had.

She gripped her glass tighter. She should have known Johnny would invade her thoughts tonight. She had known.

Laughing a bit too loudly at a comment someone made, Riley wanted to fall through the floor. Surely enough time had passed that she could leave without being noticed?

She glanced at her fitness watch. Her heart sank. Had she really only been there just over thirty minutes? How was that possible when it seemed hours had gone by since she’d arrived a little late, with her roommate Cassie and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Sam?

An hour. She had to stay at least an hour.

Then she could go home, change into something comfortable, eat celery while telling herself it tasted way better than chocolate, grab her six-pound Maltese terrier, and lie on the hammock in her backyard to let the night sky and her loving dog soothe away her raw nerves.

Across the room, Justin Brothers clanged his glass, causing the crowd to hush.“Can I have your attention, please?”

Oh, he had Riley’s attention, all right. Way too often and almost non-stop since she’d arrived and seen him putting shame to every other man present in his tailored black pants and perfect-fitting light blue button-down shirt. He’d undone a couple of buttons at his throat and rolled up his sleeves to reveal tanned mid-forearms. He looked phenomenal. Someone should put him on a billboard.

Yep, her attention was had. Which was unfortunate. You’d think an engagement party that had caused an outbreak of botched wedding memories would douse her reaction to Justin, but he still left her feeling unsettled.

“We’re here tonight to celebrate Paul and Cheyenne’s engagement,” he continued, glancing to where the happy couple stood next to one another.

Riley’s gaze followed, taking note of Paul’s arm around Cheyenne’s waist, his hand resting at his fiancée’s lower back as she smiled up at him with her heart and a lifetime of dreams shining in her eyes.

Once upon a time Johnny had held her and she’d smiled adoringly at him, oblivious to his cheating ways.

Ugh. Riley fought a wave of nausea and finished off the champagne she wasn’t supposed to drink until after the toast.

Staring into her empty glass, she grimaced. Oops.

Moving away from the friends she’d been talking to, she grabbed another glass from a nearby tray to participate in the toast to the happy couple.

Relationships always started with smiles and happiness. It was what came later that brought tears and heartache. Grief. Humiliation. Pity.

Drinking champagne inappropriately.

Poor Cheyenne.

Cheyenne wouldn’t listen, though. Hadn’t Riley already tried to warn her friend to no avail that she was making a mistake? Cheyenne had hugged her and told her that someday someone was going to come along to heal all the wounds Johnny had inflicted.

Which was naïve and completely ridiculous.

Riley did not need or want someone to come along and “heal” her. She was healed—and she had learned valuable life lessons her friend had yet to experience.

Riley prayed she never would.

Tightening her hold on her new glass, she focused on where Justin was still talking, giving his toast to the couple. He was Paul’s best man and he was taking his duties seriously, delivering one heck of a spiel about love and commitment.

As if he knew anything about those things.

“So, let’s raise our glasses to Paul and Cheyenne, celebrate their love, and wish them a long, happy life together.”

Riley did wish that for her friend. She just didn’t believe it was possible. Still, she raised her glass, faked a smile as she clinked her glass against the nearby guests’ glasses, then took a sip. A long sip that almost emptied her glass.

When she looked back toward Justin her eyes collided with his blue ones, as they often did. Probably because he was wondering why she couldn’t stop looking at him.

Heaven help her, but it would be easy to fall into that man’s eyes and drown in their mesmerizing depths.

She ordered her own eyes to move, to look at the pretty landscape surrounding the porch, the ornate bushes, the small trees and colorful plants—anything other than Justin.

Her eyes refused to budge, preferring to submerge themselves in vivid blue.

Maybe he’d put a spell over her. Because not only would her eyes not avert, but her ability to fake anything vanished.

She knew it because she saw concern flicker on his face.

She didn’t want his concern.

She was fine.

Better than fine.

Only...

Only nothing.

Shunning the emotions rocking her, she clamped her armor and her fake smile back into place and raised her glass to him in acknowledgement of his toast.

His gaze searching hers, he raised his glass back.

In unison, eyes locked, they took a drink.

Riley swallowed, wondering if she’d had too much as her head felt dizzy. This glass was her third and would be her last.

She rarely drank, so three glasses of champagne had to be why her insides felt so topsy-turvy. If she wasn’t careful she would soon be quite tipsy. She’d only ever been drunk once—and, really, did that night even count?

Ha. That night counts for everything, the nagging voice that reared its ugly head from time to time reminded her.

That night had been the end of what she’d thought the rest of her life would be and the beginning of a very different reality.

A better reality, she reminded herself. She was strong and independent, with a job she loved, a home and dog she loved, and a good life. It was no big deal that she was faking smiles and just about everything else.

Sighing, then realizing she’d done so for real rather than just in her head, Riley jerked her gaze away from Justin, emptied her glass, and took in the partygoers around her.

Most everyone was paired up. Anywhere she went, she was one of the few singles. She’d known the engagement party wouldn’t be any different. What she hadn’t known was that Justin would attend alone.

On the few times she’d seen him outside the hospital he’d always had a beautiful woman on his arm.

Ugh. What good was it to not be looking at him if she was just going to keep thinking about him? She needed to stop.

She didn’t know which was worse: the flashbacks to her almost-wedding or making googly eyes at Justin. One had left her battle-scarred. The other was like stepping into the line of fire, begging to reopen wounds better left alone.

“You okay?”

Riley choked on the champagne that hadn’t gone down yet. She tried to look as if the liquid wasn’t clogging her airway, but quickly gave up when doing so meant not breathing. She coughed repeatedly, attempting to clear the gurgling from her throat.

“I was before you came over here and startled me,” she accused, once she could form a sentence, hoping her watering eyes wouldn’t ruin her mascara. “Why did you sneak up on me that way?”

Watching her closely, no doubt wondering if he needed to do some kind of medical maneuver to clear her throat, he quipped, “You mean in that walking across the terrace in plain sight way?”

She coughed one last time, took a deep breath, and appreciated it when it didn’t trigger further hacking. “Yeah, that would be the way.”

“For the record, my question referred to before your excellent dying from pneumonia impersonation.” His lips twitched. “Glad to see you made a quick recovery.”

Riley rolled her eyes. She might enjoy their banter at the hospital, but at an engagement party, with three glasses of champagne flowing through her, thinning her protective armor, not so much.

“No thanks to you,” she complained, reminding herself to keep her eyes focused on his face and not let them drop to that sexy V revealed by those loosened buttons. “You could have at least slapped my back a few times.”

“And have you accused me of drumming up business by cracking a few ribs?” His grin was infectious, making his eyes twinkle. “I don’t think so.”

Why did the man have to be so good-looking? So—so everything?

“I said slapping my back, not breaking bones.” Although she was fighting against smiling, she gave him a stern look. “Jeez, men and their having to flex muscles every chance they get...”

He was unfazed, and his eyes danced. “You don’t want to see me flex my muscles, Riley?”

Um, yeah, she’d like to see him do that...

“Not that way,” she denied, gulping at her big fat lie and wondering at what she even meant. This party, maybe him, too, had her so flustered she was making no sense.

“Is there some other way you’d like to see my muscles flex?” He pounced on her goof. “I’d be happy to oblige.”

“I’ll pass, since I see all the muscle-flexing from you that I want to see in the operating room, when you’re pulling and tugging on patients.”

“My talents extend beyond surgery.”

Heaven help her, she was about to go into a coughing fit again.

“I’m sure they do,” she managed to say, knowing he was waiting.

“You should let me show you sometime.”

Riley refused to take him seriously. “Ah, poor Justin. Are you upset you don’t have a date tonight?”

Eyes locked with hers, he shook his head. “Quite the opposite. I purposely came alone.”

Surprised, and further flustered by his answer and his look, Riley stared at him. “Why would a muscle-flexing guy like you do something like that?”

“I was hoping you’d be here without a date.”

The South Carolina humidity had just gone into overdrive and was drenching her skin.

Resisting the urge to fan herself, she tilted her chin upward. “What good would that do you?”

“Based on past experience? Not one bit.” Looking way too charming, he gave a self-deprecating laugh. “But a guy can hope you’ll take pity and at least say yes to one dance.”

Dance with Justin?

Riley gulped at the thought of wrapping her arms around his neck, of his arms around her waist. She’d need more than her hands to fan her if she agreed to that. Something along the lines of the jet blast from a Boeing 747.

“Maybe later,” she answered, thinking that if she said no he’d persist, and that if she said yes he’d pull her onto the dance floor with the other couples now.

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

Most likely he’d move on to one of the few other dateless women there, all of whom she’d seen talking to him at different points since arriving.

“Maybe you’d like to see the gardens? There’s a small lake with a fountain just over that rise. I’m told it’s worth the short walk.” He gestured beyond the porch to a lighted walkway.

Getting away from the party appealed more than getting away from Justin.

She set her glass down on a table, then nodded. “Please.”

Seeming surprised she’d agreed, he smiled. “You just made my night.”

His smile was so genuine, so endearing, her breath caught. She fought against saying she’d changed her mind and was leaving the party she hadn’t wanted to attend to begin with. Even though that was what a smart girl would do.

Her IQ was dropping by the second.

“You wish,” she quipped, not waiting for him as she headed toward the path he’d pointed out.

He quickly fell into step beside her as they made their way along the cobblestoned walkway. Trimmed bushes, flowers, and solar-powered lights bordered either side, giving a sense of privacy and filling the air with the scent of sweet gardenia.

“I do, you know.”

“Do what?” She didn’t look at him, just carefully made her way along the path, thinking she should have gone for different shoes as four-inch heels weren’t ideal for garden walkways.

When she’d chosen them she’d been thinking of how the extra height would make her look taller, feel thinner, more in control during what she’d known would be a rough experience.

“Wish you had just made my night,” he clarified.

At his response, Riley stumbled, reaching out to keep herself from falling at the same time as he moved to catch her.

She fell into his arms. Literally.

Embarrassed, she glanced up, both cursing and blessing her heels. They’d caused her to stumble, but they also gave her the vantage point to more easily look into his eyes.

Blessing? She wasn’t supposed to be looking into Justin’s eyes—much less easily. Nor was she supposed to be pressed against his hard body.

Oh, my!

“Well, hello, there,” he teased, not stepping back from where he held her.

Neither did she. Which was a problem. Why was she not removing her body from where it was plastered to his? And why, oh, why did he feel so wonderful? So solid and chiseled to perfection?

Not to mention that his spicy clean scent was pulling a wicked number... She’d gotten whiffs of that clean, all-man smell in the OR, but had never allowed herself to really take it in. Where was an alcohol pad when she needed one to block it out?

Unable to stop herself, Riley breathed in through her nose, filling her nostrils, her lungs, her being, with Justin.

Goodness, the man was intoxicating. His body, his smell. The way he was looking down at her.

His heart pounded hard against her chest as his gaze dropped to her mouth. She parted her lips, planning to apologize for falling, but nothing came out.

His hands trembled slightly where they pressed against her back. His throat worked as he swallowed, and then, surprising her, he closed his eyes.

The walkway lights flickered over his face, allowing Riley to see how the skin was pulled tightly across his cheeks, how he was struggling with something. Not something... With her and how their bodies were responding to one another.

“Justin?”

He opened his eyes.

“I feel as if I should be asking you if you’re okay,” she mused, still not moving out of his arms.

She’d thought it was his heart pounding against her chest. It wasn’t. It was her own, banging so violently against her rib cage that he might be black and blue if he didn’t step away.

He didn’t. Instead, his hands moved from her lower back to caress her face.

“I’m good,” he assured her.

She’d bet he was, and she wanted to know more.

Which scared her.

Terrified her.

Just as she’d worked up the strength to pry her body from his, he bent to touch his lips to hers. A soft brushing of his mouth, slow, gentle, in a show of great restraint because she felt the way his body tensed.

Lord help her for what she felt as his mouth coaxed hers to open, to allow him to explore to his heart’s content.

Riley’s head spun. That was how Justin made her feel. Spinning out of control.

A single moment or an eternity might have passed during their embrace. Riley couldn’t have sworn one way or the other. Just knew that Justin’s kiss took her beyond the realm of time, place, anything...

All that mattered was his kiss, how when she opened her eyes and looked into his what she saw weakened her knees. Mostly because what she saw there was reflected in her own for him to see.

But she didn’t want him seeing behind her carefully guarded walls—didn’t want anyone glimpsing behind her armor, least of all Justin.

What had she done?

She needed to run, to put as much distance between them as her high heels would let her.

But other than to tremble at the gravity of what was happening, her body didn’t move.

Holding her close, he smiled. “That was worth waiting for.”

Stunned at his admission, she blinked. “You were waiting to kiss me?”

Brushing a few loose hairs away from her face, he nodded. “You know I was.”

No, she didn’t know that.

Wrong. She did know.

She knew. And there was no more denying what she’d been denying for months.

What she’d been wanting for months.

Justin.

CHAPTER TWO

RILEY HADN’T INTENDED to go home with Justin.

Ha—even a few hours ago, when they’d been swirling and laughing on the dance floor, she’d still been telling herself their kiss had been a one-off.

So much for good intentions and all that jazz.

Here she was, in his bedroom, in the midst of something straight out of someone else’s life, practically ripping Justin’s shirt off his muscled chest.

He trailed hungry kisses over her throat, slid her spaghetti straps down her shoulders while her every nerve cell strained to be nearer to his talented lips.

She’d lost her purse somewhere. Possibly it was in the Jeep he’d driven them in to his apartment. Or maybe she’d tossed it somewhere between his front door and where they were now wrapped around each other next to his bed.

His big bed.

A big bed he’d probably brought countless women to.

Hesitation hit. Did she really want to be another notch on Justin’s belt?

Abandoning their fumbling at his shirt buttons, her fingers lowered, tracing over the rich, smooth leather encircling his waist. Seriously, what was she doing? Feeling for literal notches on his belt?

She pressed her forehead to his chest, resting against the soft cotton material. Closing her eyes, she breathed in his amazing scent, full of spice and temptation.

It made women crave more.

It made her crave more.

Don’t inhale, Riley. Do not inhale.

Wasn’t that when she’d first lost her mind in the garden? When she’d allowed his scent to intoxicate her? Weaken her to his powerful sensory onslaught?

Swallowing, she clenched his belt and ordered her brain to use logic, not hormones, to calculate how she wanted to proceed.

Or not to proceed.

Unaware of her inner turmoil, he dipped his tongue into the indentation at the base of her throat as his fingers connected with her dress’s zipper.

A moan rose from deep inside her chest.

She was here, in Justin’s bedroom, the sole recipient of his many talents. Was she really going to tell him to stop?

He would. As wrapped up as he was in what was happening, she didn’t question the fact that if she told him she’d changed her mind he’d stop.

Letting go of his belt, her hands went back to working those last few shirt buttons free. The time for stopping had gone. Just like her inhibitions, apparently.

Possibly this was happening because she’d been so emotionally raw at Cheyenne and Paul’s party. And she’d drunk champagne while eating very little, because she was on yet another diet in the hopes of getting rid of the extra fifteen pounds she perpetually carried.

Or maybe she was here because what she’d seen in Justin’s eyes when he’d kissed her, what she’d felt at his touch, had soothed the ever-present rawness Johnny’s cruelty had dealt her.

“You taste good.”

Was that why he was nibbling at her neck that way? As if her skin was nectar and he was starved?

“Sweet as honey,” he continued, his lips miracle-workers at her throat.

“Too sticky,” she murmured, finally freeing him of his shirt.

Wanting to look at what she’d uncovered, she attempted to take a step back. But she was too close to the bed to manage more than bumping against the king-sized monstrosity.

“Sticky sweet,” he practically growled, prickling her more and more sensitized flesh with goosebumps.

His hands made their way beneath her dress, cupped her bottom, and pulled her against him.

Her entire body tingled. As if someone had hooked up a TENS unit and cranked the power full-blast.

Oh, wow.

He pressed against her belly, hard, tempting, promising great pleasure.

Riley wanted great pleasure.

She had heard about it, had dreamed of it a long, long time ago, but experience it? Nada.

Her ex sure hadn’t delivered great pleasure.

Johnny had been okay in bed. Probably as good as Riley. Which should have her reconsidering what was happening now, because the last thing she wanted was Justin thinking her a dud between the sheets. She must be. Johnny wouldn’t have strayed before they’d even made it down the aisle if she was any good, right?

But Justin wasn’t acting as if he thought her a dud. He couldn’t get enough, seemed to want to kiss her all over, touch her all over, as if he found her curves sexy rather than too fleshy. As if he found her irresistible.

Justin was with her, kissing her, grinding his body against hers. He was focused on her and making her feel good. He wanted her.

She’d regret it tomorrow. She knew she would. She knew herself too well to believe otherwise. She had to work with him, for goodness’ sake.

But when his fingers hooked her panties and slid them down she couldn’t lift her feet fast enough to shake free of the skimpy satin and lace material.

Not only was she doing this, but she was going to demand Justin make it worth every single recrimination she’d feel later.

With that thought, she pulled his belt free from his jeans, tossed it to the floor, then twined her fingers through the loops of his jeans and tugged him to her.

Eyes locked with his, she lifted her chin.“You only get one shot,” she warned, with the bravado of a seasoned siren rather than a woman whose groom had been a no-show at their wedding. “Make it good.”

Not looking the slightest bit worried about his making-it-good abilities, Justin grinned.

“I can do that,” he promised, and then he did.

Slowly waking, Justin felt his lips curve when he recalled how he’d spent the night.

With Riley. Sexy, curvy Riley. With her long brown hair and big green eyes. Sweet and sassy Riley, who was all business at work, tough and forceful with her patients when they needed to be pushed, kind and gentle when they needed a soft touch, and always professional.

It was her smile that had first hooked him. When she smiled her eyes lit, dimples dug into her cheeks, and a genuine warmth exuded from her that soothed something deep inside him and yet left a raw achiness.

Last night, when he’d gone to her, he’d been thinking along the lines of chatting, going for a walk, strolling near the lake to admire the fountain, then heading back to the party to dance.

Never in his wildest dreams had Justin envisioned them heading to his apartment. To his bed.

Well, maybe in his wildest dreams. He just hadn’t expected it to happen.

He wasn’t complaining. He’d wanted her for months.

She’d been a firecracker and she had put on an impressive show. She’d met him touch for touch, kiss for kiss, demanding more until he’d given all he had to give, and then had still found the strength to give more.

He stretched his arms over his head, surprised his muscles weren’t protesting his vigorous nocturnal activities. Instead he felt glorious—it was like the best runner’s high.

Amazing what a night of phenomenal sex with the right woman did for a man.

And Riley was the right woman.

He’d suspected that from the moment they’d met, and finally she seemed to have quit denying there was something between them.

She hadn’t said no, nor had she rolled her eyes and laughed. What she’d said had turned him inside out and shattered all doubts that they were meant to be a couple.

Anticipating the vision of Riley sleeping in his bed, her beautiful hair sprawled out on his pillow, he rolled onto his side and opened his eyes.

What?

The space where Riley should be lying was empty.

Was she already awake and hadn’t awakened him?

Listening for sounds in the bathroom, or coming from the kitchen, he didn’t hear the slightest creak.

With a rising sense of unease, he sat up and glanced to the bedroom floor where they’d stripped each other.

Riley’s clothes were missing.

Empty bed, quiet apartment, missing clothes.

Reality gut-punched him, wreaking havoc with his earlier post-phenomenal-sex euphoria.

Riley was gone.

Why hadn’t she woken him?

Getting out of bed, he grabbed a pair of shorts from a drawer, then made his way through the apartment, looking for some sign that she’d really been there and that he hadn’t dreamed the entire night.

Surely she’d left a note?

A glass slipper?

Something?

Nothing.

She’d awakened, dressed, and left.

Raking his fingers through his hair, he considered his options.

He didn’t have her phone number. Why hadn’t he gotten it last night when he’d had the chance?

Because he hadn’t expected to wake up alone. Not after the hot kisses they’d shared. The hot everything they’d shared.

Taking a pre-made bag of vegetables and fruit from his freezer, he dropped them into his blender, along with a scoop of protein powder, poured in some almond milk, put on the lid, then pressed the button.

Why had Riley left?

She’d enjoyed their lovemaking. She hadn’t faked her responses. Not the first time or the second. She’d have told him if he wasn’t pleasing her. She’d not been shy in saying what she wanted, and he hadn’t hesitated in giving her that and more.

No matter. He’d thought she was through denying the sparks between them, but now she’d made how she felt clear enough. He didn’t need a flashing neon sign that her being gone this morning wasn’t the making of a promising relationship.

He couldn’t make someone want him when they didn’t. He’d learned that almost before he’d learned to walk.

Feeling a fool, he raked his fingers through his hair, stopped the blender, then poured his smoothie into a plastic cup.

Rather than head downstairs to the condo complex’s gym, he pulled out a chair at his kitchen bar and contemplated his relationship with Riley—starting from the moment they’d met. Even before then...

From the outside looking in, he and Ashley should have had it all had they married.

Only their idea of “family” had varied.

Justin had always wanted kids of his own, but planned to adopt as well. Ashley had known about the foster boys Justin was involved with, but the week before their wedding she’d told him she wouldn’t be raising someone else’s kids—not even his “little charity cases” whom she barely tolerated.

Justin had called off the wedding and several months later had relocated his job. He’d thought he’d focus on the boys until he met someone who wanted the same things he did—to have a big family, which included adopted and—Lord willing—birth children, and maybe a few foster kids along the way.

Then he’d met Riley.

An orthopedic nurse full of curves and sass who refused to date him but ruined his interest in every other woman.

They’d seen each other out socially a few times. But, determined not to let her get to him, as he had no desire to chase someone who claimed she wasn’t interested, he’d done his best to stay away and had brought a date to each group event.

For the past few weeks he’d not even bothered dating because he hadn’t been interested. And he’d known the reason.

Riley.

He’d enjoyed talking with her last night—enjoyed how, while the conversation had flowed vocally, their eyes and body had been communicating in a whole other language.

When he’d asked if she was ready to leave the party she’d not hesitated, immediately taking him up on his offer to drive her home.

Only the moment they were in his car he’d half-jokingly invited her to his place for drinks, to sit on his balcony and enjoy his view of the river.

He’d expected a flat-out no.

Instead, she’d agreed.

He should have known better. Maybe he had. But he’d been caught up in the way she’d been looking at him. And he’d barely gotten the engine turned off in the parking garage before they’d been all over each other, taking their garden kiss to another level of intensity.

Thinking back, he was surprised they’d made it to his bedroom. Had the elevator ride to his floor taken much longer they wouldn’t have. The chemistry had been that powerful.

Probably because of how long he’d wanted her. How much he’d wanted her.

Frustrated, Justin downed the rest of his breakfast, then walked back into his bedroom so he could jump in the shower.

He’d really thought they had something special.

Too bad Riley had left.

“I wasn’t expecting you to stay at Cheyenne’s party after Sam and I left. How late did you stay?”

“Not too late.”

Riley eyed Cassie from across the table and took a sip of her coffee. The hot liquid scalded her tongue, but she gulped the drink down rather than give any sign of unease.

“Daisy slept in my room most of the night.”

“Did she?” Riley tried to make it sound as if it wasn’t a big deal that her dog had stayed in Cassie’s room. If Riley had been at home the dog would’ve been wherever she was. They both knew it.

“I’m not sure at what point she abandoned me,” Cassie mused. “I’m guessing whatever time you came home.”

Glancing down at the fluffy white dog, eyeing them in the hope they’d share some of their breakfast, Riley shrugged. “She met me at the door when I came in—” at the crack of dawn “—and she wanted to go outside. She crawled into bed with me after that.”

“Had Sam not had to be up early for work we’d have stuck around at the party, just so I could keep an eye on you and Dr. Brothers.”

Her friend waggled her brows suggestively.

“I was enjoying the fireworks exploding between the two of you.”

Ugh. Could they not just go back to talking about Daisy?

Reality had hit. Although Riley had been oblivious to everyone except Justin when they’d been talking, laughing, dancing, no doubt their friends and coworkers had seen them...had taken note of the fact they’d left together.

Double ugh.

“Was it him who gave you a lift home?”

“No.” A creepy I-know-what-you’ve-been-doing taxi driver had brought her home.

“Too bad,” Cassie mused. “You seemed lost in conversation with him when you waved me off and said you’d find your own ride.”

Staring into her coffee mug, Riley shrugged. “He’s easy to talk to.”

Easy to do a lot of things with. Things she regretted, yet wasn’t sure she’d have passed up, given the choice of a redo.

“Mmm-hmm?” Cassie teased. “Talk to.”

Knowing they were destined to have this conversation at some point, Cassie scooped Daisy into her lap, threaded her fingers into the dog’s soft white fur to rub her neck, then met her friend’s curious gaze.

“You two could have started an inferno with those sparks flying.”

An inferno was a pretty apt description of what they had started. Images of the night were definitely burned into her mind.

“I drank a little more than I should have,” Riley admitted, searching for the words to appease her friend.

Sitting her coffee mug on the table, Cassie leaned forward. “You left with him, didn’t you?”

Riley grimaced. “Do we have to have this conversation before I’ve finished my first cup of coffee?”

Cassie clasped her hands together and made a gleeful noise. “Which means you did!”

Riley’s face instantly heated. Cassie was her best friend, knew all the details of her wedding gone awry. She understood when Riley said she wasn’t interested in going back down that road.

“We all make mistakes,” she admitted, thinking hers were typically super-sized.

“No!” Cassie gasped, her bottom lip going into a disappointed pout. “Dr. Brothers wasn’t any good?”

“He was—phenomenal—good.” She couldn’t bring herself to say otherwise. “Just...” she stroked Daisy’s fur “...I shouldn’t have had sex with a coworker.”

“There’s no hospital rule about dating coworkers.” Cassie dismissed her comment with a wave of her hand. “I’d know, since I’m dating a really hot emergency room nurse.”

There was that.

“Justin and I aren’t dating,” Riley pointed out, staring at Daisy as if she was trying to convince the dog. “Last night was a one-off fluke. Nice, but no big deal.”

“Nice? The man is gorgeous enough to make even me look twice, and I’m gaga over Sam.” Cassie shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re describing sex with Dr. Brothers as ‘nice!’ Guess he’d be too good to be true if he was the total package.”

Justin was the total package. Witty, kind, attentive, gorgeous...hot in bed.

Stop thinking of him that way, she scolded herself, her temples pounding.

Still, letting Cassie think poorly of Justin didn’t sit well.

“Last night was better than nice—way better. But it doesn’t matter. What happened was one night. Nothing more.”

Her friend sipped her coffee, obviously processing what Riley had said.

“I can’t say this doesn’t surprise me, because it does,” Cassie began. “I thought—Oh, never mind what I thought. If that’s all he wants it’s his loss. You’re a great catch.”

Even her best friend assumed it must be Justin who didn’t want to continue their relationship. Because no one in their right mind would assume a slightly chubby plain Jane wouldn’t jump at the chance to be with him anytime he crooked his talented finger.

They were probably right. But she wasn’t giving Justin the opportunity to be the one to say, Thanks, but no thanks.

She liked her life just as it was. She’d worked hard to get Johnny’s voice out of her head, and on most things had succeeded.

She liked not having to worry about making anyone happy but herself. Not having to walk on eggshells because of her many flaws, or worry about starting over if the person she’d built her world around found someone new and left her.

Riley reached for the small golden cross she wore at her neck and toyed with when she was nervous or agitated.

It wasn’t there.

Her stomach knotted.

It had to be.

She touched her neck again, feeling around on her throat. Panic gurgled from her belly upward. No! She hadn’t lost—

Riley’s airway tightened.

Her necklace was gone.

Sitting Daisy down, she stood, patted her neck, shook out her clothes, looked around on the floor.

Nothing.

Panic rose, clogging her throat.

“What’s wrong?” Cassie asked.

“My necklace.” Riley fought back tears, tracing back in her mind when she last recalled having it.

“The one your mother gave you?”

Riley nodded, feeling bereft, as if she’d lost a part of her mother. Had she had it on the night before at the party? She couldn’t remember—couldn’t recall if she’d put it on after changing out of her scrubs at the hospital. Was it possible she’d lost it there?

She’d check at the hospital, call Cheyenne, see if anyone had found the necklace at either place. She hoped so. She’d hate never to wear the precious gift again. It had been the last thing her mother had given to her.

Or she might have lost it was while she was with Justin. Had she still had it on in his Jeep? At his condo?

In his bed?

Justin scrubbed for surgery. He had two hip replacements on his schedule today. One on a fifty-two-year-old male with severe arthritic changes, and another on a thirty-year-old who’d had high-dose steroids administered repetitively in primary care that had resulted in necrosis of the hip joint. Both were total replacements, and would be mentally and physically demanding.

And emotionally. Because both meant being in the operating room with the woman he’d thought about almost non-stop since she’d left him.

Riley frustrated him. He kept telling himself to forget her. Then he’d remind himself that he’d been telling himself that for months and it hadn’t worked. Had he really thought it would after Saturday night? After their sweet garden kiss and how much fun they’d had at the party? How much fun they’d had after the party?

Even the boys had commented that he wasn’t his usual upbeat self during their fishing trip yesterday afternoon.

It hadn’t been a fish he’d wanted to catch, but a woman he’d thought he’d hooked, but who’d gotten away.

He’d already gotten involved with one woman who hadn’t wanted the same things as he did. Obviously Riley didn’t either or she wouldn’t have left.

He seriously needed to move on.

Maybe telling himself that would work this time.

Knowing he’d way over-scrubbed, Justin made his way into the operating room where he’d spend the next few hours.

Good thing Bernie Jones’ hip would require all his attention.

Riley had been dreading this moment since she’d left Justin’s. The moment they came face-to-face.

Well, not face-to-face, since they both wore surgical masks and were covered from head-to-toe.

Still, their eyes were visible beneath their protective shields.

Justin’s eyes were expressive.

Usually.

Exactly as it should be—even if it did sting a little—he’d not bothered to look her way yet. He’d just entered the operating room and asked to start the check-in procedure.

What had she expected? For him to say something directly to her?

Hello, Riley, so how about Saturday night?

She didn’t want him to do that—would have been mortified if he had. So why the disappointment that he was ignoring her?

Maybe it was lack of sleep making her crazy. Certainly, despite knowing she’d made the right decision, she’d struggled to keep her mind off Justin.

And off her missing necklace.

Yeah, that was why, when she finally had slept, it had been after tears shed over her lost treasure and nothing to do with Justin.

She needed to ask him if he’d found her necklace. No one had found it at Cheyenne’s party or anywhere else. When she could get him alone, she’d ask.

Not that she wanted to be alone with him, but she couldn’t very well ask if he’d found her necklace at his condo without raising a few eyebrows. They’d already caused enough eyebrow-raising on Saturday night.

She was working as the nurse overseer that day. Her job was to make sure everyone had what they needed, that a sterile field was maintained, and that everything went the way it should and was recorded accurately.

An anesthesiologist, his assistant, a scrub tech, a circulator, and a scrub nurse were also in the room, along with their patient.

“Bernie Jones, age fifty-two. Controlled hypertension and no other known health conditions,” Riley informed the, starting the check-in while double-checking the patient’s ID bracelet. “No known drug allergies.”

“I will be performing a minimally invasive left hip arthroplasty,” Justin began, and then proceeded to give a one-minute synopsis of what the planned surgery entailed. Sometimes that changed, as unexpected issues arose, but for the most part the hip replacements performed at this hospital were uneventful.

The man was an excellent surgeon. The best she’d ever worked with. Many of the other orthopedic surgeons, although talented, were moody, sometimes socially awkward. Not Justin. Everyone on the unit loved working with him.

Always upbeat, he usually chatted while performing whatever procedure they had going. Thus far today, however, he’d been all business.

Which was fine. Only...

Oh, no—no onlys.

Justin needed his full focus on his job and so did she.

The scrub nurse had the patient properly positioned. The anesthesiologist had the patient completely unaware of what was happening to and around him. And, with the patient lying flat on his back, Justin made an eight-centimeter incision. Once he had the incision made, he placed soft tissue retractors in front of and behind the femoral neck, exposing the hip joint.

“Scalpel.”

The surgical tech handed Justin the cutting tool, which he took and released the capsule to expose the femoral head and the acetabulum. He studied the area a moment, made another tiny cut. When he was happy with what he’d done he used a protractor to work on the unhealthy acetabulum, removing bone spurs and diseased tissue.

Reminding herself that she was responsible for what every person in the room was doing, not just Justin, Riley pried her gaze away from his skilled hands and took in each member of the OR team. Anesthesia was closely monitoring vitals, and everyone else was attentively doing what they should be.

Her gaze went back to where Justin worked. He’d dislocated the hip and was inserting a large screw into the acetabulum. Once the screw was securely embedded in the bone he exposed the femoral head more fully and finished removing the capsule.

While the anesthesiologist chatted with his assistant about a recent sailing trip he had made, Justin painstakingly removed the femoral head with an oscillating saw, cleaned the acetabulum, then went about rebuilding the joint with prosthetics.

All in all, the surgery took just over two hours to complete.

When he was finished, Justin’s gaze lifted and sought Riley’s.

What she saw there had her stomach churning more than any bone-cutting surgical procedure she’d ever witnessed.

His eyes glittered with what she could only label as hurt because she’d pushed him away—although more likely that was just his wounded pride she was seeing. But there was also curiosity as to why she’d done so. And something more that she could only think of as warmth—not that that made any sense.

None of what she saw made sense except the curiosity. He probably wasn’t used to women walking away from him, so no doubt that did have him puzzled.

Leaving him had been her being proactive on preventing heartbreak. A pre-emptive strike. She’d left before he had.

Maybe if Justin hadn’t been quite so handsome, had been something more ordinary than an orthopedic surgeon, not quite so fabulous, she might have risked a relationship. Doubtful after what Johnny had done, but maybe.

Someone so good-looking, so successful, was destined to break her heart if she gave him the chance.

“Good job,” he praised the team, still holding her gaze.

Something flashed in the blue depths that suggested he saw more than she wanted him to see, that he knew she warred within. She wanted to look away, to mask her eyes from his. With each passing second her heart pounded harder.

Just as it reached the point of thundering in her ears, he broke contact and headed out of the operating suite.

“Wonder what was up with Dr. Brothers. He was quieter than usual,” the recorder said as soon as Justin was out of the room.

Riley stared down at the surgical tray.

“But he’s still a pleasure to work with. If only all orthopedic surgeons were as easy to be with in surgery as that man,” the assistant observed.

“If only all orthopedic surgeons were as easy on the eye as that man,” the surgical tech teased with a waggle of her brows.

Riley said nothing and prayed that Sheila, the scrub nurse, wouldn’t say anything either. Sheila and her husband had been at Cheyenne’s party.

“Looked like you were all cozy with him on Friday night, Riley,” said, Sheila giving her a knowing look. “I saw you leave together.”

Ugh. Of course Sheila had seen. And now she’d mentioned that. In front of the whole team.

“Really? Lucky you...” The surgical tech sighed.

Rather than answer Sheila, or acknowledge the surgical tech, who looked amazed that Justin had been with her, Riley shrugged and went about preparing the patient to be rolled to the recovery room.

What could she say?

Why, yes, that was me, all cozied up with Justin. And guess what? The man is pure genius between the sheets!

Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

Nor would she tell them that she’d left before he’d awakened and had the opportunity to tell her to leave.

Sheila was right, though. Justin had been particularly subdued. Normally he would have made chitchat, and most definitely would have said something directly to her. He’d have made small talk, teased her about Daisy and how she needed to get a real dog, or he would have lingered after surgery to chat for a few minutes.

He’d done none of those things.

As much as she hated to admit it, the fact that their Saturday night escapade had created this rift in their work relationship, leaving things awkward, stung.

Justin was used to one-night stands, so what had happened shouldn’t be a big deal. But the others were right. He hadn’t behaved normally. He’d been as tense as she had.

Was it because she’d been the one to leave? Or could she have misjudged how casually he saw sex and Saturday night hadn’t been quite as run-of-the mill for him as she’d thought?

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