Two things she never meant to fall for:

Hawaii…and him!

When her perfect life implodes, high-flying city doctor Kat Murphy plans the ultimate escape. In Hawaii, she finds sun, sea and sand on her doorstep—and delicious paramedic Jack Harper to rescue her from drowning! Her fascinatingly carefree new colleague is temptation personified… And when Kat can no longer resist, she has an enticing offer for the island’s most eligible bachelor: a fling without forever…

JULIE DANVERS grew up in a rural community surrounded by farmland. Although her town was small, it offered plenty of scope for imagination, as well as an excellent library. Books allowed Julie to have many adventures from her own home, and her love affair with reading has never ended. She loves to write about heroes and heroines who are adventurous, passionate about a cause and looking for the best in themselves and others. Julie’s website is juliedanvers.wordpress.com.

From Hawaii to Forever

is Julie Danvers’s debut title

Look out for more books from Julie Danvers

Coming soon

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

From Hawaii to Forever

Julie Danvers

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-008-90251-3

FROM HAWAII TO FOREVER

© 2020 Alexis Silas

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 my mother, my first and best copy-editor.

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

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

AS SHE STEPPED off the plane in Honolulu, Dr. Katherine Murphy shook the last few drops of water from her snow boots. When she’d boarded the plane in Chicago, snow had caked her boots and dusted her winter coat. A few droplets of water were all that had managed to survive the flight, and now she shook them off with relish. Back home, temperatures were below freezing and the snow was several inches deep. But here in Hawaii a steady, gentle breeze rustled through the palm trees.

Goodbye, ice and cold, Kat thought, stepping into the early-morning sun.

Although she was still wearing the winter clothes she’d had on when she left, her carry-on luggage contained sixteen bathing suits, a floppy hat and sunglasses, and numerous pairs of flip-flops. At the last minute she’d remembered to throw in her white coat and a stethoscope before zipping the small suitcase shut. The rest of her belongings had already been shipped separately to her new home on the island of Oahu.

Kat couldn’t believe that just three weeks ago, she had been one of the most respected physicians in Chicago. Three weeks ago she’d expected to be promoted to head of the internal medicine department at Chicago Grace Memorial, the prestigious hospital where she’d completed her residency and spent most of her career. Three weeks ago her future had seemed stable, secure and predictable.

Three weeks ago she and Christopher had been days away from getting married.

Kat glanced at the faint line on her finger where her engagement ring used to be. She still felt a hard lump rise in her throat every time she thought about the breakup.

Tears blurred her eyes, but she fought them back and tried to smile as an airport attendant greeted her warmly and placed a beautiful lei of purple orchids over her head. Kat shook the tears away and raised her chin. Her new job as an internist and infectious disease specialist at Oahu General Hospital was a chance for a fresh start, and there was no point in dwelling on the past.

Goodbye, old life, she thought. And goodbye, Christopher.

Leaving her steady, predictable life in Chicago and moving to Hawaii ranked very high on the list of things Kat had thought she would never do. But then, she’d also never thought she would lose her promotion, her job and her fiancé on the same day.

In her mind, she thought of it as the Day of Doom.

Three weeks ago she’d huddled under a thick down blanket inside her apartment, the outside world covered with an even thicker layer of February snow, trying to figure out how she could ever face the world again. Everything she’d ever worked for—her medical career, her wedding, her family’s hopes and dreams for her—had disappeared in an instant.

She’d just begun thinking about how long she could reasonably hide in her apartment before she would need to forage for food when her best friend from medical school had called with an intriguing proposal. Selena was the clinical director at a small hospital in Hawaii, and she’d called to ask if Kat knew anyone who would be interested in working in Honolulu for one year, to assist with research into and treatment of a rare strain of flu.

Kat had shocked herself by volunteering for the position.

Her mother and her friends in Chicago had been equally shocked. Kat couldn’t blame them. Making spontaneous, impulsive decisions wasn’t exactly her strongest personality trait. From the time she was sixteen and had decided she wanted to be a doctor, every important decision she’d made had been the result of careful planning and research. Everything in her life from her career to her closest relationships had been built on a foundation of logical, practical choices.

Kat’s friends told her she was “certifiably Type A,” and Kat had to admit that they were right. She was never one to leap without looking first.

But that had been the old Kat. The Kat who had been blissfully unaware of how much life could change in a single day.

Kat had always thought that her cautious, well-planned approach to life would protect her from unexpected surprises. She’d believed that if she was prepared for anything then she would be able to handle whatever life threw at her. But now, as she felt the empty space on her ring finger, she realized that what people said about best-laid plans was true: you could plan and plan, but you never really knew what would happen next.

Kat had spent her life planning, but she still hadn’t been prepared for the breakup. And she definitely hadn’t been prepared to lose her job—a job she’d loved and had spent her entire career working toward.

Yes, m’dear, you have definitely hit a low point, Kat thought to herself as she stepped out of the airport.

And caught her breath.

She had never seen such lush natural beauty in her life. Pink and yellow plumeria flowers lined the sidewalk, their scent wafting toward her and mixing with the perfume arising from the lei of orchids she wore around her neck. In the distance, mountains rose to meet a cloudless blue sky. Each path was framed by tall palm trees with large fronds that waved gently in the cool breeze.

Kat stopped and took in a slow, deep breath. The air itself smelled of flowers, and she wanted to savor the scent.

As she inhaled, she suddenly wondered when she had last stopped to breathe so deeply. She couldn’t remember. Her life after medical school had been all about the fast pace of the ER. Someone had always needed her time or her attention, and needed it right away. But now, for the first time in years, there was no emergency to attend to. In this moment no one was expecting anything from her. No life-or-death decisions awaited her attention.

In this moment, all she had to do was breathe.

She blinked in amazement at herself. Thirty seconds in Hawaii and she was already stopping to smell the roses—or, in this case, the hibiscus. It was a decidedly un-Kat-like thing to do, and yet she felt more like herself than she had in weeks.

After everything that had happened she’d begun to feel as though she didn’t even know who she was anymore. But now, as she gazed at the fairyland-like landscape before her, she started to feel something she hadn’t felt in several weeks—something she hadn’t even realized she’d lost after the Day of Doom.

It was hope.

Hope and something more than that—excitement.

There was something about the mountains in the distance that suggested endless possibilities, and Kat closed her eyes and noticed that the gentle rushing sound in the background wasn’t just the wind; the ocean was adding its voice to the air as well. She was well on her way to falling in love at first sight—with Hawaii.

Maybe I’m not at such a low point after all, she thought. Maybe this is the start of something.

As she gazed at the natural beauty around her Kat realized that she didn’t want to go straight to her new apartment. Going directly to her new home and getting things settled was something the old Kat would do. The old Kat would want to carefully organize her things and research her new neighborhood for essentials like the grocery store and the post office. But the new Kat, she decided, was going to have different priorities. And the new Kat’s first order of business was to relax.

But how?

It had been so long since she’d had a moment to herself that she had absolutely no idea what relaxing even meant to her. In all her years of study, after all her classes on chemistry and human anatomy and physiology, she had overlooked one important thing. She had forgotten to learn how to relax.

She resisted the urge to look up a dictionary definition of the word “relax” on her phone.

I guess this is what comes of all work and no play, she thought.

She hoped she hadn’t completely lost her ability to live in the moment. She had dreamed of becoming a doctor at an early age, and it had been a dream that required an incredible amount of study and discipline. She’d been so focused on her medical career that she’d never had the chance to have a wild, carefree adolescence.

Well, maybe it was time. Could someone in their late twenties still have a wild adolescence? Kat decided she would damn well try.

This year in Hawaii would be her chance to learn how to let loose and be spontaneous. She’d spent her entire life being responsible, and where had it gotten her? Jobless. Jilted—practically at the altar. If all her careful planning, her endless pro-con lists and her thoughtful decision-making had led to so much heartbreak, then maybe it was time to try a different approach to life.

She only had one year. One year away from the expectations and preconceptions of everyone who knew her. Surely there was no better place to learn how to relax and live in the moment than a gorgeous setting such as this?

She heard the faint sound of the ocean again and it deepened her resolve. This year wasn’t just going to be about putting Christopher behind her, she decided. It would be about putting the old Kat behind her.

But how did one learn to relax?

It can’t be that hard, she thought. If I can master organic chemistry, I can master this.

In fact, Kat decided, she might be able to approach learning how to relax and getting over Christopher in much the same way she had gotten through organic chemistry and her other difficult classes. She would make a detailed list of her goals and then follow through with each step.

A small voice in the back of her head suggested that this might be the most Type A way that she could possibly approach relaxation, but she chose to ignore it.

How to relax in an island paradise while getting over a devastating breakup. Step one: find a beach, she thought.

Kat looked down at her snow boots in dismay. Considering the cold in Chicago, and on the flight, the boots had been a sensible choice. But now that she was here they looked ridiculous. Her feet were stifled; she couldn’t wait to feel sand beneath her toes.

She had her favorite blue-and-yellow-striped bikini on underneath her heavy winter clothes. She’d fantasized about going for a swim on her first day here in Hawaii, but she’d thought she’d see her new home first. Now that she was actually here, it seemed impossible to wait.

A few moments of research on her phone informed her that the nearest beach was “a pleasant twenty-minute walk from the airport.” Surely there would be somewhere she could change out of her clothes?

Kat hitched her carry-on bag over her shoulder and headed toward the water, her face set with determination. She was going to learn how to relax or die trying.

Jack Harper wasn’t usually an early riser, but he’d been wandering the beach since dawn. He held his father’s letter crumpled in his fist. Choice lines were burned into his brain.

Many medical schools have a rolling admissions policy.

I could make a few phone calls and you could easily start in the winter semester.

Jack ran his hand through his dark hair in frustration. He liked being a paramedic, dammit. But it didn’t matter how many times he’d told his father he was never going back to medical school. There was no other path that his parents could understand.

It’s time to apply yourself.

You’ve had your fun in Hawaii. But now it’s time to come back to real life.

To his father, real life meant Lincoln, Nebraska.

Jack couldn’t imagine a place more different from Hawaii.

Lincoln was as fine a hometown as any, but he’d been glad when he was able to exchange the cornfields, cows and cold winters of his childhood for the lush mountain landscape surrounding Honolulu.

His parents, grandfather, and two brothers still lived in Lincoln, where they were all physicians. Both of his parents were highly respected, world-renowned medical researchers, his younger brother Todd had joined their grandfather’s small family practice, and his older brother Matt was a surgeon.

Five doctors in the family. Five Type A personalities who were convinced that they were always right. Five people with egos larger than the Hawaiian mountains that loomed over the ocean.

In Jack’s opinion, five doctors in the family was plenty. Three years of medical school had been enough to convince him that a doctor’s life wasn’t for him. He was much happier as a paramedic—especially here on the island of Oahu.

After dropping out of medical school to join the Navy SEALS—another life decision his parents had disapproved of—he’d completed his basic training in Hawaii and never lived anywhere that felt more like home. He’d rescue a burn victim one day and deliver a baby the next—all while surrounded by an island paradise that meant more to him than anywhere else on earth.

He loved his job—both for the adrenaline rush and for the opportunities it gave him to save lives. But his parents wouldn’t take his career choices or his desire to live in Hawaii seriously, and they continued to act as though he were on some sort of extended vacation.

He and his parents were very different people.

Nowhere was this more evident than in the last paragraph of his father’s letter.

You’re thirty-one years old. You have to start thinking about your future.

Plenty of women in Nebraska would like to start a family, and your mother’s getting older and would like more grandchildren—

At that point Jack had stopped reading. He couldn’t believe either of his parents would bring up marriage after his older brother Matt’s betrayal. Matt—the golden boy of the family.

Jack snorted. It had been four years since he’d spoken with Matt or Sophie, but Jack’s heart still twinged every time he thought about his older brother and his former fiancée. After being betrayed by the two most important people in his life, the last thing he wanted was to get emotionally involved in a relationship again.

As far as Jack was concerned, getting emotionally attached meant getting hurt, and that wasn’t something he was willing to put himself through again. Oh, he’d had his share of dates, and there were many women willing to enjoy his company for an evening, or even a few evenings. There were certainly plenty of tourists who seemed to want Jack to fulfill their fantasies of an exotic island fling while on vacation, and Jack was happy to oblige.

But he was careful never to get too involved with anyone. If protecting his heart meant that he had to keep his guard up and keep his distance, then so be it.

Jack smoothed out the letter one last time, then crumpled it into his fist again. He resisted the urge to throw it into the ocean. The sky was clear, the water was calm and perfect, and there was no point in brooding on the beach about a past he couldn’t change. He and Sophie were done, and had been for a long time. Everything that had passed between him and Matt and Sophie was long in the past.

So why did all of it still bother him so much?

Sometimes Jack wondered if keeping himself emotionally distant from everyone had actually made it harder to recover from his disastrous engagement to Sophie. But when he thought about the memories it was too painful. He hadn’t just lost Sophie—he’d lost his brother, too. The one person he’d thought he could count on, no matter what.

Growing up in a family full of doctors had had its own unique pressures. Sometimes it felt to Jack as though he’d begun to feel the weight of his family’s expectations the moment he was born. But, as much as Jack had felt pressured to succeed at school and in his career, it was nothing compared to what Matt had gone through.

Matt, two years older than Jack, had experienced all the pressure Jack had as well as the added expectations that had gone along with being the oldest Harper sibling. Their parents had always expected Matt to be responsible for Jack, and as a child Matt had taken that responsibility seriously. Whenever Jack had been hurt, whenever he’d had trouble with friends or begun struggling in school, he’d been able to talk to Matt about it.

In return, Jack had hero-worshipped Matt throughout their childhood. If Jack was honest with himself, he’d hero-worshipped Matt for a good part of his adulthood, too.

He’d always thought that he and Matt would stand by each other, no matter what. But after Matt had confessed what had happened with Sophie, Jack hadn’t been able to stand being in the same room with him. They hadn’t spoken in four years.

A faint cry for help broke through his thoughts and he scanned the water with the trained eyes of a first responder. There—a woman swimming, far out from the shore. Too far. And going farther. She was caught in a rip current that was carrying her out into the ocean, and she was going to exhaust herself trying to swim against it.

Jack snapped into action. This was one of the quieter beaches; there were no lifeguards on duty. He dialed the emergency number on his phone and let the dispatch unit know what he was about to do. Then he dropped his phone and stripped off his shirt, revealing a smooth, well-muscled chest and the powerful arms of a former Navy SEAL.

A crowd of children who had been playing in the surf began to gather on the beach, having spotted the danger the woman was in.

“Let me borrow that,” he said to one of the children, grabbing the boy’s body board without waiting for a response.

He ran out into the ocean, letting the rip current do the work of carrying him out to the swimmer. When he finally reached her, he could see he’d been right. She’d been trying to fight the current instead of swimming parallel to the shore. And she was clearly terrified. He knew he could get them both back to safety, but first he’d need to calm her down.

Despite the woman’s terror, he couldn’t help but notice her fiery red hair. He’d always liked redheads…

Focus, he thought. She has to stay calm. Help her relax.

“Looks like you swam out a little further than you planned,” Jack teased, attempting to lighten her fear. “You do realize it’s not possible to swim all the way back to the mainland, right? You’ll need to book a flight for that.”

The woman coughed and choked. She looked frightened, but Jack could tell she was doing the best she could to keep her fear from overwhelming her. He admired that. Most of the time during water rescues the bulk of his work involved keeping the victim from making things worse by panicking. But this woman was doing her best to follow his instructions.

“The current…” she gasped. “It’s too strong. We’ll never get back to shore.”

Jack forced himself to stay calm, even as the rip current continued to pull both of them further from the shore.

“Of course we’ll get back,” he said. “But first, I need you to relax.”

He put as much warmth and confidence into his voice as he could, but for some reason, at the word “relax” the woman’s eyes seemed to widen in terror—as though Jack had told her she’d need to survive by learning how to fly, or something equally impossible.

He decided to see if he could get his arms around her—the sooner she stopped fighting the current, the better.

“I’m going to put my arm under your shoulders, okay?” he said.

He swam behind her and slipped a firm arm under her shoulders. The support he lent her had the desired effect: once her body was directly against his she stopped struggling against the water and allowed his strength to keep her afloat.

“Can you hold on to this?”

He put the body board he’d borrowed in front of her, and she clutched at it.

“Good,” he said approvingly. Her panic seemed to be receding by the minute. He had to admire how quickly she was gaining control of herself; most people would still be struggling and swallowing seawater at this point.

“What’s your name?” he asked her.

“Kat,” she said, with a strangled gasp.

Good, Jack thought. If she could speak, then her airways were still clear.

“Kat, I need you to listen to me,” he said. “We’re going to survive this, but you have to trust me. If you do everything I say I promise you that we’re going to get to shore. But the first thing I need you to do is stay calm.”

“I’ll try,” she said.

He chuckled. “I can feel you trembling.” She scowled at him, and he quickly added, “It’s all right to be scared, but you don’t need to be—because we’re going to get out of this. First time getting caught in a rip current?”

She nodded. “It’s my first time swimming in the ocean. First day in Hawaii, actually.”

He could see that she was trying to talk herself into a calmer state, and was doing her best to keep a cool head. She had nerves of steel. He also couldn’t help but notice the lithe shape of her body as she clung to him.

First things first, he told himself sternly. Maybe they should get back on dry land before he started trying to find out anything more about her. Most likely she was one of the thousands of tourists who came each month, eager for adventure and completely unprepared for the dangers of the ocean.

“Well, aloha and welcome to Oahu, Kat. Can you lean forward onto this body board? If you rest on your arms, I can paddle us in. Don’t worry, I won’t let you go.”

Somehow Kat knew that he was telling her the truth.

At first, amidst her terror and the waves going over her head, it had been hard for her to get a good look at this man who had swum out to help her. All she’d been able to sense was a well-muscled, masculine presence and a steady, reassuring voice. A voice that was warm and soothing, like a spoonful of honey.

But he’d reached her with surprising speed, and she tried to trust that he knew what he was doing.

Pressing her between himself and the flotation device he had with him, he used his body to help her gain leverage as she shifted herself onto the board. As soon as she was resting entirely on it, he let go of her waist to swim beside her, and she felt a twinge of regret as the supportive arms released her.

“Great job,” he said. “Hard part’s over. Now just keep holding on while I tow you in. We’ll be back to shore before you know it.”

He continued swimming by her side, guiding the board as he pulled them both parallel to the shore. A rough wave knocked them unexpectedly, and Kat felt a sharp pain in her leg. She must have let out a yelp because the man instantly grabbed her around the waist again.

“What is it?” he said, his face concerned.

“My leg,” she said. “I must have scraped it against something. I don’t think it’s bad.”

“Just hang in there,” he said. “We’re almost back to the beach.”

To Kat’s relief, the shore was becoming closer and closer, until finally she felt the ocean waves pushing them both toward the beach instead of pulling them away.

She collapsed in a heap on the sand and he fell beside her, one arm draped protectively over her body. They both lay there for a moment, exhausted. He was close enough that Kat could feel the heat radiating from his body next to her on the shore.

She turned to thank her rescuer.

She’d been grateful for his strength during the rescue, but now that she was back on dry land she was able to appreciate quite a bit more than just his strength.

His eyes were the exact same shade as the Hawaiian ocean—a blue-green-turquoise. He was muscular, but his physique was track-star-slim. A shock of dark hair fell over his forehead, and Kat had to resist a sudden urge to run her fingers through it. Their eyes locked, and for a moment Kat felt an electric charge between them.

His arm still rested over her. Sheltering her. He was gazing down at her, making sure she was all right. She tried to speak, but it came out as a cough, and it was several moments before she was able to recover.

“That’s it,” he said. “You’ve had a nasty shock. Take some time to let yourself breathe.”

She sat up. He pulled his arm away and leaned back from her. Was it wishful thinking, or did he seem to move his arm slowly, as though he wasn’t ready to let go of her?

As Kat lay on the beach, slowly regaining her breath, she gradually became aware of her bedraggled appearance. She was covered in muddy sand and the water that she’d coughed up, and her hair hung in strings around her face. But she was alive—thanks to the man next to her, whoever he was. His eyes radiated concern, and he patted her back gently as they both waited for her airway to clear fully.

“I’m all right,” she told him, as soon as she was breathing steadily. “All this attention is unnecessary, really. But I do have to thank you for saving my life, Mr.—?”

“Jack Harper,” he said.

“Well, Mr. Harper, thank you,” she said.

“Don’t mention it,” he said. “Just give your body the time it needs to recover.”

Kat sat with her knees bent and her feet flat against the sand. She held her head down, trying to slow her breathing. Keeping her head down also had the added effect of distracting her from the fact that Jack Harper was still sitting quite close to her, his powerfully built body radiating heat, his eyes examining her face with concern.

“I don’t know how you can be so casual,” she said. “I was certain we were both going to die.”

“It was dangerous, but you kept calm and that was half the battle,” he said.

She shuddered, thinking of how close she’d come to being swept out into the ocean. “Maybe I looked calm, but I definitely didn’t feel it. I always thought I was a strong swimmer, but I wasn’t prepared for those currents. I was trying to swim parallel to the shore, but it seemed like no matter what direction I went in the current wanted to pull me somewhere else.”

“You aren’t the first person to be surprised by the strength of a Hawaiian rip current. It’s a shame that your first swim here nearly killed you—especially on your first day. That’s no way to welcome you to the islands.”

“Really? And here I was hoping that almost drowning on my first day here would turn out to be some sort of tradition.” She laughed. And then, before she could stop herself, she said, “Maybe a better way to celebrate arriving in Hawaii and surviving a near-death experience would be to take my rescuer out for dinner sometime.”

She couldn’t believe she’d said that. She wasn’t anywhere near ready to date again. But she wouldn’t mind hearing that rich, deep voice more often. Or feeling those arms around her again. Preferably in a situation where she wasn’t about to drown.

Learning to relax. Step two, her brain piped up. Find an island hottie to help you move on from your devastating breakup.

Stop it, she told herself.

She’d just been jilted at the altar—well, technically there had still been three days until the wedding, but it had been close enough that she felt jilted. The last thing she needed was to get involved with anyone right now. She needed to get her mind off Jack’s voice and arms right away. What was she thinking, offering to buy him dinner?

Kat forced herself to shift her attention away from Jack’s beach-tanned body. This was no time for distractions, she told herself firmly. She’d just come close to getting swept out to sea, and she was still shaken by the thought of what might have happened if Jack hadn’t been there to help her back to shore. She needed to clear her head and get her bearings. She also needed to find a way to turn her attention from Jack Harper’s taut skin and chiseled chest muscles so she could focus on what he was saying.

“I appreciate the offer, but there’s no need to thank me,” said Jack. “It’s part of the job.” He motioned to where an ambulance had arrived, further down the beach.

“Are you a doctor?” she asked.

“Paramedic,” he replied. “And I’m sorry to say that any dinner plans will have to wait—because before you do anything else we need to get you to a hospital to get checked out. We’re not far from Oahu General Hospital—I’ll go with you.”

“Oahu General? Oh, no. I can’t go there.”

Now that Kat no longer feared for her life, she was becoming deeply embarrassed about the commotion her rescue had caused. More than anything, she wanted to avoid being taken to a hospital—especially Oahu General.

She could think of few things more humiliating than showing up to her new hospital as a patient, wearing nothing but a bikini. And she definitely didn’t think it would be a good idea to spend more time in close quarters with Jack. If she wasn’t careful that voice and those eyes would start to have an effect on her. And she had no intention of diving headlong into a fling with the first man she met in Hawaii—no matter how closely his eyes matched the color of the ocean.

“Really, I’m fine,” she said.

“You’re bleeding,” he told her.

“What?” Kat looked down at her leg, surprised. The place where she’d felt that pain in her leg while Jack was towing her to shore had a gash of about an inch that was trickling blood. “Oh, crap. That must have happened when I hurt my leg, back in the water. It doesn’t look serious to me, though.”

Privately, she thought that she might need a few stitches, but she wasn’t about to let Jack know that.

As he leaned in closer she caught his scent: a masculine blend of sunblock, salt water and sand. He smelled like the ocean, like the hint of salt in the air that had filled her with such excitement and called her to the beach the moment she’d stepped off the plane. She definitely needed to stay as far away from him as possible if she wanted to avoid making a fool of herself.

“It doesn’t even hurt that much,” she said, though she was gritting her teeth through the stinging pain that was now beginning to make itself felt.

“I’m sure it doesn’t, but that’s the point,” said Jack. “You’ve just had a near-death experience, and adrenaline is coursing through your system. Right now you probably feel like you can do anything—but that’s just the adrenaline. It can mask a lot of problems, including pain. You might think you’re fine, but humor me—it’s best for you to get to the hospital so we can get you stitched up.”

“There’s really no need,” said Kat briskly.

But she could see that Jack wasn’t going to give up easily, so she decided to try appealing to him as a medical professional.

“Look, to tell you the truth I’m a doctor, and I can take care of this myself. I’m starting my first day working at Oahu General on Monday, and I really don’t want their first impression of me to be…this.” Kat motioned to her string bikini.

Was it her imagination, or had his expression seemed to change when she’d revealed she was a doctor? For a split second it had seemed as though a shadow had passed over his face. Most people seemed to be more at ease with her when she revealed her profession, but if anything Jack almost seemed…disappointed?

But then he sighed and said, “Doctors always make the worst patients.”

Oh. He had a valid point. As a doctor, she’d always had a difficult time allowing herself to be in the patient role, and she knew many colleagues who felt the same way. It was hard to sit back and let someone else follow procedure when she could feel her own natural tendency to take charge of the situation rising within her. Also, she hated being the center of attention.

As she took in Jack’s piercing blue eyes she knew she shouldn’t want to be the center of his attention. Her knees were still shaking, and she had a feeling that it wasn’t just the onset of hypothermia.

She hoped he wouldn’t notice. But of course he did. He was clearly a skilled paramedic, and Kat suspected that he didn’t miss much.

“Your knees are shaking,” he said. “You should know better than anyone that the biggest risk after a near-drowning in water of any temperature is hypothermia. You shouldn’t be going anywhere until we can make sure your core body temperature hasn’t dropped too low.”

Kat groaned inwardly. Her irritation was all the worse because she knew that Jack was right. She shouldn’t take care of the cut on her leg by herself—especially with the risk of hypothermia. His stubbornness was a wall she wouldn’t get past, and he clearly wasn’t going to be intimidated by her medical credentials.

She couldn’t decide whether his determination to take care of her was incredibly annoying or attractive. A little of both, she thought.

And it didn’t help that the small, rebellious voice in the back of her mind was wholly in agreement with Jack, and was shouting that spending some time in the close quarters of an ambulance with him wouldn’t be an entirely unwelcome experience.

Just get in! the voice screamed. He can be your next impulsive decision!

Enough of that, she told herself.

Jack Harper was certainly attractive; there was no question of that. Those blue-green eyes of his seemed to change shade every minute, as though their color changed with his mood.

But Kat had felt herself getting swept away by the ocean, just moments ago. That had been scary enough. The last thing she needed now was to let herself get swept away by someone she’d just met.

Although she had to admit that Jack’s air of authority was rather refreshing. She could see that no matter how much she argued he was taking her to the hospital—even if she went kicking and screaming.

As a respected internal medicine physician, Kat wasn’t used to having anyone disagree with her. Her decisions were almost never questioned by her team. To have someone insist on taking care of her for once, in spite of all her protestations, was an utterly new experience.

It was almost a little bit sexy.

But sexy was the last thing Kat was looking for.

Not now.

Not three weeks after Christopher. Not after the disaster of their almost-wedding.

“Is it really necessary?” she asked, knowing her appeal was doomed.

“You know it is,” he said.

His voice was that of a determined man who would not be denied.

Definitely a little bit sexy, the rebellious voice in her head noted.

She didn’t want this kind of complication right now. She didn’t want to be attracted to anyone. Three weeks ago she hadn’t thought she was even capable of feeling interested in anyone else, because she’d been about to marry the love of her life. She should be returning from her honeymoon now—not standing on a tropical beach arguing with a frustratingly attractive paramedic who didn’t understand when to quit.

Kat saw the stubborn set of Jack’s jaw and realized that she really was going to arrive at her new place of work borderline hypothermic, muddy, and wearing a string bikini—in the company of one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen.

This, she thought, was the opposite of learning how to relax.

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