She stroked his face with her hand. “Thank you.”

“What for?” He pressed a kiss to her palm.

“Being there for me. I’m not good at needing anyone, or asking for help,” Gina said. “But I wanted to thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I know you’re very strong, and totally self-reliant, but sometimes we all need to lean on someone.” A stray tear escaped from her eye, and he wiped it away with his thumb. “I’m here if you need to lean on me. My shoulders can take it.”

Molly Evans has worked as a nurse from the age of nineteen. She’s worked in small rural hospitals, the Indian Health Service, and large research facilities all over the United States. After spending eight years as a Traveling Nurse, she settled down to write in her favourite place—Albuquerque, New Mexico. Within days she met her husband, and has been there ever since. With twenty-two years of nursing experience, she’s got a lot of material to use in her writing. She lives in the high desert with her family, three chameleons, two dogs, and has a passion for quilting in whatever spare time she has. Visit Molly at: www.mollyevans.com

Recent titles by the same author:

THE NURSE’S LITTLE MIRACLE

THE SURGEON’S MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

BY

MOLLY EVANS

CHAPTER ONE

Hidden Valley, Virginia, U.S.A.

NURSE GINA RIDDLES stood in the parking lot and looked up at the hospital she had hoped never to enter again. Although necessary, returning here wasn’t on her list of fun-filled things to do this summer. Being a travel nurse had been her dream, and she was living it. Over the last few years she’d been there and done it all. Trauma, open-heart surgery, research facilities and cutting-edge university hospitals. She’d worked in many cities and states, traveling as she’d never have been able to if working a permanent job. Travel nursing afforded her the opportunity to visit exotic places and still make a decent living. Coming back here brought her dreams to a screeching halt.

She had hoped she’d be in and out of her home town in a week but unfortunately settling her father’s estate hadn’t been as simple as she’d hoped. There was so much more involved than packing up his clothing and calling in a maid service.

The honk of a car horn distracted her, and she realized she was in the middle of the parking lot. She moved out of the way and took another look. A sleek, silver, late- model Porsche purred just feet away from her. The driver inched the car forward and zipped down the window.

“Hello. May I help you?”

Gina gulped and felt the thrill all the way to her toenails. Sitting there was the most fabulous-looking man she’d ever seen. Even from behind his designer sunglasses she could see the most piercing blue eyes that cut right through her. The man was gorgeous. Gina’s tongue suddenly felt heavy and dry. She doubted she could carry on a conversation and hoped he didn’t ask her anything too complicated. Wow. There had been no doctors like this when she had been here six years ago. Certainly none with wavy dark hair with tips kissed by the sun, darkly tanned and fit, like him.

“Are you lost?” he asked, and turned the car into a designated physician spot.

“No. I’m in the right place.” His soft, smoky voice almost made her want to follow him around just to hear him speak again. Making a fool of herself the second she arrived at her new job was not the impression she wanted to make. She was a professional. Really. “Unfolded himself” was the only way to describe how he exited the shiny new car. With a leather briefcase in one hand and a white lab coat in the other, he looked down at her as if waiting for something. With one glance she knew he was someone important. He had that made-from-money look about him. The way he carried himself, the cut of his suit. Everything about him, even the exotic spicy fragrance that drifted on the morning air, whispered Money. He removed his sunglasses, and she knew exactly the kind of man he was.

His family was made from money, old Virginia money, a culture very different from her own. Another reminder of her past that she didn’t need today.

“Yes. I’m heading inside, but wanted to take one last breath of fresh air before taking the plunge.” She walked alongside him, determined to get through this temporary assignment as well as possible. It was just another job like all the others, right?

“I see. And you are…?” His brows lifted with the question, and he turned those blue eyes on her again.

She held out her hand, and he gave it a brief, firm shake. “Oh, sorry. Gina Riddles, travel nurse.”

“Thomas Ferguson, medical director of the ER. Welcome aboard, Gina. This your first time in Virginia?” he asked, and led the way through the parking area to the staff entrance of the ER.

“No. I grew up here, but haven’t been back for a few years.” After this assignment was over she was gone. She wasn’t staying in this place one second longer than absolutely necessary. Thank God this job was only temporary. She’d see her mother settled and then find another assignment, on an island somewhere maybe, where she could relax and catch up on her reading. Hawaii sounded good.

“Well, welcome back. Let’s see about getting you to the charge nurse.”

Gina followed him, trying to live in the moment, not her past. A past that threatened to take her back to the place she’d struggled so hard to leave. She tried not to listen to the erratic beating of her heart. Certainly, it had nothing to do with this man’s unexpected presence and everything to do with her new job. At least that’s what she tried to convince herself of as she stuck her backpack under the desk.

Thomas frowned as he watched Gina talk with Rhonda, the charge nurse. A redheaded beauty with flawless skin. Some hesitation in her blue eyes, though. Hopefully she’d be more than eye candy. Tall and physically fit, she looked like a runner and someone who might be able to keep up with him, biking in the mountains. Certainly he was old enough and wise enough not to be smitten by a first meeting with a beautiful woman, but there was something about her. Turning away, he entered his office, puzzled at the way such a short meeting had intrigued him.

Gina glanced up just as Thomas moved away. Her gaze lingered on his back.

“I see you’ve met our Dr Thomas,” Rhonda said, a knowing smile on her face. “He’s something, isn’t he?”

“Oh, yeah,” Gina said on a breath of a sigh.

Rhonda laughed, and Gina dragged her gaze away. “I’m so sorry. That was really rude, wasn’t it?”

“No. Totally understandable. He’s very easy on the eye.”

“No kidding,” Gina said, and snorted at that major understatement. “Now, where were we?”

Hours later, assigned to bring the next patient through Triage, she entered the waiting room. An elderly man rose on trembling knees and clasped a walking cane. Gina strode over to him and offered her arm. “I’m Gina, and I’ll be your nurse for a while today.” The man took her arm and leaned heavily on it. Unprepared for the movement, Gina compensated and clasped her arm around his thin waist to help support him through the waiting room. “Do you need a wheelchair? I can go get one if it would be easier for you.”

“No. I’ve had too much sitting down as it is,” he said. “I can walk that far,” he went on, and after a slight hesitation he placed one arm over her shoulders for extra support.

After settling him in a cubicle, Gina started the obligatory history for any patient who entered. “What brings you in today?”

The man cleared his throat and looked away, clearly uncomfortable with whatever he was about to say. “I need a man doctor. Do you have one of them here?”