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When the surgery was over and they were wheeling Shane to the ICU, Luke gave up his perch in the OR. He planned to be on that ICU floor and personally monitoring Shane until he came out of the woods, as it were.
Dr. Ralston is a fine surgeon and a heck of an officer.
Only that wasn’t entirely true. Not anymore. He wasn’t an officer anymore. He’d given it all up. He didn’t renew his commission because his wife was done being an army wife, but then Christine had left him. He did it all for her and for nothing.
Luke shook that thought from his head. Nope. He wasn’t going there, because he wasn’t going to let that happen again.
No one was going to dictate how his life should be again. Which was why he wouldn’t settle down into a practice with Carson. It had been Christine’s wish after he finished his tours of duty. He’d partner with Carson, raise a family with Christine and do what he loved, practicing medicine. He’d been planning to do that. Luke was going to give up the army for his wife to make her happy. At least that had been the plan.
Then it all went to hell in a handbasket.
Christine left him when he finished his second tour, for his best friend, Anthony.
He cursed under his breath as he walked down the hall to the ICU. He was angry at himself for allowing those thoughts to creep into his head again. To let her creep into his thoughts again. It was because he was in a hospital again.
Surrounded by people.
On his mountain it was just the sky, the wind, the trees and the majestic behemoths rising from the earth toward the clouds.
On his mountain he was himself and he had no one to answer to. No one but him controlled his life, his fate, his destiny.
“Hey!”
Luke spun around and saw a woman in surgical scrubs and cap approach him. The physical attraction was immediate. Full red lips, which were slightly pouty. White-blond hair peeked out from under the scrub cap and big blue-green eyes sparkled with annoyance.
Oh. No.
It was the spitfire surgeon. He’d only seen her over the surgical mask. Now seeing that she was a gorgeous woman with a strong personality to boot, well, that was a dangerous combination for Luke.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
She crossed her arms and sized him up. “I’m looking for a Dr. Ralston. Do you happen to know where he is?”
Luke took a step back, in case she started swinging, but then the words sank in and he realized she didn’t know who he was. But then, he’d been wearing a surgical mask, cap and gown when he’d been in the OR with Shane. And this surgeon wasn’t a local surgeon. She was visiting. She wouldn’t recognize one person from another behind a surgical mask, because not being at this hospital every day he certainly didn’t.
This could be fun, one part of him thought. While the other part told him to walk away and not entangle himself with her, because he knew she spelled danger.
“Why do you need him?”
She huffed. “If you see him tell him Dr. Ledet is looking for him.” She turned to walk away and for a brief moment, one fraction of a second, he saw himself grabbing Dr. Ledet and pulling her into his arms, kissing her. Forcing the image away, he overcame the urge to taste those soft, moist lips, running his hands through her blond hair.
Maybe doing a little bit more than that.
Definitely dangerous.
“Where can he find you?” Luke asked.
She glanced at her watch. “After eight he can’t. I’m flying back to New York.”
“New York?”
“Yeah, I was here on business and decided to lend a hand for an old teacher. A fat lot of good that did me when I had to deal with an arrogant jerk like Dr. Ralston.”
“Well, if I see him before eight I’ll tell him.”
She didn’t thank him, just nodded curtly and walked away.
A New York surgeon, eh? Well, that was too bad, but it was for the best.
He’d never see her again.
It would’ve never worked anyway and not because of the distance, but because he would never let it.
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_4be574cc-6230-5497-b92d-b76e6a4c5433)
Six months later, mid-January, Crater Lake, Montana
I HATE THE COLD. I hate the cold.
Sarah thought coming from New York she’d be used to the frigid temperatures of northwest Montana. New York State bordered Canada, too; it should be the same, but it wasn’t. Not at all. This was a different kind of cold. There was no moisture in the air and as she tried to shake the remnants of bone-chilling frigidity from her brand-new office, she couldn’t remember why she’d decided to take this job in Crater Lake, Montana.
Dr. Draven.
Right. Her teacher from medical school. Dr. Eli Draven. She didn’t study under him, because she didn’t have an interest in becoming a cardio-thoracic surgeon, but she remembered him clearly from her days at Stanford.
He was a good teacher, if not a bit full of himself. He’d taken a shine to her until she’d decided not to pursue cardio; then she was no longer his star, but he still spoke highly of her and when this job was offered to her by Dr. Draven’s brother, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity, because she was more than ready to get out of New York and out of her father’s iron grip.
No matter what she did, nothing was good enough for her parents.
They still saw her as their baby.
And they wouldn’t be happy until she was living a pampered life in a Central Park West penthouse, married to an investment banker or a lawyer or even a doctor.
She couldn’t be the doctor, however.
That was unacceptable.
Why do you need to work, pumpkin? Your husband, if you marry well, can take care of you.
Her mother’s archaic way of thinking made her shake her head. Sarah peeled off the thick parka she’d bought when she moved out to Montana and hung it on the coat rack in her office. There were no cabs in Crater Lake, unless you counted the very unreliable Bob’s Taxi, and she didn’t.
At least she’d bought a car when she first landed in Missoula and had snow tires put on it. She was well versed in the rugged country living she was immersing herself in, even if she did complain about the cold just a bit.
Why do you want to go work out in the wilderness?
Sarah’s sister, who was married to a very prominent surgeon and occupied one of those coveted penthouse suites on Central Park West, couldn’t understand what was driving her to do this.
Sometimes Sarah wasn’t even sure herself.
Because your dad got you your prestigious appointment in that Manhattan hospital. It wasn’t you.
Sarah sighed when she remembered. After a summer of touring around different hospitals in each state, presenting her Attending’s research and teaching different surgeons on using the newest model of robotic surgery, she came home to New York to accept one of the most prestigious positions offered to a trauma surgeon at Manhattan Grace, only to find out that the only reason she was chosen to tour the country and work with Dr. Carroll was that her father was friends with Dr. Carroll. They played a few rounds of golf in the Hamptons. Even her brother-in-law pulled strings for her as if she couldn’t make it on her own.
It just shook the foundation of everything Sarah had thought she knew.
It had knocked her confidence completely. Perhaps she wasn’t the surgeon that she’d thought she was? So she’d turned down the position, much to her father’s chagrin.
This was why she distanced herself from people. So many people trying to control the course of her life. She just couldn’t trust anyone.
Not even herself.
Do you know how many strings I’ve had to pull for you over the years? Just so you can play doctor? Come to your senses, Sarah.
Sarah came to her senses all right. She threw the job back in her father’s face, sold her apartment on the Upper West Side and took the job offer from Silas Draven to be the general practitioner and general surgeon at his newly opened ski lodge.
The ski lodge was set to open in one month, on Valentine’s Day, and Sarah couldn’t wait to get started. It would be a slower pace of life, but at least she would be able to help people here. She could be a doctor and not worry that her father was pulling strings to get her whatever she wanted. She was burned-out and really didn’t know who she was or what she wanted anymore. She didn’t even know if she wanted to be a surgeon and that thought terrified her, because for so long surgery had been her life.
For now a general practitioner sounded good. She could practice medicine and figure out where to go next. It sounded almost too good to be true.
Yeah. She could do this.
She smiled to herself and picked up her diploma from Stanford, in its frame, which was looking so forlorn on her desk. In fact her whole office was a complete disaster, with boxes and supplies scattered everywhere.
This was not an office yet. She couldn’t see patients in a place that looked as if a storage unit had exploded. It wasn’t very professional.
“Time to make this place my own.” She spied the stepladder that had been left by the painters in the corner. She grabbed a hammer and a nail. She’d never hammered anything in her life, but there was always a first time for everything.
“I can do this,” she said, as if trying to reassure herself. How hard could it be to hammer a nail into a wall? She had this. Except where she wanted to put the nail in was a little out of her reach for the stepladder. So she climbed to the very top of the ladder and held the wall for a bit of balance. Her perch was precarious, but all she was doing was hammering in one nail and it wasn’t that big of a drop down to the carpet.
She lined up the nail and held the hammer, ready to drive the nail home.
“Did you check for a stud?” a male voice asked from behind.
“What …?” Sarah turned, surprised that someone had snuck into her office and she hadn’t heard them, but in the process of turning around she forgot what a precarious perch she had on the top of the stepladder and lost her footing.
Sarah closed her eyes and waited for her backside to hit the floor, but instead she found herself landing in two very strong arms and being held against a broad, muscular chest.
“You shouldn’t stand on the top of a …” He trailed off.
“Who are you to tell me …?” Sarah opened her eyes and bit back a gasp as she stared up at the most stunningly handsome man she’d ever seen. Brown hair, with just a bit of curl, deep blue eyes and a neat beard, which just added to the ruggedness of his face.
Those blue eyes of his were wide with surprise and then she had the niggling sensation that she’d seen this face before, but couldn’t recall when or where.
“What in the name of all that’s good and holy were you doing up there with a hammer?” he demanded as he quickly set her down on her feet and took a step back from her as if she were on fire.
“Excuse me?” she asked. Who did this guy think he was?
“I’m telling you that wasn’t a smart move climbing up on that ladder. You could’ve killed yourself if I hadn’t showed up.”
“Why did you show up? Who are you?”
His blue eyes flashed and he crossed his arms, fixing her with a stare that was meant to frighten her. Well, it didn’t scare her.
“I’m here to take you out.”
“Out? I don’t believe I made any dates with anyone since I arrived in town.”
He smirked. “Not on a date, darling. Though if I were to go on a date with someone, you’re quite the fetching thing.”
“Fetching? Darling?”
He held up his hands. “Look, I was teasing. I’m not interested in dating coworkers, let alone headstrong doctors from out east. I’m to take you out on the skis to show you some of the private residences being built and how to access them.”
“Oh.” She was slightly disappointed. Not that she had any interest in dating a mountain man, but a fling might’ve been fun. Especially since this mountain man was deliciously handsome.
Don’t think like that. You’re here to prove yourself, not date.
Sarah didn’t date.
Her parents had tried over and over, setting her up with the right sort of man. Well, in their eyes anyway. It was just easier to concentrate on work and not bother with dating, romance or sex.
All the right kind of men Sarah had dated briefly in her early twenties were all wrong. It never felt right. There was never that spark or connection one was supposed to feel when falling in love with someone, but then again, since she’d never experienced it, maybe it was just a myth.
Men seemed to gravitate to her because she was a socialite and came from money. It was all about status for them, and as she was too focused on her career, she never pursued a man on her own and she never made the time to look for a man beyond her parents’ circles.
Single life was so much easier.
And lonely.
“Do you know how to ski?” he asked disparagingly, breaking her chain of thoughts.
“No.” Then she groaned inwardly at the thought of going back outside in the cold.
“I thought as much,” he said condescendingly. “Well, I’ll give you a few minutes to suit up so we can head out.”
It was the tone that sparked a vivid memory for her suddenly. She could see those dark blue eyes glittering above a surgical mask. Defying her.
Get out of my OR!
Not on your life.
No way. It couldn’t be him. It just couldn’t be him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Don’t like the cold?”
“It’s not that. I think I know you.”
He smiled. “Do you?”
