If I Can't Have You. Beth Kery

a peck on the cheek. Colleen noticed that Brendan’s eyes went wide at the gesture. He looked stunned that his newly acquired friend had just done something as treasonous as kiss his uncle’s girl right in front of him. Eric must have noticed, because he grinned.

       “Natalie is my sister, Brendan.” He threw Colleen a quick, wry glance. “I see no one told you that, either.”

       “Well, I’m sorry! It never came up. We were thinking about other things, like emergency surgeries,” Colleen said defensively.

       “Natalie is your sister?” Brendan asked.

       Natalie smiled and nodded.

       “Didn’t the same last name ring any bells?” Eric asked, chuckling at Brendan’s continued wide-eyed stare of amazement.

       Brendan grinned and shook his head.

       “Liam told me you’re doing really well, Brendan,” Natalie said.

       “I’m okay. Just sleepy,” Brendan said before he grimaced slightly. “And a little…”

       “What?” Colleen asked.

       “Sick to your stomach?” Eric asked from behind her.

       “A little,” Brendan admitted.

       Colleen glanced around at Eric. He obviously read her concern, because he gave her a small smile.

       “It’s normal to be groggy and a little nauseous after the anesthesia. I’ll have the nurse bring in some soda and crackers. Then Brendan can take a nice long nap.”

       Natalie walked out of the room with her brother while Colleen stayed with Brendan, who was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Eric returned a few minutes later. He hadn’t just told a nurse to bring something to soothe Brendan’s stomach. He’d brought the items himself.

       “I really didn’t expect you to do all this,” Colleen said in a hushed tone as she stared at Brendan’s sleeping face. He had drunk half a cup of soda and eaten two crackers. He’d said his stomach felt better before he’d promptly fallen asleep.

       “Why do you sound so surprised?”

       Colleen blinked and turned around from where she was sitting at the edge of Brendan’s bed. She’d been surprised, all right—by the nearness of Eric’s quiet, gruff voice, not by his solicitation. He stood a foot or so behind her. Her face was at the level of his abdomen. Her gaze flickered up the length of his scrubs. His eyes gleamed in his shadowed face as he looked down at her. She found it impossible to break his stare. The moment stretched.

       Her heart seemed to stall in her chest as he reached to touch her cheek.

      Chapter Two

      “Is he sleeping?” a woman whispered from behind them. Colleen started out of her trance, feeling like she’d been caught in an illicit act, which was ridiculous. She self-consciously brushed at her cheek with her fingertips, feeling nothing but her heated skin. There must be something there, though. Surely Eric had just been about to innocently remove some dust or dirt from her face.

       Natalie peered at them next to the drawn curtain. Something about the hopeful, hesitant expression on her delicate features made Colleen forget her unease.

       “Yes,” Colleen replied.

       “I…I was wondering if Liam and I could speak to you two?” Natalie asked.

       She glanced up at Eric, who looked just as confused as Colleen felt, then back at Natalie. “Us? Together?”

       Natalie nodded. “Maybe we can talk down in the waiting room at the end of the hall? There’s something important we’d like to discuss with both of you,” she whispered, a trembling smile on her lips. Colleen couldn’t quite interpret her expression. Was it excitement? Or anxiety?

       “Sure,” Colleen said more confidently than she felt. She turned to Brigit, who had just re-entered the room. “Mom, could you stay with Brendan while we run down to the waiting area? I could use a soda. I’ll be back in just a bit.”

       Brigit agreed, and Colleen, Natalie and Eric filed out of the room. When they reached the waiting area, she saw Liam was the only other occupant. Natalie sat next to him, and Eric and Colleen took seats just across from the couple.

       “We could do this another time if you’re uninterested, Eric,” Natalie said, her mouth settling into a grim line that didn’t at all match her lovely, delicate features. Looking at Eric, Colleen realized his expression had turned cold. Hard. As she glanced back and forth between their stubborn faces, Colleen realized just how much brother and sister resembled one another. Two identical pairs of eyes shot sparks back and forth.

      What the heck? Colleen thought. She’d only really gotten to know Natalie over the last several months, but she’d never once seen her any way but even-tempered and pleasant. Leave it to Eric to be the one to instigate this unlikely reaction in a paragon of virtue like Natalie. Still…why had Natalie’s suggestion about their meeting turned Eric into a glaring block of ice?

       “I didn’t say I was uninterested,” Eric said.

       “Fine,” Natalie replied, her eyebrows still arched in a challenge.

       Colleen didn’t get what was going on here, but she had a long history with brothers. Marc and Liam were fantastic, but she and her sister, Deidre, had learned long ago the importance of banding together in the face of male arrogance. Eric remained turned in profile to her, but she could almost feel his disapproval like a cold breeze. Yes, this was the Eric Reyes she knew—the man who had turned brooding into an art form.

       “Anybody want a soda?” Liam asked, standing.

       “What did you want to talk to us about?” Colleen asked Liam immediately once he’d handed them their drinks and sat down again.

       “We were going to take you two to lunch separately—someplace nice—to break the news, but then Brendan got admitted into the hospital and our plans had to be changed. I suggested we get in the squad car, turn on the sirens and use the bullhorn to spread the news to everyone in Harbor Town, but Natalie wouldn’t let me. Spoilsport.”

       “Liam,” Natalie remonstrated with a smile and a slap on his arm that turned into a caress. They both were glowing. Liam stared at Natalie, grinning, and suddenly they were kissing.

       “Wait,” Colleen said, the truth slowly dawning. “You two aren’t… You’re not…”

       “We’re getting married,” Liam said in a perfunctory manner before he leaned down to kiss Natalie again.

       Natalie’s laugh before she was silenced by Liam’s kiss was clear and musical, the very sound of happiness. Colleen just sat there holding her unopened can of soda, dumbfounded.

       “But you haven’t even known each other for four months now,” she said, even though Liam and Natalie looked far too busy to be listening.

       “Not even three,” Eric corrected morosely from beside her.

       Colleen did give him a quelling glance that time. He lifted one raven-dark brow and levelly returned her sardonic stare. The fact that he could look as handsome as the devil when he was being such a jerk really steamed her.

       In truth, she felt torn. The last thing she wanted to do was agree with Eric on something—anything—but she did feel that Liam and Natalie were being rash. Surely it was too soon in their relationship to decide on marriage. She and Darin had engaged in a whirlwind love affair before they’d married. They’d been young and foolish, and wild to be together before he was deployed to the Persian Gulf for his first tour of duty. Colleen wouldn’t have changed that decision for anything, given the way things had turned out, but at this point in her life, she recognized they hadn’t exactly behaved wisely.

       Then there was the news of what she’d learned about her own parents several months ago. She’d always assumed her parents were the