The Playboy Doctor Claims His Bride. Janice Lynn

back, looked like she might take off, but didn’t. Visibly, she pulled herself together, transforming before his eyes into a calm vision of cool professionalism. She stood with her shoulders high, regal. Only her expressive eyes betrayed the hint of inner turmoil.

      “I have patients to see, too.” Expression pinched, Kasey reached up and pulled the stethoscope off her neck, fingering the tubing. “It was unexpected to see you, Dr. Matthews.”

      She emphasized the word doctor, making it sound dirty, almost like an insult. Damn it, he had told her he was a doctor. He was more proud of his degree than anything else he’d done in his sorry life.

      She turned, took a step away from him.

      His breath caught. He didn’t want her to walk away. “Have dinner with me.”

      She paused, then shook her head. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

      “Why not?” He hadn’t consciously made the decision to ask her to dinner, but now that he had, he wanted her to say yes. Besides, they needed to talk about what had happened two months ago.

      She hesitated, momentarily looking uncertain. “You’re coming to work at Rivendell, aren’t you?”

      Now that he knew she was here, neither hell nor high water would keep him from Rivendell. A factor that shouldn’t have any influence at all, but suddenly did. “Yes.”

      She leveled him with the steely green gaze beneath her glasses. “That’s why having dinner together isn’t a good idea. Fraternizing with colleagues is not conducive to my career goals.”

      Battling a myriad of emotions, Eric watched her disappear into an exam room. At least this time he’d been awake when she left.

      “Tell me everything.” Jonathan pounced the moment the door closed behind Kasey. Where had he been hiding? Behind a plant?

      “I thought you were seeing a patient,” Eric pointed out, leading his friend toward Jonathan’s private office. “Besides, we’re in the hallway of the clinic where we work. Use some tact.”

      He closed Jonathan’s office door. “I met Kasey two months ago, liked her and want to go out with her again.”

      “And?”

      “There’s nothing more to tell.”

      Not that he was willing to share. Not even with someone he’d shared secrets with for years and who knew him better than anyone. Jonathan knew his darkest moments and had seen him through them. But some things were private. His night with Kasey fell into that category.

      His friend leaned against his desk, arms crossed, expression confused. “You really want to go out with the Ice Queen?”

      “Don’t call her that.” Eric glared, feeling oddly defensive of the woman who’d elicited strong emotions from the moment she’d plopped down next to him looking as if her world had crashed. “Why wouldn’t I want to go out with Kasey? She’s a beautiful woman.”

      Jonathan looked flummoxed. “Yeah, but—”

      “She’s intelligent, witty, has a great sense of humor and is a lot of fun to be around,” Eric interrupted before Jonathan could say anything else. What was wrong with his friend? He’d been working with Kasey for heaven only knew how long and yet he hadn’t noticed what a sexy misnomer she was? That she hid her passion behind too-tight hairstyles, don’t-touch-me designer clothes and I’m-smart-not-pretty glasses?

      “Are we talking about the same woman?” Jonathan shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong. Kasey’s a great coworker—steady, dependable, thorough—but she’s not your type. Too uptight and career oriented.”

      “Those aren’t bad qualities you’re describing,” Eric pointed out.

      “She has her sights set on the top, pal. She’s made no secret that she wants a seat on the board and she’s put in the long hours to make sure it happens,” Jonathan warned, pretending to shiver. “Plus, she gives off those subzero vibes. Could give a man permanent frostbite.”

      Frostbite? Eric had come closer to suffering heatstroke in Kasey’s company than frostbite. Jonathan and apparently every other man in Kasey’s life were blind fools.

      Just so long as she didn’t plan to use him as her stepping stone to the top, Eric had no problem with a career-minded woman. Particularly when that woman attracted him the way Kasey did.

      “She’s all business, rarely smiles,” Jonathan continued, listing all the reasons he thought Kasey was wrong for Eric.

      She didn’t smile? Why did that make his chest hurt? Why did it make him want to do everything in his power to make her smile, and often? Just as he’d done on the night they’d met.

      “Your loss, bud, because I’ve seen her smile.” She hadn’t smiled at first. But before they’d left for his hotel she’d laughed out loud several times. “She has an amazing smile that makes a man automatically smile back.”

      He wanted to experience her smile again.

      Jonathan’s gaze narrowed, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I think you’re suffering from brain freeze. Either that or you worked in that African desert for so long you can’t handle hot anymore.”

      Eric grinned. Oh, he could handle hot all right. And he planned to.

      Just as soon as he could convince Kasey.

      CHAPTER TWO

      ERIC leaned back in the expensive leather chair meant to impress guests invited into Rivendell Medical Center’s administrator’s office. With its original wall prints, expensive furnishings and lush greenery, the office screamed success.

      “I know Dr. Douglas has already shown you around the ambulatory clinic, but would you like a tour of the rest of the facility prior to officially starting?” the lanky man he’d spent the morning with offered. “I know you practically grew up at the center, but that was before we moved to the new location.”

      That had been three years ago while Eric had been in Africa as part of the medical mission team he’d joined straight out of medical school. A lifetime ago. Eric didn’t even feel like the same person who’d once lived in Rivendell.

      He wasn’t the same person.

      “The entire building is state-of-the-art. The in-house referral system streamlines care with great efficiency. We have close to a hundred providers of various specialties on staff now.” Clive gave Eric a grin. “Your grandfather would be proud. I know your mother is.”

      His maternal grandfather would be proud of how far the clinic had come. The facility comprised a three-story building with multiple specialty departments, a fully equipped laboratory, radiology department, pharmacy and a same-day surgery wing that bore Eric’s grandfather’s name.

      His mother was proud of the clinic, too, but Eric refused to let thoughts of her into his mind. He’d barely been home a week and already she was trotting Kentucky debutantes in front of him at every opportunity.

      Eric shook his head at his mother’s matchmaking and at the administrator. “Jonathan showed me around the center when I was here two months ago.”

      Just as it had then, the center felt right.

      Like this was where he was meant to be despite years of adamant and rebellious denial of his heritage. Despite his mother thinking his move home meant he was ready to settle down and produce heirs.

      “If there’s anything Rivendell can do to make your move smoother, let me know,” Clive went on, no doubt in an effort to impress Lena Woolworth’s only child.

      “Actually…” Eric rocked back in the chair, eyeing the administrator through narrowed eyes. “There is something.”

      Clive’s temple jumped with a nervous spasm. “Oh?”

      “I’m