Ny Doc Under The Northern Lights. Amy Ruttan

turned. “You stay here and I’ll pull the car up.”

      Betty nodded. She wasn’t going to argue as she opened up her carry-on bag and dug out an ugly knitted cap and the matching mitts she’d bought at an outdoor store. Fashion be damned, she was freezing her keister off.

      It wasn’t long before his SUV pulled up and he got out. In a couple of strides he was beside her, picking up her suitcase and her carry-on and stowing them in the back.

      Betty took a step toward the car, but her ankle twisted and she lost her balance.

      Before she could hit the cold, unforgiving ground, two strong arms came around her, holding her gently. She looked up into Axel’s startling blue eyes. She’d thought they were darker, but up close she could see how deep a blue they were.

      And her heart skipped a beat. It was as if those eyes had pierced her very soul. It was unsettling how much the intensity of his gaze affected her.

      “I told you those were ridiculous boots. I knew that you were going to slip,” he grumbled as he set her upright.

      “I didn’t see the ice,” she said, but she still clung to him.

      “Well, you’re going to kill yourself walking around in those.”

      Before she had a chance to respond or react Axel bent over and scooped her up, depositing her over his shoulder, as if he were carrying her from a fire. Upside down she had a good view of his butt. Which wasn’t a bad thing, just unexpected for a first meeting. Especially in light of the fact that she was going to be working with him at the hospital. It wasn’t the best first impression, but it also wasn’t the worst.

      “Excuse me!” she hollered, but didn’t bother struggling because that would just make things worse.

      “What?” he asked, moving toward the SUV, his hand firmly planted on her backside.

      “Put me down!” she said.

      “I will. Once you’re out of harm’s way.” He stated a matter of fact.

      “Look, you great big Viking...you can’t treat me like this.”

      He moved her and then set her down in the front seat of his SUV. There was a condescending, smug smile playing on his face.

      “Treat you like what? I got you to the vehicle safely. This way you won’t be laid up with a broken ankle during your first month of work in Reykjavik. My father would not be happy if I let harm come to you.” He motioned for her to slide her legs into the foot well so he could shut the door.

      Fuming, Betty begrudgingly did as he asked, her eyes tracking him as he climbed into the driver’s side and buckled in. He glanced at her.

      “You should buckle up.”

      “Do you always manhandle people like that?” she muttered as she reached for her seat belt.

      “Only people who don’t know how to appropriately dress in icy weather and may be susceptible to a nasty fall.”

      Betty’s anger melted away and she tried to fight the amused smile that was threatening to erupt on her face.

      “I have better boots, but they’re in my luggage.”

      “I do hope so. If not, there is a store not far from your rental where you can purchase a good sturdy pair. You’re not far from the hospital, but as that part of town is close to the sea, it can get dangerously icy at times,” Axel stated calmly as he drove away from the airport and headed toward the city.

      “How do you know where I’m staying?” she asked.

      “My father helped you find it. And as I said, he gave me the task of making sure that you are settled. He’s quite overloaded with some work at the hospital, so I’ve been the one dealing with it all.”

      The last few words were said cautiously and she could see his jaw clench under the stress. She almost wondered if Dr. Sturlusson Sr. was sick rather than overworked and if Axel was hiding it. She knew that look well. She knew the pain and the pressure one carried when a parent was dying. Her mother died when she was young and it had just been her and her father for so long. Then he got sick and it was just her caring for him while trying to do her first year as a resident.

      “I’m sorry to hear that your father is ill,” she said gently.

      “Who said he was ill?”

      “Your expression. Your tone of voice. I thought—”

      “He’s a busy man,” Axel snapped.

      “Okay.”

      “He doesn’t have time for much,” Axel muttered darkly. He didn’t elaborate. He just kept his eyes on the road, his jaw clenched and those blue eyes dark and serious.

      “Sorry for making an assumption. I lost my father some time ago and I know they were about the same age.”

      “It’s all right,” he said gently. “And I’m sorry. My father spoke highly of your father.”

      “Thank you.”

      Betty turned and gazed out of the window, her eyelids becoming heavy as the exhaustion that had been pestering her finally caught up with her.

      * * *

      Axel could hear her deep, even breathing and he glanced over at her. Her head was pressed against the window and she was fast asleep. She was quite beautiful. He hadn’t been expecting that. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, to be honest, but he hadn’t been expecting her.

      Blonde hair, brown eyes and a pixie-like face. She was tall, or at least taller than the women he was used to dating. Although it was hard to tell because of the heels. She seemed to have a bit of fire in her, but one that she was suppressing and he couldn’t help but wonder why.

      Axel was attracted to her but, with his past and the fact that Betty would only be in Iceland for a short time, there was no point acting on that attraction.

      He relaxed, but only fractionally.

      When he had been ordered by his father to take on the role of assisting the new American surgeon in her three-month placement he’d instantly been outraged.

       “I don’t want to babysit some American surgeon.”

      “You need to do this, Axel,” his father had said sharply. “I don’t have time to deal with her.”

      Axel had been able to feel the pain in his father’s eyes even without looking directly at them. He’d become an expert at it since the accident two years ago. He still couldn’t look his father in the eye. Not really.

       “I’m here to save lives, not babysit another surgeon who outranks me.”

       “And whose fault is that?”

       “I do my work. I save lives!”

       “You’re not striving for anything better. You’re not publishing papers or doing anything innovative. There will be no more discussion about this. You’re doing it.”

      Axel really hadn’t been able to say no. His father was the Chief of Surgery and was Axel’s boss now that he was no longer part of the tactical coast guard and worked as a surgeon in the hospital. He just wanted to save lives and go home. He didn’t want anything more. He didn’t deserve anything more.

      He’d worked with Americans before and they hadn’t been pleasant to him. So when he’d gone to the airport to pick up Dr. Betty Jacinth, he hadn’t been expecting the woman he’d found waiting for him.

      Her beauty stunned him. Sure, she had a feisty little temper, but there was a vulnerability beneath her surface and he wondered what had made her that way.

      What had hurt her?

      What made her feel as if