“Sixteen months ago I kissed you, and a few months later, you slugged me in the jaw in Jake’s Place parking lot.”

Her mouth fell open but she didn’t utter a word. She didn’t know what shocked her more: the fact that Eric had again brought up that kiss on Sunset Beach or his reference to her impassioned, impulsive act last summer…or possibly the evidence that said jaw was now hovering a half a foot away from her upturned face.

“I…I’ve never apologized for that. I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I didn’t bring it up because I was looking for an apology.”

“No?” she mouthed. She stood frozen to the spot, even though she knew she should back away.

“Which do you regret more?” he asked.

When she just stared at him, her bemusement obvious, he clarified, “The punch? Or the kiss?”

For a stretched few seconds, neither spoke. The silence was absolute. Colleen wondered if they both held their breath.

Dear Reader,

Hello, and thank you for reading the latest installment of the HOME TO HARBOR TOWN series! Of all the Harbor Town heroes and heroines, I feel as if I have such a fond spot for Colleen and Eric. Sometimes I could perfectly hear their snappy, sparking banter in my head. They’ve grappled with their attraction and seeming dislike for one another in the background of the first two Harbor Town books, so I was especially glad to give them center stage for their own opposites-attract, emotional, very passionate romance.

Colleen Kavanaugh is a woman who knows her own mind, and she’s convinced the last person on the face of the earth that she’d fall for is arrogant, know-it-all, playboy Dr Eric Reyes. Eric has always resented the fact that their shared tragic history has created such a barrier between him and ColIeen, and he’s not above using the circumstances of their siblings’ upcoming wedding as an excuse to get closer to her.

I hope you enjoy Colleen’s realization that the heart can be blind, and that an avowed enemy just might offer the ideal opportunity to learn, to grow, and to love with the full force of the passionate Kavanaugh spirit.

Find out more about the rest of the HOME TO HARBOR TOWN series at www.bethkery.com.

Beth Kery

About the Author

BETH KERY holds a doctorate degree in the behavioral sciences and enjoys incorporating what she’s learned about human nature into her stories. To date, she has published more than a dozen novels and short stories and writes in multiple genres, always with the overarching theme of passionate, emotional romance. To find out about upcoming books in the Harbor Town series, visit Beth at her website at www.BethKery.com or join her for a chat at her reader group, www.groups.yahoo.com/group/BethKery.

Claiming
Colleen

Beth Kery

www.millsandboon.co.uk

I’d like to thank my editor, Susan Litman, for having

faith in these stories and for her excellent suggestions in

crafting and content. Lea, thank you as always, for

your generosity and valuable feedback. My heartfelt

appreciation goes out to my husband, who manages

never to tire of my frantic schedule and who always

seems to offer the exact kind of support I need.

Prologue

Sixteen months ago

The spring evening was unseasonably hot and humid, but the remnants of winter still lingered in Lake Michigan. Colleen Kavanaugh Sinclair shivered for the first five minutes of her swim, but by the time her internal clock told her it was time to turn back toward shore, the cool water felt delicious sliding against her heated skin.

Her swim off Sunset Beach was as much a part of her summertime routine as taking her children, Brendan and Jenny, to soccer or baseball practice. Traditionally, her first swim of the season happened on this weekend. But this Memorial Day would be her last swim here. This evening, she was saying goodbye to Sunset Beach.

She climbed onto the sand and dried off, thinking of all the times she’d cavorted on this beach with her brothers and sister while their mother, Brigit, sunbathed and chatted with her friends. The late-night bonfires and holiday barbecues. Her sister’s water-skiing events—never again.

Colleen had acquired her final memory tonight. Her favorite public beach had been gobbled up by the wealthy elites of Harbor Town. She’d personally gone and spoken out against the privatization of the public park at the last few city council meetings, but in the end, money talked louder than she could.

Movement caught the corner of her eye. She turned and saw him standing there.

“It’s a nice night,” Eric Reyes said, his voice low.

Colleen froze in the action of toweling off her bare belly, caught off guard by his bare-footed, silent approach in the sand. His dark eyes flickered downward, making her skin tickle with sudden awareness.

She knew who he was, of course.

He’d already finished high school by the time Colleen and Liam attended Harbor Town High. She’d known who he was before that, though. He’d worked for the local landscaper. More than once, the tall, dark boy with the serious expression had caught the attention of Colleen and her friends when they saw him working shirtless in the park or unloading a truck on Main Street. She’d heard once through the grapevine that he was Harbor Town High School’s best hockey player.

Eric Reyes wasn’t like Colleen, or Mari Itani, or any of her other friends who vacationed with their families in Harbor Town during the summers. He was a year-rounder who worked and who didn’t have the time to while away the hours on one of the beaches in the charming lakeside vacation community.

One summer before the accident—she couldn’t recall which summer, precisely—Colleen had been walking with several of her girlfriends down Elm Street and saw Eric Reyes coming out of the Harbor Town Library, several books in the crook of his arm. He’d paused on the sidewalk, probably struck by the gaggle of suntanned teenage girls. Her friends had grown predictably giddy in the vicinity of a good-looking, older boy, but when Colleen’s eyes met his, she’d given him a smile.

Now they stood face-to-face again, strangers who shared a past. Fifteen years ago, her father had killed his mother in a three-way car crash. The lawsuits against Derry’s estate had drastically altered the Kavanaughs’ economic status. Eric had used his portion of the lawsuit to go to medical school. Now he owned a luxurious Buena Vista beachfront home, and she was the trespasser on the familiar beach.

Now she was the outsider.

Seeing him standing there caused anger to flare hot inside her, the strength of it shocking her a little.

“Are you going to call the police?” she asked him quietly.

“I hadn’t planned on it, no. Why, are you about to do something illegal?”

She had a wild urge to manually remove that little smirk he wore.

“It’s illegal for me to be here. I never saw you at any of the city council meetings, but surely you know about Sunset Beach becoming private.”

“I know about it.”

“Yeah. I thought so.” She unfastened the band at her neck and began to work a comb through her hair. “I can’t imagine you wanting the beach to remain open to the great unwashed.” She glanced at him in annoyance when he chuckled. He raised his dark brows when he noticed her scowl.

“You look pretty clean to me.” His gaze once again flickered down over her bikini-clad body. She stiffened. It didn’t offend her, his glance, or creep her out like some men’s stares had in the past. It did unsettle her.

Bedroom eyes.

The phrase leapt into her brain unbidden. Dark eyes…knowing eyes. It surprised her a little, to feel this strong sexual current emanating from him. How dare he, given their past, look at her with such potent male appreciation? So what if practically every female in Harbor County would have patiently waited in a mile-long line to be on the receiving end of a sultry gaze from single, gorgeous Dr. Eric Reyes? Not every female in Harbor County shared the same messy, tragic history with him that Colleen did.

She stepped closer and tilted her chin in a subtle challenge. “You never did answer me. Did you vote ‘yes’ for the homeowners taking over Sunset Beach, or not?”

“Of course I voted for it. It was an excellent investment. I would have been a fool to turn down the opportunity.”

She gave a soft bark of laughter and stepped away, shoving her things into her bag, her rapid, abrupt movements betraying her swelling agitation. She felt weak…vulnerable…unable to control her reaction. The realization sent her already frothing emotions into a boil. Words poured out of her throat against her will.

“That’s the only thing you thought of when the opportunity arose? What about the townspeople? What about the local kids who take swimming lessons off Sunset? All you thought about was the investment? The money? Don’t you have enough of that, Reyes?”

“You know what they say. You can never have too much.”

Her long hair fell in her face when she jerked her head up and glared at him. The slant of his mouth told her he was angry…maybe as angry as she was. He’d been provoking her.

He’d succeeded.

Never one to back down from a dare, Colleen dropped her bag back on the beach and stepped toward him. “You came out here to taunt me.”

Something flashed in his eyes, an emotion she couldn’t quite identify. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I? You didn’t come out here to throw it in my face? This beach wasn’t just one more thing you can take from a Kavanaugh? This isn’t your victory lap?”

He shook his head slowly. “You really are a little princess.”

Her heart started to pound out a warning in her ears. She stepped closer, her jaw clenched hard. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You didn’t know that’s what the guys used to call you? Little Princess Kavanaugh. Well, I’m real sorry if I knocked off your crown.”

“How dare you say something like that to me,” she breathed out through a constricted throat.

“Seems to me you dare worse, only you don’t seem to mind if your insults are based on ignorance.”

She was so furious—so agitated—her consciousness went hazy. Maybe it was because her heart was charging like an out-of-control locomotive, but the world took on a surreal cast. When she turned jerkily to retrieve her items from the beach, she stumbled and nearly did a face-plant on the sand.

Eric caught her left upper arm, then steadied her further by grasping her right. She tried to jerk out of his hold, made a little wild by boiling emotion.

“Colleen, stop it. Please.”

His voice barely penetrated her chaotic emotions. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. The explosion of feeling had come out of nowhere.

Or maybe it hadn’t.

Maybe it’d been brewing since the night she’d gotten that phone call while she was at camp when she was sixteen years old. Maybe this cyclone of feeling started to coalesce when she’d learned her father was dead, as were three other people he’d crashed into while he’d been driving drunk.

She heaved again, trying desperately to break his hold on her, but he was every bit as strong and fit as he appeared. Instead of releasing her, he cursed beneath his breath and turned her toward him, now holding her securely by her shoulders. Distantly, she realized her cheeks were wet with tears. Humiliation surged through her. She hated that he was staring at her with those concerned, knowing eyes, seeing the evidence of her vulnerability.

“Let go of me,” she grated out.

But as her feet faltered in the soft sand yet again, he brought her closer to his body, attempting to steady both of them at once.

“You’re going to hurt one or both of us. Just calm down,” he said, his voice low, but resonant with emotion.

His warm breath struck her from above, whisking across her right temple. She went still in sudden awareness. His arms were around her, her breasts were plastered against his chest. His heat penetrated though his clothing and emanated into her damp, naked skin. Her eyes widened when she felt his body harden against her, as if he’d become aware of her at the precise moment she’d become aware of him.

“Colleen?”

She blinked. His quiet voice had felt like a caress.

She wanted to look up into his face at that moment…open herself to him…just a crack.

The realization made her start to struggle again, this time with increased force. Her heart bounded in her chest as if in a panic to escape her rib cage. She caught him off guard after her moment of stillness. He cursed—loudly this time—when she forced him off balance. They both went down on the beach, a surprised oomph escaping her throat at the impact of her hip hitting the sugar-soft sand.

“Are you okay?” he asked anxiously.

“I…I…yes, I’m fine.” The abrupt fall seemed to have popped the anger right out of her, leaving her stunned and breathless.

She stared into his face. He sprawled over her body, his elbows in the sand. He felt large and hard, covering her with plenty to spare. She couldn’t comprehend how his eyes could be so dark and yet blaze so hot.

The moment stretched like a live wire drawn taut.

Colleen didn’t know how it happened—had he leaned down, or had she strained toward him?—but suddenly his mouth was on hers, his lips firm and demanding. Hungry.

Everything transformed in a split second. Need rose in her with the strength of a striking talon. She tangled her fingers in his hair and scraped his scalp with her fingernails. He groaned low in his throat and slanted his mouth at a different angle, his kiss somehow tender and ravishing at once. The tip of his tongue slid along the seam of her lips.

She parted her lips and slid her tongue against his, arching her back into him, this time of her own volition, compelled by sudden, driving desire. The hardness of his chest was such a welcome relief to the aching tips of her breasts. She pressed down on his back, desperate for more of the sensation of him. Heat seared her from the inside out, softening her, filling her…thawing her.

She gasped in dazed disapproval when the pressure of his mouth disappeared. Eyelids heavy, she met his gaze. He stared down at her, his facial muscles rigid, his nostrils slightly flared. He looked exactly like what he was: a virile male primed to stake his claim. Part of her longed for him to do just that.

The other part saw the question in his eyes. His bewilderment struck her like ice water splashing on her heated face.

She shoved him away. Reality must have hit him at the same moment, because she didn’t have to push very hard. He rolled off her. Colleen found herself panting softly and staring up at a lavender-blue sky.

For a full ten seconds, she just lay there, her body vibrating with shock and the remnants of blazing arousal.

It couldn’t have happened.

She touched her lips with her fingertips. They felt damp and slightly swollen. She sat up abruptly at the undeniable evidence that she hadn’t been under the influence of a bizarre hallucination.

Eric lay on his back in the sand, staring blankly up at the darkening sky. He looked like she felt—as if someone had just taken a swing at his head with a two-by-four. He didn’t move, but his gaze flickered over her. His eyes focused when they found her face. They softened.

Two thoughts soared into her brain, the first causing anguish, the second panic.

She hadn’t felt desire that powerful, that imperative, since Darin had died.

No. She’d never felt anything like that.

She scrambled up from the beach.

“Colleen!”

She grabbed her shorts and hurriedly stepped into them, nearly falling over again in the process. She refused to look at him, but out of the periphery of her vision she realized he’d sat up and was watching her.

“Colleen,” he repeated. “Don’t leave. Talk to me.”

Her heart felt enlarged, like it was pressing too tight against her breastbone. Unwanted tears blurred her vision. What was wrong with her? She’d just kissed Eric Reyes like her life depended on it. Now his deep, low voice coaxed her in the twilight.

“Just…just leave me alone,” she said haltingly—stupidly—before she yanked her T-shirt over her head.

He picked up her tote bag, holding it out to her like a peace offering. “I didn’t come out here to ask you to leave. I’ve watched you swim here the last few summers. I came out here tonight to tell you to continue.”

Her head swung around, and their gazes locked. She wished like hell she didn’t believe him. His kindness was too much to bear after that sudden upsurge of grief and anger followed by that inexplicable blaze of pure desire. A wild need to escape overwhelmed her.

Tears blurred her vision as she grabbed her tote bag and jogged across the sand, leaving the source of her turmoil behind.

Chapter One

The first thing Colleen Kavanaugh Sinclair saw when she walked into Dr. Fielding’s familiar examination room was her son, Brendan, slouching in a chair. The second thing was her arch-nemesis standing nonchalantly next to him. Once she took in Eric Reyes’s unexpected presence, pretty much everything faded from her awareness for two stunned seconds.

Of course, he wasn’t really her arch-nemesis. That was just stupid. An enemy would have to mean something to her, and Eric Reyes did not mean anything.

“Colleen, Dr. Reyes mentioned that you two know one another.” Dr. Fielding’s voice interrupted her dazed disbelief.

She blinked and forced her attention to Dr. Fielding. He looked especially short, round and amiable while standing next to the brooding, dark tower of maleness that was Eric Reyes. Dr. Fielding had moved to Harbor Town around twelve years ago, soon after Colleen herself had returned. He’d delivered Brendan and her daughter, Jenny. Because he hadn’t lived in Harbor Town at the time of the crash, he clearly didn’t get the history and thick emotion that ran like a humming electrical wire beneath his seemingly innocuous statement about her and Eric knowing one another.

“Did he?” Colleen returned, eyebrows arched.

“Yes, he’s told me you two work together at The Family Center. Wonderful place. I’ve heard Colleen speak twice now about the facility,” he said, turning to Eric. “Once for the Rotary Club and once for the Pediatric Society in Detroit. She’s a talented public educator and speaker, in addition to being a gifted clinician. But I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, Eric,” Dr. Fielding said.

His warm, friendly glance between Eric and Colleen melted when he noticed Eric’s wooden expression and Colleen’s averted gaze. She inhaled deeply for courage. If Eric could seem so calm, so could she.

“I work at The Family Center,” Colleen corrected. “Dr. Reyes is a volunteer. He comes in a few hours a week.” Blessing us with his supreme presence, Colleen finished silently. Eric’s mouth twitched, as if she’d spoken the words out loud. If she hadn’t been thrown so off balance by Eric’s unexpected presence at her son’s doctor’s appointment, she probably would have had to hide a grin at the knowledge that her arrow had hit its target.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him quietly instead.

Eric held up a chart. “Dr. Fielding consulted with me about Brendan’s case today. I examined Brendan. Even though your son hasn’t quite finished his course of penicillin, I recommended an X-ray and bone scan. We’ve received the results.”

“You recommended them?” Colleen repeated. She hadn’t realized he’d examined her son, although she now recalled Brendan mentioning a funny, cool young doctor dude who had looked at his foot last week before Colleen had taken him for X-rays in a different part of the hospital. Dr. Fielding had said he’d have a specialist take a look at the foot, but neither that comment or her son’s description had brought to mind Eric Reyes, who, in Colleen’s opinion, was an interfering, arrogant block of ice. Sure, he might have that glossy, dark, movie-star-quality hair and angular jaw that kept the secretaries at The Family Center wide-eyed and breathless. And she conceded he possessed an authoritative yet trustworthy bedside manner.

But Colleen’s days of being overwhelmed by those surface charms were long over.

“Dr. Reyes is Harbor Town Memorial’s finest orthopedic surgeon, Colleen. I immediately went to him when I had questions about Brendan’s foot problem.”

Her brow crinkled. She glanced anxiously at Brendan. Her son gave a small, sheepish shrug and rolled his eyes. Her heart squeezed in her chest in compassion for him. She knew how much he longed to be back playing football, how much he despised all these doctor appointments. The “foot problem” had become the bane of his twelve-year-old existence.

Over the past month, Brendan had acquired a limp. Initially, it’d hardly been noticeable, but it became more pronounced every day. Brendan denied any serious pain, insisting there was only a dull ache in his right foot. Colleen had assumed he’d pulled a muscle or gotten run over by an unusually big kid at Little League football practice, although Brendan and his coach insisted nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. She’d made an appointment with Dr. Fielding, not really expecting anything more than the normal bruises and sprains Brendan had acquired over his active boyhood years. Dr. Fielding had discovered internal swelling and recommended a course of antibiotic treatment. Much to Brendan’s distress, Dr. Fielding had also put the kibosh on any more football for the rest of the season.

Eric Reyes was an orthopedic surgeon, though. His presence at this day-long hospital visit implied the foot problem was a good deal more significant than a bruise or infection.

“He needs a specialist? It’s that serious?” Colleen asked Eric.

“Brendan hasn’t responded to the course of oral antibiotics. The swelling of the soft tissue has increased, as has his pain. Considerably,” Eric replied.

She knew patients at The Family Center responded to Eric to an uncommon degree, seeming to instinctively trust his intelligent, incisive, perpetually unruffled manner. What he was saying in that even, authoritative tone didn’t soothe Colleen at the moment, however. It frightened her.

This did sound serious.

“Your pain is worse?” Colleen said, turning to Brendan. Her son shrugged again.

“It doesn’t hurt that bad,” Brendan mumbled.

“On a pediatric scale of pain, Brendan is scoring in the high category,” Eric said.

“Brendan, why didn’t you tell me you were hurting so much?” Colleen asked worriedly. Brendan hunched down, revealing little to her but the crown of his dark gold, wavy hair. She forced down a maternal desire to go over and hug him. She swore her son had skipped preadolescence and moved right into teenage rebellion. It bewildered her at times, how independent he wanted to be, how withdrawn he could get. One second he’d been an adorable, chubby two-year-old, the next he’d become an impenetrable puzzle.

Colleen wasn’t ready for her little boy to grow up. She wasn’t prepared to deal with Eric Reyes. She wasn’t ready for any of this.

“Some people are underreporters of pain,” Eric said, diverting her attention away from Brendan. He approached her and opened the medical chart. “It’s actually fairly common among active, athletically inclined kids. Brendan’s not being dishonest when he says it doesn’t hurt that bad. He just has a high pain tolerance, that’s all.”

She glanced up quickly into his face. Typically, she made a point of not standing so close to him when they worked together at the Center. At five foot eight inches, she was tall for a woman. Her brothers were both tall men, but in general, she wasn’t used to having to look up so far into a man’s face. She especially hated having to do it with Eric.

He showed her the contents of the folder, pointing at an X-ray. “Here’s the problem. Do you see this dark portion here? That’s an osteolytic lesion at the first metatarsal of Brendan’s foot. It’s beginning to punch into the bone.”

“Lesion? Wait…you don’t mean—” Colleen stopped herself short, her mouth hanging open. She gaped at Eric as the beginnings of panic started to roil around in her belly. The word she’d stopped herself from saying in Brendan’s presence echoed around in her skull like a ricocheting bullet.

Cancer.

“It means that the inflammation of the soft tissue is starting to eat away at a portion of Brendan’s bone,” Eric said quietly. She stared up at him, unable to look away from his eyes. The compassion she saw in them couldn’t penetrate her alarm. Neither did Dr. Fielding’s reassuring touch on her upper arm.

“Dr. Reyes is recommending surgery on the foot, Colleen,” Dr. Fielding said in his warm, grandfatherly manner. “I’d like to admit Brendan this afternoon. We’ve already briefed him, and Dr. Reyes has generously made room in his schedule. He’ll be able to do the surgery first thing tomorrow morning.”

“No,” Colleen blurted out.

“Uh…no?” Dr. Fielding repeated, confused. “Colleen, this is my recommended course of treatment. Dr. Reyes feels the surgery should be done as soon as possible, and I agree wholeheartedly. ”

“May I talk to you for a moment? In private?” Colleen asked Eric in a high-pitched voice.

She distantly noticed through her rising anxiety that Eric looked much calmer than Dr. Fielding, almost as if he’d expected Colleen’s reaction. He nodded toward the door.

She gave Brendan a reassuring smile and brushed back his bangs. “I’ll be right back. Okay?” She waited for her son’s nod before she followed Eric. He led her down the hallway to a dark, empty exam room.

“What do you mean, lesion?” she demanded the second he flipped on a light and closed the door. “What is it, exactly, that’s eating into Brendan’s bone?”

“It’s likely that some kind of foreign body somehow managed to lodge itself in the tissue. I questioned Brendan about it. He does recall stepping on a good-sized thorn when he was at the beach months back.”

“But—”

He held up his hand in a “pause” gesture.

“I know he probably never said anything about it to you. He wasn’t aware that something had lodged in his foot. I won’t know more until I can get in there and clean up the tissue.”

“But you said lesion. You said something was eating away at the bone. Does that mean it’s cancerous?”

The edges of her vision darkened, as if just saying the word out loud had taken everything out of her. Eric stood just inches away, one hand on her upper arm, steadying her. When had he moved closer? Colleen wondered dazedly.

“No, no, it’s not cancerous,” he said hastily. “It’s an unusual situation. The cells are irregular, yes, because of the persistent inflammation. The location of the lesion is isolated, though. A minor surgery and debridement of the tissue will take care of things completely. On the other hand, we shouldn’t wait, because the health and structure of Brendan’s bone is at risk. I wouldn’t want it to develop into osteomyelitis. He’ll get an intravenous cocktail of antibiotics, but that’s the only postoperative treatment he’ll require besides some physical therapy. We’ll follow him closely afterward, but there’s every reason to believe that a cleanup of the tissue and removal of the foreign body will resolve things.”

Colleen stared blankly at the light blue shirt he wore beneath his blue lab coat. “The bone hasn’t been damaged permanently?”

“No,” he replied, his firm tone reassuring her despite her disorientation.

“I want another opinion.”

“I thought you might say that.” She glanced up. A shock went through her when she finally took in how close he was to her. He’d combed his hair back, but the long bangs had fallen forward and brushed his cheekbone. A five o’clock shadow darkened his lean jaw. He had a cleft in his chin. She didn’t know how it was possible that his midnight eyes could be as cold and hard as onyx at times, and so warm at others.

Like now.

“The only other orthopedic surgeon at Harbor Town Memorial is Marissa Shraeven.” He leaned his head to the side and hitched his chin toward Brendan’s chart, keeping his gaze on her the whole time. Colleen realized he’d tossed the chart on the exam table before he’d reached out to steady her. “I had her review the case. She agrees one hundred percent with my course of treatment.”

The pressure of his hand increased subtly. She turned out of his hold and took several steps, distancing herself. His nearness was only increasing her unrest.

“I’d like Dr. Shraeven to operate, then.”

“Really?” he asked dryly.

She spun around. “What’s that mean?” He looked so calm that for a split second, she was sure she’d misunderstood the edge of sarcasm in his tone. He reached and retrieved Brendan’s chart.

“I think you know what it means,” he said mildly, his gaze flickering over the chart.

“I just don’t think it’s appropriate for you to operate on Brendan.”

“Are you questioning my ability?” he asked, looking up.

“No.” She gave an exasperated sigh when he merely quirked up one brow in a challenging gesture.

“My integrity, then?”

“I’m not questioning your ability or integrity. I just think that given everything…given our pasts, there has to be a better option.”

For several seconds they just stared at one another while Colleen listened to her heartbeat drum loudly in her ears.

“So you’re falling back on the excuse of the crash, is that it?” he finally said.

“Does it surprise you? My father killed your mother sixteen years ago in a car wreck. I know how you feel about the Kavanaughs. I know how you feel about me,” she finished under her breath.

“Do you?”

She hoped her incredulous glance reminded him of it all—the deaths of their parents, his sister’s considerable injuries and facial scarring, the lawsuits brought against Colleen’s father’s estate by the Reyes and Itani families, their silent battle of wills while the two of them worked together at The Family Center…

“I’m not buying it,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not buying that you don’t want me to operate on your son because your father killed my mother in a case of reckless homicide.”

“Oh, really? You can think of a better reason why I wouldn’t want you to operate on Brendan?”

“I can,” he said quietly, glancing up from the chart. “Sunset Beach, Memorial Day weekend, last summer.”

His image swam in her vision. She breathed through her nose slowly, trying to calm herself. Her knees went weak. She felt flattened and numb at once.

She couldn’t believe he’d just mentioned that night so casually. They’d worked together at The Family Center now for over a year—distantly and infrequently, granted—but still, they’d seen one another, spoken to each other…

…simmered in each other’s presence.

Never once during that time period had he acknowledged what had happened on the beach that hot, early summer night. Colleen had been all too eager to comply with his silence on the matter. She’d never been able to come to terms with that kiss; never could logically make sense of it. It shocked her to the core that he’d just brought up that forbidden topic in this situation. She’d long known Eric Reyes had nerves of steel, but she’d underestimated him.

His cockiness was titanium strength.

“I’m the most qualified orthopedic surgeon in Southern Michigan,” he continued. “Are you really going to waste precious time booking appointments with other specialists who are going to tell you exactly what I just did? All because you’re too proud to acknowledge a kiss? Or are you too stubborn to admit how much you liked it?” he added in a low, rough voice.

He’d done the impossible for the second time in her life. He’d made her hyperaware of her weakness, not to mention speechless with the knowledge. She responded precisely as she had that first time on Sunset Beach.

By turning and walking away.

Late the next morning, Colleen and her mother conferred across the hospital bed, their voices hushed because Brendan lay sleeping between them. He’d awakened in the recovery room earlier, but he’d soon fallen asleep once he’d been hooked up for his first round of IV antibiotics. To Colleen, he looked smaller than usual lying motionless in that bed, more vulnerable than she cared to consider with the tubes running from his arm to the machine administering the medication.

“I wish Dr. Fielding would come and examine him,” Brigit Kavanaugh said as she studied her grandson, her brow creased with worry.

Colleen experienced a twinge of annoyance at her mother’s uncertainty about Eric Reyes operating on Brendan. Guilt followed her mild irritation. What right did she have to be annoyed at her mother when she’d expressed even worse doubts about him just yesterday afternoon?

It hadn’t taken her long to work past her wariness about Eric. Of course she wanted the most qualified surgeon available. Brendan’s well-being was her top priority, and if that meant she had to squirm in discomfort because of the identity of the most qualified candidate, so be it. She heard from practically everyone on the planet how skilled, smart and gifted Eric was at his job. Working with him for the past year plus had proven to her the accolades weren’t overrated. He was talented, all right, even if his approach with her patients had occasionally set her on edge. He’d been known to trump her clinical opinion a time or two.

But truth be told, Eric’s kindness and attention both toward Colleen and Brendan before and after the surgery had cooled her uncertainties considerably.

“Brendan is under Dr. Reyes’s care, Mom,” she said quietly. “He says the surgery couldn’t have gone any better. He assured me the wound has been completely cleaned. Brendan is going to be fine.”

Colleen waited, her breath burning in her lungs, sure she knew what her mother would say next. He’s only a specialist because he took all of our money in that lawsuit and bought himself a medical degree. She’d learned to dread her mother’s hurt and defensiveness every time the crash or anything relating to it was mentioned.

But the bitter words never came.

Brigit had changed a lot in the last two months, ever since Liam—Colleen’s brother—had confronted her about her past; ever since old Kavanaugh family secrets had been exposed, secrets that revealed why Derry Kavanaugh had been so upset and intoxicated on that fateful night sixteen years ago. The Kavanaugh family was still reeling from the revelation of those painful truths, perhaps Brigit—the secret-keeper—most of all.

Brigit had not only hidden the fact that her daughter Deidre was another man’s child for Deidre’s entire childhood, she’d also withheld the identity of Deidre’s father until just a few months ago.

At times like this, Colleen found herself missing her mother’s anger. It was better than the quiet, sad resignation that seemed to have replaced the bitterness.

“I know, but still…Dr. Fielding delivered Brendan. He knew Darin,” Brigit added, referring to Colleen’s husband, who had died in a special operation in Afghanistan three years ago. Brigit gently tucked the blanket around Brendan’s waist. “We’ve known Dr. Fielding for so long now.”

They’d known Eric Reyes longer, Colleen thought. Her mother hardly needed reminding of that, though. One of the innocent victims of the crash had been Eric Reyes’s mother, Miriam. Another victim had been his sister, Natalie. Natalie had escaped the tragedy with her life, but she’d spent the better part of her eleventh year in the hospital, suffering from severe injuries and scarring sustained in the accident. Eric had been both father and mother to his little sister since he was eighteen years old.

It was no wonder Eric could be so cool and businesslike at times, Colleen admitted to herself. He’d hardly ever had the opportunity to be a carefree teenager. None of the kids in the Itani, Kavanaugh or Reyes families had really had much of an opportunity for that. At least, not since the crash.

She stood like she’d bounced off springs when the object of her thoughts walked into the room. She was surprised to see him so soon after he’d conferred with her so extensively postoperatively only around an hour ago. He was so tall that he seemed to fill up the small, curtained-off area of the hospital room completely. Or maybe it wasn’t just his physical stature that caused her reaction, but the strength of his formidable personality.

He nodded at Colleen in a friendly, professional way.

“Out like a light, huh?” he murmured as he studied his patient.

“He’s been asleep for about forty-five minutes. Should I wake him?” Colleen asked.

“No, he’s fine. The nurse took his vitals before he fell asleep, and he looks likes he’s resting easy. I’ll come back in a bit and check on him.”

Colleen nodded. She had a feeling that most surgeons didn’t offer this much bedside attention, and she was thankful.

She was also a little confused by his solicitation, but she thought she might understand it. Colleen had worked as a social worker in hospitals for most of her adult life. She was familiar with the professional courtesy employees in the medical field extended one another when it came to caring for family members. Besides, thanks to Liam and Natalie’s flourishing romance, Eric and Colleen were related now, in a sense. Colleen had managed to deny that connection in her mind for the past several months as she watched her brother and Eric’s sister growing closer and closer. It seemed impossible to ignore it under these new circumstances, however.

“Mrs. Kavanaugh,” Eric said politely to her mother, “are you comfortable? Would you like something to drink?”

Color stained her mother’s pale cheeks. She wondered if it was the first time Eric and her mother had met with anything less than animosity since the courtroom proceedings following the crash. She couldn’t help but feel thankful to him for his kindness.

“I’m fine,” Brigit said softly, her gaze averted. “Thank you for taking such good care of my grandson.”

“He’s a strong kid. Smart, too. I had nature on my side as his doctor.” He glanced at Colleen. “I’ll just come back in a short while.”

“Thanks,” Colleen said.

She hadn’t meant for the word to come out sounding so pressured…so earnest. Maybe it was his unexpected kindness toward her mother that had made her sound that way. His gaze flickered over her face, and his small smile faded. Their gazes locked. For a split second, she was unguarded. She felt it: that connection that took place whenever she looked—really looked—into his eyes. For the first time, she admitted that jolt of awareness was the reason she’d been so determined to avoid his presence for over a year.

She glanced away, feeling breathless.

“Of course,” she heard him say stiffly before he left the room.

Her mother picked up a magazine and began to leaf through the pages. Colleen suspected she was trying to be tactful by not discussing Eric. What did one say, precisely, in these unusual circumstances?

The silence stretched, interrupted only by the soft beeps of the IV machine and the distant sound of voices at the nurses’ station. She had nothing to distract her from recalling that charged glance she’d shared with Eric before he’d left the hospital room just now. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from remembering other things, as well…things she’d rather stayed buried, feelings she found highly disrespectful and unsettling, given her love for her husband.

She didn’t want to remember. Not when her son had just had a surgery.

Not ever.

Her undisciplined thoughts kept veering into forbidden territory, however. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from recalling every detail of what had happened on Sunset Beach nearly a year and a half ago. Surely her memory was playing tricks on her.

There was no way Eric’s body could have felt so hard or fit against her so perfectly. No man alive could possibly taste so good.

Ridiculous. Impossible, Colleen assured herself heatedly. It was some strange combination of their argument and their volatile history that had made the moment so electric.

The noise of her mother setting her magazine back on the bedside table started Colleen out of her memories and ruminations.

She sighed and brushed her son’s bangs off his forehead. Brendan still slept. He’d never let her pet him like this if he was awake, she thought, a familiar small pain going through her.

She hadn’t set a toe on Sunset Beach for over a year now, despite Eric’s invitation to continue with her swimming routine. She’d been all too happy to forget that bizarre, inexplicable incident. Kissing Eric just didn’t fit in to her safe, known world. When Eric appeared just as eager as she was to ignore what had happened, Colleen had assumed he was as regretful as she was.

So why had he made a point of reminding her of it yesterday in that examination room?

Even if they didn’t share a turbulent past, he was the exact type of man Colleen disliked: opinionated, arrogant, bull-headed. Movie-star-caliber good looks could only get a guy so far when they were accompanied by all those less-than-stellar qualities.

Besides, hadn’t her father used to say Colleen had cornered the market on stubbornness in the Kavanaugh family? It was no wonder she didn’t get along with Eric. They were like repelling magnets. Was that why her heart give a flutter when she heard someone enter the hospital room? She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the tall man who appeared next to the drawn curtain wasn’t the handsome surgeon.

“Hey,” she greeted quietly, smiling at her brother, Liam. He was in uniform, and his wavy, light brown hair streaked with gold looked windblown. “Did you walk over from the station?” The Municipal Building, where Liam worked as the chief of police, was only a few blocks from the hospital complex.

“Yeah, sorry I couldn’t get away sooner. How’s he doing?” Liam asked in a hushed tone as he bent down to give his mother a kiss on the cheek.

“He’s doing great,” Colleen replied. “Eric says the wound looks clean and that the bone tissue should heal with time. Brendan’s going to have to do some physical therapy, though.”

“That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. It’d be more of a challenge to keep Brendan still for any extended period,” Liam said, grinning. “Did Eric say what had lodged in his foot?”

“A rose thorn, of all things,” Brigit murmured, shaking her head.

It struck her as a little surreal to hear her little brother say Eric’s name so casually. A year ago, he would have said Reyes with a hard edge to his voice and a frosty look in his blue eyes. Now he spoke of him as he would a close friend or family member. Which Eric was, in a way, Colleen conceded. Liam had told her point-blank last month he’d fallen hard for Eric’s sister, Natalie.

Still, the change in the landscape of her life disoriented her a little. Things had seemed much more comprehensible when Eric Reyes was her enemy, pure and simple.

No matter. Brendan would be out of the hospital in a few days, and she and Eric could go back to keeping their wary distance from one another.

Liam sat down, and they talked for a few minutes in hushed tones until they were interrupted by the nurse coming in with a pitcher and some plastic cups.

“Dr. Reyes says he can have ice water when he wakes up if he wants it,” the nurse told Colleen.

Brendan’s eyelids flickered at the sound of the nurse’s voice.

“Mom?” he asked hoarsely, sounding a little anxious and disoriented. Colleen placed her hand on his forearm and squeezed gently.

“I’m right here, honey,” she soothed.

He focused on her sitting next to his bedside, and his anxiety immediately vanished. “I’m thirsty,” he said.

“Perfect timing, kid,” Liam said as Brigit stood to pour him some water. Brendan turned his head on the pillow and returned his uncle’s grin groggily.

“How are you feeling, Brendan?” Brigit asked.

“Okay.”

“Your foot doesn’t hurt?” she asked. As if her words had reminded him, Brendan lifted his head and stared down at his bandaged foot. He groaned, and his head fall back on the pillow.

“Does that mean yes?” Colleen asked anxiously.

“It doesn’t hurt, Mom,” Brendan assured, meeting her eyes.

Colleen loved her son to the ends of the world at the moment. He got exasperated with her mom-worry sometimes, but deep down, he knew how much she loved him.

“He just saw the bandages and thought of all the boring hours of lying in bed,” Liam said knowingly.

“Dr. Reyes said I can start moving around later this afternoon. He says it’ll make my foot stronger,” Brendan told Liam between sips of water.

“Did someone say my name?” Eric asked. The curtained-off portion of the already small space suddenly seemed as crowded as a dorm-room party.

“Hi,” Brendan said, smiling at Eric. “Did you do a good job on my foot?”

“Your mom didn’t tell you?” Eric asked.

“I just woke up,” Brendan said, leading Colleen to believe he didn’t remember much about his groggy transfer from the recovery room to his hospital bed.

“Then I’ll tell you,” Eric said. “You’re going to be tackling your uncle here by Thanksgiving, because I did a fantastic job.”

Brendan gave a tired little whoop of celebration.

Colleen couldn’t help but give a grudging smile as she watched Eric and Liam shake hands in greeting. She had to hand it to him. His cockiness was only exceeded by his charm.

Brigit and Liam stepped out of the room to give Eric room to examine Brendan, giving Colleen a chance to observe Eric’s easy banter with her son and the way Brendan seemed so comfortable with him.

“Do you work with kids a lot?” Colleen mused after he’d finished Brendan’s nerve response test, joking and talking with her son and distracting him with the fact that he was gently poking at his exposed toes with a sharp-looking metal instrument.

“I did my residency in pediatric orthopedic surgery,” Eric said. “When I was hired at Harbor Town Memorial, it was with an understanding that I’d be serving both adults and children, though.”

“Why did you decide to come back to Harbor Town when you could have worked in a larger hospital and just focused on children?” Colleen asked, puzzled. It suddenly struck her that she really knew absolutely nothing about him. Eric opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted.

“Hi, Brendan. Hey, Colleen.” Colleen looked around to see Natalie Reyes, Eric’s sister, peering around the curtain hesitantly. Eric glanced at Natalie and then back at Colleen. Suddenly, Colleen had her answer. He’d sacrificed some of his personal goals because he’d felt a fraternal responsibility toward his younger sister.

Natalie must have come from her office, because she wore an attractive chocolate-brown suit that highlighted her svelte figure and dark eyes.

“Should I come back later?” she asked.

“No, I’m all finished. My patient gets perfect marks,” Eric said. He walked over and gave his sister 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 ideal couple. She’d considered their marriage inviolate. Recent events had proved her wrong.

In a gut-punching type of way.

Brigit and Derry Kavanaugh had each engaged in an extramarital affair in the early stages of their marriage. Colleen’s sister, Deidre, was in truth her half sister. Finding out that Deidre wasn’t his biological daughter was what had instigated Derry’s extreme distress and intoxication on the night of the crash that had changed their lives forever.

Yes, Colleen was a bit jaded on the concept of marriage at the moment.

“So, you plan on a long engagement, Liam?” Colleen asked. “The two of you should have plenty of time to be sure about—”

Liam lifted his head and spoke, interrupting her. “We’re getting married December 14. We’ve already booked the date at Holy Name. We took the first day we could get.” He gave Natalie one last kiss, this one quick and tender, before he leaned back and took a swig of his soda. Both of them were grinning from ear to ear.

“It’ll be a Christmas wedding,” Natalie said to Colleen.

Since Natalie had started seeing Liam, she didn’t hide as much behind the dark glasses that helped to protect her light-sensitive eye. The glasses also covered the scars on her left temple—scars she’d received in the accident as a child. At the moment, the lighting in the waiting room was dim enough that Natalie wasn’t wearing her glasses. There might never have been a devastating car wreck sixteen years ago if Natalie’s shining eyes and joyous expression were any indication.

“Christmas. But it’s already almost Halloween,” Colleen exclaimed.

“We can’t wait a day longer,” Liam said.

Natalie leaned forward, looking concerned. “I know it’s probably a bit of a surprise. But Liam and I could really use both of your support and help in this. We don’t want a large wedding, but there will be a great deal to organize, I suppose.”

“I’ll do whatever I can do to help, of course,” Colleen said, all the while feeling guilty about the fact that she was harboring reservations about the quickness of this decision. Liam was courageous—true—but his boldness bordered on impulsivity at times. He’d been known to volunteer for the most dangerous assignments when he’d been a Chicago police detective. Not that marrying Natalie was the same as a risky assignment, but still.

“Are you sure?” Liam asked her. “You knocked yourself out with the planning for Mari and Marc’s wedding, Colleen. Ours won’t be as fancy. We just want family and good friends.” He grinned. “And a great party, of course.”

Natalie was studying her brother. “You haven’t said anything, Eric.”

“I don’t think it should come as a shock to you that I think you two are jumping the gun on this,” Eric replied bluntly.

A tense silence ensued. Colleen squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. She agreed with Eric, but she hated the sadness that seeped into Natalie’s radiant expression and the way Liam’s grin flattened.

“I want to make it clear, we’re not asking for permission,” Liam stated after a moment. “Or for approval,” Liam added, meeting Eric’s stare. “Natalie and I are getting married. I’m crazy about her, and I want to take care of her for the rest of my life, be there for her…love her.” He glanced over at Natalie, and the glow of love flared once again in her dark eyes. “Some people take years to know whether or not they want to make that commitment. Natalie and I have known since this summer.” Liam glanced from Colleen and back to Eric. “Believe or don’t believe. Just know that Natalie and I do believe in each other…in this.” He took Natalie’s hand in his and faced them again. “If that’s good enough for you, we’d like both of you to be in the wedding, too.”

Despite her anxiety over the situation, Colleen couldn’t ignore the love and determination, the pure joy, in his tone.

She stood and rushed over to him, hugging him tight and offering her congratulations. Natalie came next. Colleen kissed her on the cheek.

“I’m finally going to have a sister who lives here in town,” she said before she gave Natalie a hug.

“I’m finally going to have a sister, period,” Natalie replied, laughing.

Over Natalie’s shoulder, she noticed Eric still sat. Colleen hitched her chin slightly at Natalie in a pointed gesture, glaring at him the whole time.

Get off your butt this instant and congratulate your sister, Reyes.

His hard mouth twitched—probably in annoyance, because it couldn’t possibly have been in humor, given the situation—and he stepped toward his sister.

“You’re sure?” he asked simply.

“I am. I love Liam so much,” Natalie replied before she flew into her brother’s arms.

“I just want you to be happy.” Colleen blinked back a tear when she heard the deep feeling infused into Eric’s usually level voice.

“I’ve never been so happy in my life,” Natalie said.

Liam’s smile was unusually tender when Colleen met his stare. She realized her face was damp with tears. When she glanced back at Eric and Natalie, she saw that Eric watched her as well over Natalie’s head, his eyes dark and inexplicable.

Later that afternoon, Eric called out to Colleen as she was walking out of the hospital gift shop.

“Did they take Brendan down to the physical-therapy gym?” he asked as he caught up with her. He couldn’t help but notice how her expression became guarded when she recognized him. Every time he told himself he was used to her defensiveness and dislike, that it really didn’t matter, Colleen surprised him.

It mattered.

She nodded. “It seems strange to have him moving around right after surgery.”

“Don’t worry. The physical therapists here are real pros. They’ll just be assessing him and doing some simple stretches to keep his muscles flexible and strong. I’m glad I caught up with you. Can we talk in my office?” he asked as they progressed down the hallway together.

Her bluish green eyes flashed. “Why?”

“Liam and Natalie.”

“I can’t believe they’re getting married,” she murmured.

“That’s what I want to talk to you about.”

“What do you mean?”

He held out his arm, beckoning her down a corridor to the right of them. “My office is down here. Please?”

She wore a pair of supple black leather boots that hugged her shapely calves just as tightly as her form-fitting jeans hugged her thighs. Colleen didn’t look like the mother of any kid he’d ever operated on before, but that wasn’t saying much. Colleen made a habit of breaking most stereotypes, even if she could be rather predictable when it came to certain things.

Like hating him, for instance.

“What’s wrong? Not afraid of being alone with me, are you?” he teased softly when he noticed her wavering in those sexy black boots.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Let’s make it quick, though. I want to get back before Brendan’s appointment is over.” She strode down the hallway, her boot heels clicking briskly. Per her typical MO, she left him standing there like a gawping teenager stunned into immobility by her golden beauty.

Fortunately, he wasn’t a teenager anymore. He did what any red-blooded man would have done under the circumstances and stood still, admiring the rear view of Colleen Kavanaugh Sinclair in a pair of tight jeans. She came to a halt and turned her head, the abrupt gesture causing her mane of long blond hair to whip around her.

“Are you coming or what, Reyes?”

He knew she didn’t expect an answer, just compliance, so he said nothing as he caught up to her. Neither of them spoke as they walked side by side down the hospital corridor to his office.

He’d known her since he was seventeen years old—or at least, he’d known of her. They hadn’t exactly moved in the same social circle. She was a Kavanaugh, after all, and he was the son of an immigrant who cleaned Harbor Town offices and hotel rooms. She was a daughter of a wealthy Chicago attorney who could afford to buy a vacation home in Harbor Town and provide his wife and children with sunny, perfect vacations that lasted not just for two weeks but entire summers. Colleen had been the prettiest girl in a group of very pretty girls. She’d been the best athlete, the bravest and the smartest of that elite group, as well.

Some people couldn’t help it. They were born having it all.

Of course, appearances could be misleading. Tragedy had struck Colleen not just once, but twice by the time she was thirty years old. First her father had been killed in the wreck when she was sixteen. Then her husband had been killed in Afghanistan several years ago.

He knew that for most men, the first things that would pop into their head when they considered Colleen was her good looks and effortless ability to talk to anyone. It was why she was such a talented clinical social worker, after all. She could put a long-term drug addict and recidivist criminal at ease as quickly as she could a wealthy blue blood who was struggling with his wife’s alcoholism. Eric knew that Colleen was probably born with a lion’s share of kindness and charm, but it was her pain and grief that had molded her into the person she was today.

Of course, he only knew about her kindness and natural ability to connect with other people from observing her during her clinical work. That, and the memory of a bluish green-eyed stare and a smile that could haunt a man for half a lifetime.

Sometimes he was convinced that he couldn’t stand Colleen when she turned on her Princess of the Icy Realm act, but his irritation at her was usually only short-lived. He understood that their uneasy history sparked her hostility, and she did it to defend against past hurt. Once he got some distance from her, his annoyance at her would become tinged with sadness.

He’d watched her work, and the truth was, he admired her. She was no pushover, and the patients at The Family Center knew better than to try to manipulate her. Her kindness wasn’t of the “sweet” variety, but the deep, enduring, measurable type; it was demonstrated daily through her relentless faith in people’s ability to heal and her track record for going the extra mile for her patients—not occasionally but as a matter of course.

It sucked, plain and simple, knowing he was one of the few people on the planet who couldn’t make Colleen smile. He wished he hadn’t been forced into admiring and respecting her from a distance. He’d rather be doing it up close and personal.

“I’m right in here,” he said.

She followed him into his office. He sat on the edge of his desk and observed her while she glanced around curiously and then wandered over to his bookcase, smiling when she saw a photo of a ten-year-old Natalie. Nat wore a tutu and an anxious, hopeful smile. Colleen took a few steps and looked closely at his diplomas, and then his old hockey stick from college. She sobered when she saw the photo of his mother.

There it was.

For the thousandth time, he wished the weight of the past didn’t stand like a ten-foot-thick barrier between them.

“They say that men who are so neat have something to hide,” she said briskly as she turned around. She sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk and crossed those long, booted legs.

“Who are they, exactly?”

“Okay. I say that,” she replied with a bewitching little smile.

“I thought women liked a man who picked up after himself.”

“Maybe some women.” Her eyes flickered over him briefly before she glanced out the window at the brilliantly sunny fall day. For a moment, he took pleasure in examining her while his regard went unnoticed. Her heart-shaped face managed to convey delicate, feminine beauty and strength all at once. She wore her bangs long and spiky. They highlighted her large, expressive eyes to perfection. Her hair was loosely curled and tumbled around her upper arms and back, and as always, he experienced a desire to delve his fingers into those glossy locks.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” she prompted.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to focus.

“I was watching you in the waiting room when Liam and Natalie announced they were getting married. I saw your expression. I know I’m not the only one who thinks they’re being impulsive about this.”

Colleen shrugged. “I didn’t make a secret of it. My brother is a wonderful man. He’ll make Natalie very happy. You’ve got nothing to complain about.”

“And you do?”

She stood up quickly. “Not at all. I happen to like Natalie very much.”

“I like Liam, as well. I do,” he said when she gave him an incredulous glance. “Granted, I haven’t always. But he’s gone out of his way to get to know me over the past few months. I know that hasn’t been easy for him, either. I respect the fact that he’s done it for Natalie’s sake. He’s not the first person I’d pick for Nat, but—believe it or not—he’s not the last,” he admitted gruffly.

“Stop. Your benevolence is overpowering me.”

“Cut the sarcasm for a second, will you? I’m trying to talk to you about something serious. You can listen to everyone else on the damn planet. Can’t you do it with me for ten minutes?”

She froze. He hadn’t intended to sound so sharp. Regret swept through him when he saw the color fade from her cheeks. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

“I care about my sister, and I know you feel the same for Liam. Would it be so awful for us to both think they’re rushing into this marriage? Would it really be so terrible for us to share an opinion on something?”

She glanced away from him. He guessed he’d irritated her, but he sensed she was torn, as well.

“You know what I mean, Colleen,” he continued in a low voice. “Even though you don’t want to admit it, you think they’re making this decision rashly. You don’t want to see Liam get hurt any more than I want to see Nat suffer.”

She said nothing as she stared out the window. Despite her cold expression, he knew if he touched her smooth cheek, she’d be warm.

And soft.

He stood and walked around his desk, moving away from her because he had a sudden desire to move closer. His movement put him in her line of vision. He caught her eye.

“You know I’m right,” he said quietly.

She looked annoyed. “Why do you always have to make a habit of proving that point?”

He shrugged and fell into his desk chair. He stretched and placed his hands behind his head. She glanced down over his neck and chest. He went still in sudden awareness.

She looked abruptly out the window. “There’s nothing we can do. They’ve made up their minds. You know how impossible it can be to talk reason to two people who are drunk in love with each other.”

“We have nearly two months to make them pause and reconsider their hastiness in the matter.”

Her eyes flashed at him. “We?” she asked, looking haughty—and damn beautiful. He nodded soberly, trying to prove to himself he was affected by neither of those things. He had a lot of experience, at this point, in deflecting Colleen’s burning stares.

Her beauty was a lot more difficult to ignore.

“Look, Marc and Mari will also be in the wedding party,” he said, referring to Colleen’s brother and his wife. “But you and I live here in Harbor Town. We’ll hire a wedding planner, but we’ll probably be the relatives most involved in the preparations.”

“And you’re reminding me of these unfortunate circumstances because…”

“Because it will give us a chance to…tweak the situation a little. Maybe provide Liam and Natalie with some more realistic perspectives on just how serious the venture of marriage is, and encourage them to take some time and at least think about extending their engagement.”

She stared at him, then shook her head slowly. “You’ve got real nerve, you know that, Reyes?”

He smiled.

Color rushed into her cheeks. “It wasn’t a compliment,” she snapped.

He shrugged, hiding his grin with effort. Even when she snarled at him, she appealed. “Either way, you must realize what I’m saying makes sense. It’s not just Natalie I’m thinking of here. It’s Liam, too.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Do not try and make it seem like you’re being generous. It’s weakening your case. Considerably.” She began to pace in front of his desk. “Even if I did agree with you that they’re being impulsive, there’s nothing we can do. I know it won’t make any difference for me to talk to Liam about it. He’s stubborn as an ox when he makes up his mind about something, a Kavanaugh through and through.” She looked up. “Can you talk to Natalie?”

“I’ve tried a dozen times. It’s like talking to steel armor. The Kavanaughs haven’t cornered the market on stubbornness,” he said mildly.

“Humph,” she muttered, her sweeping gaze telling him loud and clear that while she doubted his claim in his sweet sister’s case, she certainly believed he’d received his fair share of bullheadedness. “What exactly do you mean by ‘tweaking the circumstances’? Do you want me to reveal some deep, dark secret about Liam to Natalie? Should I tell her that he used to not change the empty toilet-paper roll when he was fourteen years old? Do you think that will send her running?”

“No,” he replied levelly, refusing to allow her to prick his temper. “But I can think of a few things that might cause one of them to hit the pause button if the information was presented in just the right way.”

“Like what?’ she asked suspiciously.

“Don’t give me that look. I’m not picturing anything traumatic. Do you think I would ever purposefully hurt my sister?”

She hesitated, but when she finally resumed pacing and answered, she sounded honest enough.

“No.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said, forcing himself to look away from the distracting sight of her scissoring thighs.

She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to tell me what you have in mind or not?”

“It’s simple enough. We just make sure Liam and Natalie encounter the type of thing that would make any rational person stop and consider before leaping impulsively into marriage.”

“What? Force them to watch old documentaries about failed celebrity marriages? Remind them repeatedly of how much Brad said he adored Jennifer before Angelina woke him up?”

“No. But not too far from that. Has it ever occurred to you that we’re mutually acquainted with couples who have gone from head over heels to heading to divorce court in record time?”

She paused and studied him. He leaned back in his desk chair, musing.

“It might be…prudent for Liam and Natalie to observe some of those jaded couples firsthand. We can start off by asking a few of them to the engagement party,” he said.

“I beg your pardon?” she asked, her forearms crossed beneath firm, generous breasts.

Definitely not like the typical mother of his patients.

“The engagement party you and I will be throwing Liam and Natalie,” he said reasonably. “We should plan to have it as soon as possible. Maybe even next weekend, given the short period of time we have before the wedding.”

He pretended to misunderstand her incredulous—or was it horrified?—expression.

“Sorry. I just assumed…. Somebody is going to have to throw them an engagement party, and we’re the most likely candidates. Don’t you want to? I thought that was the right thing to do.”

“I…of course, it’s…” She made a sound of frustration. “Don’t tell me what the ‘right’ thing to do is, Reyes. Who made you the leading authority on correct wedding etiquette?”

“I’m far from being an expert. That’s why I need your help so much,” he said as humbly as possible. He rocked back in his chair, thinking. “I want my sister to have the best of everything. She deserves that, and more. But I really believe they should consider hitting the slow-down button before taking the big plunge.”

“Maybe,” Colleen muttered after a moment of silently wearing down his carpet with her treading feet. “But I’m not agreeing to anything malicious. If they’re determined to get married after only knowing each other a few months, there’s absolutely nothing anyone can do to change their minds.”

“I agree one hundred percent,” he said. “It’s not meant to be hurtful. Just…a wake-up call.”

“Other than that, we’ll give them a wonderful party.”

“Are you kidding? We’ll throw them the best engagement party Harbor Town has ever seen. The best wedding and reception, as well.”

She stood directly in front of him, her jean-covered thighs slightly spread. “Do you promise that’s the only thing you’ll do? Try to subtly encourage them to extend their engagement? Because I’m not agreeing to anything dishonest.”

“I promise. I despise dishonesty,” he said truthfully.

He waited while she studied him closely.

“Okay,” she finally conceded. “Mari, Marc, you and I will be responsible for the cost and planning of the engagement party. As for the wedding and reception, can you speak with Natalie and get some of her thoughts on decorations, budget, that sort of thing? I’ll do the same with Liam, just so we’re all operating on a consistent plan.”

He nodded. “I understand the bride’s family is traditionally responsible for the finances. I’m Natalie’s whole family, so I’ll be paying for the wedding.”

She paused, her mouth hanging open.

“That’s very generous of you to offer,” she said slowly after a moment. He couldn’t decide if he should be flattered or insulted by her expression of surprise and grudging respect at his offer. “But couples finance their weddings a lot of different ways these days, and I’m sure Natalie would agree you’re under no obligation. Plus, I doubt Liam would ever expect you to pay for everything, but that’s something we have to clarify.”

“I agree,” Eric said.

She nodded once firmly, despite her doubtful expression. “I’ll see you later then.”

“Let’s have lunch tomorrow,” he declared when she started to walk out of his office.

“Why?” she asked, spinning around.

“To plan the engagement party. And, of course, how we implement our ideas for promoting careful consideration instead of impulsive haste with Natalie and Liam.”

Her eyes flickered over him warily.

“What’s bothering you?” he asked.

“Nothing. It’s just…I had no idea you were such a cynic when it came to the idea of true love, Reyes. I suppose I should have suspected it.”

“I like to think of myself as a realist, not a cynic. Besides, you’ve admitted you agreed about this. Committing to another person for a lifetime requires some serious contemplation. There’s no such thing as love at first sight. Right?”

“Of course not,” she said, bristling.

“So, what’s your excuse?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your excuse for being a cynic when it comes to hasty marriage?”

A shadow fell over her features, and he immediately regretted his words. He’d just been trying to get to know her better. Instead, he’d unintentionally struck a bad chord, Eric realized. Colleen had been burned by romance in the past. Maybe she was still sensitive because her husband, Darin Sinclair, had been killed in action.

“I am not a cynic,” she said stiffly. “I just think Liam and Natalie need more time to make sure this is what they truly want.”

He struggled to get back on the right track again. “So, we’re on for tomorrow at lunch?”

“All right. I guess that’ll work,” she said. He lowered his hands and sat forward in his chair when he noticed her further hesitation.

“What is it, Colleen?”

“It’s nothing. It’s just…are you certain Brendan will be okay?”

He exhaled slowly to give himself a few seconds. Seeing Colleen vulnerable wasn’t something he was used to, so he hadn’t adequately prepared himself for the experience.

“He’s not just going to be okay,” he said. “He’s going to be great. I’m even more confident in saying that now that I’ve seen how well the tissue cleaned up. I know you won’t take my word for it, but time will prove my case.”

A smile flickered across her lips; just the hint of it had him longing to see its full, blazing glory.

“I do trust you…about Brendan,” she added softly before she walked out of his office.

Eric leaned back again and brought up his feet on his desk, his gaze fixed on the door that had just closed behind her. He’d told her he hated liars, and it’d been the truth. Eric didn’t like subterfuge and was only planning a few reality checks in the midst of these wedding plans because he cared about Natalie so much. Other than that, he’d do everything in his power to give his little sister a wedding that would make every woman in Harbor County green with envy.

Despite the fact that he disapproved of Natalie’s quick wedding plans, he found himself anticipating having a good excuse to spend time with Colleen. He didn’t think that qualified him as a liar, necessarily, because he hadn’t revealed that morsel of information to her. If he had, she wouldn’t have consented to work with him on the wedding in a million years.

There was something about Colleen. He wanted her, and it was stupid to deny it. He considered himself to be too levelheaded to give in to the Kavanaugh-inspired hysteria that seemed to have affected his friend Mari along with Natalie. He liked women, though…some more than others. Colleen appealed to him.

A lot.

She was a challenge, and he always rose to a challenge, no matter how long he had to wait or how much planning was involved. Given the door of opportunity that had just opened before him, he couldn’t pass up the chance to get closer to the stubborn, gorgeous woman who had just stalked out of his office.

Chapter Three

Colleen watched her son hobbling down the hospital hallway on crutches, chattering the whole time with the young man who was his physical therapist. After the surgery, he’d been fatigued. This morning Brendan was energetic, curious about the goings-on in the hospital, and asking Colleen, his grandmother, the nurses and Eric every question a healthy twelve-year-old boy could concoct in his active brain.

Brigit had brought Colleen’s daughter, Jenny, to visit her brother before school. It’d been the best kind of maternal medicine in the world to hear her two children conversing animatedly or asking the nurse funny questions about the use of this or that piece of medical equipment or mutually grossing out when they received an honest answer. Colleen was so relieved to see Brendan’s returned vibrancy it was like a physical weight had lifted off her.

Her relief didn’t seem to be preventing her from experiencing a nervous, fluttery feeling that had been mounting every hour as their lunchtime meeting approached.

Ridiculous.

“I’ve made a to-do list,” Eric said from behind her. Colleen started, his presence taking her by surprise and jangling her already rattled nerves. “Since I haven’t got the slightest idea how to plan for an engagement party, let alone a wedding, I never really got past the title on the page.”

Colleen regarded the man who was responsible for the butterflies in her belly. He’d left his lab coat in the office and was wearing a pair of dark blue trousers and a crisp blue-and-white-striped button-down. The pants fit his long legs and trim hips perfectly. She ran her gaze over the considerable length of him and hid her appreciation at what she saw. He was too handsome. She cocked an eyebrow. “You’re going to be a real helper in all this, aren’t you?”

His flashed a grin that struck her as extremely sexy.

“I promise not to be a hindrance, if that’s any conciliation.”

She gave a doubtful snort, and they started down the hallway. Two nurses twittered a greeting at Eric as they passed a nurses’ station. Colleen rolled her eyes when she noticed the women’s warm smiles and continued stares as they trailed Eric’s progress down the hall.

“Part of your fan club?” she murmured through a small smile.

His dark brows furrowed before he glanced over his shoulder. “I work with them,” he said, as if the four words automatically explained those covetous female glances.

“Uh-huh,” Colleen smirked. “So, where are we going for lunch?”

“The Captain and Crew?”

She shook her head. “Emilio’s?”

“Sultan’s?”

She gave him a surprised glance followed by a small nod of respect. “You got it.”

“I wouldn’t have pegged you a lover of Middle Eastern cuisine,” Colleen mused several minutes later as she tore apart a honey-drenched, nutty roll and popped some of the delicious confection into her mouth. The cozy, sunlit restaurant and bakery was doing a decent business, but they’d managed to snag the last empty booth.

“Sultan’s is my favorite restaurant in town.”

“Really? It’s my favorite, too,” she added before she could censor herself.

“I keep telling you that you really don’t know anything about me,” he said as he stirred his aromatic coffee. His tone sounded deceptively casual. She paused in the action of sucking the honey off her forefinger and glanced into his face. He regarded her silently, one of his arms sprawled across the back of the booth, his eyes gleaming in an otherwise impassive face…his gaze narrowed on the finger in her mouth.

Flustered, Colleen reverted to using her napkin.

“Every time you’ve ordered food for the staff at The Family Center, you’ve ordered from Bistro Campagne,” she said, referring to what was arguably the nicest restaurant in Harbor County.

“And so you came to the conclusion that I’m a snob, is that it?” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

“I never said that,” Colleen replied defensively, even though she had difficulty meeting his stare. She’d never spoken her thoughts out loud, but she actually had been annoyed when Eric had ordered expensive catered luncheons during special occasions and holidays. It always seemed to smack of patronization—the great Dr. Reyes lavishing the little people with a treat to liven up their small lives.

He made a scoffing noise. She scowled at him. She really did dislike him at times. So why was it they seemed to have the ability to read each other’s minds so effortlessly?

“I arranged the luncheons through Bistro Campagne because my housekeeper also happens to do catering events there, so it’s easy. I give her dates and some vague details, and she turns my request into something that makes me look like I know what I’m doing.” He gave her a pointed glance. “With most

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.