Inside Heat (2 page)

“Darn right I don’t. I don’t know you from Adam, but I know someone who thinks you are the best thing since sliced bread. I can’t take him this.” She flicked the program toward him again. “What would I tell him?” She shook her head. “As it is, I don’t know how I can act like you’re still a hero when he’s spouting off about you, without hurling. Anyway, I promised I’d bring him your autograph, and I’m going to do it.” There. She’d said what was on her mind. Maybe it wasn’t eloquent – who said hurling anymore anyway? Judging from the furrow between his eyebrows, and the way he’d narrowed those magnificent eyes at her, she’d gotten her point across.

“Hurling? I can’t believe you said that. Who are you? And why don’t you tell me who your friend is, and why he sent you to get my autograph. Why didn’t he come himself?”

“My name is Megan Long. I’m a Pediatric Nurse at Southwest General. Christopher is one of my patients. I can’t go into specifics, but I can tell you he isn’t well enough to come to a game, but he watches you on TV. He has your baseball card, and he keeps it with him twenty-four/seven.” As she spoke, Jeff sat up and listened intently. Perhaps she was going to get that autograph after all.

“Do you have something you want me to sign?”

“Uhh. No.” Damn. Why hadn’t she thought of that? “I didn’t think that far ahead.” She knew there wasn’t anything in her purse she’d cleaned it out before she went to the ballpark. She glanced around the restaurant – nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Okay. I’ll make a deal with you. I’m hungry. Stay while I eat – I’ll even buy you dinner. When we’re done, there’s a sporting goods store down the street. I know the owner. We’ll go there, get something suitable, and I’ll sign it for Christopher.”

Something in his tone of voice calmed her. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she thought. “You’d do that?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I? Look, Megan, I’m sorry about the program. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have done that. In my defense, I don’t get all that many beautiful women trying to get my autograph.” His smile was a ray of sunshine in the dim restaurant, and Megan’s insides turned to liquid. “Not that I mind signing for kids. I like kids. But a beautiful woman? It was a calculated risk, but one I’m glad I took.”

“Well…I guess I understand, but I’m not entirely sure I believe you.” She picked up her wine glass and took a sip, glad her hand was steadier on the outside than she was on the inside. “So, what’s for dinner?”

Jeff signaled the waiter again, and a short time later they were served an authentic Italian dinner the likes of which Megan had never tasted. “This is wonderful. Do you come here often?”

He urged her to take another slab of garlic bread from the basket in the center of the table. “Once a week, when we’re in town. If I ate like this all the time, I’d be as big as a barn.”

Megan closed her eyes and savored the burst of rich flavor. She swallowed, licked her lips to get every delicious drop, then opened her eyes. Jeff sat frozen, his fork halfway to his mouth. His eyes smoldered with unmistakable desire. Every female cell in her body reacted to the barrage of pheromones coming from across the table. She reminded herself she didn’t really know this guy, and he’d lured her here, admittedly for his own reasons. It took some doing, but she wrestled her hormones under control. “I’m not sleeping with you.”

“You sure about that?” He popped the morsel on his fork into his mouth and chewed, all the while watching her watch him. “I think you’re as attracted to me as I am to you. But that can wait. Tell me something about yourself.”

“You know everything you need to know. I’m a nurse. I work with sick kids.”

He was persistent she’d give him that. It was one thing to be evasive, another to be downright rude, so when he began to ask specific questions, she answered – as vaguely as possible. Still he managed to find out more about her than he had a right, or need, to know.

“Your job must be difficult. How do you do it?”

“I like kids. I like being a nurse. The two go together.”

He sat back from his empty plate and sipped his wine while the waiter cleared the table. “It’s more than that. I think it takes a special person to do what you do. I’m sure Christopher has plenty of nurses who take care of him. None of them took their day off to hunt up an autograph for him.”

He was right about that, but that didn’t mean the other nurses were any less caring. They all put in long hours and gave up personal time in one way or another. “No, they didn’t. But they care about him every bit as much as I do.”

“I’m sure they care about his physical self, but the autograph won’t make him well.”

“There’s more to getting well than just medicine. A smile can heal too.”

Jeff signed the check and stood. “Let’s go. You held up your end of the bargain. Now it’s my turn.”

Chapter Two

Jeff escorted Megan to the small sporting goods store a few blocks away. Everything that made him a man urged him to touch the woman beside him. He tucked his hands in his pockets in an effort to keep them under control. He’d known from the moment he first saw her standing at the rail that he wanted to get to know her. There was something about the way she held herself that demanded his attention, and when that kid elbowed her, she brushed off the incident without a word of reprimand to the little monster. Not many people would have been so magnanimous, especially since he’d done it on purpose. That’s why his program now said, “Always treat a lady with respect,” just above Jeff’s signature. It wasn’t exactly a reprimand, but he was pretty sure the kid would understand. If he lost a fan over it, so be it.

Her strides were long and purposeful – a woman on a mission. He could imagine her in her nurses’ scrubs, covering the pediatric ward with the same enthusiasm. Jeff slowed his pace, hoping she’d notice and slow too. He wasn’t ready to let her out of his sight. She adjusted her stride to match his, but not before she let out an exasperated breath.

“How far is this place?”

“A couple of blocks.”

“It’s getting late. Will they still be open?”

He pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number. Alec would be there, stocking shelves and reordering inventory until much later than this. Or at least he was supposed to be. If he weren’t, he’d have a few things to explain to the owner. Alec answered on the second ring, a good sign, and assured Jeff he’d let them in. “No problem. We’ll get in.”

“You can do that? Call up a store and they’ll let you in after hours?”

“Only with this one. I own it.”

“Seriously?”

“Well, Jason owns half, but yeah, seriously. What do you think Christopher would like? A hat, a jersey? How about a glove?”

“I don’t know. He’s ten. What do ten-year-old boys like?”

“Ten, huh? I guess that rules out the beer logo clock and the shot glasses. Just about everything else is in the realm of possibility.”

“I suppose you have a lot of Mustangs stuff in the store?”

“Yeah. The hard part will be picking out the right thing.”

Alec met them at the door, locking it behind them. Jeff introduced Megan to the store manager and pulled him aside after sending Megan off to pick out anything she wanted.

“Do you have a digital camera around here?”

“I have one in the back. Why?”

“Get it. Anything Megan wants, put it on my tab. Then I want a whole bag of stuff for a ten-year-old boy. Mustangs stuff. A stadium throw, a glove, hat, posters, jersey. You know what a kid would like, but this one is real sick, so not a lot of active stuff. Bag it for me and I’ll be in to pick it up in the morning.”

Alec went in search of the camera, and Jeff caught up to Megan. “Find anything yet?” She turned her velvet brown eyes on him, and he almost forgot his own name. Earlier, when he’d gotten close enough to the rail to see details, her eyes had captivated him. In the past, it had always been the overall package that captured his interest rather than the details of a woman’s body. Not that Megan didn’t have a killer body and he’d have to be blind not to notice, but her eyes were her best feature. They were windows to her soul, and from what she’d let him see, her soul was Grade A. Megan was the kind of woman you took home to meet your mother, and those were harder to come by than World Series wins.

“There’s so much to choose from, but it needs to be something he can keep in the hospital with him.”

“He spends a lot of time there?”

“You could say that.”

Even if the sadness in her voice hadn’t given her away, her eyes would have. She knew much more than she was saying, but he understood the patient confidentiality thing. The fact that she had gone to as much trouble as she had to get his autograph, told him the kid was really ill. No health care worker would go to this much trouble on their day off for a kid with good prospects.

“Then, why don’t we go with a glove? It’s small enough, but soft. He can hang on to it, sort of like a stuffed animal, in a grown up sort of way.”

They moved to the wall covered with gloves from ceiling to floor and Jeff pulled one down. “This is like the one I use. I can autograph it for him.”

She smiled at him. The first genuine smile he’d seen from her, and blood rushed to places it had no business being.

“Really? You can autograph something like this?”

“Sure. Come on. I bet Alec has a pen up front.”

They made their way to the front of the store where Alec was waiting for them, pen and camera in hand. Jeff pulled Megan close while he signed the glove. Alec snapped photos as Jeff signed, then he took one of the two of them holding the glove so the signature could easily be seen. “If you give Alec your email address, he can send you the photos. You can print them for Christopher. I bet he’ll get a kick out of seeing his favorite nurse with his favorite player.”

“Thanks,” she said. Alec pushed a business card across the counter and she wrote her email address on it. “You’ve both been more than kind. I can’t thank you enough.”

“No thanks needed. I’m sorry you had to go to this much trouble. If I’d known…”

“You couldn’t have…”

“I know, but still.” He thanked Alec and ushered Megan out the door, back toward her car. “I can’t say I’m sorry to have met you.”

“Thanks for dinner, and the glove. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees this.”

“I wish I could see it too. Hey! Why don’t I come by the hospital tomorrow and we can give it to him together? Do you think he’d like that?”

Megan’s eyes twinkled with moisture and her jaw dropped. “You’d do that?”

“Sure. What time would be good?”

“Morning? Around ten, maybe?”

“Ten it is. We have a game tomorrow afternoon, so I can’t stay long.”

He watched her drive off, then headed back to the store to thank Alec, and get Megan’s email address. Just in case, he told himself. Besides, now that he was going to see her again, he could take the photos to her himself.

* * * *

Megan glared at the man standing next to the nurses' station. She should have known Jeff wouldn’t show. It was a good thing she hadn’t said anything to Christopher. Building his hope up, then having to tell him his hero wasn’t coming might be too much for a kid in his condition.

“Where is he?” she demanded.

“Who?” the man asked.

“Your brother, that’s who. Did he send you, thinking a look-alike would do?”

He smiled at her, his crooked smile a mirror image of his brothers. “You can tell us apart?”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course she could tell them apart. The two men shared the same DNA, but this one was…well, he wasn’t Jeff. Not that he wasn’t sexy as hell too. Even though her head told her this wasn’t Jeff, her body didn’t seem to notice. Every physical reaction she’d had to Jeff came back in a rush, a very inappropriate, unwelcome rush. Megan squashed the feeling, wondering how she could react so strongly to two different men at the same time. Since she couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was that had told her from the other end of the hallway that this man wasn’t the one she was expecting, she fell back on her original question. “Where is Jeff?”

“He’ll be here in a minute. He had to park the car. We were running a little late, so he sent me up so you wouldn’t think he flaked. I’m his brother, Jason.” He offered her his hand and Megan reached out to shake it but stopped short when the elevator door swooshed open and Jeff Holder stepped out. He stopped for a split second to get his bearings, then headed straight for them. Oh lord. She tried to convince herself her reaction yesterday had been a fluke, but watching him walk toward her with that easy gait of his – his eyes locked on her as if she were the only person on the planet – and she knew she was already lost.

“Sorry I’m late. I had to stop and pick up some stuff.” He lifted a bag from the sporting goods store he’d taken her to the previous evening. “Is this a good time?”

“As good as any. Christopher’s mother is here. Why don’t you wait here? I’ll go get her so she can talk to you before you see Christopher. They’ve been through so much, I hate to spring something like this on her without fair warning.”

A few minutes later, Jeff and Christopher’s mother took the elevator down to the cafeteria, leaving Megan alone with Jason. “What was that all about?” she asked.

“Jeff always does that. He’ll be back in a few minutes, then we’ll go see Christopher. In the meantime, why don’t you show me around?”

“You want to see the hospital?”

“Not all of it, just the part you work in. Are there any more baseball fans here?”

* * * *

No wonder Jeff couldn’t stop talking about this woman. She was sexy as hell, and he’d never seen a pair of scrubs filled out so enticingly. He followed her down the corridor, watching her sweet round ass sway from side to side. She pointed out various treatment rooms, and Jason made appropriate comments. This wasn’t his thing, the treatment rooms brought back too many memories, none of them good. He preferred the one-on-one with the kids. Megan paused in the next open door and swept her arm wide.

“This is the day room.” Jason peered around the doorjamb. A small group of kids, some in wheelchairs, others sitting on beanbags, were gathered around a television set. He recognized the animated movie.

“Would they mind if I interrupted their movie?” The first genuine smile he’d seen changed her face from pretty to devastating. Jason’s heart stalled and he almost missed her response.

“No. I don’t think so. Wait here for a second. I’ll pause the movie and introduce you.” She started to move into the room, but Jason stopped her.

“Let me.” His fingertips tingled where he touched her. Her skin was soft, and warm, and he had no business thinking the things he was thinking about her. Jeff had seen her first, and he hadn’t given any indication he was interested in sharing her. “Go see if Jeff is back. He’s got some publicity stills in his bag of stuff.”

“Okay,” she said. Her eyes hadn’t left his since he touched her. The heat in them didn’t do anything to dispel his interest. “I’ll…you’ll…”

“I’ll just talk with them for a while until you get back.” He pulled a felt-tipped pen from his shirt pocket. “I can sign hands or IV bags, if I have to.” She glanced into the room again, then back at him. “I won’t hurt them, I promise.” He gave her his most innocent smile. It didn’t win her over completely, but she hustled down the hall in the direction of the nurses' station. Jason took a couple of deep breaths to steady his heartbeat before he stepped into the room.

* * * *

Oh, lord. Megan inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. This was so wrong. Yeah, they looked alike; identical twins did that, but they were two different people. She shouldn’t be attracted to both of them. It wasn’t right. She turned the corner and stopped, pressing her back against the wall for support. Her heart was racing faster than a doped thoroughbred, and all Jason had done was lightly touch her arm with his fingertips.

She pushed away from the wall and peeked back around the corner. Jason was nowhere in sight. It should have eased her mind to know he’d done as he said he would, but it had the opposite effect. Her heart swelled and her stomach flipped. What were the chances he was the genuine article – a good-looking guy with a heart?

Megan hurried to the nurses' station, hoping to catch Jeff before he went to Christopher’s room. Too late, the volunteer informed her, holding up a picture of Jeff and Jason together in uniform. Jeff’s signature graced the bottom left corner. “He’s in Christopher’s room. He said to send you down.”

The hospital had strict visiting hours, but on this wing, they were more like suggestions than actual rules. Megan stopped to speak with half-dozen parents and patients as she made her way down the hall to Christopher’s room at the end. She’d never understand how a person could work with these kids every day and not get attached. It wasn’t possible. And the attachment went both ways. No matter the outcome of the child’s illness, the parents often kept in touch with the doctors and nurses. Many had become friends and were a great resource for parents new to the process. Sometimes it took hearing it from someone who’d been on your side of the fence to make it sink in.

Christopher’s mother was one of those special parents. She knew as much about the hospital, its staff, and the procedures as anyone, and she was always willing to help less experienced parents. She was a good listener too. In the early days of an illness, having someone listen was a gift beyond measure.

Megan wasn’t surprised to see Roxanne standing inside her son’s door, her arms crossed over her midsection as she lounged against the wall. Some parents clung to their kids, whether to reassure themselves, or to comfort the child. It didn’t matter which. Roxanne understood Christopher’s need to be a normal kid, and that meant letting him have what little space she could give him, under the circumstances. When he needed her to hold him, give him a hug, or just be present for him; she was there, but this wasn’t one of those times. Christopher was face-to-face with his idol, and he didn’t need his mother hovering as if he were fragile.