Maverick In The Er

She should have known. The man probably arranged his personal schedule months ahead. “Then I won’t keep you.”

Before she turned away, he stopped her. “Save tomorrow for me, though.”

She paused. “Excuse me?”

“Lunch. Tomorrow. My treat. It’ll be my official ‘welcome to the department’ gesture.”

“Do you take every new person to lunch?” she asked.

“Everyone,” he reassured her. “Even the housekeeping staff. So don’t pack your apple.”

She stared at him in surprise. “How did you know—?”

“I’m an observant kind of guy.”

Of course he was, she thought wryly. “Okay, fine. We’ll do lunch.” Then, to make certain there would be no misunderstandings, she added, “Strictly between colleagues.”

His smile seemed as broad as his shoulders. “Fair enough.”

She turned away, but he stopped her. “Out of curiosity, are you seeing anyone?”

This time she smiled. “What does the grapevine say?”

“You’re not.”

“Correct, as usual,” she agreed lightly.

“Is there someone back home?” he pressed.

Sierra hesitated. How could she explain, and did she want to? However, if her answer prevented speculation and stopped people from pushing her towards every eligible man who came along, why not?

“There was,” she replied slowly.

“Breakups are tough,” he agreed, his expression sympathetic. “So you came to Pittsburgh to start over?”

If only it had been that simple. “I did, but the situation is a little more complicated than a mere breakup.” She met his gaze. “When I left North Carolina, I left my husband in the Fairview Cemetery.”

CHAPTER TWO

TREY didn’t know what had possessed him to broach the subject of her personal life. Perhaps he’d simply been looking for an excuse to stay away from Sierra and hearing of a fellow back home would have provided it. Perhaps he was simply a glutton for punishment and hearing of her unattached status would only provide a temptation he’d be hard-pressed to resist.

Unfortunately, her response had been completely unexpected. He’d certainly never dreamed that the man she’d left behind had been her husband, much less that he was dead.

Certainly, the information she’d shared explained so much—her long hours, her avoidance of the dating scene, and her move to a new city and work environment. She hadn’t come to Pittsburgh on some grand adventure to see the world. Like his brother, Mitch. Sierra was picking up the pieces of her life.

All of which proved his theory—the best relationships were temporary.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

She nodded, apparently accustomed to hearing condolences if her frozen expression was any indication. “Thanks,” she murmured. Then, with a visibly shaky hand she smoothed her hair. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to see your patient?”

Her abrupt change of subject couldn’t have been more plain. Their question-and-answer period had come to a close, which was good. For a man who never had trouble finding something to talk about, he was suddenly at a loss for words.

He glanced at his watch. He only had ten minutes before his cafeteria appointment and it took nearly seven to walk there. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all. Enjoy your lunch.”

Eager to get away before he asked more questions, Sierra pulled the clipboard out of his hand and headed down the hall. She’d already shared more than she’d ever planned, and if she gave him enough time, the inevitable “What happened?” would follow.

She simply didn’t want to go there. Not now. Not yet. The tragedy had occurred over a year ago and she simply refused to dredge up those old feelings of shock, despair and anger, not to mention guilt. She’d finally come to the acceptance stage, but it hadn’t been easy.

Now, however, was not the time to walk down memory lane and analyze the past. At the moment, the only person who deserved her full attention was her patient—not Trey Donovan, and certainly not David McAllaster.

By the time she’d received the results of Karen Maxwell’s strep screen—it was negative—and referred her to an ENT specialist to evaluate her chronic sinusitis, Trey had returned, looking as rested and refreshed as he had before their full morning of traumas and regular patients.

As Sierra sank onto a chair in the nurses’ station, she noticed he was chatting up one of the radiology techs. The poor girl was smiling as if he’d single-handedly hung the sun, moon and stars.

“He has quite a knack with the women, doesn’t he?” Sierra mused aloud to Roma, who was clicking away on her keyboard at a nearby terminal.

“You must be talking about our famous Dr. Donovan,” Roma answered, without glancing away from her screen.

“How did you guess?”

“He does have a way with people,” she commented. “Young, old, male, female, staff, patients, it doesn’t matter. Why, I’ve seen him talk the most recalcitrant patients into behaving. When he’s on duty, things just run more smoothly.”

Sierra understood why. By virtue of his personality, he inspired people to dig deeply and give one-hundred-and-ten percent.

Just like David.

The only question was, did Trey do it for personal gain, or was he as altruistic as everyone believed? She wasn’t quite convinced of the latter.

Roma finally glanced away from her screen to direct her gaze down the hallway. “He’s so sweet to all of us. In fact, everyone fancies themselves a bit in love with him,” she remarked.

“I’ve gotten that impression,” Sierra said wryly. “Given the way women act when he’s around, I’d bet he never spends an evening alone. I’m surprised he has the energy to come to work.”

The nurse laughed. “There’s where you’re wrong. He doesn’t date as often as you might think. Oh, there are a lot who’d give their right arm for a night with him, but he’s very careful about who he takes out. And he never sees anyone more than a handful of times.”

“Really.” Sierra wasn’t convinced, but Roma seemed to know what she was talking about. “I find that hard to believe.”

Roma shrugged. “It’s true. Dr. Donovan seems like a happy-go-lucky sort, but don’t let his winning ways fool you. There’s a lot more to our good doctor than meets the eye.”

Sierra watched as the X-ray tech walked away with a light step, her face beaming in obvious delight over her encounter with Trey. Meanwhile, he wore his own satisfied expression, which suggested he’d gotten whatever he’d wanted.

Just like David, she thought with some disgust. Everything was a game, nobody was anything more than a chess piece. Thank goodness she’d grown wise to such manipulations. She’d been a pawn once in her life. She wouldn’t be one again.

After finishing with his next patient, Trey strode back to the doctors’ office. He’d requested a CT scan for one of his patients with a debilitating headache and Lila, the X-ray tech, had promised the images would be online by two o’clock. It was five minutes till, so he didn’t expect to see them posted, but it didn’t hurt to check.

He accessed Joan Villiers’s computer file and, as he’d suspected, the CT scan was still pending. A brisk knock at the door heralded Roma’s arrival.