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Dare She Date Again?
Amy Ruttan
DARE SHE DATE AGAIN?Single mum and paramedic Samantha Doxtator was broken-hearted after losing her husband. Now she’s finally following her dream to become an air ambulance pilot… after mentoring paramedic trainee George Atavik! Since nearly losing his life in a plane crash George doesn’t hold back on life – or on the sparks flying between him and Samantha. Does she dare risk her fragile heart for one last chance at happiness?
She knew what was happening. She was in his arms … their lips were together.
He was kissing her and she wasn’t fighting.
God help her, but she loved being in his arms, melting.
Though she should stop it, she couldn’t. She didn’t want to stop it.
She wanted to savor this moment. To take it with her when they went their separate ways.
It doesn’t have to be separate ways.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered breathlessly against her neck. “I shouldn’t.”
“No, you should.” She kissed him again. “There don’t have to be promises, George. Let’s just have this time and see what happens.”
“Samantha, if you touch me again … if you look at me a certain way … I may forget that we aren’t together. I may forget that we’re only supposed to be friends.”
“So then forget that.” She kissed him. “Give me this. Please.”
He’d come to her door tonight. He’d opened up. And maybe nothing would continue once they got up north, but she couldn’t resist him.
The kiss deepened, his tongue melding with hers, his hands in her hair as he pressed her against her couch, his hands traveling up and down her body, chest to chest, but not skin to skin, which was what she wanted.
Samantha grinned as he scooped her up, holding her in his strong arms.
If she didn’t do this, she’d regret it.
And she was tired of living with regrets.
Dear Reader (#ulink_deafd2bf-b914-59f4-a845-cc7acdec1e6d)
Thank you for picking up a copy of DARE SHE DATE AGAIN?
You might recognise the hero, George Atavik, from my debut Mills & Boon
Medical Romanceв„ў, SAFE IN HIS HANDS.
George was such a charming, interesting character. I knew from the very first moment he walked onto the page in my first book, spouting nonsense about his love of Westerns and his love of planes, that he would have to have his own book.
Of course I wasn’t going to make it easy for George. He had to work hard for his story, and for the heroine Samantha—but then love is never easy, even after it’s won.
I love stories of second chances, even if that second chance is with someone different. Sometimes love ends too quickly when our loved one is taken from us, either through death or drifting apart. Still, love always seems to find a way.
I hope you enjoy DARE SHE DATE AGAIN?, and I hope I’ve done justice to George’s story.
I love hearing from readers, so please drop by my website, www.amyruttan.com (http://www.amyruttan.com), or give me a shout on Twitter @ruttanamy (http://www.twitter.com/ruttanamy).
With warmest wishes
Amy Ruttan
Born and raised on the outskirts of Toronto, Ontario, AMY RUTTAN fled the big city to settle down with the country boy of her dreams. When she’s not furiously typing away at her computer she’s mom to three wonderful children, who have given her another job as a taxi driver.
A voracious reader, she was given her first romance novel by her grandmother, who shared her penchant for a hot romance. From that moment Amy was hooked by the magical worlds, handsome heroes and sigh-worthy romances contained in the pages, and she knew what she wanted to be when she grew up.
Life got in the way, but after the birth of her second child she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a romance author.
Amy loves to hear from readers. It makes her day, in fact. You can find out more about Amy at her website: www.amyruttan.com (http://www.amyruttan.com)
Dare She Date Again?
Amy Ruttan
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
This book is dedicated to my editor, Laura McCallen, who believed in this book and who believes in me. Thank you for all you do.
Table of Contents
Cover (#uf38acf02-c73a-5d0c-b10d-407d2a1422fa)
Excerpt (#u15fbfcd1-5b16-51b3-a3ee-606ede231a97)
Dear Reader (#ulink_47e28bd3-05e0-5ce7-a083-8efd1e3d0c50)
About the Author (#u5867a900-0826-5f91-ab5d-1b75d6a4a51c)
Title Page (#ufdc5e3e1-9015-5dc4-9159-368164e128c8)
Dedication (#ua7546202-f268-5837-91a8-563e14f700f1)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_ff45fc83-c296-524a-9507-5e237d383238)
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_a288bef1-142a-589f-89d0-7ea2a06d5288)
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_41f85bb4-3b86-508f-8430-c9e937b2dea5)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_73434bd1-303a-51cb-b732-2c4af2f14940)
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_193acfe4-7565-5ea4-a100-a98ae68528e8)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_8719696d-5aa0-5a68-9f7a-4cf9d12939b6)
JUST ONE MORE training session.
Another two months. That was it.
Samantha Doxtator took a deep breath and looked at the roster. She only had to mentor one more paramedic in training and she could leave her Health Air training job behind and move on to their air program in Thunder Bay.
Thunder Bay was her dream. She’d bought a house there. She’d finally give her son the life he deserved and best of all she’d be in the air, saving lives.
She walked over to where the dispatcher, Lizzie Bathurst, was handing out the prospective paramedics’ files to their mentors.
“Morning, Lizzie.”
Lizzie didn’t say anything, but that wasn’t unusual for her.
“So who am I mentoring for this last session?” Samantha asked eagerly, putting the emphasis on the word “last” as she clapped her hands and rubbed them together.
She was so ready to move up to Thunder Bay now. Most of her family had relocated up there when her father had died. In the north, her son Adam could grow up with cousins. He’d have a yard to play in instead of a patio off a ground-floor apartment.
Adam would be able to run and play outside, like she had been able to do when she’d been a kid growing up out in the country.
Adam may not have his dad any more, but he’d have a great, love-filled childhood. Thunder Bay had been her and her late husband’s dream since they’d started training to become paramedics fourteen years ago.
It had just taken her a lot longer as her training had been sidetracked when Adam had been born and then Cameron had died.
Don’t think about that.
Though she missed Cameron, he’d been gone for some time. She usually welcomed him into her thoughts, but not today.
Today she had a job to do and she was going to complete it perfectly, so that her credentials would shine.
Work and giving it her all was how she’d managed to get through the years since Cameron had died. She didn’t know any other way, or at least couldn’t remember.
Samantha forced a smile again, trying to think about the positive. In a couple of months she’d be piloting a plane.
“Who will be my last, glorious graduate?” she asked.
Lizzie looked down her nose through her half-moon glasses. “�Glorious graduate’?”
Samantha frowned. “You’re giving me a tough one, aren’t you?”
Lizzie grinned. “You’re the best. You can crack the hard nuts.” She handed Samantha the file, which Samantha took with trepidation. She flipped it open to read the information.
“George Atavik. Wow, he’s a long way from home.” Samantha was impressed. They hadn’t had anyone from so far north come down this far south to take this program. “Wait, this says he’s a pilot, with a heck of a lot of air time, but he wants to work in an ambulance?”
“I told you. A hard nut. He’s got an impressive résumé and I want him in the air. You need to convince him to take Health Land and Air’s training to become a pilot with them. I hate seeing talent go to waste.”
Samantha worried her bottom lip. Drat. Why couldn’t her last student be an easy one? Then again, she’d never been given the “easy” ones and she couldn’t help but wonder if there was some kind of conspiracy against her.
“Hey, you’re not sticking him with me because of our shared heritage, are you?” Samantha teased.
Lizzie’s gaze narrowed. “Don’t play that with me. You just want someone else.”
Samantha chuckled. “Okay, you got me.”
“You’re the best, Samantha. You have the most experience working in ambulances.”
“You’re just buttering me up now. You’re never this nice.”
Lizzie grinned, one of those evil grins, and then it disappeared. “I don’t know why he won’t fly.”
Samantha glanced at his file. “Maybe he wants to diversify. There aren’t many ambulances up in Nunavut.”
“Health Land and Air would like him to pilot, but if you can’t convince him, we’ll take him any way we can get him. Thunder Bay is short on ambulance operators so when he gets there at the end of the course he’ll be snapped right up. By the way, you’re working solo on this too.”
“Solo?” Samantha asked. Now she really was shocked. “Usually we work in threes.”
“Usually, but George Atavik has experience and he doesn’t need the extra attention. Besides, as I said, you’re the best.”
Samantha nodded. “All right. I’ll try.”
“Don’t try. Do. Now, go out there and meet him. The new recruits are meeting their mentors now.”
Samantha tucked the file under her arm and headed into the other room, where about ten new recruits for the advance care program were arriving and their mentors were meeting them.
She spotted him from across the room. Well, the back of him as he was the only recruit standing by himself. The only one who looked completely at ease and didn’t seem to be giving off a nervous energy.
“Atavik, George,” she called out.
He turned around and she had to take a step back to catch her breath. His copper skin was flawless. He stood there dumbstruck at first as they surveyed each other, but then he smiled, and two deep dimples appeared, accentuating his brilliant white teeth.
His dark eyes twinkled like he held a mischievous secret, one that would take some coaxing to pry from him. His short black hair was tousled up in a faux hawk. He was tall, muscular but not bulky, lean. He was in good shape and the white crisp shirt and navy blue pants of a paramedic suited him well. Samantha hoped she wasn’t staring at him with a gaping mouth.
It’d been some time since she’d appreciated a good-looking man. A really long time. Being a single mother didn’t leave much opportunity to date.
He walked over to her, since she hadn’t uttered a word since she’d called his name, and stuck out his hand. “I’m George Atavik.”
Samantha licked her lips and stuck the file under her arm again to take his hand. Clumsily. “I’m Doxtator … Samantha. I’m Samantha Doxtator.”
“Nice to meet you.” He was polite and reserved.
Good. Maybe he wouldn’t be as difficult as she’d originally thought.
Say something. You’re just staring at him.
“Are we going to get started?” he asked, looking at her like she’d lost her mind.
Samantha cleared her throat. “Sorry, it’s been a crazy day.”
George nodded. “I take it you’re one of the mentors I’m assigned to work with?”
“Yes, I’m your mentor. Your only mentor.”
He looked around. “How come the others have two mentors?”
“You have more experience.” Samantha cleared her throat and opened his file. “So we’re going to be working together over the course of eight weeks while you get your advanced care paramedic training. Of course, with a pilot license, in less time you could get your critical care training—”
“I’m not interested.” Suddenly the sparkle was gone from his eyes and the smile wiped away.
“Why not? You have a pilot—”
“I’m not interested. I’m here to work in an ambulance.” He crossed his arms and Samantha got the hint not to push him any further.
“Okay. That’s fine.” Samantha pulled out some papers. “Just read these release waivers through, fill them out and we’ll hit the road for your first day.”
George nodded and she handed him the papers and a pen. He took a seat at a nearby table and got straight to work on filling out the forms. Samantha moved away to give him some privacy.
As she went to get a cup of coffee she snuck a glance at him.
She wondered what made a pilot with so much air time give up flying. He had more air time than she did and she couldn’t even imagine giving up flying.
So what drove him to ground himself, as it were?
As if he knew she was watching him, he looked up and their gazes locked across the room. His eyes were intense and pinned her to the spot.
She turned away quickly, pretending to ignore him, only she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her neck. Like his eyes had leapt from his body and were drilling through her flesh. Heat bloomed in her cheeks and she wished her hair wasn’t pulled back in a ponytail. Maybe then her long hair would hide the inevitable blush she knew was creeping up her neck into her cheeks.
Her late husband Cameron had thought her blushing was cute. It was something she couldn’t control and she thought it was damn annoying. Control and order was everything to her.
When she glanced at him again, he had gone to his paperwork. He was so serious and focused. She respected it.
She had to get a grip on herself. She was his mentor, his teacher. It was her job to take him out and get a medic who was used to flying used to paramedic work in an ambulance instead.
Maybe a few times jostling in the back of an ambulance would change his tune.
Where he was from there weren’t many roads. Only airplanes and snowmobiles or ATVs, apparently, if you wanted to get from town to town. Not like here.
She grinned a secret smile to herself and set her coffee cup down.
She’d have to test out his driving abilities at some point. Whether he could handle an ambulance or not would determine his future being a rig driver, and maybe if he didn’t like it he would switch to air.
Not that she was going to sabotage him, but she was positive that someone not used to traffic would not enjoying driving an ambulance. It was only a matter of time before he was in the air again.
“Look alive, Atavik!”
“What?” George asked as he glanced up at Samantha. “What did you say?”
He was having a hard time focusing. He wasn’t expecting his mentor to be one foxy-looking lady.
Foxy, George? Really? He fought the urge to groan in frustration with himself.
He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he’d arrived at the Health Land and Air training base in London, Ontario. It was sort of a mixer and meet-your-mentor kind of affair and then down to work. The other mentors were men. Big, beefy guys, and that’s who George had been expecting to be his mentor.
He hadn’t expected a gorgeous woman like Samantha Doxtator.
The idea of being here was to get away from women. Focus on his career, be the best paramedic he could be. Bring back the joy to his job by trying something new and different. He didn’t want any distractions from that.
Distractions like this vixen.
She was tall, slim, but with curves in all the right places. George didn’t like them thin as rails. It took all his willpower not to cock his head and check her out in her tight paramedic uniform.
Her ebony hair shone with purple undertones and was pulled back in a high ponytail, and she had olive-colored skin and almond-shaped eyes, which were the bluest he’d ever seen.
She was graceful, poised and also had a rod rammed up her backside.
Why was he always attracted to type-A women?
It was his curse.
Maybe because he’d grown up with so many type-A women. His sisters were workaholics, though Mentlana straddled types A and B. She was more type A when it came to his nephew Charlie’s schedule.
No one messed with nap time.
His girlfriend in college had been a total type A and underneath that coiled, rigid exterior had been hot, explosive passion.
Too bad she’d decided that career and life in Toronto was more important to her than him.
Oh, well. He hadn’t been too crushed when it had ended. It had been his last girlfriend who had crushed him. The woman he’d planned to marry. The woman who’d torn his heart in half, leaving his soul as battered and bruised as the outside of him was.
He wouldn’t think of Cheryl. He wouldn’t think of the one woman he ever thought of settling down with. The woman who was set to become his air paramedic partner once Ambrose moved away.
Thinking about Cheryl just reminded him why he didn’t fly any longer and why he’d sworn off women and relationships completely. And he especially didn’t want a relationship with another paramedic. The last time he’d done that, it hadn’t worked out well at all.
“Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. Iqaluit Centre. This is Medic Air 1254. We have engine failure. I repeat, engine failure. We are making a forced landing twenty kilometers north. Four thousand feet descending, heading one-eighty.”
Beads of sweat broke across his brow.
“Atavik, seriously, you look like you’re going to be sick.” Samantha was shaking her head.
George gave her a half-smile. “Sorry.” He stacked his papers and stood up, placing them in Samantha’s outstretched hand.
“You okay there?”
“Fine.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you throwing up in here.”
“I’m fine. Really,” he snapped. He didn’t need her concern and he didn’t want it. He was here to do a job.
Samantha cocked a finely arched brow. He knew she didn’t believe him. “Okay. Then let’s hit the road. Are you ready for that?”
Only he wasn’t. He glanced covetously at the other trainees who had two mentors. Mentors who were male and were no temptation for him whatsoever. If there was someone else in the ambulance with them, then that person would be a buffer.
He didn’t want to be tempted. He had to get a hold on this.
“So, are you ready?” Samantha asked again.
“Totally.”
“Great!”
She looked a little gleeful about the prospect of taking him out. Oh, God. What did she have planned?
“Well, let me just file this away and we’ll head out.” She disappeared into an office and returned a minute later. “We’re going to be riding in ambulance seven.”
“Is it a good ambulance?” he asked, following her out to the garage.
George seriously doubted it, just by her eagerness.
She grinned. “You’ll see.”
“You’re out to torture me, aren’t you?” he mumbled under his breath, but she heard it because she was opening her mouth to say something when the ambulance beside the one they were heading for lit up, sirens blaring.
“Yo, shake a leg. There’s a pile-up on Highway 401,” someone shouted over the din.
“Come on, newbie.” Samantha jogged toward the ambulance. “Time to see what you’re made of.”
George swallowed the anxious lump in his throat and followed Samantha into the front of the ambulance. When the doors were shut she started the engine and they headed out of the garage at breakneck speed.
“Flip that switch for me,” she said, pointing to a red switch on the dash.
George flipped it up and the lights and sirens came on.
It was pretty awesome. His plane didn’t have a siren or lights.
“You okay, Atavik?” Samantha asked again, shouting over the sirens.
“Fine.”
Which was a lie.
He’d totally zoned out. He wasn’t sure if it was the rocking motion of the ambulance as they raced along the road to the crash scene or if it was the fact he was a bit nervous about what a pile-up would bring.
He’d never been in the thick of it. There weren’t large traffic accidents in Nunavut.
When he’d first come south the four hundred series of highways had been intimidating to him. In fact, London on the whole was a bit scary, though Charlotte’s husband Quinn had got him situated and settled when he’d arrived.
George knew how to drive. He just preferred back roads. Although Quinn had eased him into city life and driving regularly, highways were still sketchy.
The blare of the siren made his ears hurt. He wasn’t used to the sound. He didn’t know if he’d ever get used to the sounds of the city. Especially riding in the front of an ambulance racing through city streets.
His plane had been silent.
Until it hadn’t been.
Don’t think about it.
George gave his best grin to Samantha and swiped the back of his arm across his forehead to mop up the sweat.
“Are you really okay?” she asked. “I don’t want you to get sick on your first day.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Hopefully not my driving?”
Yes, you’re a menace, he wanted to say. To tease her. But he restrained himself.
“I’m fine,” he snapped, and then immediately regretted sniping at her.
“Arrival on scene in five minutes. Pretty big pile-up on the 401.”
George took a calming breath.
You’ve done this before. Countless times. Even if not on a grand scale like this.
Still, the idea of being a paramedic in a big city made him nervous. But he couldn’t go back to Cape Recluse. After the crash the army had opened a base there, thus setting up a permanent air ambulance flight through Health Air.
His job was redundant.
Was he stupid to come down to southern Ontario and try something as alien to him as being a paramedic in heavy city traffic? Could he really still cling to his dream of saving lives if he couldn’t fly?
He was older than the other students.
He was thirty-three.
What am I doing?
He was hoping that receiving this training would help him find the passion for saving lives again. That rush he used to feel before his accident.
Now he just went through the motions. It was an act that he did well, but he longed for that rush again.
The ambulance slowed and George craned his neck as they came slowly down the off-ramp onto the highway.
He could see the smoke rising from the wreckage. There were police cars with their lights flashing and firefighters already on the scene, and when George looked behind them he could see other ambulances barreling down the off-ramp and more coming off further down the highway.
“You ready, Atavik?” She reached over and touched his knee, giving it a squeeze and also sending a jolt of pure electricity through him. He liked her touching him, and he didn’t like that. He wanted to like it, but it was wrong.
“Ready.”
Samantha pulled the ambulance over. “Show time!”
She gave him an encouraging smile as she got out of the ambulance.
George leapt down from the passenger side and surveyed the damage. His adrenaline was pumping as he looked up and down the highway, which was a main artery through Ontario. Traffic was backed up for kilometers and there were more than five cars in the mangled wreck as well as a tanker truck, lying on its side across four lanes of the highway.
It was amazing to be in the thick of this. To do his job, but other than nerves he felt nothing and he couldn’t help but wonder if he was a bit dead inside.
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_230bed57-fdb4-5cad-8bd8-4c497360ebcf)
“WE NEED TO get this area clear—that tanker is unstable.” The fire chief motioned to the tanker.
Samantha nodded. “We almost have all the injured cleared out of the area.”
“And we have the traffic both ways being diverted off the highway,” the chief of police said.
Samantha looked around at all the carnage. Accidents bothered her. She’d teased George about being sick, but most of the time when they were on their way to large traffic accidents like this she felt a bit queasy too.
Cameron had crashed his ambulance, a mistake that made no sense. So the physicians had investigated why he’d reversed into an empty building and it was then they’d found the tumor. Car accidents made her think back to that awful moment when their lives had changed forever.
While the rest of the team talked about what to do next, Samantha’s gaze rested on George through the chaos. She focused on him. He was calm, dealing with victims in an expeditious manner. It was like the rest of the noise, smoke and shouts were drowned out as she watched him. He worked like he was a machine.
They’d worked together at first, but where a new paramedic would have needed guidance, George had known exactly what he was doing.
So she’d let him work on his own. In all her years of mentoring and teaching she knew when to step in and when to step back, and this was one of those moments.
He was down on one knee, patching up a head wound. It was probably an uncomfortable position with one knee on the pavement, but the older lady looked the worse for wear. He was talking to her and she was smiling, even though she was injured.
Even from this distance Samantha could see he was keeping the patient calm. The lady even smiled at him and that made Samantha grin.
Atavik had the touch. He may have been a bit stand-offish and serious with her, but he was good with the patients.
He was meant to be a paramedic.
It was a damn shame he wouldn’t move to Critical Care and get back in an aircraft. Though maybe by the end of the course they’d head up to Thunder Bay and perhaps he’d change his tune. She still planned to convince him that it was better in the air.
When you flew planes for as long as Atavik had, it got into your blood. You were born to fly.
George waved at her to signal he was ready for her. She wheeled the gurney over to him and he stood up as she approached.
“I think she’s the last one.” George turned to the patient. “You ready to get out of here, Mrs. Walker?”
“More than ready, Georgie boy.”
Samantha cocked an eyebrow. Georgie boy?
George just grinned at Mrs. Walker as he got her to her feet and sitting on the gurney. “We’re going to get you loaded up and off to the hospital.”
Samantha and George worked to get Mrs. Walker over to the next departing ambulance as theirs was blocked in by a police cruiser.
Once Mrs. Walker was loaded and the door was shut George slammed on the back to signal to the driver it was okay to leave.
They stepped back as ambulance headed up the newly cleared wrong side of the highway toward the hospital.
The fire crew was waving people away from the tanker, which was beginning to smoke.
“We have to clear out of here. The tanker is unstable,” Samantha said.
“I think that’s—” The words died in George’s throat as a woman let out a gut-wrenching scream. The kind Samantha recognized. The pain of a mother.
“My baby!”
Samantha swung her head to see a little girl, a toddler, running up the highway to the smoking tanker, the firefighters oblivious to her.
The mother was screeching the girl’s name but was unable to move because of being strapped to a gurney and getting ready to be transported.
George took one look at the girl and went running.
Samantha reached out to grab him, but her fingertips just brushed George’s shirt as he ran through the protesting firefighters and police toward the tanker and the little girl.
“Atavik, get your ass back here!” Samantha shouted, starting after him, but the moment she got close a firefighter grabbed her and held her back.
“Whoa, you can’t go.”
“I have to. He’s my partner. My stupid partner.” Samantha pointed in the direction of George.
The firefighter spun round. “He’s an idiot.”
Samantha’s heart was in her throat, her pulse pounding in her ears, as she was forced away and back.
In situations like this, things really did move in slow motion.
She watched as he ran toward the tanker, which burst into flames, knocking the little girl back. He scooped up the terrified girl and started running back to safety as firefighters with hoses ran toward him and then past him to tackle the roaring fire engulfing the remains of the tanker.
He held the little girl against his chest, one protective arm around her head, holding her close as he ran past the fray, like a football player holding a ball tight and streaking towards the end zone.
Samantha’s pulse rate eased and she pushed the firefighter away as George made his way toward her. He was panting and there was soot on his face and his arm looked burned.
“You’re burned.”
“I know.” George moved toward, not caring as he delivered the sobbing little girl to her mother.
“Thank you. Oh, God. Thank you.” The mother clung to her child, sobbing. “Thank you.”
George grinned, nodded and patted the blonde girl’s head as she gripped her mother tight.
As two other paramedics wheeled the woman away George groaned and glanced at his arm, cursing under his breath.
Samantha just crossed her arms and glared at him. “Well, looks like we have another patient to take to the hospital. Get in the ambulance, Atavik.”
George winced as the ER doctor slathered his burn and then wrapped it.
“You’re quite a hero, I hear,” she said, as she wrapped his wound. “You’re lucky that this wound wasn’t more serious.”
George winced and then shrugged. “You would’ve done the same.”
His gaze landed on Samantha, who was out in the hall, pacing, angrily. He could tell. He’d seen Charlotte pace just like that.
There was a police officer standing with her, taking notes.
Shoot.
He hoped he wasn’t in trouble and on his first day. He didn’t want to get booted out of the course. Trainees weren’t supposed to do stuff like running toward an exploding tanker. Then another person entered the pantomime and George rolled his eyes.
Good. God.
“George!” Quinn came into the trauma room.
The ER doctor turned and looked. “Family member?”
“Yeah, brother-in-law.”
“Only physicians are allowed beyond this point,” she said, putting herself between him and Quinn.
“I’m a doctor. Dr. Quinn Devlyn.” Quinn pushed past her.
“Devlyn,” George said.
“I heard what you did.” Quinn shook his head and dragged his hand through his hair. “How am I going to explain that to Charlotte and Mentlana?”
“Don’t?” George was confused.
“Too late.”
“How the heck did you hear about it? Did my partner call you? Because, dude, no offense but you’re not my emergency contact.”
Quinn pinched the bridge of his nose. “You made the national news, you dolt. That’s how I found out.”
Damn.
“National news?” George rubbed his eyes with his good hand. “I’m in trouble.”
“You are that. Charlotte’s already called me three times and told me to get to the hospital and kick you in the butt, but also to kiss you. Just so we’re clear, I’m not doing that!”
George chuckled. “I appreciate it.”
Quinn sighed. “She doesn’t want Liv growing up without her uncle.”
George chuckled. “Would she prefer it if I dressed in bubble wrap on duty?”
“Your sisters worry about you,” Quinn said. “Your partner looks a bit miffed, though.”
George glanced over Quinn’s shoulder at Samantha, who was openly glaring at him again.
Double damn.
“When are you flying back up to Nunavut?” George asked.
“Tomorrow—why?”
“I may be joining you.” George moved his bandaged arm and winced.
“Was it a bad burn?” Quinn looked at Dr. Inkpen.
“No, not too bad.” She wrote the discharge information. “Take ibuprofen for the pain and just keep it clean and dry. I trust you know what you’re doing, George.”
George took the paper she handed to him.
“Thanks, Doctor.”
George tucked the discharge sheet into his pocket and climbed out of the chair they’d had him seated on while they’d examined his arm.
“She was cute,” Quinn remarked, nudging him in the ribs.
“Dude, are you trying to set me up now?”
Quinn grinned, but then he sobered. “We all worry about you. It’s been a year.”
George sighed.
He was painfully aware it had been a year.
He knew, because it was burned into his brain as freshly as the day it had happened.
“I don’t really want to think about that now.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. How about you buy me a drink before you leave?”
“You don’t drink.”
George snorted. “I feel like taking it up.”
“Well, then, you’re in luck. I think there are plenty of people who want to buy you a drink tonight!”
As George stepped into the hall he was met by a round of applause from paramedics, police and firefighters.
It was overwhelming. He hadn’t done anything all that spectacular. All he’d done had been to save a life.
Like all of them were taught to do.
George grinned, but it was forced and he hoped no one noticed as he shook countless hands. He didn’t like all the attention.
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_f46fadb8-a604-56c6-9c1b-eeee91bac4f3)
I SHOULDN’T BE HERE.
That was what Samantha kept telling herself, but somehow she got finagled into going to O’Shea’s Pub after George was released from the hospital.
Some of the other paramedics were buying him drinks as was that physician, George’s brother-in-law or something, and they were monopolizing his time.
Really, George should be at home getting rest.
You’re not his mother.
So she tagged along with the rest of the team to the pub, where George had everyone’s attention.
I should go home.
Although Adam was still with her in-laws and wasn’t due home for three more hours.
I should go home. Only it was lonely at home and even after ten years on her own the nights were long and unending.
Sleep didn’t come to her easily.
She ordered another whiskey sour and stared up at the television mounted on the wall, watching a replay of what had happened that day.
She hadn’t been aware that there had been press there but, then, she’d been focused on getting the injured to the hospital.
“I’ll have another iced tea.”
Samantha glanced to the side and saw George had come up beside her. “Iced tea?”
George shrugged. “I don’t drink and even if I did I shouldn’t be anyway, not after my burn.”
She was impressed. “Where is your physician brother-in-law?”
“Quinn? He went back to his hotel. He has an early flight back to Iqaluit.” George thanked the bartender and tried to slip him a five-dollar bill.
“Nah, man. It’s on the house,” the barkeeper said.
“Thanks, bro.” George took the seat next to Samantha. “Are you still angry enough to kick me out of the program?”
“No.” She chuckled.
George grinned and took a sip of his drink. “Are you telling me you wouldn’t have done the same thing?”
He was right. If George hadn’t been around and she’d seen that little girl running to the tanker she would’ve run headlong into the fray and that thought made her feel extremely guilty, because of Adam.
He was already down a father; she couldn’t take risks like George or other people.
Adam was her main priority.
And she was kind of jealous of George’s freedom.
“I would’ve.” Samantha took another sip of her whiskey sour. “I’m sorry, you deserve the accolades and I’m sorry that I was so hard on you.”
George snorted and then frowned. “I don’t deserve the accolades. It’s part of the job. I’m no hero. Far from it.”
Samantha cocked an eyebrow and studied George. There was a change. He tensed. She could sense he was haunted, conflicted and she couldn’t help but wonder about the reason he was so dead set against flying. What was he hiding under that exterior?
Tread carefully, Samantha.
She didn’t have time to date or pursue anyone. Not only was she a single mother with a demanding job but she was about to leave town for good. She couldn’t let herself get interested in George. He was off limits and, besides, she didn’t want to risk her heart. Loving and losing was something she never wanted to experience again.
“How do you like London so far?” she asked, changing the subject.
“It’s big.”
Samantha smiled. “I guess compared to Iqaluit it would be.”
“Things are cheaper.”
“What a strange thing to say.”
George laughed; she liked the sound of it when he did. “So what’s cheaper?”
“Toilet paper,” he said. “That stuff is like gold when it’s shipped up to Iqaluit, but here you can walk into a store and it won’t cost you your firstborn.”
Samantha laughed. “Are you really having a conversation with me about toilet paper?”
The twinkle appeared back in his dark eyes. “I guess I am.”
Samantha smiled and fiddled with the swizzle stick in her drink. “I’ve never had a guy approach me in a bar to talk about the price of toilet paper.”
“There’s a first for everything.”
“I guess there is.” Her pulse quickened.
Don’t flirt. Don’t flirt.
What was it about guys like George that made her hot under the collar? Cameron had been a bit of a rogue too.
Guys like George threw her plan completely out of whack. It drove her crazy, but she also saw the challenge and that was exciting.
“So, should we talk about coupon-clipping next?” George waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and she laughed uncontrollably.
A belly laugh that made her sides hurt. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed like this.
George was dangerous. So very dangerous.
“You have a really nice smile when you genuinely smile,” George said, and then he cleared his throat, his smile fading. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”
The simple compliment made the butterflies in her stomach flutter and a bit of heat flare in her cheeks. “It’s okay and thanks.”
She was attracted to him.
This is going to end badly.
The last thing she needed to be doing was checking out a man. Especially when that particular man was off limits.
She was his mentor.
I don’t have time to date, she reminded herself again. She was leaving for Thunder Bay. Any relationship would be temporary and with a son she couldn’t have a temporary romance. She wouldn’t subject Adam to that.
And it wasn’t just Adam. She didn’t want a temporary romance. It was too risky for her heart.
She really needed to get out of there.
“Is something wrong?” George asked.
“No, why would you ask that?”
“The expression on your face.”
“Yeah, it was one heck of a day.”
George stopped smiling as he took a sip of his iced tea.
I’ve got to get out of here.
“Well, I’d better head home.” She downed the rest of her whiskey sour and stood up.
“How are you getting home?”
“Bus,” Samantha said. “I live in the south end.”
“Let me walk you out.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I want to,” he said, and he said it in a way that brooked no argument.
As they headed to the door someone called out, “You leaving already, Atavik?”
George turned. “No, just walking Doxtator out and then I’ll be back!”
Samantha groaned inwardly. Now they were the center of attention. She should just tell George to stay, but she doubted he would listen to her. Since he’d been assigned to her, he hadn’t listened to her.
He was determined and his hand rested gently against the small of her back as he walked her up the stairs to street level.
It was May and the sun was starting to sink in the west and the lights were glowing as twilight crept across the city.
There was a warm breeze, but it wasn’t hot; it was refreshing.
“It’s hot out here,” said George. “I don’t think I’ll get used to the heat.”
Samantha grinned. “Just like I don’t think many of us would get used to your cold.”
George smiled, but, as ever, it faded quickly. “Are you sure you don’t want to stick around for a bit longer?”
“No, thank you. I need to get home.”
“Why?”
“Adam will be home soon.”
Then she saw the expression that passed across most men’s face when she mentioned Adam’s name. He was trying to process it and there was a flare of jealousy mixed with disappointment before he caught the range of emotions and hid them.
Who was Adam? was his first thought and his second was, Why should he care?
It wasn’t any of his business. A woman as beautiful as Samantha would, of course, have a husband or boyfriend. Besides, she was off limits—a fact he needed to keep reminding himself of.
He wasn’t interested. He wasn’t going to get involved with anyone again, it was too risky. Still, the green-eyed monster couldn’t help but rear its ugly little head. Samantha was beautiful, intriguing and he wished she wasn’t his mentor. He wished she was single, in a bar and he was just meeting her. Trying to pick her up.
But who was he kidding? Cheryl had killed that side of him. He had vowed never to love again, to never put his heart at risk. He’d promised himself that in the hospital. He was trying to keep from flirting with Samantha, but he couldn’t help himself.
“It’s okay to date again, George. You need to move on. You have a right to.”
Only he shook his sister Mentlana’s words out of his head. No. He didn’t deserve love again. He didn’t want it again.
Get a grip on yourself.
Why was he letting himself think like this? It was dumb. Sure, he was attracted to Samantha but that didn’t mean anything had to happen.
Except she was the first woman he’d been really attracted to since Cheryl.
They walked down the street to the empty bus stop.
“You have a training session tomorrow morning at seven sharp, and I’ll see you in the afternoon,” Samantha said. “Try to get that through to the other paramedics too.”
George laughed. “I will.”
Samantha stopped and jammed her hands in her pockets. “You can head back to O’Shea’s.”
George shook his head. “No, I think I’ll just wait here with you.” He was treading on dangerous ground but he couldn’t resist it.
Pink bloomed in her cheeks.
He cleared his throat and looked at her. She was so beautiful. He needed to get away. Fast.
Only he couldn’t move. He stayed there, standing close to her. Close enough to touch.
Run.
Only he didn’t run. Instead, he imagined what it would be like to kiss her. Her lips looked soft, moist and he wondered if they tasted as sweet as he imagined.
“I should go. You’re right. I’m sure your boyfriend Adam will be glad to see you’re home safe.”
Samantha still didn’t say anything—she didn’t have a chance as the bus pulled up and opened its doors. She climbed up the first step.
You’re an idiot, Atavik.
George waited for a word from her.
Anything.
Even “Scram” would suffice.
Instead, she smiled, the pink in her cheeks still shining. “I’m not involved with anyone. Adam is my son.”
And with that the doors of the bus closed with a hiss and George watched as it took off down the street.
He grinned, relieved to hear Adam was her son, but it didn’t last long. If there was a child there was a father.
She’s off limits.
He would keep his distance. That wasn’t what he wanted to do but it would be the best thing. He was here to learn, not date, and not fall in love with someone. He’d tried love once and it had nearly broken him.
He wouldn’t make that mistake twice.
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_658ddc3c-202e-5aa0-bdaf-3115e8d06c0d)
SAMANTHA HAD THOUGHT George was going to kiss her, but he hadn’t and she was both relieved and disappointed.
It had been a long time since she’d had a kiss. Though she didn’t know why she was allowing disappointment to gnaw at her. She’d only just met George and she was his mentor. Still, she couldn’t deny the spark he’d ignited inside her. A slow-burning ember making her feel giddy. It was a scary prospect indeed.
It had been the moment he’d come running down the highway, cradling that child, putting himself in danger to save that little girl.
That was it. It wasn’t attraction, it was a motherly instinct that played with her.
Nice try, Samantha.
When she’d married Cameron, she’d sworn to herself that he would be her first and her last. She just hadn’t expected their last kiss to come so soon.
She had been expecting fifty years or more.
Not the just the five they’d had.
It hadn’t been enough.
Then George had shown up, turning her world upside down, and she wished he’d kissed her. But that would not have been wise.
A year after Cameron had died his mother, Joyce, had told her that it was okay for her to move on. That she was too young to spend the rest of her life alone.
Samantha had been horrified by that prospect.
She hadn’t been able to even contemplate finding someone else or loving again.
Cameron had been gone ten years now. She thought about moving on, even though it was scary to let someone else in.
Samantha touched her lips, which still tingled in anticipation. The heady scent of his skin wrapped around her. He’d been so close and just thinking about what might’ve happened flustered her.
Get a grip on yourself. He has no interest in you. You’re delusional.
It was effect of the drinks she had still in her system. It was making her out of sorts. Yes, that was it. She was going to blame it on the alcohol, even though she hadn’t imbibed that much of it, but it was a good scapegoat.
She headed into the bathroom and turned on the cold water, splashing it against her face. Maybe she could wash it all away.
She cleaned her face and then undid her hair from the high ponytail, brushing it out so it wouldn’t get snarled.
Still, she couldn’t get George out of her mind, which was going to make it hard to be his mentor.
When Cameron’s parents brought Adam home they spoke to her and she made pleasantries, but she was sure she sounded like she was a zombie.
Yes. No. Uh-huh. And that was thanks to George.
They asked if she was okay several times and she finally told them she was just tired, that a large car crash on the highway had left her exhausted. They understood and left.
Adam, however, didn’t understand his mother’s distraction.
And she couldn’t blame him.
This was not how she usually acted. Being like this drove her crazy.
“What’s with you tonight, Mom?” Adam asked, giving her a wary look.
“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with me. Why would you ask?”
Adam shrugged. “You looked weird and zoned out.”
“I’m fine.”
Adam nodded, no longer interested. Why would he suspect that being in close proximity to a handsome man she had just met had apparently melted her brain into the consistency of fondue. Gooey, stringy fondue.
These feelings were old, but foreign and unwelcome.
It was bad timing.
“Hey, Mom, can I go over to Ameer’s house?”
“No,” she said to Adam. “You have to go to school tomorrow. Let’s get you to bed.”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes.”
The subject of bed distracted Adam, so much so that he didn’t question her trance-like state and she even forgot for a few moments as she wrestled her son into bed.
It was when the lights were out and she was lying in bed that the fantasy of a kiss come flooding back to her. Night-time was always hard on her anyway. The bed felt so empty even after all this time.
Tonight it felt like she was even more alone. She tossed and turned all night long, making it a large cup of coffee type of morning when she got up at five and got Adam up and out to the school’s daycare.
When she got to work, she wasn’t even sure how she’d got across the city. She couldn’t remember anything about her drive there, and that was bad. She didn’t like losing control over herself. This was getting ridiculous.
Get a grip on yourself.
“Afternoon, Sam. How was the first day?”
What? She stared down at the paper coffee cup in her hand, thinking it had spoken to her and she was cracking up.
“Yo! Earth to Sam!”
Samantha turned and Lizzie was giving her a strange look.
“What?”
Lizzie raised one of her eyebrows and crossed her arms. “I asked how the first day went.”
“Why do you ask it like that?”
“Like what?”
“Evilly.”
Lizzie smirked. “I know how it went. The hospital’s report on a certain paramedic’s burn came in to process through the company’s insurance.”
Samantha groaned. “George’s?”
Then Lizzie reached over and held up the newspaper.
Samantha had to do a double-take at the large picture on the front of the newspaper. It was George, running through the line of firemen that was headed to the wall of flames behind him, and in his arms was that sweet little girl cradled against his chest.
The headline was “Hero Paramedic”.
Samantha took the paper from Lizzie’s hand and scanned the article quickly.
“I guess he had a successful first day.” Lizzie leaned against her desk. “Not every day a newbie to the program can hit such heights of heroics.”
“Yeah, he did a good job.” Samantha handed the paper back to Lizzie. “Hopefully he won’t get a swollen head and prance around here like he owns the place.”
“I don’t think Atavik is that type of person, do you?”
No. He wasn’t and Samantha knew that.
Still, coverage like this would go to anyone’s head. Even though he denied the fact, he was a hero.
Like the word “hero” was a burden to him.
Lizzie chuckled. “What have you got on your mind?”
“Nothing,” Samantha responded, but Lizzie didn’t look convinced. “Has he arrived?”
Lizzie nodded. “Yeah, he’s in the other room.”
Samantha headed into the common room. She caught sight of George sitting across the room, his head bent over a manual, studying.
“Good afternoon!” She grinned and tried not to look at George, because she knew if she looked his way then she’d start blushing again.
And she didn’t want to. It was bad enough he rendered her into a space cadet.
She didn’t want him know how much he affected her.
The room was painfully silent, but she could sense that George was looking at her and her cheeks heated.
Dammit. Come on. Focus.
She was better than this. She was level-headed and in control.
“Did you get home okay?” she asked after she cleared her throat to keep her voice steady, because she was sure if she didn’t it would crack like that of some pubescent boy.
George nodded. “I did. Thanks.” The cheeky grin from the night before was gone. He was professional and though it was a relief that it was all business, like nothing had passed between them, it still stung her.
There was an awkward silence.
Say something. Say anything.
“Well, we have a patient transfer this afternoon.” She cleared her throat. “It should be pretty straightforward.”
“Where are we headed?” he asked.
“We have to up to Goderich to get her.” Samantha poured herself another cup of coffee.
“How far is that?”
Samantha cocked an eyebrow. “Do you have other plans?”
George shook his head. “No, just curious.”
Samantha wasn’t convinced that it was just curiosity. He looked agitated at the prospect of being alone with her.
“Goderich is almost two hours there, give or take, and then it depends on traffic and the hospital, but expect this trip to take most of the day.”
George nodded and slung his knapsack over his shoulder, and as he did that Samantha saw his bandaged arm.
“How’s your arm this morning?”
“It’s a bit sore.”
Samantha set down her coffee cup and walked over to him, taking his arm gently. “Can I look?”
“Sure.”
Sure?
Why had he agreed to let her touch him?
He should’ve said no, because he hadn’t slept a wink last night and it hadn’t been the pain meds or the burn that had kept him up.
It had been Samantha.
He could smell her perfume as he stood close to her.
Heather, the sweet smell of summer on the tundra.
The part he’d thought had died with Cheryl long ago had come alive, and lambasted him for not taking Samantha in his arms and kissing her. When she’d mentioned Adam yesterday the green-eyed monster had reared his head.
And then she’d told him Adam was her son.
He’d had no idea she was a mother.
Not that that was a deal-breaker. Far from it. He was just surprised.
If there had of been a third paramedic going with them to Goderich, it would have been a welcome distraction. But there wasn’t and he’d be trapped in an ambulance with Samantha for several hours. Which was the last thing he wanted. It was going to be absolute torture not to reach out and touch her, kiss her, and he hated himself for being weak.
You’re here to do a job.
He wasn’t here to romance. He wasn’t looking for a significant other. He was here to learn as much as he could so when he took a posting with the company in Thunder Bay he could do his job well.
Though it wouldn’t be as far up north as he liked. For that he’d have to climb into a plane again and he wasn’t going to do that. It had been bad enough flying down here, but then he hadn’t been the pilot.
He had been able to take something to help him relax, letting Quinn get him on and off the plane.
George closed his eyes as the sounds of the crash filled his head.
The howling wind, listening for the sound of a polar bear as he’d dragged his limp body across the snow to dig himself a shelter, certain he was going to die.
Not now.
He took a deep breath and silenced the voices.
“Am I hurting you?”
Then he realized that Samantha was touching him.
He’d forgotten momentarily that she was looking at his burn. Her long, delicate fingers were touching his tender skin with a feather-light touch that ignited his blood.
“No, you’re not hurting me. I mean, it’s tender, but you’re not hurting me.”
“Well, it looks fine and you’re keeping the salve on. That’s good.” She smiled up at him.
“My adopted sister is a doctor, she’d kick my butt if I didn’t follow doctor’s orders.”
Samantha chuckled and then wrapped his burn back up and let go of him, taking a step back. “I forgot there’s a lot of medical people in your family. Is the adopted sister the one Dr. Devlyn is married to?”
“Yes.” George pulled down his shirtsleeve and buttoned the cuff. “Charlotte was the daughter of our village’s physician, but he died when Charlotte was young and she had no other family so my family took her in. She became a physician like her father and came up to Cape Recluse to practice and I was her paramedic.”
“Very tight-knit community.”
“Very.”You don’t know the half of it.
Samantha tucked an errant strand of ebony hair behind her ear. “Well, we’d better get a move on. The run to Goderich will take most of the day.”
Damn.
“Of course. Lead the way.”
Samantha, still not looking at him, turned on her heel and George followed her out to the garage where the ambulances were kept.
Today was going to be a long day.
A long and trying day as he battled the part of him that told him to reach out and kiss her. The traitorous side he’d thought he’d buried with Cheryl’s memories.
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_32383b81-9bca-592b-a022-f0bed925eb7d)
IT WAS ABSOLUTE TORTURE, being in the ambulance with him. No words were exchanged because she wasn’t going to encourage conversation. It was better this way. Professional.
It was horrible.
He was so close. The warmth of his body firing her blood, making her pulse race. She felt like a girl who’d never been kissed. Any movement from him made her heart skip a beat, her body reacting to him. She wondered if he’d take her in his arms and do what she’d been fantasizing he’d do.
Oh, dear.
Maybe focusing on her career for so long hadn’t been the right course. Maybe if she’d dated more, gotten out more, she wouldn’t be acting this way. Only she hadn’t had any desire to date. No one had piqued her fancy.
Until George.
“What lake is that?” George asked, looking in her direction.
“Lake Huron.”
“Wow, the water is so blue!”
Samantha grinned. Goderich sat on a bluff and at certain points you could see Lake Huron. Even after a tornado had devastated the town, it was still one of the prettiest spots for miles. At least, that was her opinion.
“What color were you expecting it to be?” Samantha asked.
“I don’t know.” George grinned and glanced at her. “I guess grey.”
“Grey?”
“The first great lake I came across was Lake Ontario. I was visiting my sister in Toronto when she was going to medical college. I guess I just assumed they’d all be the same.”
“Tsk-tsk. You judged a book by its cover.”
George rolled his eyes and shook his head and she just laughed. He was so easygoing, but it was only rare times she saw this side of him. Usually he was aloof and distant and she couldn’t help but wonder which side of him was real.
Was it the stand-offish, polite version or that charming funny man with the dark twinkling eyes who made her heart skip a beat?
What was hiding beneath that veneer.
There was just something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but she felt like maybe the aloof act was a wall meant to keep people out.
Nothing more was said as they drove into town and straight over to the hospital, where they parked at the emergency entrance.
“Do you have the paperwork?” she asked George as she put the ambulance in park and undid her seat belt.
“Right here.” George waved the clipboard and climbed out of the ambulance.
Samantha followed, but before they entered the hospital they were met by a physician.
“You the crew coming to transport Doris Hallman?”
“Yes,” Samantha said. “We’re to take her down to the hospital in London.”
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