Officer, Surgeon...Gentleman!

“Excellent,” Cole praised, taking hold of the needle holder and blocking Paul’s vision of his hand. “I’m going to touch each of your fingers and without looking I need you to tell me when I’m touching you, if you can. Just like we did before we started to sew. Again, you still have anesthesia on board, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t feel anything yet.” Cole grinned. “Actually, be grateful if the numbness lasts a while.”

Sensation in the tip of Paul’s pinky was normal, but there was still nothing in the other three lacerated fingers.

“It’s not uncommon after an injury like this to have decreased sensation,” Cole explained. “I didn’t see any evidence of a lacerated nerve, but with the weight of the hatch crushing your fingers, it’s possible.”

Wincing, the man moved his fingers back and forth, studying the suture lines. “What if it isn’t the anesthesia causing the numbness? Will I get the feeling back?”

“In most cases sensation will return on its own within a few days to weeks. However, we will need to keep a close watch on you,” Cole told the pale, slightly dazed man. “I’m going to give you an antibiotic prophylaxis and something for pain, but you’ll need to return to the sick ward tomorrow morning for a checkup.”

Cole helped walk the man out of the bay.

Through the screen, Amelia heard him speak to a corpsman regarding getting the man safely to his berth. Cole was a thoughtful surgeon, caring of his patients. He always had been.

Trying to keep her thoughts off his comment about not being her enemy, she emptied the surgical trays, properly disposing of the sharps and contaminated materials used, saving everything that could be sterilized for future use. She was wiping down the metal tray when Cole stepped back behind the curtain.

“There aren’t any more patients to be seen today,” he informed her, leaning against the counter. His hair was tousled, his eyes intensely blue, his smile contagious.

God, he really was Dr Delicious.

No, no, Dr Disastrous. She had to remember that.

“Okay.” Uncertain about her truce, she studied where her hands wiped the tray. Was she crazy to think she could be amicable to Cole after the way he’d hurt her sister? Or were her fears anything to do with her sister? Were her fears more wrapped up in the fact that her heart pounded against her rib cage like an out-of-control monster wanting out of its cage?

She glanced up, met his gaze, held her breath. Why did he affect her so crazily?

“Are you going to the gym?” He pushed off the counter, straightening to his full height of over six feet, making her feel small and feminine. “I’ll see you there.”

He hadn’t had to wait for her answer. He knew she was. She always worked out after finishing in clinic. So did he, at exactly the same time. Actually, Cole seemed to be on the same wavelength with her on a lot of things. If she went for a walk on the “steel beach,” so did he. If she went to the exercise room, so did he. When she arrived at the dining hall, so did he. The only time she’d had peace was while inside her room and calling being alone with her thoughts peaceful was stretching the truth to say the least.

There wasn’t anything peaceful about closing her eyes and dreaming of the man gazing so intently at her.

Amelia was having a difficult time breathing, but not because of her workout routine. More like because of the man on the elliptical in front of her.

The very hot man wearing workout shorts and a form-fitting navy blue T-shirt that made his arms look ripped and hinted at abs worthy of a men’s fitness magazine.

Not that she was looking at his abs.

No, she was facing his backside. His tight glutes, his sinewy thighs, his rock-hard calves, his—

“You’re staring again,” Suzie warned in a low voice so as not to be overheard in the semicrowded workout room.

Amelia shot a dirty look at her friend. “I’m looking straight ahead. Not staring.”

“Sure, you’re not staring. Neither am I.” Her roommate snickered, waggling her eyebrows in Cole’s direction.

The machine next to Amelia had been occupied by a captain when Cole had arrived. He’d taken a machine in front of Amelia and slightly to her right. Seriously, just looking straight ahead, she couldn’t possibly not look at him unless she closed her eyes. And, really, who ever heard of exercising with your eyes closed?

“You have to admit,” Suzie continued, obviously enjoying herself. “The view is mouthwatering.”

Wiping her forearm across her sweaty face, Amelia rolled her eyes. “You have such a one-track mind.”

Waggling her eyebrows again, Suzie laughed. “Absolutely. Tell me that isn’t one fine specimen of man in front of us.”

Amelia couldn’t. Cole was one fine specimen of man.

If she’d met him for

the first time on board the USS Benjamin Franklin, she’d have liked Cole. A lot. He was witty, helpful, generous, intelligent, charming, sexy.