The Heart Surgeon's Secret Son

She’d changed her mind about more than just him, it would seem.

His gaze dropped to her bare hands, which pressed flat against the wall behind her, as if for support.

Was she as shocked to see him as he was her?

She couldn’t be. She’d known all along who she was coming to meet. Known, and delayed for as long as possible by rescheduling twice.

A slow grin spread across his face as the truth hit him.

She’d been worried about seeing him.

Which meant she still had feelings for him after all these years. Feelings strong enough that she feared them coming face-to-face.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly at his mirth, and she nervously moistened her lips.

Desire flickered through him. Hot, wet desire that shook the floors of Boston Memorial Hospital and threatened to knock Daniel off his feet.

Just the sight of her pressed to the wall turned him on, made him want to push against her, grind his body into hers, and hear her call out his name.

He took a step toward her, closing the distance between them, then stopped cold.

What was he doing?

Fifteen years had gone by. Brookes, not Duff. She was married. She’d dumped him for some guy she’d met while he’d been away at school.

He had no right to touch her, and even if he had, he was at work.

“Daniel.” His name came out as little more than a hoarse pant from her pale pink lips.

Her discomfort did little to ease the wild plethora of emotions hitting him or his unwanted surge of libido. Years had gone by since he’d experienced such a reaction. Perhaps since the last time he’d seen her.

“Kimberly,” he said with a sarcastic edge, taking in everything about the woman before him. The long lashes fringing her eyes, the fullness of her lips, the smooth texture of her creamy skin, the curves beneath her hospital-issue scrubs.

Her lashes lowered, she took a deep breath, and met his gaze with a dreadfully faked bravado. “I hear wonderful things about you, Dr. Travis.”

No wonder she hadn’t gone into the acting business if this was the best she could do.

“Funny.” He leaned in, resting his hand on the wall a few inches above her shoulder, resisting the urge to touch her hair. Was it as soft as it looked? As he remembered? Lifting an eyebrow, he stared down at her taut expression. “I’ve heard nothing about your exciting acting career.”

She flinched at his words. Her cheeks reddened, and she flashed a glance at a couple of lingering students who curiously watched them.

“No.” She didn’t meet his eyes. “I don’t suppose you have.”

Her quiet words sent thunderous aftershocks through him. Made him feel like a jerk and, quite probably, he was because he’d meant his words to sting.

Not that he’d expected them to. Ice coated Kimberly’s heart, protecting her from anything he could throw at her.

At least, it had.

This wasn’t the feisty, bubbly girl he’d known. She’d have come back spitting fire at him and leaving him whimpering from wounds.

What had happened after he’d left Georgia that Christmas break?

The guy she’d dumped him for hadn’t been a Brookes.

She straightened from the wall, unintentionally putting their bodies in near contact, and met his gaze head-on.

What he saw in her soulful eyes almost sent him stumbling backward.