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His mother reached for her cell phone, her expression odd as she texted his sisters. “They aren’t together anymore.”

“Since when?”

“Since the night you were stabbed. Please let her be the one to bring this up to you, but she and Michael had a fight. He stormed out, but when she heard about you, she called to tell him. Instead of coming to the hospital to be there for her, he moved out while she was gone.”

“Is she alright? Damn, do I need to find him and beat the shit out of him?”

“As much as Zoe would appreciate the gesture, I don’t think it’s necessary. I think it’s been coming for a while, and he just used your stabbing to take the coward’s way out. She’s handling it as well as can be expected.”

While his mother continued to message his sisters, he stayed rooted to the same spot, realizing his mother was right. The De la Peña case consumed him enough that he missed two key points in his life. One was the end of his sister’s serious relationship with the man the family believed she would eventually marry. The other was how much more of an asset he could be to Bridget’s case than he originally thought.

While he admitted his mother was correct about his contribution to the case, he refused to consider her observation that Bridget crossed his mind more often than even Sydney had.

∞∞∞

Eyes the color of a summer sky reflected the flickering flames of a roomful of candles, their orange glow the only illumination in an otherwise dim room. Rain pattered against the windows, obscuring the view of the cityscape outside the floor-to-ceiling window panes. Music, soft and sensual, enhanced the romantic setting, and butterflies danced in her stomach as she anxiously anticipated what was to come.

He didn’t speak as he approached. The sleek suit stretched over his well-muscled physique, hinting at the perfection underneath the expensive material. He raised an arm and held out his hand, stopping short of touching her. He waited. His lips curved into an enigmatic smile.

She wanted to know the secret behind his smile. She wanted to feel his muscles under her fingertips and to know what it was like to be encircled in his arms. She wanted to tell him she would follow him anywhere, do anything he wanted.

But all she did was place her hand in his, her palm and fingers dainty in comparison to his strong and capable grasp. With one gentle pull, she was where she desired — in his arms. And they danced a slow, sexy rhythm. The world faded away, and only the two of them existed. Her dress swished about her knees. He leaned forward, his lips pressed lightly against the shell of her ear.

“Bridget,” he uttered on the deepest, most erotic breath she’d ever felt against her skin. “Bridget.”

“Bridget. Bridget. Are you okay?”

Her body shook as she suddenly woke from a sound sleep, her head bumping against the staircase railing. She winced, rubbing the aching spot under her hair, and peered into the face of Dr. Seth Masters. He stood two steps down from where she sat, eyeing her curiously as he flashed her an indulgent grin. Why the hell was she dreaming about the doctor who, she was sure, was stalking her during her shift breaks in the stairwell? He was always bumping into her, and today she decided to take her break a little later in hopes of avoiding him.

No, she hadn’t been dreaming about the doctor. She was dreaming about the man who wasn’t a part of her life but permanently lived in her fantasies. Normally she allowed herself to indulge because it hurt no one for her to daydream about her gorgeous former patient. But this time, Zane was clouding her thoughts, disrupting her slumber enough to make her fall asleep at work.

Her eyes widened, and she jumped to her feet, smoothing her scrubs as if the wrinkles would magically disappear after the hours she’d spent on shift. “Oh, shit! I can’t believe I feel asleep. How long have I been out here? I have to go back to work. Charlotte’s going to kill me.”

Her mouth essentially vomited the words aimed more at the universe at large than at her Doctor Stalker. She jogged up the few steps to the door and swung it open to step on her floor.

“Um, Bridget? Are you forgetting something?”

She whirled back around to see Seth holding out her cell phone. She must have had it in her hand and dropped it on the step below when she fell asleep. She practically ran back down the stairs to get it, the door clanging shut with a deafening echo. She grabbed her phone, her hand brushing against his, and he tightened his grip. When he didn’t readily release her phone, she shot him an irritated glare, which made his smile widen.

“Have breakfast with me.”

“Not now. I have to get back to work.”

“Then say yes, and we both can get back to work.” He held her gaze, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Come on. We’ve been flirting for weeks now. Don’t you think it’s time we got to know each other and see if we might want to spend more time together?”

She opened her mouth to shoot him down but stopped the words from leaving her throat. She’d been unable to wipe Zane Wilder from her mind, and now her obsession with him was affecting her work. Maybe what she needed was a different distraction, one which was safe and wasn’t a threat to her control.

“Name the place, and I’ll meet you there at the end of my shift.”

She almost changed her mind when she saw the triumphant gleam in his eye. Even though she planned on using him, she hated she played right into his hands.

“I’ll text you the address.” He released her phone and turned to continue down the stairs. When he reached the next landing, he glanced back, gave her a cocky wink and continued on his way.

He never asked for her number, but even as the random thought crossed her mind, her phone buzzed in her hand. A text notification popped up on the screen. Though it was from an unknown sender, the text held the address to the diner where she and the kids ate on their first night in town. How the hell did he get her number?

She blew out a frustrated breath. Damn Zane Wilder! In a different life, she would have shot Dr. Masters down without hesitation. In a different life, she would have indulged her attraction to Zane and got him out of her system. But she wasn’t that woman anymore. Instead, she was making decisions proving she was anyone but that woman. She not only had her responsibility to Marlowe and Mathias, but she couldn’t risk their grandparents finding out about any behavior they could use to paint her as an unfit guardian.

Going on a date with a doctor could improve her reputation, and with it being a Saturday morning, the kids wouldn’t need her to help them with their morning routine before school. She might regret encouraging the good doctor when nothing would ever come of it, but if it meant keeping her image intact for her kids’ sake, she could endure it.