His BMW roadster had made funny noises all the way to work this morning, and he—he, Dr. Seth Mahoney, ace mechanic—couldn’t for the life of him figure out what was wrong with it. He’d been drenched by rain as he’d sprinted from the parking lot to the hospital, because he—he, Dr. Seth Mahoney, mind like a steel trap—had forgotten his umbrella. And as he’d changed into his scrubs, he’d realized that he—he, Dr. Seth Mahoney, sartorial wonder—was wearing one black sock and one gray sock.
Fortunately Mrs. Hammelman’s surgery had gone well. He was, after all, one of New Jersey’s—hey, perhaps one of the nation’s—leading neurosurgeons. But everything else that day had been a mess. The cafeteria had been out of club sandwiches by the time he’d found a minute to grab lunch. The soda machine had been out of Orange Crush when he’d gone on a break. Then the ATM in the lobby had told him that he—he, Dr. Seth Mahoney, financial wizard—was overdrawn a full $3.86. And he’d had a pounding headache for the past three hours that simply would not be assuaged.
And to top it all off it was Friday, and he—he, Dr. Seth Mahoney, object of many a woman’s desire—did not have a date.
He didn’t have a date, he marveled for perhaps the hundredth time. How on earth could such a thing have happened?
By now he’d had enough of the hospital and its denizens, and he wanted to go home. Home, where he could kick off his shoes, and his mismatched socks, fix himself a club sandwich—which would be better than the hospital’s, anyway—open an Orange Crush, and call the bank to yell at someone about his ridiculous, and certainly nonexistent, overdraft.
Of course, the date part was going to be something of a problem, he mused sullenly. He couldn’t think of anyone else to ask out—no one who would say yes, at any rate—and he wasn’t much for inflatable women. Then again, the way today had been going, he was sorely tempted to—
The thought never fully materialized in his brain, thanks to the woman who breezed into the room just then. He couldn’t quite curb the soft smile he felt curling his lips when he noted her arrival. Prudence Holloway, the most bewitching, bothering and bewildering woman he had ever had the dubious good fortune to encounter. And the most inappropriately named, too, he recalled, his smile growing broader.
Prudence, he thought. What had her parents been thinking?
Well, well, well. Maybe he didn’t have to beat such a hasty retreat just yet.
“Hi, everybody,” she said breathlessly to the room at large.
She raked a restive hand through the mop of dark-auburn curls that danced atop her head with the rush of her movements. Although he had always been partial to long hair on women, somehow Seth was grateful that Prudence’s unruly tresses weren’t quite lengthy enough to cover her nape. She had a nice neck. Among other things.
Inescapably, his gaze fell to the top half of the shapeless, raspberry-colored nurse’s scrubs. Although he had no foundation for his suspicions—God knew Prudence wouldn’t let him get within arm’s reach of her, more’s the pity—he was fairly certain that the baggy garment hid some truly spectacular and decidedly dangerous curves.
The only time he’d seen her out of her scrubs, she’d been in something else—more’s the pity—namely maternity clothes, generally made out of some awful awning-like fabric and decorated with bows and frippery that no self-respecting woman would dare don when she was unpregnant. Prudence had been huge, unwieldy and irascible during her pregnancy, Seth recalled wistfully. And during that entire nine-month span, he’d been even more enchanted by her than ever. Because Prudence Holloway was just too adorable to ever be anything but…well…adorable.
Ever since he’d come to work at Seton General Hospital two years ago, Seth had been utterly enraptured by Nurse Prudence Holloway. Why? He had no idea. Maybe because her pale-green eyes were so expressive and held no secrets. Maybe because her lush mouth, whether smiling or frowning, open or closed, could incite a man to commit mayhem. Maybe because he had noticed right off that she had a wry sense of humor and quick wit. Maybe because she had been so huge and irascible during her pregnancy. He hated to say it, but she was just so damned cute when she was angry.
Or maybe it was just because, even when she wasn’t pregnant, she continued to be, if not huge, then certainly irascible. At least around Seth. And he simply was not accustomed to having women respond to him in a way that was anything but enraptured. Even complete strangers succumbed to his abundant charm. Prudence, however, had been anything but charmed by him. Even after two years, her resolve to avoid and deter him had eroded not one iota.
Two years ago Seth had assured himself that her less-than-eager response to his more-than-obvious allure had resulted from the fact that she was seeing someone. She’d been blinded—who knows why, when she could have had Seth?—by some geek named Kevin who had worked as a pump jockey in a less-than-profitable filling station.
And then, after that relationship had fizzled, and Prudence continued to avoid Seth, he had excused her disinterest in his none-too-subtle advances as being due to her delicate condition. Because she was out of sorts and uncomfortable in her pregnant state, and romance was understandably the last thing on her mind. He’d even thought her lack of response might be because she was still carrying a torch for that geek Kevin—though such a commitment to a man hadn’t kept other women from succumbing to Seth before. On many occasions.
Not that he would ever pursue a married woman, of course. He simply never felt hindered in his flirtations by a woman’s marital state. Or her background. Or her foreground. Or her middle ground. Or her age, race, creed, color, species or planetary origin. And he saw no harm in engaging in the occasional flip comment whenever there was a beautiful woman around.
And naturally, to Seth, all women fell into that beautiful category. And he—he, Dr. Seth Mahoney, lover of women—was simply predisposed to flirting with anything that produced estrogen. Prudence Holloway was no exception.
Except…
Except that Seth couldn’t seem to stop flirting with her, even though she’d made it more than clear over the past two years that she did not intend to indulge his efforts. And that was something he simply could not understand. Because, simply put, there was no Mr. Prudence Holloway. Nor did there seem to be a Mr. Prudence Holloway in training anywhere. And her obviously—and adamantly—single status was something that only fueled Seth’s, oh…idle curiosity about the nurse.
And it had naturally caused him to pump up the volume on his flirtations, too. He’d even ventured to ask her out once or twice—or fifty-seven times, but then, who was counting? But she’d always declined. Politely at first, then with more gusto. He supposed it had been the time he’d dropped onto his knees before her in the OR and begged her to go out with him that had promoted the gusto on her part, but still…
The least she could do was return his flirtations, even if she had no interest in carrying through with them. Hey, any other nurse would do the same. It was only polite. But not Prudence. Noooo. She constantly rebuffed him.
Him. Dr. Seth Mahoney. Dr. Irresistible.
How could she do such a thing?
In the long run Seth had finally given up asking her out, when it became clear that she would never, ever, not in a million billion trillion zillion years, not if he was the last man on the planet, dead or alive, go out with him. He knew that, because she’d told him that. In exactly those words. And the fact that he—he, Dr. Seth Mahoney, a prince among men—had failed in his quest to curry fair Prudence’s favor did not sit well with him at all.
Still, he no longer asked her out. But he hadn’t stopped his entirely one-sided and unreturned flirting. Nor had he stopped fantasizing about her during his off hours. Or during his on hours, for that matter. Like right now, for instance. As his thoughts drifted off to the sublime, Prudence tossed a Tupperware container full of what appeared to be…springerlies, if Seth wasn’t mistaken…onto the table with the other baked goods that each member of the neurology unit had brought for today’s party to celebrate their co-worker’s engagement.
Unfortunately, Prudence