peaked. “Him?”
Nodding, Jacki took a small step into the office, leaned toward Nicolette and whispered loudly, “The new doctor. I think all the women in the waiting area are trying to feign heart trouble.”
Murmuring a curse word under her breath, Nicolette tossed down her pen and pushed back her chair. “Why didn’t you tell the man I was busy? You certainly wouldn’t have been lying!”
Unaffected by Nicolette’s sharp words, Jacki made a palms-up gesture. “Because he would only come back later. Besides, he’s only trying to be neighborly. Something you normally try to be.”
Pressing her lips together, Nicolette rose from the leather desk chair. Jacki was right. Meeting the new doctor in the group was the friendly thing to do. And no one said she had to fawn over the man like the rest of the females at the clinic seemed to be doing. “All right. I’ll go meet Dr. Garroway,” she said as she swished past the nurse. “And then we’ll get to work.”
Not pausing to see if Jacki was following, Nicolette strode out of the office and down a narrow hallway. When she pushed through a slatted swinging door and into the waiting room, she saw the back of a tall man standing in the center of a ring of female patients. Her patients!
“Oh, hi, Dr. Saddler. You ready to see me?”
The question came from an elderly lady with chronic arthritis whom Nicolette treated on a regular basis. The woman was standing at the far edge of the group and as Nicolette approached the woman, she said, “Hello, Mrs. Gaines, I’ll be seeing you in just a few minutes. Right now—”
At that moment Dr. Garroway turned toward Nicolette and for a split second she struggled to keep her jaw from dropping.
From this morning’s buzz, she’d expected the man to be young and cute, maybe even handsome. The only thing she’d gotten right was the young part; the rest of him could only be described as striking. At least, she certainly felt as if someone had whammed her right in the diaphragm. Her lungs didn’t know whether they wanted to breathe in or out, or simply stop altogether.
Nicolette felt more than saw the people around her move aside as the man stepped toward her. By then she’d collected herself somewhat and offered the new doctor her hand.
“Hello, I’m P.A. Nicolette Saddler,” she said. “And you must be Dr. Garroway.”
A pair of thin lips pulled back into a wide, crooked smile. “Just Ridge to you, Doctor.”
The voice matched the face, she thought. Rough, tough and too sexy to be legal. He was far from the pretty boy she’d expected. He had lean, chiseled features that gave the impression he’d thrown a punch or two in his lifetime. His dark-blond hair was straight, naturally streaked with lighter shades of honey and long enough to be considered shaggy. Even though he’d made an effort to comb it back from his face, a few strands had fallen onto his forehead, giving him an even more rakish look. Warm, whiskey-brown eyes stared out at her beneath a pair of thick, brown brows and the certain gleam in those eyes put her on instant alert.
She cleared her throat as she glanced around at the audience of patients. “Would you like to step back into the hallway for a moment?”
“Sure. Just lead the way.”
Taking a deep breath, Nicolette walked back to the swinging door with the doctor right behind her. Once they were inside the corridor she turned to face him, hoping she didn’t appear as flustered as she felt.
“I’m sorry about the…nosy patients out there,” she apologized. “I just want to say welcome to the clinic.”
His lips quirked with amusement while his gaze seemed to dance all over her face. She felt unaccustomed heat rising to her cheeks.
“Don’t apologize for the patients,” he said. “I like people. Nosy and otherwise. And, though it was nice of you, I actually didn’t stop by to receive a welcome. I’ve been eager to meet you.”
Her brows inched upward as she regarded him warily. Why would a doctor like him be interested in meeting a lowly P.A? “Really? I can’t imagine why.”
He chuckled and the sound skittered over Nicolette’s skin like a warm, teasing breeze. She resisted the silly urge to sigh.
He said, “Don’t be so modest, Doctor, I hear you’re probably the most popular physician in the building. Maybe even in the whole town. I wanted to see for myself just what this superwoman was like.”
Embarrassed by his flattery, she glanced away from him. At the end of the hallway, Jacki stood at a work counter that portioned off a small room where medicines were kept. Even though the nurse appeared to be busy, Nicolette suspected she was lingering in hopes of catching a bit of their conversation.
“Someone has obviously been pulling your leg, Dr. Garroway. I’m not even a physician. I’m just an assistant. And as for being popular, that’s a real exaggeration.”
His tongue clicked with disapproval. “There you go, being modest again. I just walked through your waiting room. It’s full. What does that say?”
That she was busy and nothing more, she wanted to tell him. But she bit back the words. It would be highly uncomfortable if she got off on the wrong foot with this man. Especially when the two of them would be working in the same building. But she was getting all sorts of vibes from him and none of them were businesslike.
Trying to keep her voice cool, she said, “It tells me that there’re plenty of sick people around here.”
Looking back at him, she was jolted once again to find he was studying her intently, as though she were a flower he very much wanted to pluck.
Nicolette breathed deeply and told herself she was wrong. This young doctor wasn’t making eyes at her literally. He was simply being himself—a sexy flirt. These past few days doctoring her mother had worn her down and now her mind must not be turning on the right cog.
“I was told that you used to work under Dr. Walters,” he said.
Lord, the man was tall, Nicolette thought. Even though she was five foot eight, she would easily fit under his chin. Not that she would ever get that close, she silently swore. But she had to admit his lean body was a thing of beauty with its wide shoulders, narrow waist and long, muscular legs.
“That’s right. Dr. Walters was wonderful. I miss him.”
And I wish he were here instead of you. She might as well have said it out loud, Ridge thought, but he didn’t let the notion get to him. This woman didn’t know him personally. But he was going to make sure that sooner or later she would, and maybe then she’d be calling him wonderful. He didn’t know why changing her mind should be so important to him, especially when he didn’t know her personally, either. But all of his colleagues spoke of P.A. Saddler with great admiration. He valued her respect.
“I’m sure you do miss him,” he told her. “But Dr. Walters has earned a well-deserved retirement. And I’ve assured him I’m going to take the best of care of all his patients. He trusts me. Do you?”
She shot him a look that said she considered his question odd. “Trust you?” she repeated skeptically.
He gave her an indulgent smile. “That’s right. To be a good, dedicated doctor.”
Her gaze lowered to the floor, and Ridge took the moment to study her more closely. From the moment he’d spotted her in the waiting room, he’d found himself wanting to stare. She was nothing like the matronly woman he’d been expecting. Instead of wearing chunky heels, owl-rimmed glasses and a severe bun, she was sporting stiletto heels, clear gray eyes and long brown hair that swung freely to the middle of her back. It would be hard for him to guess her age, but that detail didn’t matter. She was the most beautiful, sexy woman he’d ever seen in his life.
“Oh,” she said. “Well, I’m sure you know your business. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
It wasn’t the response