across the hospital cafeteria to the table where the object of his recent fascination sat eating her lunch, phone in hand, earbuds in place to deflect any unwanted attention. Head nurse of the new pediatric ward at Royal Memorial Hospital, Clare Connelly was smart and competent, by far one of the best nurses he’d ever worked with. She ran a tight ship on her ward, and was highly regarded by her coworkers.
And for reasons that escaped Parker, she refused to like him.
Lucas Wakefield, chief of surgery and fellow Texas Cattleman’s Club member, set his tray down on the table and dropped into the seat across from Parker. “Mind if I join you?”
Parker grinned. “I think you just did.”
If it wasn’t for Luc, Parker wouldn’t even be in Texas. The two had met at a conference when they were both medical students. At the time, Parker had been working toward a career in cosmetic plastic surgery for the rich and famous, the only medical field his father considered lucrative enough for a tycoon’s son, and one that Parker knew would never elicit any real sense of pride. As was often the case, his father’s own selfish demands and archaic values trumped Parker’s happiness.
Luc had told him to screw the old man and convinced Parker to follow his true passion. Pediatrics. And for the first time in his life Parker stood up to his father. There had been a fair amount of shouting, and threats to cut Parker off financially. His father had even threatened to disown him, but Parker told him that was a chance he was willing to take. His father finally, though reluctantly, conceded. That put an end to the threats and manipulations his father had always used to control him, and for the first time in his life, Parker felt truly independent. But the event had caused a fissure in their relationship, one that took many years to heal. Even so, by the time his father had passed away last year, they’d managed to resolve most of their differences.
After a lifetime of coveting his father’s approval, he’d earned it. And now, with his inheritance, Parker had the means to do anything he wanted, wherever he wanted. He knew that he needed a change, that the only reason he’d stayed in New York was to be near his ailing father. Aside from his practice, and a few good friends, there was nothing tying him there. He knew it was time to move on. But where?
Enter Luc. He’d called out of the blue to offer Parker a job in the town of Royal, Texas. Dr. Mann, Royal Hospital’s neonatal specialist, was retiring and they were looking for a replacement. The salary wasn’t all that impressive, but Parker’s inheritance left him set for life. So he sold his practice and relocated to Texas.
Best move he ever made.
“So, did you ever call that girl you met in the gift shop?” Luc asked, dumping a packet of sugar in his coffee.
“We had dinner,” Parker told him.
“And...”
“Then I took her home.”
“Your home or hers?”
“Hers.”
“Did she invite you in?”
They always did. And he didn’t doubt that the next stop would have been her bedroom, and a couple of months ago he wouldn’t have hesitated. But something about it, about all of his romantic relationships lately, felt hollow. “She invited, I declined.”
Luc made a noise like he’d been punched in the gut. “Dude, you’re killing me. I’m married and I’m having more sex than you are.”
At thirty-eight, the ever-widening age span between Parker and the twentysomethings he’d been dating was losing its luster. What he was looking for now was an equal. Someone to challenge him. He glanced over at Clare again. Someone capable of stimulating his intelligence as well as his libido.
Luc followed Parker’s line of sight and rolled his eyes. “Dude, let it go already. How many times have you asked her out?”
Parker shrugged. He’d honestly lost track. A couple dozen at least. At first her rejection was firm, but polite—for the most part. Not so much anymore. Lately he could feel the tension when they were forced to work together. Which was often. But that was okay. It would just be that much more satisfying when she gave into him. And she would. They always did.
“What do you think it is about me that she finds so offensive?” he asked Luc.
“Could it be your inability to accept no as an answer?”
Parker shot him a look. “She wants me. I guarantee it.”
He glanced over at her again. Her eyes were lowered, but she knew he was looking. He wasn’t sure how he knew, he just did. He could feel her from across the cafeteria. In her early thirties, she was nearly a decade older than the women he typically dated, but he liked that.
“You really can’t stand it can you?” Luc said and Parker turned to him.
“Can’t stand what?”
“That she won’t bend to your will.”
It would irritate him a lot more if he didn’t know that it was temporary. But yes, he was used to women falling at his feet. And honestly, it wasn’t as great as it sounded. “Clare will change her mind. I just have to catch her at the right time.”
“When the chloroform kicks in?”
Parker laughed in spite of himself and said, “Let me tell you a story. When I was a kid, there was a girl at my school named Ruth Flanigan. And for reasons unknown to me, Ruth relentlessly picked on me.”
“You were bullied by a girl?” Luc laughed. “Is that some sort of ass-backward karma?”
“It’s funny now, but at the time it was traumatic. She would shove me in the lunch line or kick my shins on the playground. She pulled my hair and knocked me off the swings. For years I was afraid of girls.”
“Clearly you got over that.”
Had he? Sometimes he wondered. When it came to relationships, he was always the one calling the shots, the one in control. He only dated women who were substantially younger and intellectually inferior. That had to mean something.
“So, what happened?” Luc asked him.
“At some point in the second grade she either moved or switched to a different school. I don’t remember exactly. I just remember coming back to school in the fall, and being relieved that she was no longer there. I didn’t have any contact with her again until college. I was home for the holidays and I ran into her at the party of a mutual friend.”
“Did she kick your shins?”
“No. She confessed that she’d had a huge crush on me, and torturing me was just her way of showing it.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to kick Clare in the shins and pull her hair.”
“Of course not.” Though he was sure the hair-pulling part would come later, if she was into that sort of thing. “My point is, just because someone acts as if they don’t like you, it doesn’t mean it’s true.”
“Are you seriously suggesting that Clare is only pretending not to like you?”
Parker shrugged. “It’s not impossible.”
“You clearly have your pick of female companions. Why this infatuation with Clare?”
Because she fascinated him, and not just because she was the only woman he’d ever met who was seemingly immune to his charms. Weird as it sounded, he just felt drawn to her. He wanted to crack her open, peek inside and see what made her tick. Metaphorically speaking of course.
Clare had been on the hospital staff for almost a decade, but Parker had yet to find a single person who knew her on a deeply personal level. Which he thought was weird. He spent far more time with his coworkers than anyone. He liked to think of them as extended family. But then, he had always been a very social person. Clare was not. She always sat alone in the cafeteria, and kept to herself on the ward. He’d heard that she