child. The system was flawed in many ways, but it was also there for a reason.
“I wish you’d stop smiling.” Felix Connor dried his hands with a paper towel as he walked toward Sara. “I gotta say, I’m still having a hard time shaking this flu.”
Sara made her voice chipper. “Better sick at work than sick at home.”
“Is that what you tell your patients?”
“Just the babies.” Before Felix could come up with an excuse to leave, Sara started running down her cases. She was wrapping up the details on Oliver’s patient when she felt a rush of heat come to the back of her neck. Sara glanced over her shoulder, feeling like she was being watched. She did a double take when she saw her boyfriend.
Will Trent was leaning against the wall. He was dressed in a charcoal three-piece suit that was nicely tailored to his lean body. His hands were in his pockets. His sandy-blond hair was damp, curving against the nape of his neck and stopping just shy of his collar.
He smiled at her.
Sara smiled back, feeling a familiar tingling in her chest. She had known Will for almost two years—met him in this very hospital—but lately their relationship had turned into something more. The depth of her feeling was an unexpected treasure. Sara had lost her husband five years ago. She had assumed she would spend the rest of her life alone.
And then she’d met Will.
Sara said, “Felix, I—” She glanced around, but he was gone.
Will pushed away from the wall and walked toward her. “You look nice.”
Sara laughed at the blatant lie. “What are you doing here? I thought you were working.”
“My briefing’s not for another hour.”
“Do you have time for second breakfast?”
Will slowly shook his head.
“Oh.” Sara realized he hadn’t just dropped by. She asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Maybe we could go somewhere?”
She led him toward the doctors’ lounge. The door was about thirty feet away, giving Sara just enough time to work up a full-on worry.
Will was a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He’d been working undercover for the last ten days. He couldn’t—or wouldn’t—tell Sara the details of his assignment, but he kept calling from strange numbers and showing up at odd hours. She had no idea where he came from or where he was going, and anytime she asked, he either changed the subject or found a reason to leave. When Sara wasn’t busy feeling mildly annoyed by all this, she was consumed with fear that something bad was going to happen. Or had already happened. Sara’s late husband had been a cop. He was murdered in the line of duty, and losing him had almost killed her. The thought of the same thing happening to Will was too much to bear.
“Let me get that.” Will reached in front of Sara to open the door. Fortunately, the lounge was empty. He waited for her to sit down at the table before taking the chair across from her.
She repeated, “What’s wrong?”
Silently, he took her hand. Sara watched as Will ran his fingers along her palm, traced the inside of her wrist. Will watched, too, his deep blue eyes tracking the movement of his fingers. There was something about the way he watched himself touching her that made Sara’s skin start to tingle.
She stilled his hand. All she needed was for one of her students to walk in and find her purring like a cat. Besides, she recognized Will’s stalling tactics by now.
She leaned forward. “What is it?”
He gave a half-smile. “Diversion not working?”
“Almost,” she admitted.
Will took a deep breath and said, “My assignment got a little more complicated.”
Sara had been expecting as much, but she still needed a moment to absorb the information.
He said, “I can’t tell you why, but I’m going to be working longer hours. I won’t be able to make it back to Atlanta as much. See you as much.”
She wasn’t so sure Will couldn’t tell her about his job, but Sara didn’t want to spend what little time