Playing Doctor by Jan Meredith

misty with sleep looked up at him. She smiled and the bottom fell right out of Gabe’s stomach. He’d never felt so physically connected to a woman since Rita.
    Rita . Gabe scrubbed his hand over his face and huffed out a breath. He’d talked to her about his late wife, something he’d never done with another woman. Talked? Hell, he’d bared his soul to her. She had listened without offering judgment or sympathy. Then she had prodded him into thinking, not like a husband mired in grief and guilt, but as a physician, gathering facts, analyzing the cause and effect and forming the accurate diagnosis. He’d heard it before, from his family and colleagues, but something about the way Beth walked him through it opened his eyes and let him see it for what it truly was. There were no words to describe the freedom of guilt lifting from his shoulders—and then she’d held him.
    At some point during the night, his priorities had shifted. One night with Beth wasn’t going to be enough. He wanted more—to get to know her, show her that she was more than a one night stand or an emotional crutch to help him get past his guilt over Rita. He wanted to date her, find out what she liked to eat, movies she liked to watch. A relationship? Maybe. He needed time to find out.
    Her arms came up, circled his neck and pulled him down. The kiss rocked him right down to his toes.
    “Good morning,” she purred.
    Gabe cupped his hand around Beth’s neck and brought her back up. One kiss wasn’t going to do it.
    “I want to see you again,” he murmured, bypassing the morning greeting for yet another taste of her. Something flickered in her eyes. Surprise? Hope? Joy? Then her lashes came down and shuttered them, blocking her feelings. Blocking him. She pulled back, put some space between them. It was only a few inches, but it may as well have been a mile.
    “That would complicate things.”
    His hand slid down her arm, a small connection to keep her from slipping further away. “Seeing each other again doesn’t have to be complicated.”
    “But, it would, and we agreed—one night…”
    “Fuck the agreement. I’ve changed my mind. I want more.” Frustration boiled just under the skin. Restless fingers plowed through his hair. He had to do something, say something to change her mind, but first, he had to get himself under control. Gabe banked his emotions and reached for the calm he employed when fighting for a patient’s life. Why did he suddenly feel as if he were fighting for his? “I’m just saying we should give this a shot, see where it takes us. There’s a connection between us, you felt it as well as I did.”
    “Yes.”
    “Then, let’s do this.”
    She shook her head. “We went into this eyes wide open, knew we would go our separate ways when it was done. This”—she indicated the bed—“was a chance encounter, unplanned and uncomplicated. As I said, I’ve never done anything like this before, and I don’t intend for it to ever happen again, and I have no regrets. It was wonderful. You were wonderful. You’ve given me so much more than I can ever return, but there’s something inside of me that I have to let go of before I can commit to a relationship.” She held up a hand, effectively cutting down his next argument. “Or even the possibility of one, and you deserve so much more than I’m capable of giving now.”
    Deserve . There was that word again. Funny she should bring it up now just when he was beginning to think he was worthy of trying again. Trying with her. Just goes to show you where thinking will get you. “It was amazing between us, and I think it can be better.”
    Her blue eyes flew to his, wide and vulnerable, and then she glanced away. “It was good with Jamie at first and look how that turned out.”
    It was as if something finally clicked in his brain. Trust—hers had been shattered. He wasn’t the man who’d broken that fragile bond, but he was the man who would have to earn it back.