One Summer in Santa Fe Read Free Page B

over. Then what? She tried to put the question out of her mind when voices from behind her interrupted her train of thought.
    “I’m sorry you feel that way, Alex, but I have no choice today.” Dr. Taylor Jenkins and a boy she assumed to be his nephew entered through the doors right behind her.
    Turning, she took in the sight of the very tall man dressed in scrubs and the tousle-haired boy dragging hisfeet beside him. Once again, she noticed what an incredibly handsome man Taylor was. Part of being a nurse was paying attention to details, and she noticed every detail of him. Part of her wanted to allow her eyes to linger on his tall, lithe form, but another part of her shuddered. Finding a man attractive and being attracted to a man were two different things. She was too far into the being attracted to Taylor, and every red flag in her system was waving.
    He was danger on a grand scale. Attraction was what had gotten her into trouble with her last failed relationship. Being attracted to Taylor was out of the question. She’d sworn to herself, never again. Unfortunately, it appeared that never had arrived.
    Attraction needed to leave her alone, but she had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen. Especially as that little flutter in her stomach grew wings.
    “It’s way early, Uncle T. I should be in bed, sleeping away my summer vacation, not hanging around a gross hospital all day.”
    “Be that as it may, this is where I work, and where you are going to spend the day. The babysitter wasn’t available and, frankly, after yesterday’s fiasco, you can’t be trusted at home by yourself.”
    “But it was an accident, I told you that. I said I was sorry.”
    Clearing her throat, Piper caught their attention, watching as the two males who couldn’t have been much more different in physical appearance entered the lobby. “Hi, guys.”
    As if just noticing he was about to plow her over, Taylor stopped a few feet from her. “Oh, hello, Piper. Back for more?” he asked, but his eyes were distracted.
    “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”
    “They could drag me away. Pu-lease.” Alex made a rude sound deep in his throat.
    “Piper, this bundle of enthusiasm and joy is my nephew, Alex.”
    “Nice to meet you, Alex.” The kid couldn’t be more miserable looking. He didn’t look at her and kicked at the floor. The backpack slung over one shoulder looked weighty. She supposed that he had every book for summer reading in there.
    “Hi.”
    Hearing the tension in his voice, she fished into her purse and extracted a large mixed package of bubble gum and candy. “I was going to put this in the staffroom, but I’ll bet you’d like some.” Piper tore the bag open and offered it to him.
    “Whoa, yeah. Awesome.” Alex took two packs of gum and a few wrapped candies, and for the first time looked up into her face, his dark brown eyes intelligent and curious.
    “What do you say?” Taylor prompted.
    “Thanks.” Ducking his head, he flushed and looked away.
    “See you inside, Piper,” Taylor said with a sigh.
    “Okay.” Piper followed a few paces behind.
    As they walked away, Alex leaned closer to Taylor, who bent over to hear what he had to say. “Wow. She’s hot.”
    Taylor straightened with a look of amusement on his face and turned to Piper with an extremely male glance. “Yes, she is.”
    At that moment, Piper heard her name paged overhead. “Oh, gotta go.” She dashed around the two and hoped that Taylor hadn’t seen her flush. She colored ridiculously, and it was something she had tried to overcome, but couldn’t.
    Arriving at the nurses’ station, she found Emily.
    “Oh, you are here. I was hoping that we didn’t scare you off yesterday with that wild start to your contract. Some nurses would have headed for the hills.” She shook her head and her straight black hair bobbed around her shoulders.
    “Not me. I’m tougher than that.” She’d had to be. When her parents had been killed, she’d