The Magnificent M.D. Read Free

without tracks. A circus without the big top. What happened?”
    She sighed and looked at her watch.
    â€œI see. It’s a long story. Maybe some other time.” He shifted his gaze to the door so pointedly she’d have to be blind not to realize how much he wanted her gone.
    But he was not getting rid of her that easily. She stood and put her hand on his arm before he could take action. “Sam, please. I know how you feel about my family.”
    â€œAnd you,” he said, removing her hand from his arm as if she had a communicable disease.
    â€œAnd me, yes, I know. But just give me a chance to explain. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”
    â€œCan you afford it?” he asked, his voice laced with irony.
    â€œYes, I can afford it. If you have the time.”
    â€œTime? I have nothing but time,” he said bitterly. “I have six months of time.”
    Â 
    The coffee shop was on the first floor, and Sam was glad to see it was empty except for a stranger drinking a smoothie at the juice bar. Sam didn’t want to speak to anyone. He especially didn’t want to speak to Hayley. But as much as he wanted to turn his back on her, he couldn’t. Not quite yet. Not when the memories were threatening to overwhelm him and make him feel young and poor and vulnerable again. Not until he’d gotten her out of his system again. The last time it took about ten years. This time it shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes.
    He certainly didn’t want to have to answer any questions from colleagues who might be taking a break in the coffee shop—like what happened last week in surgery and who’s the beautiful blonde you’re with? And she was beautiful. And black set off her honey-blond hair. Maybe it was true that the Bancroft money was gone, but in a suit that fit her as if it was made for her, made to hug her curves and show off her long legs, she sure looked like someone who’d held onto her charge card at Nordstroms.
    No question, the girl he’d known in another lifetime had turned into a stylish, sophisticated woman. And what a woman. A confident, self-assured woman with a glint of determination in her blue eyes and a firm grip on his arm. Coupled with her soft-as-cashmere voice she was damnednear irresistible. But not so irresistible that he was going to give her more than a half hour of his time. She didn’t deserve it.
    â€œTell me,” he said, as he slid into the booth opposite her. “How long were you leaning against the door eavesdropping?”
    A flush spread over her face. So she hadn’t completely changed after all. She wasn’t quite as self-assured as she looked. He remembered the first time he’d spoken to her, freshman year in high school. She looked so beautiful, so rich, so untouchable, and he felt so poor and so disreputable. He almost walked right by her, with the usual chip on his shoulder, eyes forward, a practiced cynical sneer on his face. If she hadn’t been having trouble getting her locker open, he would have.
    But she was standing there, helplessly tugging at the combination lock. The bell was ringing and everyone else was rushing by, hurrying to get to class on time. Not him. He wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere. It wasn’t cool. And what was the point? School was stupid, anyway.
    â€œSomething wrong?” he’d asked.
    She’d glanced over her shoulder and nodded. Her face was flushed and she was chewing on her lower lip in frustration.
    He’d grabbed the lock out of her hand, asked her for the combination and with a few twirls and a quick jerk, he’d opened it for her.
    â€œHow did you do that?” she’d asked, looking at him with those incredible blue eyes as if he was a superhero.
    â€œNo big deal,” he’d said. And it hadn’t been.
    Then why would her words and the way she looked that day in her blue sweater and short, pleated cheerleader skirt be forever