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“So you can bid on me.” Oz’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “You would bid on me if I volunteered, right?”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”
Oz watched Blair review what Mr Duke would need for his pre-surgical workup. She moved in precise, skilled movements, just as she always did. But she was distracted, aware of him watching her.
Why had he said he’d think about agreeing to the auction? That he wanted Blair to bid on him?
Hadn’t he decided the night before that the best thing to do was to forget about that massage?
If only he could.
Except for following Kanesha’s joke, Blair had purposely kept her gaze averted from Oz’s, sending a strong message. She really planned to pretend nothing had happened between them. Damn it. Why wasn’t he grateful that she wasn’t demanding more of him? That she wasn’t asking what right he’d had to touch her?
In his dreams last night he’d done much more. He’d made love to Blair, over and over, until their bodies had been slick with sweat and he could no longer tell where he ended and she began.
>
He bit back a groan.
After Blair finished going over needed pre-surgical tests, Mr Duke turned to her. “My son is a little nervous about the auction. He asked me to find out if his date plans were okay or if he needed to come up with something more elaborate.”
“His date package sounds fine to me.” Blair stepped back so Oz could examine him. “Just so long as he’s a skilled pilot.”
“He is,” Mr Duke assured in the proud tone he used when discussing his son. “He’s been flying since he was a small boy. The Cessna is mine, but he takes her up more than I do these days.”
“You should make time in the future.” Oz placed the stethoscope diaphragm against Mr Duke’s hairy chest. “Enjoy life more rather than spending all your time at the bank.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears.” The man gave a self-derisive smile. “Actually, my wife is pushing me to retire so I can do just that.”
“Good for her,” Oz praised and meant it. Life was short. Each moment should be lived to the fullest. Something else he’d figured out since Dr T had gotten so ill.
His gaze went to Blair. She bit her lower lip, staring at him with a confused look.
Life was short. Too short.
More than anything, in that moment Oz wanted to touch her face, to feel her heartbeat next to his. He very quickly denied the unfamiliar emotion and buried it deep.
When he saw his next patient for the morning, he was the one ignoring Blair.
Oz listened to Georgia Donelson’s heart. He didn’t like what he heard any better than he’d liked her test results.
“I reviewed your echocardiogram, the ultrasound of your heart that Dr Majors ordered. Like he explained, two of your heart’s valves aren’t properly closing.”
“Can you fix them?” The gray-haired woman laced her hands in her lap, possibly in a silent prayer.
“Yes, but not easily. I can repair the pulmonic valve by cutting away the portion that isn’t sealing and suturing a new flap. But the mitral valve will have to be replaced. I need to schedule you for surgery as soon as possible. Preferably within a week or two at most.”
Looking stunned, she shook her head. “I’m not sure I can put this on my daughter right now.”
“Caden is doing better. Lacey is stronger than you think. She’ll want what’s best for you.” Blair reached out, placed her hand over the woman’s and gave a reassuring squeeze.
Oz hadn’t initially made the connection, but everyone in the hospital knew of Georgia’s grandson, who had been seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident.
“If we don’t repair your heart, and soon, it’ll likely kill you.” He’d learned long ago there was a time for sugar coating and a time to lay it all out there. Georgia needed to make the right choice. The choice that would save her life.
She looked to Blair for confirmation. Blair nodded, her eyes a bit glassy from unshed tears.
Oz couldn’t pull his gaze away. How did she do that? Be so connected to her patients? Blair treated each and every person she came into contact with as if they were a cherished family member.
