Page 59 of Healing Hearts

“Yeah, we’ll find them.” She leaned back against his chest. “Thank you for sticking with me on this.”

Gene kissed her temple. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”

“I almost doubted myself.” She gave a small shrug. “In hindsight, I don’t blame you for worrying. But if you hadn’t gone to Patrick for help, we wouldn’t have the sketch, and Stella wouldn’t have recognized Mona.”

“It was your intuition that kept you going,” Gene said. “Do you get these feelings about everything?”

Amanda turned to face him. She gazed up into his eyes as she slowly ran her hands over his chest.

“For the important stuff, yes.”

Amanda tried not to drool at the fine, almost-naked specimen standing in front of her. But it proved to be impossible, even when she was worried about those kids in the woods. Dr. Rowland might claim he had little time for a life outside work, but he sure had time for the gym.

He didn’t get those pecs and abs from lifting syringes.

Gene didn’t move a muscle when Amanda had turned in his arms to face him. His eyes studied her as her fingers explored the expanse of his chest and ran through the sprinkles of dark hair on it. If she didn’t feel his heart beating faster, she’d think he didn’t react to her touch at all.

“I know you’re a man of science, but do you ever get that strange sensation in your belly when something feels right?” Amanda asked. “Or wrong?”

He lightly put his hands on her hips. “I rely as much on my instincts as I do on science.”

“What is your instinct telling you now?”

“It’s telling me to follow your lead.”

A smile tugged at his mouth as his gaze fell to her lips.

Amanda stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. She fully expected him to sweep her off her feet and take over once she made the first move. But Gene returned her exploratory kiss with a gentle nudge of his own. Unlike the last time they’d kissed, he seemed to hold back his passion.

“I need a shower,” she whispered against his lips.

His grip on her hips tightened. “Me, too.”

“Want to join me?”

“Absolutely.”

Gene smiled, spread his hands over her buttocks and heaved her up.

Amanda instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, knowing in her heart this felt right. She would worry how it would feel tomorrow or at the end of his three-month stint when that time came.

Gene carried her to the bathroom, showing her whatever weight he’d been bench-pressing; it was worth the work. He let her legs slide to the floor as he turned on the shower.

“I don’t think you’ll need this for now.” Amanda didn’t want to wait for the water to get warm. She flicked off the towel that barred her from the full enjoyment of his body.

“Doctor, what a pity to hide that body under scrubs all day.”

Her eyes roamed the masculine display in front of her. Gene Rowland was full of surprises. He might be all cinnamon roll with his clothes on—attentive, gentle, even sweet—but once stripped, he was the type of man who could turn a good girl bad.

“Is that…?” She ran her index finger just above the dip of that sexy male pelvis. Then she laughed when she got a closer look at it. “…a Band-aid tattoo?”

It was actually two heart Band-aids overlapped on each other. It was both sexy and cute.

“Were you dared to get that?” Amanda asked with an amused smile.

Gene chuckled. “No. It’s a reminder that sometimes a doctor’s work isn’t all complex procedures.”

“Sometimes it’s just a cute Band-aid over a boo-boo?”

---