Page 28 of A Soldier's Return

Her knees were trembling like she’d just run a marathon, and it was taking every ounce of concentration she had to stay on the path and not to wander blindly into the lilac bushes.

Oh. My. Word.

Dr. Sanderson Jr. packed one heck of a wallop in his kiss. She had been so very tempted to stay there in his arms for the rest of the day and simply savor the magic of it.

He was right, though. Their kiss was a mistake that never should have happened. At the first touch of his hard mouth on hers, she should have come to her senses and realized what a disaster this was.

She still wasn’t sure why she hadn’t done exactly that. Maybe it was the adrenaline crash from working on Jim, or maybe it was the highly inappropriate dreams she was still having about him, or maybe it had simply been the result of the long week of doing her best to fight her attraction to him.

Regardless, their kisshadhappened. How on earth was she supposed to face him at work all day without remembering the taste of his mouth or the salty, musky scent of him, or the safety and security she found in his arms?

She had a serious crush on the man. This morning hadn’t exactly helped her gain control of it, first watching him save a life and then sharing that amazing kiss.

As she headed with Fiona toward the house, Rosa walked out on the back porch to greet her. She could tell immediately that her friend had seen her and Eli together at the bottom of the garden. She must have been sitting here when they walked up, with a clear view down to the garden to the beach-access gate.

The only thing she could do was own it. “Yes. Okay. I just kissed my boss. We’re both determined to forget about it. I would appreciate if you would try to do the same.”

Rosa gave a laugh that she tried to disguise as a cough. “All right. Enough said. It’s none of my business anyway.”

Okay, she probably shouldn’t have said anything. Now she’d only made things worse by bringing attention to the kiss, like in high school when girls used to walk into class and announce to everyone that they had a new pimple.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Nothing to apologize for. I only came for my dog so you did not have to walk her up the stairs.”

“Thanks. You have no idea what kind of morning it’s been. Eli and I happened upon a tourist who collapsed from a heart attack.”

“Is that what the paramedics were doing? I heard the sirens and worried. How is he?”

“Better than he would have been if we hadn’t been there. Eli gave him CPR, then shocked him with the AED and he came back. It was amazing to see.”

“I can imagine. Good for Eli.”

“The kiss you saw. That was kind of a crazy reaction to what happened. The adrenaline rush and everything. We shouldn’t have... It won’t happen again.”

“We are not going to talk about that, though.” Rosa smiled and Melissa felt a wave of gratitude for her.

“When do you leave for your hiking trip?” she asked.

“The plan was to take off tonight and be back tomorrow night, but my friend just texted me and had an emergency in the family, so now we’re leaving tomorrow and will be back Sunday night. Fiona will be here until then, just in case you need her.”

“I might. Thanks.”

Fiona tugged at her leash, obviously wanting to be home, and Rosa gave the dog an exasperated look. “I’d better get her some water, then we’ve got to head into the office. Have a good day.”

“Same to you.”

As Rosa and Fiona headed up the stairs to her apartment, Melissa opened the door to her own.

Inside, she fought the urge to collapse on her bed for a few hours. Or maybe the rest of the day.

Rosa had wished her a good day. She had a feeling it would be anythingbutgood. How on earth was she supposed to make it through, especially having to face Eli again after that stunning kiss?

She could do it. She had tackled tough things before and she could do it again.

No matter how difficult.

By some miracle, she and Eli managed to get through the day’s appointments at the clinic without too much awkwardness between them.

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