Special Forces Rendezvous (2 page)

“So you do have an MRI,” he cut in, pretending to be fascinated.

She nodded, her dainty fingers toying with the end of her long brown braid, which fell over one shoulder. “We do, but we don’t have an on-site expert to handle the results. The scans are sent to the central lab in Merido, and the diagnoses and results are emailed back to us.”

He asked a few more questions without really caring about the answers, except he found himself incredibly fascinated the more he listened to Julia Davenport talk. She wasn’t like any doctor he’d ever met. She actually spoke English, for one, and not that complicated medical jargon that made people’s heads spin like merry-go-rounds.

And he liked the sound of her voice—it was soft but controlled, husky enough to be sexy but still professional. A rush of heat skated up his spine as his gaze moved to her mouth, those pouty lips that pursed each time she paused to organize her next thought.

Damn, he was getting all sorts of turned on courtesy of Dr. Julia Davenport. He definitely needed to nip this strange attraction in the bud. Now.

“So what you’re saying,” he said with another laugh, “is that you’re overcrowded, understaffed, short on equipment and pretty much doing the best you can by the skin of your teeth.”

Her answering laughter summoned another jolt of heat. “Pretty much,” she confirmed.

He studied the random questions he’d scribbled down in his notebook, pretending to think about his next line of inquiry. “What about the rebels?” he asked. “Are you getting any resistance from the ULF soldiers in the area?”

“Actually, no.”

Sebastian was surprised. It was no secret that the United Liberty Fighters resented the alliance between San Marquez and America. For the past ten years, San Marquez had seen nothing but strife and turmoil thanks to the ULF. What started out as an admirable movement to fight a genuinely oppressive government had transformed into violence, unrest and borderline terrorism.

“I’ve been here for six months and so far the rebels have left us alone,” she went on. “They might not appreciate American interference in their political affairs, but I believe that many of these rebels truly care about the country’s citizens. They won’t achieve anything by causing trouble for the medical workers who are attempting to help the people the ULF claims to be fighting for.”

“That’s a good point.” Readjusting in his unbelievably uncomfortable chair, he carelessly crossed his ankles together. “Let’s shift gears for a moment. Tell me about the inpatient care you offer. Simone said you have several AIDS patients staying here in the clinic...” He feigned ignorance. “And something about malaria?”

Julia nodded. “We do treat a handful of AIDS and HIV patients, but as you probably discovered in your research, this area isn’t heavily afflicted by either one. We tend to see more outbreaks of cholera and malaria.”

“So at the moment you’re dealing with a malaria outbreak?” he asked casually.

To his frustration, she smiled and shook her head. “No. We’re keeping about a dozen or so patients for observation, but only until their blood test results come back. It’s a precaution to test for malaria if the patients exhibit any of the symptoms, but I’m fairly certain none of the folks here have the parasite.”

“But a few patients did recently have it, right?”

“Yes, but those were just isolated incidents and not indicative of a major outbreak.”

“Can you tell me more about the cases? Without revealing names or private details, of course.”

Julia twirled the end of her braid around her finger. “They were all from the same family, which is why I don’t believe we have a malaria problem on our hands. It’s been cooler here in the north, so the mosquitoes haven’t been too brutal. The family in question neglected to take the preventive measures we encourage the locals to employ.”

“Mosquito netting, repellents?” he prompted.

“Exactly.” Her tone became soft, regretful. “They didn’t protect themselves and unfortunately, they didn’t come in for treatment right away either. By the time they did, it was too late.”

The pain in her hazel eyes told Sebastian that she was the kind of doctor who actually gave a damn about her patients. Then again, that shouldn’t surprise him. If she’d gotten into medicine for the money, she would be back in the States, running a cushy practice and counting her pile of cash. Instead, she’d chosen to work for peanuts in isolated, needy areas of South America and Africa.

He found himself curious about that, and had to fight the impulse to ask her why she’d gotten into foreign aid in the first place. But he couldn’t get off-topic, not when they were on the very subject he’d come here to talk about.

“How many dead?” he asked gruffly.

“The mother, all five of the children and the grandparents who were living with the family. The father didn’t get sick.” Another flicker of pain crossed those big eyes. “He’s devastated, to say the least. Lost his entire family in less than a week.”

Something hot and unwelcome squeezed Sebastian’s chest. He knew all about loss, didn’t he? Seemed like he’d been losing people his entire damn life.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on painful, unwanted memories. He’d come here to figure out if those malaria deaths were connected to the virus Harrison had been testing in Corazón, but it looked like this was nothing but a false alarm.

Unless... Was Julia Davenport in cahoots with the people hunting him? Was she continuing Harrison’s secret project by killing her own patients?

He let the possibility simmer for a moment, then dismissed it. Nah, he seriously doubted that. He prided himself on being a good judge of character, and it had taken only a few minutes in Julia’s company to decide that the woman didn’t have a malicious bone in her body.

“I wish there was more we could do for these people,” she said, a wistful note entering her voice. “But it’s tough. The organization gets most of its funding from private donors, and with the recession, we’re not seeing as many donations as we used to. Less money means fewer supplies, fewer staff to hire, less everything.”

“But it’s better than nothing,” he pointed out. “You’re doing what you can, Doc, which is more than what other people are doing.”

“You’re doing something, too,” she said with a warm smile. “You’re shedding light on the issues, forcing the people back home to open their eyes to the conflicts and inequality and inferior health care others are struggling with.”

An arrow of guilt pricked his chest, and for a moment he wished he
was
writing an article, just so he could put another one of those beautiful smiles on Julia’s face.

This was damn perplexing. When it came to women, he didn’t have a type, per se, not unless
temporary
counted as a type. He didn’t do serious or long-term, and Julia Davenport had serious and long-term written all over her. She was a doctor, for chrissake. Doctors were notoriously serious.

And why was he even thinking about this, anyway? He’d come here to interview the woman, not to sleep with her.

His body, however, clearly hadn’t received the memo. His cock was semihard beneath the zipper of his cargo pants, and his palms tingled with the urge to undo Julia’s braid so his fingers could dive into all those silky brown tresses.

“Sebastian?”

Her amused voice jerked him out of his tasteless thoughts, and he nearly dropped his notebook on the linoleum floor. He made a mad grab for it, only to end up with a paper cut as the notepaper sliced into his thumb.

“Damn,” he mumbled, lifting his thumb to his mouth and swiping his tongue over the line of blood forming there.

Julia’s hazel eyes sparkled with amusement. “Paper cut?”

Something about her teasing voice snapped him into flirt mode again. “Yup. Wanna patch me up?”

She laughed, but he noticed a light flush rising on her cheeks. “Really? A big tough guy like you is worried about a measly little paper cut?”

“Deathly worried.” He slanted his head. “So what do you say, Doc? Will you kiss it and make it better?”

Chapter 2

J
ulia’s heart actually did a somersault.
She’d thought that once you turned thirty, your heart didn’t do silly schoolgirl
things like somersaults, but sure enough, it was flipping around in her chest
like an excited dolphin.

Of course, how could her heart
not
turn into a dolphin when the sexiest man she’d ever met was flashing that
gorgeous smile at her?

Sebastian Stone was not at all what she’d expected him to be.
First of all, he was much more
fit
than she’d
pictured, his long, lean body clad in green cargo pants and a thin gray T-shirt
that couldn’t hide the tight six-pack of his abdomen. He wasn’t pretty-boy
attractive, but ruggedly handsome, hard lines and angles creating a stark,
masculine face that was more Marlboro Man than movie star.

Everything about him teased her senses. His playful gray eyes,
the dark blond stubble coating his strong jaw, the woodsy scent of him.

“Cat got your tongue, Doc?”

Jeez, even his voice was sexy. Deep, with a slight rasp to
it.

Blinking out of her stupor, Julia glanced at the thumb he’d
been holding to his lips. “Sorry, but kissing boo-boos is not part of my job
description,” she said, making an attempt to keep her tone dry. “But I should
probably clean that up for you.”

He let out a low laugh. “That’s not necessary. It’s just a
paper cut.”

She was already heading for the small cabinet next to the door.
“We’re in Valero,” she replied. “Even paper cuts get infected, and around these
parts, infection can lead to some pretty nasty stuff.”

She appreciated that Sebastian didn’t argue, not even when she
rummaged in the cabinet and pulled out a small bottle of antiseptic, a piece of
gauze and a bandage.

Heading back to the desk, she hopped up on the edge and
gestured at his hand. His dark blond eyebrows quirked for a moment, and then he
willingly gave her his hand.

“I know it seems extreme,” she admitted as she poured some
antiseptic on the gauze and wiped the thin cut on the pad of Sebastian’s thumb.
“But just suck it up and say thank you.”

His eyes twinkled. “Thank you.”

A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “Huh, I didn’t think
it would be that easy.”

“What?”

“You dropping the macho man protests and just accepting my
authority.”

The grin he flashed her made her heart skip a beat. “I know
when to pick my battles.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning you strike me as the type of woman who likes calling
the shots and who gets ornery as hell when she’s challenged.”

“I am,” she confessed with a sheepish laugh.

“Like being in control, huh?”

“Of course.” She wrinkled her forehead. “Who wants to feel out
of control?”

A seductive glint lit his gray eyes. “Lots of people like
relinquishing control every now and then.” He arched one brow. “Especially in
the bedroom...”

Heat scorched her cheeks. God, had he really just said
that?

Averting her eyes, Julia swiped the gauze over his thumb one
final time before unwrapping the bandage and sticking it on him. In an
unnaturally high voice, she squeaked, “All done,” and practically vaulted off
the desk like she was competing in the Olympics.

His soft laughter tickled her back, which she kept turned as
she shoved the supplies into the cabinet. Her heartbeat was going haywire again,
and she had to take a moment to collect herself.

What was up with the sexual awareness rippling over every inch
of her skin? And she could swear she felt that same awareness being radiated
from
him.
Which made no sense.

Sebastian Stone was sexy as all get-out, and a man as blatantly
sensual as him would never be attracted to someone like her. She didn’t suffer
from low self-esteem—she was perfectly content with the way she looked—but she
also wasn’t delusional enough to think she was a supermodel or anything. Average
features, frizzy hair, small breasts. And after six months of working herself
ragged in Valero, she was now officially ten pounds underweight. It was hard to
find the time to eat when you worked twenty-four hours a day, seven days a
week.

Gorgeous and glamorous she wasn’t. Nor was she overly feminine.
She didn’t wear a lick of makeup, kept her hair braided most of the time, and
she only donned the professional white coat for patients; the rest of the time,
she wore faded jeans, tank tops and beat-up sneakers.

So why was Sebastian looking at her like he wanted to eat her
up?

“Sorry, Doc, I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

His rueful voice stilled some of the butterflies floating
around in her stomach. “You didn’t,” she assured him, finding the courage to
meet his eyes.

The second their gazes locked, that hiss of attraction coursed
through the air again.

Holy cow. What was going
on?
She’d
never experienced this kind of instant, visceral chemistry with a man before,
and though she wasn’t the type of woman who fell into bed with complete
strangers, she honestly couldn’t see herself protesting if this man made a move
on her.

God, if he marched over and kissed her right now?

She’d probably
let
him.

Swallowing, she broke eye contact and fiddled with the end of
her braid. “Anyway, do you have any more questions? Because, er, I should check
on my patients.”

With a knowing smile, Sebastian stood up. He rolled his
shoulders for a moment, as if being stuck in that tiny chair had done a number
on his back. Hell, it probably had, seeing as the man was built like a
linebacker.

“I think we’re all good.” He reached for the tape recorder he’d
left on the desk. He clicked it off, then shoved it in his canvas shoulder bag,
along with the notebook he’d been scribbling in during the interview.

“So when’s the article coming out?” Julia asked, trying for
some casual conversation.

“Not sure yet. I don’t work for a specific publication,
remember? So I’ll need to shop the piece around first. I still have your email
address, though, so I’ll keep you updated.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate that.”

They slid out the door and fell into step with each other in
the corridor. When they passed two of the volunteers on staff, Julia quickly
introduced them to Sebastian, noting how both women cranked their flirt meters
up a notch or two in his presence. Apparently she wasn’t the only one affected
by the waves of magnetism rolling off that big, strong body of his. And he
reeked of confidence, walking in a measured gait that was almost a swagger,
offering that charming smile to everyone they encountered on the way out of the
clinic.

When they finally stepped onto the pillared porch, Julia
stifled a sigh of relief. The clinic wasn’t tiny by any means, but Sebastian
seemed larger than life, and it had been getting hard to breathe walking side by
side with him in that narrow hallway.

She inhaled the humid, late-afternoon air, her gaze sweeping
over the dusty courtyard that housed a few rust-covered pickup trucks, the two
vans they used for transporting supplies, and the crappy old moped she rode when
she visited the more remote settlements to see patients who were too old or sick
to travel, or who refused to come into town.

For the past six months, this had been her life. Waking up in
the canvas tent she shared with three other female staff members. Treating the
patients who came to the clinic and visiting those who couldn’t. Sitting inside
the mosquito tent with her colleagues every evening, listening to Simone’s
father strum his guitar, or Kevin Carlisle, the British physician, tell dirty
jokes.

At the thought of Kevin, a frown marred her lips, reminding her
that the Brit still hadn’t returned from his visit to the north. He’d been gone
for several days and was due to return sometime this morning, but he’d yet to
make an appearance.

“Everything all right?” Sebastian asked, evidently noticing her
frown.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she said absently. “I’m just making a mental
note to radio one of our doctors. He was seeing patients in some neighboring
villages, and he was supposed to be back by now.”

“Is there reason to worry?”

“Not yet. Kev notoriously loses track of time, so we usually
adjust for his tardiness—we take the time he says he’ll be somewhere, add five
hours, and if he exceeds that, then we’re allowed to worry.”

Sebastian chuckled. “Sounds like you Doctors International
folks are pretty close.”

“We are. It’s bound to happen when you spend every waking hour
with the same group of people. We’re like a family now.”

“I know exactly what you mean.” He paused for a beat. “In my
line of work, you tend to run into the same journalists and media folks and a
sense of camaraderie develops.”

A short silence descended, during which Julia tried to come up
with a way to ask him if he was sticking around for a while, without sounding
like she
cared
if he was sticking around for a
while. After a moment, she gave up. Screw it. She hated playing games, or saying
anything less than what was on her mind.

So she opened her mouth and said, “Are you sticking around in
San Marquez for a while?”

A regretful look entered his eyes. “I’m afraid not. I’m on a
nine-o’clock flight back to Ecuador.”

Disappointment skidded through her, but she hoped it didn’t
show on her face. She trailed after him toward the older-model Jeep parked a few
dozen yards away. She couldn’t help but admire his taut ass, which looked
ridiculously good in those cargo pants of his.

Oh, boy. She was totally lusting after this man.

And he was leaving. Just her luck.

Sebastian opened the driver’s door, but didn’t make a move to
hop into the Jeep. Instead, he offered an awkward-looking shrug. She got the
feeling this man didn’t feel awkward or nervous often, and she fought a smile as
she watched him shift his feet.

“Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Doc.”

“It was no problem at all.”

He cleared his throat. “And if, er, if I find myself in these
parts again, maybe I can come see you...”

He trailed off, making it unclear whether that was a question
or a statement.

She treated it like the former. “Sure, I’d like that.”

Their gazes collided, and there it was again, the crackle of
heat, the sizzle of awareness. Her nipples promptly puckered and strained
against her white cotton bra, and that spot between her legs throbbed with
anticipation. Jeez. You’d think she hadn’t had sex in two years or
something.

Oh, right. She
hadn’t
had sex in
two years.

Pushing aside the sarcastic thoughts, she focused on Sebastian,
who looked ready to say more. Julia held her breath, waiting for him to speak,
but then an indefinable expression washed over his face. She glimpsed
reluctance, regret, even a cloud of torment, and before she could try to make
sense of it, he slid into the driver’s seat and shoved a key in the
ignition.

“Keep up the good work, Doc.” He raised his voice so she could
hear him over the rumble of the engine.

She swallowed another dose of disappointment. “Have a safe
flight,” she told him, and then she stepped away from the vehicle and raised her
hand in a wave.

The Jeep raised a cloud of brown dust as Sebastian executed a
U-turn and sped toward the gravel road that would lead him back to
civilization.

“Who was
that?
”

Julia turned around in time to see Lissa Purdue descending the
porch steps and striding in her direction. Out of all the staff at the clinic,
she was closest with Lissa, the fun-loving Australian nurse she’d been bunking
with for the past six months.

“That was that journalist I told you about,” Julia answered,
her eyes still focused on the Jeep, which was slowly disappearing from view.

“For real? Because that was one crazy-hot bloke.”

She sighed. “Yes, he was.”

Lissa’s jaw fell open. “No way. The perpetually professional
Dr. Davenport is showing not-so-professional interest in a bloke? Are you ill,
love?”

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t very well argue. It was
true, the opposite sex hadn’t interested her much since she’d arrived on the
island. While some of the other women—Lissa included—had no qualms about
flirting with the single males in their vicinity, Julia made an effort to keep
things professional.

There were several attractive men working at the clinic,
including Kevin Carlisle and Simone’s single father, Marcus, but Julia wasn’t
one to mess around with a coworker. During her last placement in Ethiopia, she’d
watched two colleagues fall in love—and then she’d witnessed the relationship
crash and burn, making life downright unbearable for everyone who’d had the
misfortune of being around.

Unfortunately, with her coworkers off-limits, she didn’t have
many other options in terms of sex or romance. Aside from the cute pilot who
dropped off supplies every two months, there were no other single, eligible men
to lust over.

“You should’ve asked him to stay for dinner,” Lissa added,
slinging an arm around Julia’s shoulder.

At six feet, Lissa towered over Julia’s five-foot-five frame.
Some of the men on staff teased the Aussie about her monstrous height, but truth
was, everyone was a little bit in awe of Lissa. Now
Lissa
would definitely be Sebastian Stone’s type. A tall, gorgeous
redhead with a great rack and endless legs?

Call her selfish, but Julia was kind of glad Sebastian had
already left before Lissa came outside. No doubt the man would have been
drooling all over his hiking boots.

“He had a flight to catch,” she replied as the two women headed
inside.

“Pity. You could’ve benefited from a good shag.”

Julia burst out laughing. “Why are you so concerned with my sex
life? Seriously, you talk about it a scary amount.”