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      CHAPTER ONE

       ‘No.’

      The single word was as dramatic as the way the man had stormed into Layla Woods’s office and slammed a piece of paper onto her desk.

      As dramatic as the man himself.

      Alex Rodriguez was clearly furious. The waves of his thick, jet-black hair looked rumpled—as if he’d pushed angry fingers through it. Eyes that were nearly as dark glared down at Layla.

      A long way down. Layla had to fight the urge to leap to her feet so that she could feel taller. Braver. But that would be a dead giveaway that she was rattled, wouldn’t it? And she couldn’t afford to let Alex know the effect he was still capable of having on her.

      With a satisfyingly steady hand, she reached for the piece of paper. The memo she had sent out that morning to all the senior staff members here at the Angel Mendez Children’s Hospital.

      ‘This is the agenda for the next monthly report meeting.’

      ‘And you’ve put me down as being the first presenter.’ Alex folded his arms. ‘The answer’s no. I decline the invitation.’

      ‘It’s not an “invitation”,’ Layla flashed back. ‘It’s the case I’ve chosen to open the meeting. I’m sorry if it’s inconvenient but it’s your patient, Alex, therefore you present the case. End of story.’

      The head of paediatric neurosurgery made an exasperated sound, turning as if he intended to storm out of her office in the same way he’d entered. Instead, he stopped beside the large window, with the backdrop of a bright blue October morning. Was he taking in the fabulous view of New York’s Central Park that this prestigious top-floor office had to offer?

      An office befitting Layla’s position as the new chief of paediatrics at this famous hospital. Her dream job. A position that had been in jeopardy a few short weeks ago until Alex had stepped in to protect her.

      ‘What the hell are you playing at, Layla?’

      The angry tone of Alex’s voice must have carried because Layla’s secretary appeared at the open door. Layla gave her a tight smile.

      ‘Hold my calls, please, Monica.’ The tilt of her head conveyed the message that she wanted more than her calls held to deal with this. The door was tactfully closed as her secretary retreated.

      ‘Well?’ Alex turned back to face her and this time Layla got to her feet.

      Slowly.

      She walked to the other side of her desk but couldn’t go any closer to Alex. The huge can of worms that represented their shared history was blocking the way.

      Or maybe it was the memory of what had happened the first time they’d confronted each other since they’d both been working here at Angel’s. When they’d been close enough for the flames of a sexual chemistry that had clearly never died completely to flare into that scorching kiss.

      It couldn’t happen again.

      Their past had been precisely what had put her new job in jeopardy. Had she really been naïve enough to think that it had been so long ago it couldn’t affect her life any more? That she could take a high-profile position like this and it wouldn’t matter that she hadn’t disclosed her involvement in the malpractice suit that had nearly destroyed Alex’s career five years ago?

      Somehow they had to move past this. Learn to work together.

      ‘I had intended discussing the agenda with you. You declined the appointment I tried to set up last week.’

      ‘I was busy.’ Alex held her gaze. ‘As you would have noticed if you’d bothered checking my electronic calendar.’

      Layla kept her expression carefully neutral. She had checked his calendar but he could have easily suggested another time. They both knew the real truth. He had been avoiding her.

      Since that kiss.

      He hadn’t even let her voice her thanks for the way he’d stepped in and defended her at the board meeting when her integrity had been under examination and it had been highly likely that they would decide she was not the right person to oversee the talented staff that Angel’s was so proud of.

      Being thwarted in expressing her appreciation had been a putdown but Layla’s aggravation went deeper than that.

      Good manners had been drummed into Layla Woods since she’d been knee high to a grasshopper and saying thank you to someone who’d done her such a huge favour wasn’t just about maintaining a good appearance.

      It was the right thing to do.

      The idea of using the monthly report meeting had been a brainwave. OK, choosing a time she’d known Alex was busy to offer a chance to discuss the agenda could be deemed unprofessional, but Layla had had enough. She was taking control.

      She hadn’t expected it to backfire quite so instantly. Why hadn’t Alex simply continued to avoid her? He could have asked his deputy head of neurosurgery, Ryan O’Doherty, to present the case on his behalf.

      ‘It’s not a current case,’ Alex added. ‘And it was successful.’

      Of course it was. Layla would hardly have picked a case that was presenting a current dilemma or, worse, one that had had a bad result.

      The last thing either of them would want would be to go over that old ground. To the case of the toddler, Jamie Kirkpatrick, that had brought them together in the first place. To the cutting-edge surgery for a complicated brain tumour that had fallen disastrously short of being successful. Jamie had died. Alex had been sued by a distraught family looking for someone to blame. He’d been cleared but Layla hadn’t been there to help him celebrate, had she? She’d ended their affair the night before Jamie’s surgery.

      She nodded at Alex’s terse summary. ‘That’s precisely why I chose it. We don’t just put up a current, complicated issue to get the benefit of input from different specialties. Or to dissect what went wrong in a case that wasn’t successful. Sometimes it’s a good thing to reflect on a triumph. And Matthew was a triumph.’

      ‘There are plenty of other cases you could have chosen.’

      ‘Not one that so many people are so interested in.’

      The brain tumour