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      To the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.

      To all my readers. This one is for you.

      Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

      —Proverbs 3:3

       Chapter 1

      The moment Jaclyn Campbell stepped off the elevator she felt her nerves kick in. Tension stirred in the pit of her stomach, and her pulse throbbed at the base of her throat. It was as if she was back in high school and had been called to the principal’s office. The only difference was she wasn’t sixteen anymore, but a twenty-six-year-old woman, an intern at Hopewell General Hospital, and she had gotten summoned to the office of the chief of staff, Dr. Germaine Dudley.

      Taking a deep breath and inserting her sweaty hands in the pockets of her slacks, she paused at the desk of Dr. Dudley’s administrative assistant, Mona Wells. The older woman glanced up from the paperwork just long enough to say, “Go on in, Dr. Campbell. They’re waiting on you in the conference room.”

      They? The pit of Jaclyn’s stomach nearly dropped to the floor. Who were “they”? She wondered just what kind of trouble she had gotten into. Granted she and Kayla Tsang, E.R.'s head nurse, never saw eye-to-eye on much of anything. Jaclyn had known from the first day of orientation it would behoove her to stay out of the woman’s way.

      Nurse Tsang was a stickler for rules and had the attitude of an old sourpuss, which was sad for someone who was only thirty-five years old. Jaclyn smiled to herself upon recalling what her roommate and fellow intern, Isabelle Morales, had told her just last week. “Miss Thang”—as other staff members called the nurse behind her back—needed to get laid.

      Quickly wiping the smile off her face and drawing in another deep breath, Jaclyn knocked on the door.

      “Come in.”

      Jaclyn entered the room to find three individuals sitting at a long table. Her gaze first went to Dr. Dudley who was seated at the head of the table, and as usual his gaze raked over her. It wasn’t the first time she’d thought the man had a roving eye. Isabelle also had caught him ogling her and other young female interns the same way. That was probably the only mark against the man. The married, sixty-something father of three was well-respected in the medical field, and he had some political clout as well because he and the governor were college chums.

      Her gaze then swept across the length of the table. The woman seated to the right of Dr. Dudley was Camille Hunter, the attractive public relations director of the hospital. Although Jaclyn didn’t know Camille that well, she’d always found the young woman friendly enough when they’d passed in the halls or met in the elevator.

      And last but definitely not least was the man who’d captured Jaclyn’s heart her first day at Hopewell. Dr. Lucien De Winter, chief resident.

      She wasn’t ashamed to admit to herself that she had a crush on the man and had for months. Her mother had warned her that it would be that way when she met her true mate. Jaclyn wasn’t sure how Dr. De Winter would fit into her future, but right now he was just a nice specimen of a man that any woman would love to lay claim to.

      Even while sitting down, Dr. De Winter was tall, and had a muscular build. His black hair was cropped short and he had the sexiest brown eyes any man had a right to have. And that neatly trimmed mustache and goatee only accentuated a pair of sensuous lips.

      Their gazes met briefly before she swiftly moved her eyes back to Dr. Dudley. “Nurse Tsang said you wanted to see me, sir,” she said.

      “Yes, come in and join us, Dr. Campbell. We won’t bite.”

      She nervously crossed the room and sat in one of the chairs that happened to be directly across from Dr. De Winter.

      “Now, Dr. Campbell, the reason you were summoned here today was to first thank you for your bravery as well as your loyalty in reporting the drug abuse of one of your fellow interns. I know that wasn’t an easy decision to make, and I want to assure you that you did the right thing and you are appreciated for doing so. We were hoping we would be able to handle this matter rather quietly, but it seems that won’t be the case.”

      Jaclyn nodded, trying to follow what Dr. Dudley was saying, but her close proximity to Dr. De Winter was distracting her. Was that heat she felt radiating off the man? She wouldn’t be surprised given how drawn she was to him. It was an attraction she’d constantly tried to downplay, thanks to the hospital’s no-fraternization policy regarding managers and those reporting to them.

      “The Matthews family has threatened the hospital with a lawsuit.”

      Jaclyn blinked. Lawsuit? That one word pulled her attention back to Dr. Dudley. “I don’t understand, sir.”

      “And