CHAPTER ONE

      SABRINA HOLLISTER knew she’d eventually see Dr Adrian McReynolds again, but she’d never dreamed that moment would come unexpectedly at a golf course or that she’d knock him senseless in the process.

      After a year of leaving her equipment in the back of her single-car garage to collect dust, her friend and fellow nurse Kate Ostmeyer had convinced her to brush off the cobwebs and participate in the First Annual Pinehaven Health Center Benefit Golf Tournament.

      Although her first- and second-hole scores weren’t anything to brag about, she’d parred the next few before shooting an unbelievable eagle on seven. Not bad for a woman who hadn’t swung a club since early last season.

      Between the excitement of continuing her game from where she’d left off and the thrill of being outdoors, instead of stuck inside on this beautiful summer day, life couldn’t have been better.

      Until the eighth hole.

      Sabrina took her first tee-off practice swing seconds before Kate completely shattered her concentration.

      “Mercy Memorial is loaning us one of their ER docs,” Kate announced, clearly proud of her news scoop.

      Sabrina froze and she felt her palms break out into a sweat inside her gloves. Steady, she cautioned herself. Don’t jump to conclusions.

      Determined to only sound mildly interested instead of frantic, she asked, “Really? They’ve never loaned us one before.”

      “There’s a first time for everything,” the OB nurse remarked cheerfully. “And why shouldn’t Mercy send us a doctor? They’re part of our consortium and the corporate folks decided that every hospital in the group would take their turn helping cover our ED until we hired a permanent physician. It’s Mercy’s turn.”

      Mercy’s turn or not, Sabrina scolded herself for leaping to conclusions. The man she’d known at her former place of employment surely wouldn’t be the one who would come to her new stomping ground. However, her reassurance didn’t stop her from mentally crossing her fingers as she struggled to inject the right note of idle curiosity into her voice. “When is this happening? Not for a few weeks, I hope.”

      “Oh, he’s already here. Started today. In fact, he’s playing in this tournament. Apparently our chief of staff wants to make a good impression so he insisted on including him as a member of his foursome.”

      Sabrina didn’t care what Dr Mosby wanted. She did, however, care about working with whomever Mercy had sent. As a member of the nursing float pool, Sabrina was temporarily assigned to the emergency department until one of the regularly assigned nurses returned from maternity leave. Which meant she’d be sharing space with the new guy for the next three weeks.

       Don’t let it be Adrian.

      Sabrina gritted her teeth and asked the obvious. “Do you know who he is?”

      “I forget his name,” Kate admitted sheepishly. “But, hey, you worked there before you joined us, so I’m