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CHAPTER ONE

Six months later, mid-January, Crater Lake, Montana

I HATE THE COLD. I hate the cold.

Sarah thought coming from New York she’d be used to the frigid temperatures of northwest Montana. New York State bordered Canada, too; it should be the same, but it wasn’t. Not at all. This was a different kind of cold. There was no moisture in the air and as she tried to shake the remnants of bone-chilling frigidity from her brand-new office, she couldn’t remember why she’d decided to take this job in Crater Lake, Montana.

Dr. Draven.

Right. Her teacher from medical school. Dr. Eli Draven. She didn’t study under him, because she didn’t have an interest in becoming a cardio-thoracic surgeon, but she remembered him clearly from her days at Stanford.

He was a good teacher, if not a bit full of himself. He’d taken a shine to her until she’d decided not to pursue cardio; then she was no longer his star, but he still spoke highly of her and when this job was offered to her by Dr. Draven’s brother, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity, because she was more than ready to get out of New York and out of her father’s iron grip.

No matter what she did, nothing was good enough for her parents.

They still saw her as their baby.

And they wouldn’t be happy until she was living a pampered life in a Central Park West penthouse, married to an investment banker or a lawyer or even a doctor.

She couldn’t be the doctor, however.

That was unacceptable.

Why do you need to work, pumpkin? Your husband, if you marry well, can take care of you.

Her mother’s archaic way of thinking made her shake her head. Sarah peeled off the thick parka she’d bought when she moved out to Montana and hung it on the coat rack in her office. There were no cabs in Crater Lake, unless you counted the very unreliable Bob’s Taxi, and she didn’t.

At least she’d bought a car when she first landed in Missoula and had snow tires put on it. She was well versed in the rugged country living she was immersing herself in, even if she did complain about the cold just a bit.

Why do you want to go work out in the wilderness?

Sarah’s sister, who was married to a very prominent surgeon and occupied one of those coveted penthouse suites on Central Park West, couldn’t understand what was driving her to do this.

Sometimes Sarah wasn’t even sure herself.

Because your dad got you your prestigious appointment in that Manhattan hospital. It wasn’t you.

Sarah sighed when she remembered. After a summer of touring around different hospitals in each state, presenting her Attending’s research and teaching different surgeons on using the newest model of robotic surgery, she came home to New York to accept one of the most prestigious positions offered to a trauma surgeon at Manhattan Grace, only to find out that the only reason she was chosen to tour the country and work with Dr. Carroll was that her father was friends with Dr. Carroll. They played a few rounds of golf in the Hamptons. Even her brother-in-law pulled strings for her as if she couldn’t make it on her own.

It just shook the foundation of everything Sarah had thought she knew.

It had knocked her confidence completely. Perhaps she wasn’t the surgeon that she’d thought she was? So she’d turned down the position, much to her father’s chagrin.

This was why she distanced herself from people. So many people trying to control the course of her life. She just couldn’t trust anyone.

Not even herself.

Do you know how many strings I’ve had to pull for you over the years? Just so you can play doctor? Come to your senses, Sarah.

Sarah came to her senses all right. She threw the job back in her father’s face, sold her apartment on the Upper West Side and took the job offer from Silas Draven to be the general practitioner and general surgeon at his newly opened ski lodge.

The ski lodge was set to open in one month, on Valentine’s Day, and Sarah couldn’t wait to get started. It would be a slower pace of life, but at least she would be able to help people here. She could be a doctor and not worry that her father was pulling strings to get her whatever she wanted. She was burned-out and really didn’t know who she was or what she wanted anymore. She didn’t even know if she wanted to be a surgeon and that thought terrified her, because for so long surgery had been her life.

For now a general practitioner sounded good. She could practice medicine and figure out where to go next. It sounded almost too good to be true.

Yeah. She could do this.

She smiled to herself and picked up her diploma from Stanford, in its frame, which was looking so forlorn on her desk. In fact her whole office was a complete disaster, with boxes and supplies scattered everywhere.

This was not an office yet. She couldn’t see patients in a place that looked as if a storage unit had exploded. It wasn’t very professional.

“Time to make this place my own.” She spied the stepladder that had been left by the painters in the corner. She grabbed a hammer and a nail. She’d never hammered anything in her life, but there was always a first time for everything.

“I can do this,” she said, as if trying to reassure herself. How hard could it be to hammer a nail into a wall? She had this. Except where she wanted to put the nail in was a little out of her reach for the stepladder. So she climbed to the very top of the ladder and held the wall for a bit of balance. Her perch was precarious, but all she was doing was hammering in one nail and it wasn’t that big of a drop down to the carpet.

She lined up the nail and held the hammer, ready to drive the nail home.

“Did you check for a stud?” a male voice asked from behind.

“What …?” Sarah turned, surprised that someone had snuck into her office and she hadn’t heard them, but in the process of turning around she forgot what a precarious perch she had on the top of the stepladder and lost her footing.

Sarah closed her eyes and waited for her backside to hit the floor, but instead she found herself landing in two very strong arms and being held against a broad, muscular chest.

“You shouldn’t stand on the top of a …” He trailed off.

“Who are you to tell me …?” Sarah opened her eyes and bit back a gasp as she stared up at the most stunningly handsome man she’d ever seen. Brown hair, with just a bit of curl, deep blue eyes and a neat beard, which just added to the ruggedness of his face.

Those blue eyes of his were wide with surprise and then she had the niggling sensation that she’d seen this face before, but couldn’t recall when or where.

“What in the name of all that’s good and holy were you doing up there with a hammer?” he demanded as he quickly set her down on her feet and took a step back from her as if she were on fire.

“Excuse me?” she asked. Who did this guy think he was?

“I’m telling you that wasn’t a smart move climbing up on that ladder. You could’ve killed yourself if I hadn’t showed up.”

“Why did you show up? Who are you?”

His blue eyes flashed and he crossed his arms, fixing her with a stare that was meant to frighten her. Well, it didn’t scare her.

“I’m here to take you out.”

“Out? I don’t believe I made any dates with anyone since I arrived in town.”

He smirked. “Not on a date, darling. Though if I were to go on a date with someone, you’re quite the fetching thing.”

“Fetching? Darling?”

He held up his hands. “Look, I was teasing. I’m not interested in dating coworkers, let alone headstrong doctors from out east. I’m to take you out on the skis to show you some of the private residences being built and how to access them.”

“Oh.” She was slightly disappointed. Not that she had any interest in dating a mountain man, but a fling might’ve been fun. Especially since this mountain man was deliciously handsome.

Don’t think like that. You’re here to prove yourself, not date.

Sarah didn’t date.

Her parents had tried over and over, setting her up with the right sort of man. Well, in their eyes anyway. It was just easier to concentrate on work and not bother with dating, romance or sex.

All the right kind of men Sarah had dated briefly in her early twenties were all wrong. It never felt right. There was never that spark or connection one was supposed to feel when falling in love with someone, but then again, since she’d never experienced it, maybe it was just a myth.

Men seemed to gravitate to her because she was a socialite and came from money. It was all about status for them, and as she was too focused on her career, she never pursued a man on her own and she never made the time to look for a man beyond her parents’ circles.

Single life was so much easier.

And lonely.

“Do you know how to ski?” he asked disparagingly, breaking her chain of thoughts.

“No.” Then she groaned inwardly at the thought of going back outside in the cold.

“I thought as much,” he said condescendingly. “Well, I’ll give you a few minutes to suit up so we can head out.”

It was the tone that sparked a vivid memory for her suddenly. She could see those dark blue eyes glittering above a surgical mask. Defying her.

Get out of my OR!

Not on your life.

No way. It couldn’t be him. It just couldn’t be him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Don’t like the cold?”

“It’s not that. I think I know you.”

He smiled. “Do you?”

“What’s your name?” she asked.

Don’t be him. Don’t be him.

Then he grinned like the cat who’d got the cream. “Dr. Luke Ralston.”

Damn, but then she was ticked. She’d put that memory of her time in Missoula far from her mind, not giving it much of a second thought because, really, what did it matter? She was in New York, let Luke Ralston have Montana.

Besides, Shane Draven had pulled through.

It was all trivial. Except now she was in Montana, working on their patient’s uncle’s resort and Dr. Luke Ralston was her coworker? This was a totally messed-up situation. Something she was not comfortable with.

“You knew exactly who I was.”

Luke shrugged. “Not at first, but when you fell into my arms it all came back to me.”

“And you didn’t say anything? Like, maybe, ‘Hey, we know each other, we’ve worked together before’ or something like that?”

He shrugged again and then hooked his thumbs into the belt loops on the waist of his tight, tight jeans. “What does it matter?”

“It matters a lot. You’re a jerk!”

“Why am I a jerk? I mean, I did save you from probably concussing yourself or something.”

“You were the guy I talked to in the hallway in Missoula. When I asked who Dr. Ralston was, you said you didn’t know where he was. You lied to me.”

“I didn’t really want to argue with you in the hallway. I was on my way to the ICU to check on my patient. To make sure he pulled through surgery.”

“He was my patient.”

He grinned, smugly. “I brought him down off that mountain. He was my patient. You were just a locum surgeon. You didn’t stay to make sure he made it through the night. You headed back east, to wherever you came from. I knew nothing about you and I didn’t trust you. Of course, now you’re going to be a regular here in town.”

“Had I known there was a Ralston in Crater Lake I would’ve turned the job down.”

Luke chuckled. “You must’ve taken this job on an impulse, then.”

“Why do you say that?”

“If you’d researched Crater Lake you’d realize the family practice in town is run by a Ralston. I wasn’t really hiding my identity. Not in my town.”

Damn. He was right. She hadn’t really looked to see what physicians were in town. She’d taken the job so quickly. She’d just been so eager to get out of New York City and away from her father’s control. Crater Lake had sounded like a nice small town, and a job catering to the rich and famous in a resort had sounded perfect. It was a chance to prove herself to those who moved in her parents’ circles.

Then maybe she could step out of her father’s shadow. She wouldn’t be Sarah Ledet, New York heiress and daughter of Vin Ledet, one of the wealthiest men on the eastern seaboard. She’d be Dr. Ledet, physician.

“You’re regretting your decision to take this job, aren’t you?” Luke asked. “I can see it on your face. You look absolutely horrified.”

“Not the job, just who I have to work with.”

He grinned and then laughed. “You’re still a spitfire.”

“Spitfire?”

“It’s a compliment.”

Sarah tried not to smile. She didn’t want to smile. He was the jerk who’d disrupted her OR, given her a hard time and then lied to her. He was the one who’d questioned her surgical procedure and every move she’d made on that patient until she’d snapped. Only his smile had been infectious and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed, even though she was ticked off that it was him. The thorn in her side from last summer, standing right there in her office.

She should just throw him out. As she should have done from her OR.

When she glanced back up at him the lighthearted mood had changed. He looked annoyed and uncomfortable.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“Something changed. Just a moment ago you were complimenting me and joking. Now you look annoyed.”

“I’m annoyed we’re wasting the light standing around pointing fingers.”

“Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Well, I would gear up. I don’t have all day to wait around for you.” He walked out of her office leaving her standing there absolutely confused.

What had just happened?

Sarah wasn’t sure, but she knew it would be best to keep her distance from Luke Ralston, though that was going to be tricky seeing how she was about to be dragged out on the mountain in the bitter cold with a man who was a little bit dangerous.

Not just a little bit dangerous.

A lot.