She poured one for him and refilled her glass. “We can relax in here,” Serenity said as she led him to the family room. She took a seat on the sofa, and he lowered himself next to her, leaving less than a foot between them. To distract herself from her nervousness, she reached over, grabbed two coasters, and placed them on the coffee table in front of them. “I know it’s Saturday, but do you tend to work on the weekends?”

Gabriel shifted to face her and draped his arm on the back of the sofa. “I did do a few hours today, but according to my buddies, I need balance in my life, so I forced myself to quit.”

“And do you need balance?”

He swirled the contents of his glass. “Probably. Definitely.”

She angled her head and studied him. “With your career, I can see how easy it would be to get caught up working at all hours of the day and night. All it takes is the click of a switch and your office is there. I have set hours, so it’s not a problem. What you need to do is set your work hours and stick to them.” Before moving, Serenity had started taking on extra shifts, trying to position herself to be ready when a nurse manager job became available. But she ended up close to burnout and had to take off nearly a month to recover. She’d had to learn the hard way that her health was more important than prestige.

“You’re probably right. I was supposed to be taking a vacation—well, a forced vacation—but instead I negotiated a deal to decrease my time for the next few weeks, and then I’ll see how it goes. The crazy thing is I’ve actually cut back on my work hours and have been able to get more done.”

“It could be that because you’re rested, your brain can be more productive.”

Gabriel leaned closer. “Is that your professional opinion, Ms. Wheeler?”

His nearness was playing havoc with her senses, and she took a huge gulp of her wine. “Um…both professional and personal. I’ve been where you are, and it’s not worth it.”

He tilted the glass to his lips and didn’t comment immediately, as if he were deep in thought. Finally, he asked, “What made you decide to move here? Andrea said you used to live in San Diego. I’d think the opportunities for professional growth, not to mention the salary, would be much better there.”

“I needed a change.”

“But this is a drastic change from living in a big city. I’m not sure I could stay here past a few months. Couldn’t you have transferred to another hospital, LA, or some other similar place?”