Not the appropriate response a health care provider should have for a patient. Even one that wasn’t under her direct care. It still felt…wrong, somehow.

But she couldn’t help but smile when she saw him…and good Lord, his shirt had been pulled up slightly by the IV tubing, and the ridged muscles she glimpsed were enough to make her knees go weak.

The image flashed through her mind now, as she rode the elevator to the sixth floor.

Stop. He’s a patient going through a serious illness. Plus, looking like he does, he’s probably just as much a womanizer as Gavin. If not more so.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she glanced at the screen.

Dad.

She quickly silenced the call and put her phone away. He knew she didn’t like to answer her phone while she was at work.

Which was probably exactly why he chose now to call. He wasn’t much for texting, so he’d taken to calling her during work hours and leaving voicemails outlining his requests when he wanted something.

Lauren reached the office she shared with two other clinical pharmacists, finding the small room empty. One of them was on service at the hospital this month and was never around, and the other was probably still in clinic. As a resident, rather than a full-time employee, Lauren’s desk was the smallest and shoved between a bookcase and the back wall with no room to spare.

Lauren approached her desk and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out her purse and sliding it over her shoulder in one fluid motion. She didn’t spend more time in here than she had to…preferring to either remain in Dr. Patel’s clinic after hours or leave the cancer center altogether when she’d finished with her patient responsibilities.

It was just after three o’clock, and there were no patients left to see. But she had a review article for the American Journal of Pharmacy due on Monday, so she stopped at The Grind House before going home.

She’d discovered the nearby coffee shop during her first week at the cancer center. It was close enough that if they called her in, she could be there within minutes, and offered a less sterile backdrop when studying or working on a research project. The warm, comforting scent of coffee and low hum of conversation were just enough to distract her when she needed a break.

Ten minutes after she’d settled into her usual table, Tyler plopped down across from her.

He slid a chocolate chip cookie across the table with wide eyes, one finger against his lips. He would forever be her favorite barista.

“You’re so good to me,” Lauren said. “On your break?”

“Yep.”

“How’s your day going?”

“No small talk. I need to go make a call, but I had to stop over and tell you.”