LOGINThe thought terrified him. He tried to aggressively slam the door on it inside his head, fighting the panic.No. Absolutely not.I love Ivy. I like Ivy. We’ve been together for two years. There is no way I am getting tangled up with another woman. This is just stress. I’m just totally out of my mind right now. I need to get the hell out of here and clear my head.“No, it’s just… it’s just work,” Chris choked out, his voice trembling slightly.He finally turned his head just enough to catch her silhouette in his peripheral vision.“Thank you, Spirit.”Spirit blinked, caught off guard. “Thank you? For what?”“For your concern,” Chris murmured quietly.He didn’t give her a chance to reply. He quickly crossed the street, unlocked his car with a loud beeping noise, climbed into the driver’s seat, and zoomed off into the dusk, his tires kicking up a small cloud of dust as he fled the neighborhood.Chase stood on the sidewalk, his sharp eyes tracking the red taillights of Chris’s car until t
The revelation hit Chris right in the solar plexus, knocking the wind straight out of him. Inside his chest, his heart gave a painful squeeze that made it really hard to breathe.A heavy weight dropped into the pit of his stomach, and he felt the blood drain entirely from his face.For the past two years, Chris had been dating Ivy Christabelle. He was incredibly proud of her. She is brilliant, beautiful, and a powerhouse in her own right.He flaunted her everywhere. Literally everybody in their social circle knew Ivy was his woman.In two years, he had never once felt the need to hide her, play down their relationship, or act single. Whenever other women tried to waltz their way into his life or slide into his DMs, he didn’t hesitate for a second to shut them down.“Hey, I have a woman,” he’d tell them, totally upfront, proudly showing Ivy off to their faces.But right now, for the first time in his entire life, he felt a sickening wave of shame because a woman had discovered he had a
Down on the lawn, Spirit watched the entire exchange in silence and awe.She had never seen this side of Chris before. He was always so gentle, so good-mannered, and such a peacemaker whenever he was around her.Seeing him step into that fierce and powerful lawyer mode sent a jolt right through her chest.It was so impressive.For a split second, she felt a deep sense of safety and admiration washing over her, knowing she had someone that powerful fighting for her.For the second time, Chris was standing up for her… again.But just as quickly as the warmth hit her, something dropped in her stomach, and a bitter reminder flashed in the back of her mind.Don’t get carried away, she told herself, her eyes welling with unshed tears as she watched his broad shoulders.He is everything a woman could dream of. But he can never be yours. He belongs to Ivy.But Why does he have to be so good to me? Her fragile heart countered her brain.Why is he doing all this nice stuff for me when he’s got
Spirit shrieked in horror, her eyes flashing with sudden anger.“Are you kidding me? That is a huge violation of my privacy!”“Well, I don’t think you really have any privacy when it comes to the hospital,” Chase muttered with a careless shrug, unfazed by her murderous glare.He then nodded toward the porch, where the angry man was still huffing and puffing.“Anyway, who is that loudmouth, and why is he making so much noise at your place?”Spirit let out a deep, ragged breath, rubbing her temples as the exhaustion of the whole day caught up to her.“That’s my dad’s younger brother, Reggie. He’s a freaking jerk. He’s trying to claim this house for himself after abandoning us for years. This place is the only thing my brother and I have left from our parents, and he’s trying to rip it away from us. I actually went to see a lawyer earlier today to try and handle it…”As the words left her mouth, Spirit’s expression tightened into a bitter, painful grimace. The mention of a lawyer brought
Chase had somehow slick-talked his way into the hospital’s administrative archives, scoring Spirit’s home address after a little flirting with the clueless infatuated clerk on shift. With the information in hand, he drove over to her neighborhood, pulling his Mercedes-Benz up to the curb of a modest, slightly worn-down residential street.The sun was just starting to set, but whatever peace the evening had to offer was being ruined by a man screaming at the top of his lungs on the front porch of a small house.“Who’s this loud-mouthed guy causing such a nuisance?” Chase wondered, throwing his car into park and cutting the engine.He frowned, watching the junkie-looking man pace back and forth on the porch, waving his arms around wildly and slamming his fist against the wooden railing.Just as Chase swung his car door open to step out, a familiar vehicle came tearing around the corner and screeched to a halt right on the other side of the street.Chase froze, his eyes widening in disb
Chase had to cover his mouth tight to muffle a laugh.“I knew it. You can’t hide anything from me, Chris. You are totally falling for this girl.”Chase shook his head, thoroughly amused.“Man, I really want to know what kind of wild drama went down between them to make Spirit turn so incredibly cold toward him. Did they actually hook up?”He shook his head vigorously at the idea.“No way. Chris is way too straight-laced to pull a move like that on a resident. And Spirit? No chance. She’s a total spitfire. She wouldn’t let him get away with anything that fast. So what gives?”While Chase was busy soliloquizing in his corner, his eyes remained locked on his twin.A few yards down the hall, Chris finally stopped near the central telemetry monitors. He reached out and tapped a petite nurse with messy brown hair on the shoulder.Chase squinted, trying to get a better look.“Wait, she looks familiar. Isn’t that the talkative girl who’s always glued to Nurse Browne’s side?”Distance made it
Spirit had spent the remainder of the afternoon tucked in the bedroom, the television playing in the background while her tired eyes tracked the slow hands of the wall clock. Despite the ridiculous luxury surrounding her, her stomach was beginning to growl with hunger. Chris had told her to u
A mocking chuckle vibrated through Charles’s chest. “You’ve got a lot of nerve for a rookie, Nurse Browne,” Charles murmured, straightening to his full, imposing height. He took a step forward, using his tall body to crowd her into the glass side table. “But let’s get something straight. This is
Spirit froze, the kit suddenly weighing a hundred pounds. If she went back to the hospital now, she would lose the five-thousand-dollar bonus. Worse, Katherine would know she had failed on her very first day, completely ruining her credibility before her residency even truly began. She thought o
“I don’t care where or how you’re gonna do it, John! Find someone!” The furious voice cut right through the silence of the lobby where Spirit Browne was seated with her messenger bag strapped to her shoulder. It was her first official day at Voss Memorial Hospital as a licensed Registered Nurse r







