Restored
Authors: Kari Alice
Restored
Kari Alice
Kindle Edition
Copyright © 2016 by Kari Alice
All rights Reserved
June 2016 Edition
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author.
Edited by Dori Harrell
DoriHarrell.wix.com/BreakoutEditing
Cover by
IndieDesignz.com
Formatting by
Wild Seas Formatting
Published by Bay Isle Publishing
Text copyright © 2016 by Kari Alice
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ISBN: 978-0-9976075-0-5
For my husband, Jason
None of this would have been possible without you. You’ve supported me and cared for me more that anyone deserves. I love you.
For Kaylee and Jemma
Follow your dreams and never give up. That is what I want for you both. I love you both more than you’ll ever know.
1
When Two Collide
C
aleb shifted on the bench. The wooden slats left him lopsided, with his wallet setting him off kilter. He’d left work early with the hope of being able to get in and out without having to wait. Not today though. The line at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles wrapped around the back wall from the service desk. He looked around, but the others waiting had their gazes glued to their cell phones. He smiled to himself. What happened to polite conversation? He had a cell phone too, but it was a work necessity.
The interior of the BMV was generic. Fluorescent lighting and washed-out, speckle-tiled floors was a given in any state-run building. He took out his overstuffed wallet since there was time to spare. The worn leather was contoured from years of wear, though Corrine had given him a Coach wallet to replace it. He’d appeased her by saying that he’d switch over just as soon as his current wallet was worn out. It’d hurt him if it ever came down to switching though. His grandfather had given him that wallet. He’d be crazy to give that memory up for an overpriced replacement.
The lure of specialty lobster plates called him here today. Silly or not, he liked them. He didn’t want vanity plates or ones that marked him out as a doctor, just something a little different and area specific. He hadn’t had his Lincoln MKC for long. After waiting forty-five minutes, he rethought the need for lobster plates.
His glance kept drifting to a young woman sitting on the bench in front of him. There was something about her, something different. He imagined that she would smell floral, maybe like rosewater. He’d seen her face before she sat down, and she was fair, with delicate features and full lips. Her wispy, honey-blond hair drifted around her shoulders. She wasn’t dressed like she was from Maine. Her clothes weren’t functional, and he liked the fitted top that hinted at her trim but curvy frame. Her skirt was long and drifted over her calves, revealing nothing, which only left Caleb’s mind to run wild with speculation.
He validated his interest in her body with the mere fact that he was an MD, and doctors were naturally curious about human anatomy. He rubbed his lips together—something about her had gotten under his skin. He didn’t really have a type that he could pin down. He more or less just knew what he didn’t like. He didn’t like women who tried too hard or were too pushy.
She sat oblivious to him.
The spell was broken as Caleb’s number was called, and he headed toward the booth with his number flashing on the overhead panel. He willed his feet to move and tried to forget the illusion he’d created of the mysterious woman.
After Caleb finished up the required paperwork and paid his fees, he turned to leave. The woman was yards ahead, and she seemed to be in her own world. It was as if all of her attention was focused on the task at hand without any regard to her surroundings. She had her freshly printed license in her hand and tried to work it into her wallet, and her handbag was draped over her shoulder. Without warning, she was hung up in her own skirt, and her wallet and license skidded across the floor. Her hands pushed out in front of her, catching herself. Caleb ran in vain—he was too far away to catch her. No one else seemed to notice her fall, though a few people sucked in air at the sight of her on the floor. Caleb was by her side before anyone else could react.
“Are you okay?” Caleb asked and extended his hand to help her up.
The woman untangled her foot from her inner skirt and reached for Caleb’s hand. Her eyes were distant, as if she was hurt but trying to deny any injury.
Caleb slipped into his doctor role, which he could phase into on autopilot. She was now his patient, not the woman he had been admiring. “Come and sit down. Let me take a look.” He urged her over to a nearby bench.
She had other plans though. “Thank you, really. But I have to go,” she said, her voice clipped and her movements irregular. She was only feet away from the exit and proceeded to walk out the door, her gait unsteady.
Caleb tried to rein in his concern. He didn’t want to scare her. She obviously wasn’t okay, and could she get very far before she would need help? He assessed her movement and watched as she hobbled away. He followed her out the door and noticed a few drops of blood on the tile.
As soon as she pushed her way to the outside of the building, she slumped to the ground. She sat upright, but only because she had slid down the outer door. She closed her eyes, sitting motionless.
Caleb wondered just how many more people were going to faint around him today. He moved the bottom hem of her skirt aside to reveal her sandaled feet. She had nearly ripped her entire great toenail off when she tripped. Knowing that she needed first aid and to recover from her fainting episode, he scooped her up and carried her to his SUV. His assumptions were right—she did smell good. He found it difficult to look away from the beautiful woman in his arms. Caribou was such a small town, he should’ve seen her around before. From the close vantage point, she hid nothing from him. Her makeup was minimal, her skin flawless.
Passing strangers muttered their concerns, but no one offered any assistance. A woman in a cat sweatshirt asked if the young lady was okay. Caleb assured her that he was a doctor and knew how to take care of this injury. He always carried a medical bag, and it never failed. He needed it at the strangest times. It’d actually come in handy once on a hike he’d taken alone. He hadn’t seen the briar bush coming until his leg was halfway through it. Luckily, all he’d needed were tweezers and bandages.
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles, who would’ve thought? Someone could at this moment be turning him in for abduction—it had happened before—but it wasn’t like he had a choice. It was simply his duty. He grabbed his bag and took off her sandal. Caleb eased a towel under the woman’s foot before he addressed the nail injury. The nail was still mostly attached, but it had been halfway separated from the nail bed. He would have to work quickly, before she regained consciousness. He smiled. After all, a good and cooperative patient was a sleeping patient. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He took out wound wash and cleaned the toe thoroughly to prevent infection—toenails were especially painful when infected. He dried and covered the toenail with petroleum jelly. Since she was still unresponsive, he couldn’t ask her about allergies. He tried to reseal the nail in its proper position to protect the nail bed, and then he wrapped the toe with clean gauze.
She was waking up, and her arms swatted around her face. Her legs jerked slightly, but he had finished caring for the wound and only had to finish with the dressing. She was restless.
“Shh, you’re okay now,” Caleb said as he secured the gauze dressing with medical tape.
“Where am I? Who are you?” She licked her dry lips. Her eyelids cracked open slowly, until her intensely blue eyes met his own dark-brown ones. She held her hand to her forehead.
The intensity of her eyes electrified him. Caleb was momentarily paralyzed by the woman’s stare. He had never had this happen before with any other patient, and it was unnerving. It was deeper than empathy or even lust.
“My name is Caleb, and I’m a doctor. You hurt yourself when you fell. I brought you to my car to bandage your toe.” He spoke calmly, as if to an injured animal. He didn’t want to frighten her. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Lexi,” she said, her voice shaky. Was she going to cry?
Caleb had cared for patients who’d cried, yelled, or vomited in reaction to injuries. He preferred the criers. The smell of vomit would be hard to eliminate in his car. The yelling wasn’t always bad, but some patients also liked to hit as they yelled. She didn’t look like a yeller.
Lexi pushed herself up, sitting level to where Caleb stood. She seemed unsteady but in control of herself.
“Thank you, Caleb. You didn’t have to do this for me. I am glad you did though.” A sheen of perspiration glistened across her forehead and nose.
“My pleasure, Lexi.” His doctor persona dropped away. Now he was just Caleb again. He sanitized his hands, having dried blood on his palms, not much, but it wasn’t a good look. He usually would have worn gloves when dealing with another person’s blood, but with her he seemed to have forgotten himself.
After a few minutes of sitting upright, Lexi spoke. “Help me to my car?” She wasn’t asking as much as she was ordering.
“Are you feeling well enough to drive? I could take you home.”
“I’m okay. I’ll be fine to drive.” Her chin was set, and she meant it.
Caleb supported her under her arm. Lexi’s SUV was only a few vehicles down from where Caleb had parked. He carried her sandal and put it in the passenger side floor in her SUV. “In case you need help with that dressing.” He handed her his number on a folded piece of paper.
“Thank you, really. Thank you,” she said. Her fingers shook as she put the key into the ignition.
Caleb tried to resist her, but it was hopeless. As Lexi settled into the seat of her SUV, he leaned toward her and pushed his lips against hers. The parting of her mouth seemed to melt with his own, and it’d been worth the risk of rejection. She jerked; clearly she was startled. The kiss was delicate, and her lips were even softer than he had imagined. He noticed she kissed him back. He wanted to pull her closer and savor her, yet that would truly scare her away. As he slowly pulled away, his heart ached for more. He wanted her. She was different than any other woman he’d been with. Was it that she didn’t even have to try to be so beautiful? She was raw—wonderfully untamed.
“I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry,” he said in a husky tone. Embarrassment reddened his cheeks, but he couldn’t regret what he’d done.
Lexi’s face was flushed, and her breathing ragged. She touched her lips, as if she’d imagined what had just happened. “Don’t be sorry,” she said. She shut her door and left the parking lot without saying another word.
He watched as she pulled away, still unsure if she was even well enough to drive. He should have insisted on taking her home. But now she was gone…that was it for them… For a moment, he wished he’d followed through with what his own intuition had told him.
Guilt bubbled up as he remembered Corrine, who was probably waiting for him at his house. His stomach churned. It was hard to even think about another woman after that. But he would have to deal with Corrine soon enough. Whatever happened with Lexi was irrelevant; he had to end things with Corrine. The kiss he’d shared with Lexi was passionate, and his life with Corrine had been anything but loving, much less passionate.