Read the book: «The Nurse's Secret Suitor»

Chapter One

Decorated military veteran turned civilian trauma nurse Kate Dalton was known for keeping a cool head under fire. But she’d never faced anything like this.

Here she was, back in the United States, biting back bile and terror as strong as any she’d experienced overseas. When she was in a combat situation, she was braced and prepared for things to go wrong. Here at home, her guard was down. Ten minutes earlier, she’d been enjoying the reception at her friends’ masquerade-themed marriage ball. But then the text message arrived.

Phone clutched like a pinless grenade, Kate strode from the wedding reception room to the nearest exit. There. Patio. Best way out. If she could get there before hurling blissfully consumed cake.

Regal-hued LED lights danced over her sapphire costume and skin tanned by a three-year deployment under Middle Eastern sun. She probably looked striking—if you didn’t notice the tension in her shoulders or the frown on her face.

“Breathe, Dalton, that’s an order. You can’t fall apart. Especially not where everyone you know can see you. You don’t break down. You don’t give in to fear. That’s not who you are.”

Despite her drill-sergeant self-talk, Kate’s thumb quivered as it scrolled again over Mom’s frustratingly cryptic text.

I’m afraid I have some upsetting news. Call me when you’ve got time to talk.

Unable to wait, Kate had found a quiet corner of the room and called immediately, but Mom was too distraught to talk. Mom never cried. Something was really wrong. Worse, Dad wasn’t answering his personal or military phones.

Terrible scenarios raced through her head. Had something happened to her father? Or to her grandfather, who was scheduled for surgery? She knew the procedure was risky already—her career-military grandfather had ruined his lungs inhaling so much military jet fuel over the years. Had there been another complication? Or maybe her parents had bad medical news of their own. Cancer, heart disease...the possibilities went on and on.

Kate couldn’t breathe. Her chest tightened, eyes burned. She rushed out a side door hoping no one saw. She couldn’t be around people right now, not until she composed herself. In a secluded corner of a low-lit garden patio, she hid under an ornamental fuchsia tree. Heaving fresh Southern Illinois air, she redialed her mother’s number.

An answering click, then sniffles sounded. Kate’s jaw clenched. “I’m not getting off this phone till you tell me what’s going on. Don’t make me leave my good friends’ wedding to drag it out of you.”

“The wedding! I forgot, Kate. I shouldn’t have texted you.”

“Did something happen to Dad?” He was a deployed war general, sure, but he hadn’t been near danger, had he?

“No. Your dad is safe. It’s...honey, it’s us.”

“What’s ‘us’ mean?” Kate paced. “Me and you? You and Dad?”

“Your dad and I. I didn’t want to tell you by phone, but I fly out in the morning for Grandpa’s hip recovery. That’ll keep me out of touch for days, and I don’t want you hearing secondhand. Kate, I need to tell you, your dad and I are divorcing.”

“Div—” Kate choked on the last word she expected to hear. Surely Mom is kidding. Right? Her mind couldn’t wrap around it.

“Kate, Grandma’s calling in, probably with a surgery update on Grandpa. We’ll talk later, okay? I love you.” Click.

Teeth grinding, Kate redialed Dad, stat.

“Hello?”

Finally! “Dad?” Kate hated that her voice broke in front of her five-star military hero dad. “Please tell me it’s not true.”

A deep sigh. “I’m sorry. She served me papers today.”

Kate’s voice and composure broke. “Daddy, why?”

“Your mom can’t handle me overseas all the time. She waited to break the news until she was sure. Kate, are you okay?”

“Not with this. She texted me while I was at a wedding.”

“Mitch, your surgeon friend, right? He’s one of the ones who founded Eagle Point Trauma Center, isn’t he? I remember now. Kate, sorry about the poor timing. With her dad so ill, your mom probably wasn’t thinking. Neither am I.”

“Clearly. You both aren’t thinking. How can you flippantly throw thirty years of marriage away? Our family? And to do it now, when we might be losing Grandpa. Daddy, don’t let—”

A presence stirred behind her, and Kate froze. “Gotta go,” she barked out, suddenly eager to end the conversation as quickly as possible. “I’ll call later, okay?” The last thing Kate wanted was to ruin the festive mood of Lauren and Mitch’s wedding by letting one of the guests overhear her having a breakdown. Or let anyone see this crack in her tough-girl image. She never cried. Ever. Not even in the worst combat scenarios overseas or trauma cases here.

Kate flicked a tear but others followed. “Nice night out,” she called to the tall shadow over her shoulder. She pretended to gaze at brilliant stars glittering against a raven sky to keep from turning and letting whoever was there see her tears.

No answer—not out loud. Instead, the figure moved; a strong hand weighted her shoulder and turned her around. Heady masculine cologne mingled with pleasant garden scents. Kate tucked her chin to hide red-rimmed eyes, but a leather-gloved finger lifted her face.

Oh, my. The most gorgeous, mysterious man stood before her. What she could see of his masked face seemed carved from exquisite stone. His eyes, etched in ebony and concern, were so piercing they arrested her breath. His impressive height strained her neck as her eyes skimmed a firm jaw and sensual mouth and a muscular build that showed serious dedication to fitness.

Silent as a sniper, he removed her fancy feather mask and dabbed her eyes with a blue camouflage-patterned kerchief, the item odd and out of place with his all-black Zorro-type ensemble.

“Thank you.” She hated how her warbling voice revealed how she was falling apart. What did the masked intruder want, anyway? “May I help you?”

Dark eyes bored into hers, so intense she startled backward. Embarrassed by her reaction, she opened her mouth to apologize and found herself rambling instead. “I must look raccoonish with mascara running down my face. I didn’t even bother to buy the waterproof kind—I wasn’t expecting to cry. Not that I’m not happy for Mitch and Lauren, it’s just...I don’t cry.” She let out a brittle laugh. “Except for now. My parents just informed me they’re divorcing after a lifetime together.” Her voice fractured as the words, spoken aloud, made the truth suddenly become a cruel kind of real.

His chiseled face softened, compassion shining out of his eyes as if he really cared about her, cared about her pain. But how could he? He had to be a stranger. She’d helped each costumed guest sign in and knew each name on the list. No one had been conspicuously absent. He must be a wedding crasher. That she didn’t know the guy made him seem infinitely safe. He didn’t know her, so he wouldn’t judge her for breaking down.

As though sensing her thoughts, he shifted his stance and sweetly adopted a listening pose. Kate drew herself up, surprised at the level of relief she felt at being able to say how she really felt to someone she’d likely never see again.

“My friends inside...they all think I’m strong enough to do anything. I served overseas as a trauma nurse in the army. After that, anything should be easy, right?” Tears pressed for release again. “The problem is, people expect me to be some kind of superhero all the time.” Her voice dragged to a whisper. “How can I let them see me cry like this? Especially here. It’s a wedding—we’re supposed to be happy and hopeful and...and all the things I’m not.”

His grip strengthened on her shoulder, fingers gently kneading. She wanted to lean into him. So she did. He stood so near, the leather on his jacket cooled her cheek.

“It’s not just because of my parents,” she admitted in a low voice, barely more than a whisper. “It’s me. The truth is, I hate weddings. They make me scared I’ll end up alone after all my friends pair off. I look at brides and grooms who seem so in love, so wrapped up in each other, and I know no one’s ever made me feel that way. I’ve never been able to let go and get lost in the moment and the person I’m with. Maybe I’m too practical to ever truly fall in love. I worry so much about not making a mistake that I never take a relationship risk, never fall into anything—not even love.”

His sustained presence girded her with courage. His gloved hand settled against her back, nearly a hug. Stalwart. That’s what he was. Plus a stranger. Which meant she could spill her guts without leaving behind an emotional mess she’d have to clean up, explain away or deny to death later. And something about the night...the moon...the masks...made her embrace being honest, being vulnerable. What could she possibly have to worry about when being in his arms felt so safe?

He responded by drawing even closer. Care ebbed off him in waves, dangerously appealing combined with his handsomeness. It didn’t even occur to Kate to protest as he dipped his head and covered her mouth with his in a mesmerizing dance.

He exuded strength, mystery, masculinity and hints of delectable spearmint. His breath, his kiss were so soft. So delicious. Everything else fogged. Stress from her parents’ devastating news melted. Her world contracted to the cove of his arms, the core of gentleness driving his kiss and the calming rhythm of his breathing.

He broke contact to press his mouth to her ear and whisper, “Hang in, sweetness. Darkness never defeats the dawn.” His voice held a gravelly quality, as if he’d disguised its coffee-rich depth. She tilted her chin up.

Uncertainty flickered in his eyes before his lips found hers again. This kiss felt final. Declarative, like a seal over a covenant. Dizzy and disoriented, Kate swayed. Strong arms braced her up as he pulled her in for a hug that felt more like pure comfort.

Then he bolted.

“Kate?” The voice of her best friend Bri Landis drifted from a doorway. No wonder the bandit had fled. The crasher had sensed company before Kate had, and hadn’t wanted to get caught.

After the sensation of being stun-gunned subsided, Kate faced his retreating back. “Wait! Who are you?”

But her bandit had already scaled the eight-foot-tall wood fence, cape flying behind him like a flag, and she lost sight of him.

“Marvelous Masked Intruder, come back,” she whispered into the inhospitable night. Bri’s voice neared, reeling Kate back to reality. Kate banged her forehead on the fence. Why hadn’t she chased him down? Simply put—she couldn’t.

He had taken her by such sublime storm and surprise, and that kiss had so incapacitated her, she wondered if she’d imagined it. She put fingers to her lips and tingles there whispered she most certainly hadn’t.

Kate couldn’t kick the insane urge to find him and spend time with him again. Not only because of the amazing kisses, but also for the way it had felt to have someone she could really talk to—someone who would listen without judging and comfort without questioning. All the things none of her friends would imagine she’d ever need and that this stranger had offered automatically. That kind of thing could go to a girl’s head. It made her sad to think that the beautiful moment they’d shared would be the only moment they’d ever have.

“Hey!” Bri approached, dressed to the nines in a frilly-winged fairy costume but with a warmly concerned look on her face. “I got worried when I couldn’t find you. Everything okay?”

Kate slid onto a nearby bench. “Yes. No. I don’t know.” Bri was the one person she could talk to about this. Kate thanked God Bri was who He sent.

Bri sat next to her. “What’s going on?”

Where to begin? “Well, there was Mom’s mysterious text and thirty years thrown away like yesterday’s trash, then a man dressed as a bandit in black leather appeared out of nowhere. We talked—well, I talked and he listened. And then...we kissed. He swept me off my feet, really—until he vanished. Jumped the fence when he heard you coming out to find me. Night swallowed the most appealingly compassionate creature who ever lived.”

Bri blinked slowly. “Wait, text? What text?”

Kate calmed herself and took time explaining everything from the first text from her mom, to the blue camo handkerchief wiping away her tears, to the kiss that ended with her bandit disappearing over the fence. She only left out the part where she’d confided her fears about never finding love. Bri was currently engaged and blissfully happy—Kate didn’t want to make her friend feel bad. That part of her little breakdown could remain a secret between her and her bandit.

“Kate, there’s no one remotely dressed like a bandit here. I took photos of each and every person in their costumes for Mitch and Lauren’s memory-book gift.”

Kate shrugged. “I know. He had to be a stranger.” Kate left out the part where knowing he was a stranger made him easy to talk to. It would hurt her best friend’s feelings to be told Kate found it easier to pour her heart out to someone she didn’t know. “Probably a wedding crasher who heard about the masquerade theme, since he knew enough to show up in costume. Whatever his reasons for being here, he did manage to show up at exactly the right time, when I needed someone to listen to me unload about my family fracturing apart.”

Bri nibbled her lip. Kate flinched at what she’d said and the painful memories she might have stirred. If anyone knew what fractured family felt like, Bri Landis did. Her father had been the first to drop out of her life—he’d walked out on the family when Bri was a child. Now he sat incapacitated in a nursing home with all hope of reconciliation gone. Her mom had passed away recently, leaving Bri to tend a run-down family lodge alone. Her brother, Caleb, the only family she had left, was deployed overseas, dedicated to building his military career.

Kate sighed. “I’m sorry, Bri. I shouldn’t be melodramatic, in light of all you’ve been through.”

Bri shook her head. “Nonsense. Things are looking up for me. While I desperately miss my geeky gun-toting army-medic brother, I’m freakishly in love and freshly engaged to Eagle Point’s most gorgeous anesthesiologist.” Bri wiggled her ring-embellished finger, reminding Kate how much there was to be happy about. Yet a twinge of sadness hit Kate instead. Mom, Dad...

“I’m also fulfilled being a mother figure to Tia. Though she’s only five, you and I both know Ian’s daughter is an amazing gift and constant source of joy. And of course her daddy and our wedding plans are equally bright on my horizon.”

Bright horizon. Kate recalled the bandit’s admonition that darkness never defeats the dawn, as the confidence that usually carried and defined Kate ebbed back. Grandpa could still get better. And her parents’ divorce wasn’t finalized yet—maybe things could still be fixed. If not, as Bri had reminded her, there was still so much to be thankful for.

Like a moonlit kiss from a handsome stranger.

Kate brushed the thought aside. She’d probably never see the bandit again. He was just someone God sent her way to give comfort she needed at her lowest moment. She’d weathered it, and was ready now to be strong on her own again—as always.

“Speaking of that handsome fiancé of yours, let’s go back in before he wonders where you are.” Kate rose to her feet.

Bri stood, as well. “Sure you’re all right to go back in?”

“Of course.” Kate flashed Bri the grin that used to win her the tiara back in her beauty-pageant days. “I’m always all right.”

For a second, Bri looked as though she wanted to argue, but with a shrug she let it go, leading the way back into the reception hall. Kate followed her with a quick, confident stride.

And if she paused for a moment before stepping through the door to look back at the spot where she’d last seen her bandit...well then, that was no one’s concern but hers.

* * *

Bzzzt! Army medic Caleb Landis snatched his phone before it vibrated off the sun-bleached windowsill. Stumbling out of his sleeping bag, he tripped over his bandit costume before finally settling on his feet and checking the phone’s display.

Sergeant Asher Stone. Not surprising. Their unit chaplain would be the first to check on Caleb’s well-being. The pair had received unexpected temporary leave of duty for exemplary service after extended back-to-back deployments and had left Afghanistan the same day.

“H’lo.” Caleb shouldered his phone to his ear as he rolled up the sleeping bag and checked out the window. No sign of anyone outside. Good—that meant his sister hadn’t yet noticed that he’d crashed in cabin seven of the family’s lodge the previous night without letting her know he was there. He couldn’t resist the temptation to surprise her.

“Hey, Landis. Calling to make sure you made it safely in.”

“Yeah, after a two-day flight delay back into the States.”

Asher whistled. “Wow. Seriously? Did you make it in time for Mitch’s wedding?”

“Nope.” Caleb turned a bucket upside down and sat on it. “Missed the whole ceremony and the first half of the reception. I didn’t even get a chance to congratulate the bride and groom before—” Caleb cleared his throat, blaming early morning fuzzy-headedness for what he’d nearly let slip. “So, um, how was your flight home?”

“Hold up, Landis. Before what?”

“I...ah...ran into someone before I could go into the reception. We talked for a while. And then I...left.”

“Left?” Asher repeated. “Without even going in? Must have been some talk. Wait a second, was it Kate you talked with?”

Caleb frowned. Asher knew him way too well. “Who said anything about Kate?”

“You did, Romeo, for hours at a time after your last stretch visiting Eagle Point. Come on, it’s not like you were subtle. Everyone in the unit knew about your insane attraction to Kate, who scarcely knows you exist. But hey, if she talked to you she must know you exist now, right?” Asher chuckled disbelievingly on the other end of the line.

“Well...sort of.” Before the previous night, he’d seen the beautiful nurse on only a few occasions. While Kate knew of him through her friendship with Bri, he’d bulked up since his last visit and he was certain she hadn’t recognized him at the point of the kiss. To complete the costume, he’d worn black contacts, disguising his gunmetal-gray eyes. And he...hadn’t been like himself. Yes, he was always spontaneous, so that was nothing new, but he wasn’t usually that smooth, that suave. He’d seemed to know exactly what to do to put her at ease, and that was a bizarre and unfamiliar situation for him when it came to a pretty woman. Especially that pretty woman.

Kate was Kevlar-strong to the core in a way that demanded respect. She and her family had earned enormous admiration among the military community, and she herself was a living legend. It had thrown him for a loop to see her so brokenhearted. Caleb had only wanted to alleviate the pain that put the tears in her pretty, sapphire-blue eyes.

“Do I want to know?”

“Doubtful. I screwed up last night. Didn’t handle the Kate thing well. It wasn’t my brightest moment.”

He didn’t—couldn’t—regret the kiss. But he also couldn’t help feeling he’d taken advantage of her vulnerability to steal a kiss Kate wouldn’t have given him under any other circumstances.

Putting aside the fact that he was pretty sure she really didn’t know he was alive, except as Bri’s little brother, he also knew from his sister that Kate was only looking for romance with non-military men. She was done with the danger of that lifestyle, and wanted a stable man she could count on to be around. Army medics like Caleb need not apply—especially considering his efforts to get accepted into the rangers.

“Anyway, I didn’t even get a chance to let my sis know I’m in town for four months. Hopefully she won’t be too mad. Maybe she’ll forgive me once I tell her I plan to renovate her bunkhouses before I leave and take that load of stress off her.”

“Then Bri’s wedding before you go back.”

Caleb chuckled. “Sure, remind me. I leave a brother-in-arms stateside to watch over my sister and he finagles her into marrying him and adopting his daughter.” He liked Ian, though. He treated Bri well and brightened her outlook after losing Mom.

“Hey, you’ll have a little niece to spoil.” Asher laughed.

“Yeah. I’m gonna buy Tia all the noisy toys.” Caleb smiled upon hearing Asher’s son, Levi, chatter in the background. It put an empty twinge in Caleb’s chest. He’d always wanted a son. But it wasn’t like he could pursue a family while training for ranger school. “Levi’s glad you’re home, I bet.”

Asher’s silence alerted Caleb this conversation was hard. Asher, an explosives expert as well as the unofficial unit chaplain due to his strong faith and natural, charisma-laden leadership, wasn’t easily rattled. Caleb sobered, remembering Asher’s recent abandonment by his wife. “He cries over his mom every night,” Asher finally said. “His tears are the toughest hurt I’ve ever had to take.”

“Sorry, man. You’ve got faith, though. You’ll get through.” Caleb knew what being left by a parent felt like. Not good. Poor little Levi. At least Asher drew strength from God and prayed. Caleb was still too ticked over Mom’s death to try.

“So how is Kate, anyway?” Asher’s voice held a serious note.

Caleb recalled the agony in Kate’s voice when she’d spilled about her parents splitting up. If anyone knew how to pray for Kate, Asher would. “Kate was a mess when I got to her. She’d been crying. Not hard, but hard enough for Kate. She’s by far the toughest woman I know, inside and out.”

“What was wrong?”

Caleb was confident Asher would do nothing with the sensitive information except pray, but he still wasn’t willing to share details. Kate had trusted him with those, and he’d keep them private. “Family stuff. Twisted me up to see her hurting.” In fact he’d almost caved and pulled his mask off when he’d spotted the tears reflected in the moonlight. But something took over and he’d just listened. Then he’d held her, then kissed her and she never once resisted. Proof that what made her cry had her insides turned upside down.

In truth, Kate Dalton scared him to death. It had nada to do with her third-degree black belt or her prior work as a hand-to-hand combat instructor for special ops personnel.

What scared him about Kate was that she made him think about things like home and family. Things he wanted, yes, but not yet. He had a plan, a goal—and something about Kate made him want to throw it all aside. Caleb shook his head, reminding himself to keep focused. He had to stay on track. He had to achieve his goals. He had to prove himself, once and for all. There’d be time for love and romance only when he was done.

Besides, he knew he wasn’t what she was looking for, either, and the last thing either of them needed was another hurdle or heartbreak. Clearly, they weren’t compatible as a couple—their dreams weren’t conducive to that. Still, the thought of the pain in her eyes the previous night made him ache. No, romance wasn’t on the table, but they could be friends during his time home, couldn’t they? She’d looked like she needed a friend.

“She needed a shoulder to cry on—and my shoulder happened to be handy. It was nothing more than that.”

That Asher grew silent on the line again gave Caleb pause. “Levi’s suspiciously quiet. I better go investigate.”

“Keep in touch, all right?” Caleb really looked up to Asher, particularly for his unabashed reliance on God. Not that he’d admit it. Yet.

“Gotta keep up with the Kate saga. Later, man.”

Caleb ended the call, chuckling. Not once had Asher preached. Just listened like a friend. Maybe Caleb could be that for Kate—a friend in time of need. Sure, he’d have to battle some attraction, but Caleb was used to overcoming obstacles. Her appeal would fade and they’d enjoy an uncomplicated friendship while he was in town.

Caleb set his phone on the sink. He caught sight of the bag harboring his disguise—and Kate’s mask. He picked it up. He hadn’t meant to take it with him. He just...hadn’t wanted to let it go. He ran a thumb over the silken edge. It reminded him of the feel of Kate’s lips. Elation vied for shame at the underhanded way he’d stolen a kiss when Kate had been too vulnerable to push him away.

Guilt prodded Caleb. The diamonds dusting the edge of the mask’s cat eye looked real. It was probably valuable. He needed to give her stuff back.

Now he had a new dilemma. How to let Bri know he was here without cluing Kate in to his arrival. He couldn’t let her make the connection between his arrival and the bandit’s. Not yet, anyway. If she knew what he’d done, she’d be furious with him for not unmasking himself the night before.

Later, when she’d had some time and distance from that night, he’d tell her the truth. She’d understand that he hadn’t meant to trick her. He’d only wanted to be there for her—as a friend. Nothing less.