Chapter Two
Annabelle and Charlotte were put to the test of selling Charlotte’s new identity over dinner. Fortunately, Dr. Abbott tactfully avoided the subject of her family and past, seeming to understand it was a subject best not broached at the time.
“Dr. Abbott,” Annabelle broke suddenly into a moment of awkward silence. “Charlotte may be of use at the hospital. She has a great deal of medical experience and trained alongside her father, who was a doctor, for many years. She would be of great help to you.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he replied.
He winked at her, a twinkle lighting his blue eyes. Obviously, women fawned over the man, a man accustomed to it. Spencer’s sapphire gaze turned immediately to Charlotte.
“Really?”
Charlotte shot Annabelle a pinched look before turning back to Spencer.
“Yes, I have worked with physicians in the past.”
“I’m impressed. Not many of the women I know have much interest in medicine. Most of them can’t stand the sight of blood.”
He rocked back in his chair as though contemplating the possibility of having Charlotte work with him.
“Well, Lord knows how much we need every glance or smile sought as a treasure.” Immediately, Charlotte realized it would be a good idea for her to maintain a safe distance.
But at the same time there was just something about him, a warm confidence that was absolutely intoxicating.
He seemed to read her train of thought and grinned directly into her eyes.
Suddenly, her shoulders, where his arm had touched not half an hour earlier, tingled as though it was still there.
She was paralyzed as the smile transformed his already handsome face.
The perfectly proportioned mouth curved into a most charming boyish grin that spread across his countenance and infused his radiant blue eyes with warmth.
In that moment a jolt of raw sensual awareness shot through Charlotte, causing the shattered pieces of her heart to tremble.
Smiling across the table at her, he ceased to be the intimidating godlike figure of a man in uniform and became, quite simply . .. irresistible.
Her lashes fluttered and she looked down as she licked her lips, her insides suffused with butterflies as blood thrummed in her ears.
Why am I so nervous? One would think a good-looking man had never flirted with her.
Straightening, she gazed into the intense blue of his warm eyes.
On the porch she hadn’t been blind to the effect her southern belle routine had had on him.
She’d thought that no harm could come from an innocent flirtation—especially with a man who was so handsome. But ... perhaps she’d been wrong.
The meal progressed amiably and Charlotte relaxed in the pleasant company. She had recently spent her evenings back in 2024 primarily alone and even amid these unfamiliar surroundings, she was at ease.
Spencer suddenly turned to her.
“Char-er-ah ... Miss Liddell, would you care to stroll with me in the back yard?”
He glanced at Annabelle as if asking for her permission. Charlotte nearly laughed aloud. This world demanded different manners from both men and women.
“I would like to further discuss the possibility of your niece working at the hospital and the extent of her medical knowledge.”
Annabelle bubbled with amused laughter, waving them off. When Charlotte began to clear the table, Annabelle stopped her with a knowing wink.
“You go along, my dear. I can take care of this.”
Charlotte turned to Spencer, immensely pleased that he’d asked her to go for a stroll and couldn’t help but stare as he crossed the room to hold the back door open for her.
In a word, the man was sexy, but in an entirely unassuming way.
Her fiancé Samuel had been sexy in a manner that proclaimed I know women are just dying to sleep with me, but Spencer was different, better.
While he was ungodly good-looking—no, make that godly good-looking—he didn’t flaunt it or swagger the way Samuel had.
He moved with an easy confidence. She stepped past him and a shudder of awareness coursed through her.
She inhaled a deep breath of the fresh rich southern air to steady her nerves.
“It’s a beautiful evening, Dr. Abbott.”
“Yes, it is indeed. Call me Spencer,” he replied warmly.
She looked up at him as they walked, heart flopping beneath his infectious smile.
“And you must call me Charlotte.”
She was losing herself in the moment. There was something inexplicably right about the entire scene playing out before her as they strolled past the stables to take shelter beneath the trees surrounding the yard. She was deliciously nervous yet comfortable with him at the same time.
Out of the corner of her eye she studied his impressive form.
Spencer was a very tall, large man, which she was aware was unusual for this time.
He boasted a muscular, athletic physique.
His blue uniform fit snugly, provocatively, against his broad shoulders and chest. It was difficult not to envision the trim muscular figure without his uniform.
Her cheeks flushed hotly at the train of her thoughts.
Briefly their arms brushed, and the light contact burned into Charlotte’s arm until her flesh was quivering, sending the butterflies in her stomach to a new level of frenzied activity.
What am I doing, getting caught up in a fantasy about this man?
Haven’t I learned anything from my failed engagement with Samuel?
And there it was. Reality came crashing back down on her with such force that she was quite dizzy. Her ears were ringing. Ringing!
It was as though the wind had been knocked out of her.
Why had she traveled one hundred and sixty years to the past to suddenly find this sense of rightness?
To find a man like Spencer Abbott? Is this my destiny?
My Fate? Annabelle’s words from the night before echoed in her mind.
Perhaps this is your time and place to exist. Totally perplexed, Charlotte doubted that any of this would ever begin to make sense.
Once again Annabelle’s voice rang clear in her mind, telling her that the interdimensional door was one way for her, but she shut it out.
“What was it you were hoping to discuss with me, Major? I mean, Spencer.”
She raised her light green eyes up to him deciding to lose herself in work until some sense could be made of her situation. It occurred to her then that losing herself in work had all too often been her problem. That is probably why Samuel cheated on me. She quickly dismissed the thought.
“Ah, yes. Your medical experience. What sort of work have you done with your father?”
Charlotte hesitated, unsure of how to answer. I can’t very well tell him that I’m a surgeon who worked in a large hospital and that I attended university, medical school, and had a successful internship. It would only cause him to become confused.
“Um, why don’t you ask me a few questions, and then you can judge how useful my experience is.”
“All right.”
Spencer tilted his head thoughtfully for a moment, then proceeded to ask her a number of questions regarding human anatomy, diseases, and treatments.
As the conversation progressed, her knowledge and the ease of her responses seemed to impress him.
He began seeking her opinion on a wide array of topics.
****
Spencer studied her, thinking she was unlike any woman he’d met before.
She was flirtatious and witty, not to mention brilliant, but more than anything her words and smiles were not calculated like so many women he’d met before.
He had courted women in the past, but none of them had ever seemed . .. sincere.
Spencer asked Charlotte a few more questions. The extent of her medical knowledge continued to thoroughly impress him.
They passed by the carriage house and a private stable for the horse, pausing in the shade of a nearby weeping willow tree, and he turned to inquire about another subject, but the words slipped from his mind as she raised those huge light green eyes to him.
Enraptured, he fought the urge to reach out and stroke a strand of her glossy ebony hair.
He couldn’t resist.
Ever so gently he stretched out a hand and drew his fingers through the silky locks.
The strands ran like water across his skin.
Pure silk. Will the rest of her be so velvety smooth?
A flash of guilt sent heat to his face. His high collar nearly choked him.
He had no right to such thoughts, but the urge to kiss her was strong.
He hadn’t kissed a woman since... Well, it was difficult to remember when exactly, it had been entirely too long.
Oh, what the hell...
He slid a palm across her cheek and stepped forward, closing the distance between them to claim her lips in a soft, gentle kiss.
Spencer should have been disappointed. When her supple lips parted it was obvious she’d been kissed before .
.. kissed well. But he was anything but disappointed.
It was almost unbelievable how good she tasted.
His mouth opened against hers as his tongue prepared to intrude the wetness of her mouth only to find hers already there, meeting him halfway.
He greedily accepted what she offered and took her mouth in a deepening kiss, groaning deeply.
****
Charlotte’s heart hammered so hard in her throat she was aware of little more than the sound of blood rushing in her ears, and his lips over hers.
His kiss was better than any drug, dizzying, electrifying, leaving her reeling, and as she prepared to dissolve in a liquid pool on the grass, her arms curled around the strength of his neck.
He was so tall the movement of pure self-preservation only served to fit her flawlessly against the contours of his body.
The magical movement captivated her, and Charlotte became convinced she’d ascended into a dream.
The touch of his mouth was like a healing balm poured directly over the gaping wounds in her heart.
Her mind swirled in ecstasy as she inhaled Spencer’s masculine scent.
His fingers and lips enthralled her. She never wanted to leave the inviting haven of his arms.
He broke the kiss off suddenly and for a long moment she could do little more than stare into his face with passion-clouded eyes.
His blond hair was tousled from the wind, and she had an intense desire to run her fingers through the wavy thickness.
The vivid blue of his eyes held her transfixed in a timeless moment.
Never had she responded with such wantonness.
Softly, she sighed as her lips spread in a silent summons.
His arms tightened about her waist, and he bent to claim her lips once more, but. ..
“No!” she whispered, gasping and pushing him away from her. What am I doing? I can’t let him kiss me again! The thought flooded her senses, and the idea was anything but unpleasant. She knew better than to get involved with a man here ... now! Ever, for that matter...
Spencer reached for her, but she quickly sidestepped his grasp.
“Don’t Spencer. You ... you, don’t know what I am.”
Frustrated, Charlotte pressed her palms to her forehead. “I don’t even know where I am! I’m sorry.”
Charlotte turned to escape. She refused to get involved with a man in 1864. It would only cause more pain and anguish in the long run.
“Charlotte, wait.”
He snared her arm, successfully halting her flight.
Spencer dropped her arm. Charlotte quickly backed away, brushing the hair off her shoulders and looked down.
She silently berated herself for opening to Spencer as she had.
She was confused but knew that the last thing she needed was for another man to betray her as Samuel had.
She admitted to herself that Spencer was both heady and alluring, but she was certain that romantic entanglement with him now could only lead to further heartbreak.
Steeling herself against the almost physical pull of the man, she resolved not to get carried away again.
Even though Annabelle had convinced her that the portal was only one way and that there was no way back to 2024, she was still sad to have met a man like Spencer with whom she could have no future.
She knew it was impossible to become involved with Spencer when the pain of Samuel’s flagrant breach of trust was still all too fresh.