Chapter Two
H e’s more interested in making goo-goo eyes at you than his mortally injured patient .
Whoa. Those were fighting words if Maverick Steen had ever heard them. No way would he shirk his paramedic duties to moon over some onlooker. Also, he never made goo-goo eyes . Ever. Not anymore.
Enter Bruce, the town troublemaker, pot-stirring again.
Not that Bruce was completely wrong. The bystander was interesting. Even with those ridiculous leather shoes, the young woman came only to his chin. He studied her. Only, she wasn’t exactly young. In her thirties? Hard to tell. Her light brown eyes flashed wide, and little puffs of vapor came from red lips. Snow clung to and melted on the damp bottoms of what were definitely not winter pants. Tiny flakes of snow skidded across her bright blue, brand-spanking-new name-brand puffy jacket. He snorted. Those coats might advertise that they could keep people warm so many degrees below zero, but Mav knew better. No way did she have proper layering of any kind. Hell, she was dressed like she was headed to a business meeting.
What business was out here, this far from Fairbanks, near the literal end of the road? Maybe she was lost.
“Are you okay?” he asked as she shivered. For a split second, he wanted to pull her to him, wrap his arms around her, and warm her up.
“Shouldn’t you be attending our patient?” Her mellow voice had a lilt, and he struggled to place the accent.
Then again, she could figure out how to warm herself up.
He rocked back on his heels. “ Our patient?” He rubbed his chin with a gloved hand.
Huh. He pushed his shoulders back and puffed his chest out. He and Louise made a good EMS team, efficient and skilled.
With a wise nod, he said, “Well, quality care is everyone’s job.”
The woman rolled her eyes and snorted.
He stared down at her, momentarily speechless. That was one of his best bullshit healthcare team lines.
Never let it be said that Maverick Steen couldn’t recover in the face of adversity. “You’ll get hypothermia if you stay out here much longer.” See? Hard to argue with good, solid logic. “We’re trying to limit the number of patients out here,” he quipped, briefly resting his hand on her upper arm. There was something about the woman that made him want to maintain contact.
With a grunt that managed to sound both sexy and judgmental, she planted her mittened fists on her hips. “ Hmmph .”
He dropped his hand to his side. “What—”
“Y’all are going to need to get him some CT scans to check for injuries.” Y’all . Southern, then. Alabama? Having lived in Alaska his entire life, he was no expert in lower forty-eight dialects. Mav had, however, been forced by his mother to watch Steel Magnolias years ago, and the woman in front of him kind of sounded like the characters.
Fine, he’d seen the movie twice.
Okay, three times. But only because of the film’s portrayal of a character who had type one diabetes, which held medical interest to him. No other reason to rewatch it, such as a riveting storyline or excellent acting.
Damn it. He hadn’t said anything for several seconds. He needed to ask her a question so she’d talk again. Maybe she would say more about how she came to be at the accident. People got excited when they helped out EMS.
Oftentimes, bystanders thought that working accidents was like one of those medical TV shows. However, her actions showed that this woman had some sort of medical training. Likely a nurse or medical assistant.
He gravely dipped his head. “Don’t worry. We’ll get him over to the hospital and let the doctors to do a full checkup.”
He didn’t miss how she stiffened.
Bruce piped up. “No, we will not!”
Louise hissed, “Do you want me to call your wife? Because I will do it. Aggie’s number is in my contacts.”
“Ah, geez, Louise, you have to hit me where it hurts.”
“She’s right, Bruce,” Mav said. “We’ll never hear the end of it from Aggie if we don’t get you proper care. She’s got rheumatoid arthritis and is already tired. Do you want to stress her out any more?”
Louise glared at Bruce.
Bruce glared over at Mav.
The city-slicker woman continued to glare at Mav.
Oh, come on. Two against one.
The golden glow of the woman’s skin had become snowdrift pale, and the fancy ripstop nylon coat fabric shushed as shivers made her small frame shake. Another burst of need to warm her up and be the reason she stopped shivering hit him like an avalanche. His hand halfway reached her before he stopped the instinctive impulse.
“Hmm. I can see my work here is done.” Her teeth might be chattering, but she still rolled her pretty brown eyes at him.
Pretty?
A flash hit him. He needed to know how long she would be in the area, what the hell she was doing out here, what her plans were for dinner. How bad of a conflict of interest was it to ask for her number while on a call in the field, neglecting his actual patient?
First of all, Bruce was medically stable.
Mav immediately stomped all of those lines of thought. He was the town’s EMS chief. He had to set an example. Second of all, Mav had one dating rule, and he had almost broken it right here. No cheechakos , as the villagers liked to disparagingly call them. Outsiders. Besides, Mav knew better, even if the ratio of eligible women in Yukon Valley wasn’t in his favor. He’d learned his lesson a few years ago. This frozen princess was no different.
His mind stopped churning long enough for him to say, “Hey, why don’t you go get warmed up?” See? Helpful. Not pushy. Considerate.
Dumb! his inner voice chided him.
“I’ve got it. Will do.” She peered around him one more time. “Take care, Bruce.”
“Thanks, dear.” He barked toward the open rig door, “Hey, Louise, I’m freezing my venison off here. Get me in that nice warm ambulance already!”
Louise shook her head, held her palms up to the sky, and mouthed Why me?
The blue lights of a state trooper vehicle grew brighter. Mav had known the trooper would take a while, being that Kate was the only one in this area and had been ten miles to the west of town when dispatch sent him and Louise out on the call. Dumb luck that they had just finished a transport from the hospital to a patient’s home in this general vicinity.
Suddenly, Mav didn’t know what to do with his hands as he stared at the woman. “Um, enjoy your visit to the area.” He tried to shove them in pockets but missed.
“Visit. Sure thing. Y’all take care.” She hurried to the sedan and opened the door on the second try. He could see her through the partially fogged front windshield.
Kate pulled up in the Alaska State Trooper vehicle with its typical matte black roof and rolled down her window.
Louise called out, “You going to do any work today, Mav, or keep staring at the nice lady?”
He hurried over and helped slide the gurney into the back of the rig to prove he was focused on his job. “Let me give Kate a quick update.” He stopped at the trooper’s car for a minute. The trooper took notes, then strolled to the citizen’s car for a statement. Their voices drifted over to him.
Mav closed the back doors of the ambulance and chanced one more glance at the woman. Her golden hair glinted even in the dimming late-afternoon light as she talked with Sheriff Kate. Shaking his head, he walked to the front of the vehicle, got in the front seat, and drove away.
He’d missed an opportunity.
And dodged a proverbial bullet.