He was a tall man, which made nearly every female, no matter her size, feel dainty and feminine. While he wore the requisite surgical green scrub suit under the protective yellow paper gown, the shapeless garments didn’t detract from his muscular shoulders or his lean physique. If he could turn heads in this ugly garb, he’d probably stop traffic when he wore street clothes that actually fit.

If the hospital ever created a doctor-of-the-month calendar featuring him as the centerfold, they’d make a fortune.

As great as his physical appearance was, he wouldn’t have earned the moniker of “the delectable Dr. Donovan” if he didn’t have the personality to match. His charisma explained how he’d managed to get whatever—and whomever—he wanted in his department. Because of his persistence and eloquent arguments that she was the one physician who could immediately fill the long-vacant position in his service, he’d persuaded several top people to transfer her into his domain. Granted, she was only covering until the heads of Emergency Services and Internal Medicine hired a physician specifically for the post but, as far as she was concerned, a day spent in the ED was one day too many.

Apparently aware of her lingering presence, he flashed her a cocky grin.

Hating that he’d caught her loitering and was obviously thinking she’d become one more member of his adoring fan club, she fled the room. After a brief stop at the staffing board, where she slapped a Lunch magnet beside her name, she hurried outside, into the warm afternoon sun.

Trey surreptitiously watched Sierra leave as if a rabid dog were nipping at her heels and hid his smile. He’d first met her three months ago when he’d called the fifth-floor medical unit to request a stat internal medicine consult and Sierra had responded, barely giving him a second glance.

Accustomed to dealing with flirty and simpering females, Trey had been taken aback by her disinterest at first but then he’d been intrigued by it. In his earlier life as a footloose, carefree bachelor, he would have responded to the challenge she presented and pursued her with everything he had. However, that had all changed when his sister-in-law, Marcy, had died. While his relationships were still of the short-term variety, he’d come to the conclusion that even those were difficult to juggle with everything else in his life. Acting as Mitch’s “big brother,” helping Mitch raise his niece and coping with the demands of his job took nearly all of his free time.

As much as he’d like to know Sierra on a more personal level, his gut told him that she wasn’t the sort who would embrace such a temporary and superficial relationship.

Instead, she was the type to make a man think about the future in terms of the next twenty or thirty years. At times, he tried looking ahead that far, but he simply wasn’t ready to let a woman get that close. Between coping with Mitch’s downward spiral after Marcy’s death and his struggle to meet all of his family obligations, he didn’t have the time or the energy to devote to anyone else.

That hard truth, however, didn’t prevent him from wishing Sierra would be happy with what he could offer, especially after today when he’d seen her face turn a beautiful shade of pink. What woman in this day and age, especially one who’d survived the rigors of medical school and residency, actually blushed? Be that as it may, that small flaw only enhanced her already attractive features.

Her fine bone structure gave her an ethereal quality, as if she didn’t belong in a field as brutal as emergency medicine, but her athletic frame suggested she wasn’t a stranger to hard work.

As lovely as he considered her face and form, her thick auburn hair was nothing short of awesome. The color reminded him of flames dancing on the hearth and without any effort at all he pictured her shaking out her braid until every strand cascaded over her beautiful shoulders.

If that wasn’t enough, her shapely legs with their miles and miles of soft skin made his throat go dry. Today, like most days, she wore low-heeled pumps and a dress that fell to just above her slim knees. Her garb wasn’t practical for the demands of working in Emergency and she’d probably switch to baggy scrub suits and tennis shoes tomorrow, but he’d enjoy the view while it lasted.

His libido and personal preferences aside, he was still glad she’d finally joined the emergency-services staff. For that reason, he found himself grinning like a loon whenever he saw her.

Actually, she hadn’t joined as much as she’d been transferred. Over the past year, he’d created a paper blizzard that had gone to every department head, vice president and hospital-board member, protesting the fact that his department’s extra medical position had never been filled. As soon as he’d learned of Sierra’s credentials and past experience in Emergency, he’d intensified his efforts. If Administration had agreed they’d needed the position, he’d argued, then it was pointless not to fill it, especially when someone already on staff was ideal for the job.