Falling For Her Reluctant Sheikh

“No. Well, yes, but you’re earning your keep.” Her little cheap key chain light had saved him a lot of headache. Khalil might not want her there to help him, but he could appreciate the help she provided for the people in his care. “I might not have hit that vein without your trick, and most assuredly would not have on the first try. Where’d you learn that?”

“It’s something I always check on pretty much every light I get my hands on.” She smiled at him, her first honest, unguarded smile. Her cheeks bunched, bringing the pink closer to her green eyes so that they seemed all the greener, and gave that suggestion again of innocence. Beneath her aggravation at him there was a sweetness about her.

“My dad and I used to put flashlights to our cheeks, noses, whatever … then turn off the lights and make faces at one another with glowing cheeks and black hollow-looking eyes. Got me in the habit of checking different lights against my skin.”

He spoke again with the mother, giving her instructions and explaining what he was going to do. When he stopped speaking and looked at her again, Adalyn continued her story. “I had to give a presentation in college and got my own pointer because I wanted to be the best. I was nervous talking in front of everyone, but I managed to get through the whole thing by distracting myself by pressing it against my arm or hand and watching the veins get illuminated. Coping mechanism that turned into a trick that helped me in residency. I was all about tricks that might make me better able to do the job. I’m not a natural, like Jamison.”

“That why you went into sleep medicine?”