Charlotte Greene has never been this low. All she has ever dreamed of was a career in medicine, but after one mistake, her career is on the line. Suspended pending an ethics hearing, Charlie needs a distraction. And so does Ethan Ramsey. After faili...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The drive to Boston was quiet.
Jenner had fallen asleep in Charlie's lap early into the drive, snoozing contently after a long day at the river. Charlie's directions were no longer needed as Ethan was fully capable of navigating them back to the city without them, and for that, she was grateful. Her mind already felt as if it were bursting at the seams with too many thoughts, and she stared into the passing scenery as if the dark night could provide elusive clarity.
The problem with a magical day is that the sun always sets, and when it does, you're left in the dark.
When Charlie looked at Dr. Ethan Ramsey, she saw a kaleidoscope of a man. Every angle was a new side of him that she'd never seen before. Sometimes, she felt like she could reach out and connect with the shimmering smile in front of her, but there was always a wall separating her from the illusion. He was so close, but he was still so far away...
Tonight, under the soft moonlight glow, Ethan didn't look like the confident doctor she'd met in Edenbrook. Concern etched itself into his handsome features, and a lingering air of defeat and disappointment followed him like a cruel haunting. From the passenger side, she could see the knot between his eyebrows, an expression she remembered as his sign of deep concentration. He was thinking hard about something, but Charlie had no idea what.
As much as she admired and adored the man beside her, she couldn't pretend to fully understand him. She knew him more than most, but there were so many undiscovered layers, so many secrets he kept from her. She wondered if she would ever know all of Ethan. Would he ever let her that close?
"You're staring," Ethan cut his eyes to Charlie, unable to contain the urge to take his eyes off the road to look at her. The doctor inside of him chastised such behavior. He'd seen many patients come through his hospital from lovesick injuries, each easily preventable but prompted by reckless actions by someone in love.
But he was retired now, wasn't he? The doctor inside of him lacked credence over his human desires. And his chief desire was to be close to Dr. Greene, even if she seemed a million miles away tonight.
He imagined Rafael Aveiro looking at her. Rafael's eyes would never be guarded. They'd unabashedly admire the beautiful intern, no inhibitions to guard like Ramsey. Ethan wondered if Rafael's gaze had the same intensity of his own. Did Rafael love her?
Of course, he does, Ethan didn't have to hypothesize. Everyone loved Charlie. They'd be a fool not to. If she could make a man as cold as Ethan form an attachment, what could she do with a man like Rafael?
Something was stirring inside of Ethan's chest. Jealousy burned at his skin, every nerve ending overcome with the emotion. His mind was consumed with unwelcome images of the two of them together, of a part of Charlie's life that he knew nothing about. There was so much more to this enigmatic woman than what he knew. He'd caught glimpses of her fiery determination and self-destructive sense of duty to her patients as well as her lack of self-protective instincts, all of which challenged her career in the upcoming ethics hearing.
