The woman was unsettling, one minute all professional detachment, the next coy and flirtatious.

Refusing to tell him how old she was had dated her more than she had realized, belying her twenty-something appearance. Still, Bridget didn't look like any doctor Turner had ever seen, and it wasn't only about her line-free, youthful face, and her tightly toned figure. Her hair was the color of molten lava and just as wild, her blue eyes shone with intelligence and humor, and her feminine curves were enough to make any male salivate.

Beautiful women usually had little or no effect on Turner. He looked because he was a man and it was an almost instinctive reaction, but he then looked away. Skin-deep beauty meant little to him.

Most people bored him, women as well as men, and he had no patience for pretending otherwise, which meant no female companionship. His only friends, so to speak, were the highly intelligent people he'd handpicked over the years for his staff.

The loneliness didn't bother him. He was entirely satisfied with his own company. Even sex wasn't a strong enough motivator to seek out partners other than the paid kind.

The last time he had been on anything resembling a date was months ago. It was a meaningless hookup that had been far from satisfying and had left a bad taste in his mouth. It confirmed the conclusion he had reached as a young man that he would rather be alone.

Dealing with people in any capacity other than professional was a strain. He wasn't a charmer who knew how to pick up women, and he didn't arm himself with the latest jokes and sports statistics to entertain company. The things he liked to talk about were as effective at prompting others' hasty departure as small talk was for him.

Bridget, however, was not only highly intelligent but one of the most alluring women he had ever encountered, maybe because she wasn't as transparent to him as most people were.

And she was hot.

As much as Turner liked to believe he was all brain and not susceptible to primal urges, apparently they were still there, lying dormant until the right woman triggered their resurgence.

And yet, he could have stifled his immediate and quite disturbing attraction to the doctor if not for the mixed signals she was sending him. Those subtle flirtatious comments confused him. Was she like that with all her patients? Was it her way of making them feel at ease, especially when the prognosis was dire?

Or was she showing real interest in him?

"What does age have to do with the transition?" he asked, to veer away from the dangerous territory his carnal thoughts were leading to.

"In my limited experience, the young transition with ease, and it gets worse with age. Andrew's sister was in her mid-twenties, and it was touch and go with her for a while. Andrew was unconscious for days, and we feared for his life. On the other hand, we had a thirty-year-old woman transition with no major problems. Age is just one factor. I suspect that genetic distance from the source is a factor as well."

"Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, and I'm close to the source as well. Do you have a test for that?"

Bridget shook her head, her red tresses bouncing around her face. "I've been researching this for years, and I can't find a clue. I wish I could collaborate with others, but unfortunately I have to work on it alone. Genetics is still far from fully understood."

"It's a fascinating subject. There is so much we don't know, and not only about our own bodies. Every subject I learn, I realize how little is really known. Physics, astronomy, oceanography, we've only touched the tip of the iceberg. Even things that are closer to home and should be more straightforward like archeology and history are tinted by biases and lack of accurate measuring techniques and apparatus." Without realizing, Turner allowed himself to go off on a tangent.

But Bridget's eyes didn't glaze over like most people's did when he got carried away, quite the opposite. She seemed eager to hear more. "I agree. What's the deal with dark matter and dark energy? And what about the multiverse theory? And that's just straightforward science. What about the paranormal? Andrew's wife converses with ghosts, and she proved they are real and not a construct of her imagination beyond a shadow of a doubt. And Syssi, who has visions of the future. How does telepathy work? Are there wavelengths and energy fields we haven't discovered yet?" She waved a hand. "I can go on and on, but I don't want to bore you."

Turner grinned. "Bore me? Not a chance. I often ponder the same questions. It's so refreshing to find a kindred spirit. We are a rare breed."