My heart was about to beat out of my chest. This wasn’t what I envisioned when I volunteered to help veterans have a buddy in the community. I was expecting a scrawny scared kid desert with no one to help him. The man standing in front of me didn’t look like he needed assistance. He was tall and strong. His shoulders were wide enough to fill the doorframe. His voice calm and steady. I was afraid if I looked into his dark eyes one more time my knees would buckle. He was hot. Too hot. The kind of hot that made me blush and made me realize just how wet my panties could get being near him.

I was a damn doctor. A medical professional. I needed to pull it together and give him a physical like any other patient, not wonder what he looked like shirtless. Medicine came first. I was here to be a volunteer in the community, not fall into a hot soldier’s arms.

Holy fucking hell, this was going to be hard.

I looked around the cabin and wondered if this was where he usually called home. There wasn’t much to it. The fireplace was dark and the mantle was clear. I didn’t see a single photo or personal touch.

“Why don’t you sit on the couch?” I suggested.

I inhaled sharply when he brushed past my arm.

“All right.” He moved in front of me.

I looked at him. Normally, I would open my kit and go through the routine physical, but I froze.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

I sat next to him and fumbled with the clipboard with his information. “I need to ask you a few questions, first.” I swallowed. “Your form is incomplete.”

“What do you need to know?”

“It’s standard stuff.” I started at the top of the list. “Do you have a history of blood pressure problems?”

“No.”

“Heart disease?”

“No.”

“What about high cholesterol?”

He shook his head. “Again, no.”

I moved through the next columns. I knew the answers before he gave them. The man had to be in perfect health. I had never seen anyone who looked like he did. Muscles firm and toned. Perfect chiseled jawline. A killer smile that made me tingle all over. His dark eyes were clear and alert. He was gorgeous and sexy. Why wasn’t there a place to check that box on the medical form?

“Ok. I’m just going to listen to your heart, take your vitals, and I’ll be done. I promised no shots, remember?” I smiled, knowing I had started to flirt in the worst possible way.

I nudged the earpieces into my ears and held the end of the stethoscope in my hand.

“Do you mind?” I asked, quietly, lifting the hem of his T-shirt.

He shook his head. His eyes watching me as I took in his sculpted abs.

His skin was warm, and as my fingertips grazed over the firm planes of his muscles, I had to remember to breathe. I wasn’t the one being examined, he was. But holy hell, my body was reacting to him. I was a doctor not a call girl. I had a sudden regret in my professional calling.

I pressed the stethoscope above his heart. I didn’t think I’d ever heard a beat thump so strongly before. My eyes met his and I tried to smile, but I was lost in the depths of brown. I wanted to throw my equipment on the floor and explore the rest of his chest and torso with my hands. I was paralyzed with a sudden case of lust.

“Everything all right, doc?” he asked.

“Oh yes.” I slid my hand away from his broad chest, letting it graze the ridges of his sternum. Would he have noticed if I had left it there a few extra seconds?

I reached in my bag for the blood pressure cuff. I wrapped it around his upper arm, taking in the way his muscles flexed under my fingers. I began to pump the gauge and tried to focus on the needle, not his eyes.

“Eighty over one-twenty. Perfect.” I smiled, reporting the result.

“See? I told you I’m in excellent health.”

“It’s good to have these records, Captain…I mean Brett. We hope you don’t need them, but emergencies happen, right?”

His eyes narrowed and I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or interested. “Right.”

“How have you been feeling since you’ve been home? Any fever? Coughing?” I asked as my hands slid along his neck, searching for any signs of inflamed glands.

He swallowed. “No. I feel fine. Really.”

“What about headaches? Blurry vision?”

“No. None of that.”

“That’s good.” I tried to think of what the next standard procedure was, but being this close to him made me forget a routine I had performed hundreds of times.

“What about your appetite?”

“Haven’t missed a meal.”

I sat back to record his answers on the clipboard. “And are you sleeping? Any changes in your routine?”

“I sleep fine, doc. Anything else?”

“Yes.” I handed him a pamphlet.

I was here as part of the volunteer program, not to gawk at him. “Now that you’re home we know that there is probably going to be a transition period. There are some phone numbers here if you need help adjusting. There are counselors available twenty-four seven. We want you to know you aren’t alone.”

“Wait, are you recommending a shrink?”

I nervously bit at my lip. “No. It’s only if you need the numbers. They are here if you need them, Brett. That’s all.”

“I told you I’m fine. You just said it yourself. Perfect health.”

The vitals checked out, but I got the sense that he was overprotective. He didn’t want me to prod into his life. I remembered what Dr. Mors told me last night about the men who tried to throw him out. They didn’t want help or interference. Brett was obviously strong, proud, and capable. But it didn’t mean I couldn’t help him if he needed it. I wasn’t just going to walk out the door and ignore everything he had been through. I needed answers. I wanted to know more about him. More about his life in the Army.

“How long have you been gone?” I asked.

“That’s not on your form?” He glanced at the clipboard.

“No. It’s not. I’m guessing the anonymous tip didn’t know that either. So why don’t you tell me? When did you leave home last?”

He lowered his eyes. “It’s been two years.”

“Wow. I didn’t think deployments were that long. Is that normal for the Army?”

He huffed. “What I do isn’t normal for the Army. I can’t say anything else about my assignment. So don’t ask,” he warned.

“All right. I won’t ask. But, I can’t imagine what it would like to be out of the country for that long. To be away from where you’re from. Two years is a long time to be away from home. I think it would be normal if you wanted to talk to someone about it. To talk about the parts that aren’t related to your assignment.” I smiled.

“Is that something you do? Are you offering?”

I tried to read his eyes. What was he asking me? I wasn’t a psychiatrist. I was an emergency room doctor, but part of the soldiers’ program was lending an ear or a hand. We had volunteered to help them in whatever capacity they needed. Talking to Brett had to fall under my volunteer responsibilities.

“I could.”

My heart beat a little faster. I wanted to help him. I wanted to be here for him. Maybe he was fine. Maybe he didn’t need me. But I didn’t want to leave. I needed to know this man better.

“I’ll let you know, doc.” He rose from the couch and walked to the door. “It’s something I’m going to have to think about. I’m not much of a talker. I’m sure you understand.”

“If not me, then know there are people here for you, Brett.” I walked onto the porch. “There are a lot of people who want to support our veterans. I could connect you to someone else. Someone you feel more comfortable with.”

His hand landed on the wood post over my head. His body towered over mine and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me. But that would be crazy. That would be absurd. This man who looked like a Greek god, was not going to kiss me out of the blue.

I stared at his lips. They were beautiful. Probably the most kissable lips I had ever seen. Full and broad. Firm and perfectly shaped for kissing.

“Thank you. What did you say your name was?”

“Dr. Forrest.”

“I got that. What about a first name?”

“Oh right. It’s Gretchen.” My back was pressed against the post now and if he leaned any closer his solid chest would be touching mine. I would be able to feel that intense heartbeat.

“Gretchen.” He smiled, rolling my name over his tongue.

“Mmmhmm.” I nodded.

I knew I was lingering. I was standing on his porch, unable to take the first step toward my car. I forgot I was here as a volunteer, and he was supposed to be my veteran. Instead, I wanted to drink in every ounce of him.

I was feeling sensations I hadn’t felt in a long time. Somehow he was awakening the sleepiest parts of my body, especially my lonely lady zone.

Damn it. I was an educated, independent, self-made woman. I worked twelve-hour shifts, solved medical crises, commanded an entire hospital nursing staff. But standing there looking in his eyes, all I could think about was how much I wanted to be kissed. How much I wanted to be touched and held. I was spinning with the nearness of him.