Cassia West could feel his eyes on her before she ever heard his voice.
The air in the surgical prep room was too still, the silence too sharp, and her body—too aware. She’d been carefully arranging the sterile tools like instructed, her gloved fingers trembling just enough to give away her nerves. This was her first shadow rotation with the elite research and surgical team of St. Adrian’s Hospital. She’d fought like hell to earn this spot, pulling all-nighters, giving up weekends, proving she was more than just the top of her class. But no book had prepared her for the man now standing behind her.
Dr. Lennox Crane.
“Stop.”
His voice was a clean slice, deep and razor-flat. Her fingers froze mid-reach, hovering above a tray of scalpels.
“You placed the ten-blade next to the hemostat. T
