Addison glanced down at the directions. Second street on the right. She'd been here several times, but she'd never driven. She hadn't needed to have a car, because she'd spent only three or four days. But this time . . . this time she'd be here longer. Much longer.

Addison parked in front of the brick house with the small pond and bridge she remembered. Pausing to take a deep breath, she opened her door and then headed up the sidewalk.

"Addison!" Naomi tore the door open even before the reverberations of the doorbell had died.

"Hi, Naomi—sorry about the short notice." Addison returned her friend's enthusiastic hug.

"You know you're welcome any time—even with no notice." She drew back to look at Addison. "Did you get a few days off at the last minute?"

"Something like that."

Naomi looked more carefully into the other woman's too bright eyes. "Addy? What's wrong? What's happened?"

"Nothing." Addison tried to smile, but tears filled her eyes. Unable to keep them from spilling out, she fell into her friend's arms, her sobs heartbreaking in their intensity.

"How're you doing today?" Alex asked Ava, looking at her chart.

"Fine. How about you?"

"Fine." He glanced up, noting her serious expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Not with me."

He cocked his head. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"How do you feel about the redhead leaving?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The redhead. My doctor. Your . . . whatever. Leaving. Gone."

He frowned. "What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"You mean you didn't know she resigned?"

His mouth fell open. "Resigned? Addison resigned? How do you know?"

"I told you—I know everything. Another doctor came in this morning and told me he was my new doctor. He told me Dr. Montgomery had resigned."

Alex dropped into a chair. "She resigned?"

"Yeah, I think we've established that." She watched his face. "I guess you blew your chance with her, huh?"

Alex didn't reply, holding his head in his hands. In the five days since they'd had sex in the supply closet, both he and Addison had acted as if nothing had happened. She hadn't avoided him like she had after their kiss at Joe's, and she'd let him scrub in on all her surgeries. He'd been constantly tempted to pull her into another supply closet . . . or on-call room . . . or elevator . . . or bathroom . . . In fact, all he'd been able to think about was the amazing sex they'd had. It had been hot and fast, but he'd no sooner left the closet than he'd begun thinking about how he'd like to kiss her slowly and savor the softness and sweetness of her mouth, caress her and watch her response to his touch. But after learning from Ava that Addison had been fantasizing about him in an apron standing in front of a grill, he'd tamped down on his own fantasies. He'd gone back to focusing on hot, fast sex. And that was why he'd told her she wasn't his girlfriend. The truth was that he could have handled "girlfriend"; it was "wife" that he had a problem with.

"Alex?"

He raised his head, his face bleak. "Yeah?"

"What did you do?"

He gazed at her for a moment before looking away. "We had sex in a supply closet. And then later, when she invited me to her hotel room and offered to help me study, I told her she wasn't my girlfriend."

"You pig!"

Alex was shocked by the venom in her voice. "I told you—"

"Do you have any idea how much that must have hurt her? She's your boss, but she wants you so much that she put herself out there and had sex with you. And it wasn't just sex, Alex—not for her. She really likes you. I didn't think it would be just sex for you, either." She turned her face away. "I guess I was wrong about you."

Her words released all the feelings he'd had neatly tied up and put away. He'd known what a chance Addison had been taking by initiating sex with him. She might be hot for him, but that kiss at Joe's had been tender and caring. Twice she'd shown him how she felt about him; twice he'd rejected her even though he knew how badly Sloan and Shepherd had hurt her; he'd rejected her even though he knew he'd been sending her mixed signals; he'd rejected her even though he'd wanted her. Why couldn't he have been honest with her? Why couldn't he have told her that he was very attracted to her but was afraid of commitment? No, he'd had sex with her and a couple of hours later turned down her offer to help him with the words "you're not my girlfriend." He'd seen the pain on her face; he'd known how deeply he'd hurt her, but he'd buried that knowledge along with the fantasies about taking his time with her. He'd ignored the knowledge that he'd wounded his boss, his teacher, the woman to whom he'd said, "If you went missing, I'd notice."

Groaning, Alex dug his palms into his eyes. "I've really screwed up, Ava. I've really screwed up."