The Doctor’s Simple Life (Love Heals All Wounds #3)

20. Sienna

CHAPTER 20

SIENNA

“ O h, do we have to?” Reece whispers, pouting hard at me.

“Yes,” I say, pushing him gently in the chest to try and encourage him to move. “We do.”

“But she’s so irritating!”

“Yes, I know that. But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our jobs.”

“Can’t you just do it?”

I shake my head at him in disbelief. And here I was, starting to think he was getting better at nursing without complaining. “Will you just grow up? I thought you were supposed to be a real doctor.”

He huffs at that. “I am a real doctor.”

“Okay. Act like it, then.”

“Okay!” He sighs dramatically, then squares his shoulders and turns to the door. He hesitates, turns back to me, and kisses me squarely on the lips.

It takes me by surprise, and I sink into it before I realize what I’m doing. He pulls away a second later and spins around on his heel to push the door open and walk out into the corridor.

My head reels, and it takes me a second before I realize that he’s leaving me behind.

Still dizzy from his ups and downs and my traitorous heart wanting more, I follow Reece into the ward.

Our first stop today is with Mrs. Hill, a woman who’s renowned for being hard to deal with, irritating, and almost impossible to help. On the scale of difficult patients, she would be right at the top. No amount of pandering to her makes up for the fact that nothing is ever right.

She’s always been fond of me, as far as fondness goes for her, but even that has never been very nice. Still, since her operation, she hasn’t been quite the same as she used to be. I might almost say she’s mellowed. Slightly.

I’ve been doing my best to care for her because she doesn’t really have any family, but now that she’s wise to all the sneaky ways I try to look after her, she’s trying to cut me out of those too. Obviously, nobody’s best is good enough for her, because my best is damn good.

And even if she hates it, I’m not going to stop trying.

Reece takes a deep breath before we enter Mrs. Hill’s room. He flashes me a smile, then pushes open the door and strides in. “Mrs. Hill. How are you doing today?”

“Like you care,” she huffs.

“I do, in fact. And you’ll find today that I can prove it.”

We both look at him, confused. What the hell is he talking about?

Mrs. Hill gives him her very best challenging glare and says, “No, you can’t.”

Reece smiles again, and I know that smile. He’s got something up his sleeve. That’s his badly kept secret smile. That’s his springing-a-surprise-on-you smile.

“Well,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets, “I did a little bit of research, and…”

From out of nowhere, he produces a small bag of candy, some bright red sweets that look like they’re coated in sugar and will rot your teeth out in a second. It’s exactly the kind of thing you would bring to someone in the hospital to cheer them up.

She blinks at them, eyeing them up with suspicion like they might be about to explode. “They’re my favorite.”

“I know,” says Reece, beaming. “They’re for you.”

There will be no dealing with him for the rest of the day now. He’s got that cat-who-got-the-cream look. He’ll be more smug than ever before.

And the worst bit is he’s completely right to be smug. This is going to be the first smile Mrs. Hill has given us in months.

“How did you know?” she glares.

“Because, my dear Mrs. Hill, much as your general demeanor would suggest otherwise, you do have friends, and these friends know what you like.”

“How do you know who my friends are?” she spits. It’s a wonder this woman can keep a friend. Maybe she’s not like this outside of the hospital.

Somehow, that seems unlikely.

“Did you know,” says Reece, matching her bitterness with his own smugness, “that your friends are on your emergency contact list?”

“You’re not supposed to call them unless it’s an emergency.”

He shrugs and throws me a grin. What else does he have up his sleeve? “It was an emergency,” he says with the most sympathy I’ve ever heard from him. “I wanted to know how to cheer up a special lady.”

“Don’t you go sweet-talking me,” grumbles Mrs. Hill, but she takes the candy anyway, and her eyes brighten in a way that I haven’t seen in months.

We make sure that she’s comfortable and doesn’t need anything, and then we move on.

“I didn’t know you could be like that,” I say to Reece as we head back down the corridor.

“Like, what?”

“Like a human.”

“You wound me,” he says, clutching his chest like he’s in agony. “You’re being totally unreasonable.”

“I thought you liked it when I was unreasonable. I thought you liked it when I…” I trail off deliberately, letting him fill the rest of the sentence in himself.

He leans in towards me to whisper into my ear. “If it weren’t completely unprofessional, I would push you against that wall and devour you right now.”

“But,” I say, pushing him away with a smile. “It would be completely unprofessional.”

“Damn professionalism.” He sighs, then pushes me against the wall anyway.

I let him kiss me for a few seconds, not really wanting the moment to end. But someone’s going to walk along here any second, so I tear away. “Come on,” I say, turning away to head down the ward.

He scampers along after me, taking my hand to squeeze it for a second. Then we head off to do more work.

And he’s like this with all the patients. He jokes with them; he remembers little details about their lives. He smiles. If you had asked me three weeks ago if I thought that this man would be capable of caring like this, I’d have laughed until my belly hurt.

The Reece I met when he arrived is worlds away from this. He’s either become a damn good actor, or this is a part of himself he’s had hidden away all this time, and he’s only just discovering it. I hope it’s the latter. I want to believe that there’s a better man inside him somewhere than the one I met.

At least for now, he’s acting just like any other doctor here. He’s friendly and kind. He’s polite to waitstaff. He’s even started saying hello to the administrative staff, which is kind of a miracle, given how much he complains about them.

He won’t want to hear this, but he’s settling right into the role of the country doctor.

I hate to admit it because I don’t know how long it’ll last, but I really like this side of Reece. He’s been nice to have in the office. It’s been good to have him be so kind and funny, not to mention the stolen kisses whenever we get a chance. It’s the honeymoon stage of whatever relationship we’re in.

And I don’t want to presume anything of this. We’re not exactly going out. I don’t think it’s that deep to him. But right now, it feels good. I like that.

If he was staying, if he really did live out here, then maybe I would say something. I’m not a shy person. I don’t believe in holding my feelings to myself, for good or bad. I’m not always the best at saying them, but it’s always better to get stuff out, in my experience.

But our relationship — such as it is — and its future is an argument I don’t want to have with him while things are going so well. Because the fact is, he is going to leave. He has to.

He’ll return to his city life and forget all about me.

But right now, I have the most wonderful version of him, and I can’t be sorry for that.

We finish up in the ward, making sure everyone has everything they need. People keep commenting on me and Reece being together, and I’m starting to think that they’re talking. Maybe Gramma is spreading rumors. I wouldn’t be surprised.

If we were really a thing, she would be so righteous, thinking it was all her idea. Of course it’s not, but I’d let her believe it.

But we aren’t a thing. None of it is more than a wild fantasy.

We head back towards our office, joking with each other like usual. He’s surprisingly easy to wind up for a cool guy. Most guys like him barely listen to a girl like me, but I’m figuring out all the best ways to get under his skin. He’s clearly used to quick-paced banter though, because he thinks of quips faster than I can.

Still, I hold my own. He’s not going to get the better of me about anything, ever. I won’t let him.

As we approach the office, without warning he pushes me down a side corridor, presses me up against the wall, and makes good on his promise to kiss me.

It’s deep and passionate, warm, wanting. His hands pin me to the wall, one on either side of my head, and his hips roll into mine. This is so inappropriate, but I don’t care. At least, I don’t for a few seconds.

Not while his hands are on me. Not while his lips crash into mine, while he’s treating me like he really wants me. Like I mean something to him.

And if it wasn’t such a public place, if he never had to leave, I wish that it would never end. But it must.

Of course, it must.

Even if that breaks my heart.