Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
A NNIE
“Come on, Ethel, pick up your feet so you don’t trip. No shuffling, remember?” Ethel is the ninety-two-year-old that Teddy and I are helping to the bathroom for the third time already in the last hour.
I’m so tired. These last few weeks have flown by at a dizzying pace.Work has been busy, and I’ve been picking up a few extra shifts to help and to make more of a dent in my student loans. Today is my fourth twelve-hour shift this week and Ethel, though adorable, is making it seem like my hundredth shift in a row.
Teddy chuckles. “Don’t listen to ‘Crabby Annie’ there, Ethel. She’s just jealous that your skin looks not a day over that of an eighty-year-old.”
I let my mind drift while Teddy pours the flattery on Ethel, who’s eating it up.
Ethel interrupts my train of thought when she gasps. “Look at those two dapper fellows, would you, Annie? Might help your bad mood. Thank God my eyes are still in working order. ”
I look up and see Jack and Fitz come in through the ambulance bay about forty feet away from us.
The female nurses and techs are literally tripping over each other as they rush to help, presumably since Jack and Fitz are the ones bringing the patient into the room. I mean, I get it. Individually, they are both attractive. Together, it’s like double the pleasure. But where were they when Ethel was on the call light for the fiftieth time today?
“Jesus, ladies, calm yourselves you horny biatches,” I whisper to myself. I realize Teddy hears me when he laughs out loud.
“What did you say, honey?” Ethel says, making Teddy laugh even harder. Thank goodness Ethel’s hearing isn’t what it once was.
“Nothing, Ethel, nothing.” I smile.
After finally making it to the bathroom, Teddy and I are waiting outside the door for Ethel to finish.
“Those two cause quite the uproar with the ladies whenever they come in, don’t they? Not as much as when I come in, but still…” Teddy chuckles, nodding toward Jack and Fitz, who are wrapping up their paperwork. He clearly caught me staring.
“You know, if Jack makes captain, he’ll be the youngest to ever get that promotion in the department. He’s fucking earned it, too. Anyone who has ever fought a fire with him knows he’s amazing at managing a scene. He’s humble as hell, on top of it. He almost turned down the chance for this promotion because he said he’s sure there’s someone who deserves it more.”
That’s kind of refreshing to hear and hell if doesn’t make Jack Donley even more attractive. I’ve typically found emergency services personnel—whether in medicine, police, fire, or nursing—tend to be adrenaline junkies.
Add that to the testosterone often seen in our male counterparts and some days feel like one giant pissing contest. So to me, nothing’s sexier than a man in a uniform who actually is the shit but doesn’t seem to feel the need to act like it.
The rest of the morning goes by quickly. We have a brief lull around noon, so I sit with a group of nurses teaching them my tips for interpreting arterial blood gas results.
I’m interrupted by a sultry, “Hey, Annie.” I look up to see Jack smiling at me as he and Fitz walk by, pushing a patient on their stretcher.
Fitz nods in my direction but says nothing.
“Hi, Jack… and Fitz,” I respond before I turn back to the group of nurses I’m teaching.
My nursing colleagues are staring at me with wide eyes and holding their mouths open, dumbfounded.
“What?” I ask them. It was just a hello.
A few chuckles and several eye rolls later, we’re back at our lesson.
After about twenty minutes, Jack and Fitz are on their way out of the ER, and stop to chat with Teddy. One of them says something that makes Jack smile, his mouth lifting at the corner, bringing his dimple out.
I sigh when I see it. Hey, just because I don’t date people I work with anymore doesn’t mean I can’t window shop, right? Right! But then, like music to my libido, that sexy laugh of his fills my ears and I close my eyes and smile at the sound.
Shit, I mentally slap myself for acting pathetic as I remind myself that it’s okay to look, but my rule still stands. No dating someone I work with. It’s not like he’s shown any interest anyway, so…
My trance is broken when I hear a voice.
“I’d be a bad friend if I didn’t warn you off that one,” Joel says as he walks up. It’s obvious he caught me watching Jack as he and Fitz walk out of the ER into the ambulance bay. “Trust me, Annie, Jack Donley is bad news. ”
“Well, I’m not sure what makes you think you need to say that to me, Joel, but you don’t need to worry about me. I’m actually a grown woman and can think for myself.”
“Okay, good. Well, I’m glad I misread that look. I’m just watching out for you.”
It’s my day off but I wake up early, anyway. I throw on my running shoes and Beanie and I drive to the park we found soon after moving here. These gorgeous trails that weave through the woods are perfect for the days Bean and I take our longer runs and I just want to get lost in nature. It’s also got a nice, enclosed dog park area where Bean can run free for a bit after our workout.
As it always does, the stress of the week melts away as my feet contact the trail in the soothing rhythmic pattern. I run an extra quarter mile on top of my original plan to help counteract the blueberry muffin with the crunchy crystals of sugar on top I’m going to get on the way home this morning. Bean is trotting along next to me in his happy place as I’m plotting out my day and thinking about what time I need to leave to meet Janie for brunch before we go dress shopping for Teddy and Emily’s wedding next Saturday.
I’m super happy for Teddy but bummed out that I don’t have a date for the wedding. Joel asked, but I took a hard pass on that one. My shoulders tense again, and my hands clench into fists just thinking about him having the gall to give his opinion yesterday about who I should or should not be interested in. I’d rather go alone than with him, even “as friends” like he tried to convince me he was okay with. I flex and extend my fingers several times, trying to relax my shoulders as I push him out of my mind.
It’s not like I haven’t tried to date. I’ve gone on several dates lately with some nice guys I met online.I just didn’t feel any real chemistry. The other day over brunch, I told Janie about a few of the better ones. After taking a long drink from her bloody Mary, she looked at me and said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t have wavy black hair and shag me gray eyes. Listen, babe, I love you and I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t have your best interests in mind, but you really need to get laid to get that man out of your head.”
I’m not sure when my best friend turned into a crass dude, but then again, I’m also not sure she doesn’t have a point. I am, however, sure that joining the Spicy Girls book club last month is probably adding to the problem since our book choices can get pretty steamy and I feel like Jack Donley could be the model on the cover of one of them.
Five-mile run down, travel mug of coffee retrieved from the car in hand, I shut the gate behind us as we enter the dog park and I make Beanie sit while I prepare to take off his leash. “Now listen, bud, no humping and no smelling butts.”
He wags his tail and tilts his adorable head like he understands me. I unclip his leash, and he takes off running toward the small pond in the middle of the park. It means a bath when we get home, but that’s the cost of having a water-loving lab.
I make my way toward the pond and am surprised to find that Bean isn’t in the water yet. Instead, I find him with a stick in his mouth, playing chase with a pretty shepherd mix. They look like they’re having a blast and I smile, watching them. It’s only seven a.m., and it’s a beautiful morning, so I sit down on the bench and enjoy seeing my boy living his best life. I’m surprised to find another dog here this early. Usually, it’s only me and Bean.
Just as I’m wondering where the other pup’s owner is, a shadow falls in front of me and a familiar voice says, “Fancy meeting you here, Annie. ”
I look up and nearly spit out my mouthful of coffee as I make eye contact with Jack Donley’s sultry gray eyes.
“May I sit?” he asks.
“Of course, sure,” I say, scooting over. My heart is racing at the proximity to Jack, and I’m convinced he can hear it. Damn it, maybe Janie was right.
Jack is holding a tennis ball and laughs as he tells me his shepherd mix, Gracie, ditched him in the woods after the last time he threw her ball.
“I waited a solid five minutes for her before I realized she really wasn’t coming back. He must be some pup if he was able to distract Gracie from her game of fetch. The girl is obsessed with her tennis ball.”
I chuckle, picturing Jack standing in the woods waiting for Gracie to come back. “Well, Bean is a handsome boy, so you can’t blame her,” I tease.
JACK
I force myself to stop staring at Annie’s beautiful mouth while she talks, and I somehow choke back a laugh at the memory of her potty-mouthed tirade the first day I met her in the ER. Who would think that anything so sassy could pass by those gorgeous lips?
“So, how long have you lived in Elladine, Annie?” I ask, trying to open the conversation.
“Just since mid-March. I moved here from Southern Ohio.” There’s a slight sag in her shoulders.
“I think you’ll like it here. There’s lots to do in nice weather since we’re so close to the lake and we have a national park right in our backyard. Has anyone given you the insider’s tour of the area yet?”
“Not really. Janie’s taken me a few places—mostly shopping and bars, though.” She laughs, and it might be the loveliest sound I’ve ever heard.
Come on, you chickenshit. This is the perfect opportunity to ask her out.
Before I can act, though, she speaks again. “Oh, and Joel at work has tried to convince me to go out on the lake when he takes his boat out on Memorial Day. I’m not going, though,” she adds quickly.
“Oh, do you have other plans?”
“Not yet.” She smiles at me and holds my gaze for a few seconds before turning back to watch the dogs.
“Oh…” Apparently, I’ve lost the ability to speak now because I can’t force any other words out of my mouth. Logically, I know I’ve only asked a few women out since things fell apart with Maggie five years ago, but it’s not rocket science. I don’t understand why I can’t get my shit together and just ask her for a date. Maybe because this is the first time in so long that you’d actually care if the woman you’re asking declines.
We sit and let the dogs play for a solid forty-five minutes, making small talk before she stands and calls her “sweet baby” over to her. Damn, I swear I was just getting up the nerve to ask if she wanted to get coffee.
“I really should get going. I’m meeting Janie for brunch and shopping.” She hesitates and then says, “It was really nice talking to you, Jack.”
“Oh sure, no problem,” I say, standing awkwardly. Then I just blurt out, “Will I see you at Teddy and Emily’s wedding?”
“Yep, I’ll be there,” she says, smiling.
“I guess I’ll see you there, then,” I say, grinning stupidly back at her.
“See you, Jack,” she says, before waving and walking away.
And, once again, I’ve failed to ask her out despite the perfect chance.