Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Marie fiddled with one of the earrings Isaac had given her while she sipped her coffee.
The waiting room may have been sparse with patients when she’d first arrived, but an hour later it had been crammed with people, and they had two ambulances at the entrance ferrying patients who’d been in a pile-up on the highway.
They’d been stretched thin, but Marie thrived on the chaotic nature of the ER, and keeping busy kept her mind off the adventurous drive to work. Thankfully her colleagues were too busy to question her about the handsome silver fox she’d been seen kissing.
Now that things had quieted down a little and she had five minutes to breathe, she’d taken the time to fix herself a coffee and think about the studs in her ears.
They weren’t tiny, but they weren’t huge either, yet there was a transmitter in them.
When she got home she’d take them out and examine them to see if she could see where the device was.
“I heard you got some jewelry this morning.”
Marie looked up and smiled at Fiona, one of her new colleagues and a fellow ER doctor. “I did.”
Fiona sat down in the chair opposite her with a groan, rubbing her baby bump. “Standing for that length of time is not good for me or the baby.”
“Do you have much longer before you go on leave?”
“A couple more weeks. Danny is already telling me I need to cut back, but I want to work as long as possible.”
Marie didn’t know Fiona’s situation, but it was expensive living in Los Angeles, even with a double income.
She was also pleased that Fiona appeared to have forgotten what she’d said before she sat down.
The last thing Marie wanted to talk about was Isaac, particularly, as they’d only reconnected two days ago.
How was it only two days? How could so much be packed into forty-eight hours? It seemed so unlikely, but it had happened.
“Makes sense. Do you know what you’re having?” she asked, determined to keep the focus on Fiona and not herself.
“We’re having a boy. Danny is thrilled. He grew up with five sisters and they’ve all had girls, so he’s pleased that it’s a boy. The nursery has a sports theme, and if I’d let him, the furniture would be sports themed too.”
Marie laughed. “At least he’s invested and excited. Are you happy you’re having a boy or were you hoping for a girl? Considering the abundance of them in his family.”
“Initially I was disappointed, have you seen all the girl’s clothes you can get? Boy’s clothes are so boring, but seeing Danny so excited, and everyone in his family, I’m really glad that it’s a boy. Maybe next time we’ll have a girl.”
“You’re already thinking about next time before you’ve even had this baby?
” Not many new mothers thought that way.
Marie wasn’t sure she’d be thinking about having a second child before her first was born.
As it was, she was reaching the age where getting pregnant came with a lot of risks involved, not only to the mother but also the child.
But the hope that one day she’d hold her own child in her arms was a dream she wasn’t ready to give up on yet.
An image of a baby with brown eyes the same color as Isaac’s flashed in her mind, and she shut that door as quickly as it opened.
Isaac was almost a decade older than her, it was unlikely he wanted to be a father at his age.
Marie ignored the flash of pain that thought brought and returned her attention to Fiona who was watching her intently.
Had Fiona asked her a question?
“Sorry, I flaked out there a little, what did I miss?”
“I just said that I like to plan, so yes, I’m thinking about baby number two before one comes along.
But I also know that life doesn’t listen to what my plans might be, so while I do think of having another baby, I really can’t wait to meet this little fella and be his mom.
” She rubbed her belly again. “Anyway enough about me and junior here. Tell me all about the handsome man you were with this morning. He does have good taste in jewelry. Those earrings are lovely.”
Reflexively her fingers touched one of the stones again.
There was nothing special about the design, but maybe that’s what made them so attractive, there was beauty in simplicity.
There was also no way she was going to tell Fiona the real purpose behind the earrings.
That they weren’t a gift given from an adoring partner, but were a necessity because it looked as if someone was after her. “Thanks. Isaac has good taste.”
“Ooh Isaac, that’s a good strong name.” Fiona held up her hands.
“Don’t worry I’m not thinking of stealing it for my baby, if that’s what you’re worried about.
This baby is going to be Daniel Jonathon Langdon the third.
He’ll be known as DJ. Got to keep the family name alive,” she finished with a laugh.
“There’s nothing like tradition, and if you were thinking of naming your baby Isaac, there’d be nothing wrong with that either.”
“What does Isaac do? The girls at the ER desk said he was tall, brooding, and had an edge about him that made them think of danger.”
Marie was glad she hadn’t taken a sip of her coffee, because she was sure she’d have spat it out. “I’m sorry, what?”
Fiona laughed. “Yeah, one of the girls said he reminded her of the heroes from her favorite author’s romance novels. All protective. Gives off the ‘touch her and die’ vibes—her words not mine.”
“Touch her and die vibes? Not sure I’ve heard that before.
” The thing was, she couldn’t deny that sometimes there was that edge to Isaac.
He’d certainly displayed it when they’d been down in San Carlion and Alfredo had gotten in her face.
Isaac had definitely given the impression that he would’ve hurt Alfredo if the man had done anything to her.
“You’re thinking about that aren’t you?” Fiona smirked as if she’d just been handed a juicy bit of gossip that she could relay.
Marie shrugged and drained the rest of her coffee, grimacing at the coolness of the liquid. “My lips are sealed.” She winked and got up to rinse her cup. Her break was over and it was time to head back to the trenches.
“I’m looking forward to meeting this man of yours. Maybe you and he could come over for dinner one night. Get to know each other better,” Fiona suggested.
While accepting the invitation was on the tip of her tongue, Marie didn’t agree.
There was too much happening at the moment, and the last thing she wanted to do was bring danger to Fiona and Danny’s doorstep, especially with her being pregnant.
If anything happened to either of them because of her, Marie couldn’t live with herself.
But she also didn’t want to be rude, because Fiona was a colleague and she liked her.
“I’m sure we can arrange something. Thanks. ”
“Great. Time to get back at it.”
“Yeah, and thanks for the chat Fiona, it was good to get to know you better.”
“You too.”
Together they walked back to the ER, both prepping their minds for what they were going to walk into—chaos or calmness. Marie prayed for calmness, she had enough chaos in her life at the moment.
Marie checked her phone, her shift was over, but there wasn’t a message from Isaac.
She thought for sure that he would’ve messaged her throughout the day to check in.
Maybe he hadn’t stayed like he said he would.
Perhaps he’d only been saying that to make her feel safe and secure, when he planned to do the opposite.
No, she may not know the man as well as she wanted to, but she knew that he was a man of his word.
Not once had he glossed over anything that had been happening to her.
He’d told her about the possibility of a tracker on his car.
If he said he was going to be around the whole day, then he would be.
But the fact that he hadn’t messaged her seemed strange.
Sighing, she closed her locker and collected her bag.
Today she’d had to change her scrubs twice.
A smile teased her lips as she recalled one of the reasons why—someone had thrown up.
The nurse hadn’t been able to get the sick bag in front of them in time and her pants had borne the brunt of a bad case of food poisoning.
Another set of scrubs she had to discard, but that was a hazard of the job.
She walked through the double doors that lead to the waiting room and the first person she saw was Isaac, he was standing in the same spot where she’d left him that morning. Funny how her gaze had unconsciously been drawn there, as if she was remembering the way they’d parted earlier that day.
He strolled up, a sexy smile on his face. “What’s up Doc?”
Marie rolled her eyes at the silly cartoon quote. “Very original.”
Isaac laughed and pulled her close, kissing her quickly. “I couldn’t resist. How was your day?” he asked as he led her toward the exit.
“Busy. Chaotic, and I think we angered the Gods this morning.”
“Oh yeah? How so?”
“I had someone throw up on me.”
Immediately Isaac’s hand went to his stomach. “Oh no, don’t say that.”
She couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. “You really have it bad.”
“Yes, and I fear you’re going to use that against me every chance you get.”
Lifting one shoulder she side-eyed him. “Maybe,” she drew the word out.
God, she needed this. This light banter after such a stressful day. There were a few times she’d tensed when the doors had burst open, fully expecting a gunman to come in and drag her away. It wasn’t something she expected to feel, but she had.
They reached his car and he opened the door for her. Once seated she placed her bag at her feet and pulled the seatbelt on. They were approaching the exit when she broached the subject that their teasing had pushed to the back of her mind. “How come you didn’t text me today?”
Can I sound any more needy?
Her hands were clasped in her lap and she was gazing out her window, all of a sudden too afraid to look at him, in case he was looking at her in disgust at her neediness.
“Doc? Look at me,” he said softly.
She became aware that they were stopped, he’d pulled over just past the exit of the hospital car park.
Marie took a second and then faced him. His hand came up and cupped her cheek.
She had a moment to prepare before his mouth descended on hers.
The seatbelt inhibited her, but she leaned as close as she could so that he could deepen the kiss.
This was what she wanted him to do in the ER waiting room.
She wanted him to possess her. Why she required the reassurance that he was still attracted to her, she didn’t know.
Perhaps it was the conversation she’d had with Fiona.
Or the way she hadn’t freaked out with the ‘touch her and die’ vibe everyone thought Isaac gave off.
Whatever it was, having this physical connection was what she needed most.
When they broke away they were both breathing hard, and she clutched at his shirt as if it was her only connection between life and death.
Why was she being so dramatic? She never allowed her emotions to riot out of control like they were right now. Even with her ex she’d never felt this need. Was it because of the circumstances with which they’d met—both times?
The time to examine it all wasn’t now, it was later when she was alone and could process everything.
“I wanted to text you many times, but I didn’t want to bother you. I know how important your work is. How stressful it can be. But…” He pulled out his phone and held it out for her to see.
On the screen was her name and one long unsent message. “You wrote all these out and didn’t send them?”
There were maybe ten or twelve messages. Not long, just letting her know he was thinking of her. Hoping the day was going well. She laughed at the one where it was the vomit emoji with the words hope this doesn’t happen. But it had.
“I did. Whenever I thought of you and wanted to contact you, I opened it up and just added what I was thinking. I guess I was psychic with that one.” He pointed to the one she laughed at.
“A little.” Before she handed it back, she pressed the send button. “There, all sent now.”
“Yeah, they are,” he said quietly, taking the phone from her. His eyes were dark, almost black, and she shivered at the unfettered desire shining in them. He took her hand and kissed the top of it before putting the car back in gear and pulling out onto the street.
They’d been traveling for a while when the places they were passing registered. “This isn’t the way to my apartment. Where are we going?”
“My place.”
“Why not mine?” She didn’t mind that they were heading to Isaac’s place, she wanted to see where he lived, but after working all day and feeling dirty after dealing with patients, she wanted nothing more than to shower, change into comfy clothes, and chill out in front of the television before she had to think about making something to eat.
“I’ll tell you when we get there. We’re not too far away.”
Everything in her burned to question him. To get an answer, yet with looking at the firm set of his jaw, the way his lips were pressed together tightly, she wasn’t going to get anything out of him. “Fine.”
His sigh reached her ears, and she felt bad for being curt with him, but also a sense of dread was filling her. There had to be a very good reason why he was taking her to his house and not hers. And she suspected it had to do with what happened this morning.
How had her life become so dramatic?