Kimberly
"God. I fucking hate dating." I huff as I cross my arms around my chest throwing myself down on the couch of the break room at Rose Valley Hospital, where I work as a nurse. A chuckle comes from behind me. I turn toward it and narrow my eyes. Her grin gets bigger and bigger as I continue to glare at her. Colleen's black hair thrown into a messy bun distracts me slightly as it shakes when she tilts her head to ask, "Bad date?"
Rolling my eyes, I turn my back on her. "The worst."
"What happened? I thought Todd was different," she says sarcastically while putting air quotes up when she says, "Todd was different."
More glaring comes out of me, but then the chuckles gets to me too, and a laugh suddenly bursts through me. Andit keeps going. I can't seem to stop it even when I try. A stabbing feeling tomy side reminds me of how much of a joke my love life is. Man, I should be a realityshow of my own. It would be a hit with all the losers I've dated. Every time I think maybe this will be it, maybe this one won't be so bad. But I'm never right. They're all bad.
We both suddenly stop laughing and just stare at each other. Her eyes soften a bit. "What happened this time?"
Shaking my head, I clench my hands. "I saw him kissing another woman before the date even started."
"Whaat?" she shrieks. Plugging my ears because, man, she's loud.
"I was running late and since I didn't know his number because we've been messaging on the app, I contacted him through there. Well, I guess he didn't get that message because when I walked in ten minutes late, he was sitting at the bar with some woman on his lap and they were making out."
"Did you say anything to him?"
"No, I just left. But he responded this morning." Shrugging my shoulders and trying to be as non-chalet as possible, but if I'm really honest my heart aches. I thought by the time I was twenty-seven I would have met my perfect someone. That I would be married, possibly have a kid on the way. But nope, the universe doesn't work like that. Well, at least not for me.
Out of the sea of frogs I've dated, there has been only one who has kept my attention, the only man I was drawn to and he wasn't even someone I was dating. No, he was my, at the time boyfriend's dad. A man who was sexy as fuck and had eyes that you could drown yourself in?
A man twenty years older than me.
Whose wife had died the year before.
And then when my boyfriend Smith caught me ogling his dad for the hundredth time at the family dinners, he would always drag me too. Smith confronted me and when I tried to lie and deny it, he saw right through me. Because I'm a terrible liar. Of course, it led to a pretty nasty breakup between me and his son, making me feel like a giant ass. When Smith brought up that his mom just died and how could I even think I would have a chance with his dad when she was the love of his life? I felt so disgusted with myself. That was the worst part. Because he was right, I would always be second with Silas Cabot. That fight gave me the strength to walkaway, or at least as far as they knew, because they didn't need me to come between them. They needed each other.
I've felt nothing like the way I did when I was around Silas. Over the years, I've been trying to recreate it. Trying to forget. Hoping that one of these guys on these sites will be my truelove, but nothing nada.
Colleen interrupts my walk down memory lane when she asks, "What did he say?" Oh yeah, we're talking about my date from last night.
"He asked me why I stood him up. I then told him I didn't stand him up, but he probably didn't see me since he had his tongue down another woman's throat."
Her brows shoot up at my response, placing her elbows on her knees as she listens to my story. "What did he say to that?"
"He told me if I wasn't so selfish and showed up on time, he wouldn't have moved on. I didn't respond."
Colleen sits up and leans back in her chair. "Sorry Kimmie. Maybe the next guy will be better."
"That's just it. I don't want there to be a next time. I'm tired of these dates."
"Yeah, it's definitely difficult to find someone worth your time out there," she murmurs, leaving me with questions. But I know with her I have to be careful how I ask things, not pushing her too hard. Because she keeps things locked down tighter than Fort Knox.
"Enough about me. What about you? Are you dating anyone?" I ask, trying to keep my tone light so she doesn't think I'm prying.
Colleen lets out a huff. "No. I'm just out having fun."
Her eyes light up and she gets up from her chair, and I know I'm in trouble. When she jumps over the back of the couch, landing next to me, she wraps her arms around my shoulders. She has this glint in her dark brown eyes, causing me to take in a deep breath and brace for whatever comes out of her mouth next. "I know what will make you feel better. We should have a girls' night." she blurts out.
Letting out my breath slowly as my shoulders relax, I pull my phone out of my pocket. "That sounds good tome. Let's text the girls and see who is down."
Thank god that was it. Sometimes Colleen comes up with some crazy stuff, and because she's my ride or die, I'm always down for whatever, but sometimes her ideas are a little much, even for me. "Do you want me to text everyone or do you?"
Before Colleen responds, the alarm on my phone buzzes. Reminding me that my lunch break is over and it's time to get back. Standing up, I tuck my phone back into my pocket. "I've got toget back, before the cardiac wing goes crazy without my presence."
"I'll text in our group text to see who wants to get together. Are we doing this tonight?" Colleen asks as she pulls out her own phone.
"Yeah, we can do it tonight. I'm off tomorrow. Thankfully."
"Awesome. Now get back to work," she says as she smacks my ass as hard as she can.
My hands instinctively go to my ass. "Ouch. Did you have to do that?"
Smiling, she responds, "You know I did."
"Now my ass is going to hurt all day."
She winks at me. "You know you like it."
"No, you hag. I don't like it. But it's time to get back to work."
Colleen cackles behind me as I leave the break room, rubbing my sore ass. Heading back to the cardiac wing, I roll out my neck, reminding myself I only have four more hours on this shift. Usually, I work twelve hour shifts five days a week except for surgery days. On those days, you never know how long you'll be working. Sometimes it's longer, other times it's shorter. I love my job. It seems like I'm complaining, but I'm not.
What other job could you have where you get to meet great people? Work with one of the most complicated organisms in the body, the heart. And help heal people, not just physically but emotionally, too. I was meant for this, but that doesn't mean I don't get tired.
Pushing the doors open after scanning my I.D. the sight I see has me freezing right in my spot. All thoughts about my disastrous love life and my sore ass leave my head. What the hell is he doing here? Trying hard to will my legs to move so I can get out of here and hide in one of my patients' rooms. Thankfully, I'm able to turn quietly, attempting to tiptoe down the hall. Before I can creep past the two men standing at the nurse's desk, Randall, my boss, sees me.
"Aww, there you are Kimberly." My whole body stiffens with his words. Because shit, I wanted neither of these men to see me. But it's time to be a big girl and I force myself to relax my shoulders. Plastering on the fakest smile. I turn back toward him and his guest. Making sure I keep my eyes on my boss and only him, I ask, "What can I do for you?" Dripping my words in sweetness so he can't see how uncomfortable I am right now.
"This here is Mr. Cabot; he just bought the hospital and is making rounds over the next few weeks to check in on the departments."
My jaw drops in shock. My gaze goes to the man standing next to him. And shit, my heart skips a beat when they connect with Silas Cabot's very green eyes the same man who has had my heart since the moment his son introduced us seven years ago.
"Hello Kimberly," he greets me with a small smirk. His deep voice rolls over me, the same one that had my stomach flipping every time he spoke back then, and it seems things have not changed, no matter how much I've tried to put him out of my mind. I say nothing. I can't. All my words are stuck somewhere between my brain and throat. And maybe even a few have dropped to my pussy, because suddenly my clit is tingling, and my panties are damp.
This is not good. I can feel my boss's gaze bouncing between us. He finally gets the guts when he clears his throat and asks, "You two know each other?"
Nodding, because my brain doesn't seem to want to work, but Silas answers for both of us. "We've met. She dated my son a few years back. Isn't that right?"
As if a bucket of ice has been thrown on me, I wake up to reality instead of being stuck in the one I've created. Why would Silas have any interest in me other than his son's ex-girlfriend?
"Yes." I casually answer, pulling my nurse phone out of my pocket, pretending that a patient is calling me. "Sorry, I've got to go." Not caring if the two men staring at me know it's all a ruse. Because right now I need to get myself together.
When I reach one of my patient's doors, I take a deep breath and let all the tension in my body go. He just owns the hospital, nothing more, nothing less. He has more important things to do than care about you except for the extent of your job. And nothing to worry about there because you're a kick ass nurse.
Maybe if I chant it a few times, I'll even convince myself. A buzzing sound interrupts my thoughts. When I pullout my personal phone, I see a slew of texts from my girls confirming girls' night.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as if I was at yoga.
This is what I need, a night with my girls to keep my mind off of Silas Cabot or that he now owns the freaking hospital.