3. Chapter 3
Grace
“So wait…you really didn’t sleep with him?” Mariah set the stack of towels she was holding on the tray so she could cross her arms and emphasize her disappointment in my lack of walk of shame. I rolled my eyes.
“No! He only walked me home.” I crossed my arms to mirror hers and cocked my head to the side. “We just met. What kind of girl do you think I am?” I tried to lower my voice and muffle it enough to get it past my definitely-nosey-enough-to-hear-every-detail patient.
She scoffed, not caring to do the same. “Well, a presumably rich and sexy man swept you off your feet at a party, rescued you from security, and walked you home, but you didn’t sleep with him?
A lucky girl,” Mariah paused and then added, “and a stupid one.” My best friend threw her head back and laughed at her own joke until I threw my pen at her.
“You know, I have a nephew if you’re looking,” my patient added with an exaggerated wink. “He’s really handsome, and a cop. I think you two could really get along. He needs someone pretty like you.”
I forced the gentle smile I had mastered in nursing school. “Oh, thank you, Mrs. Holiday. That’s really sweet of you, but I’m not sure he’s really my type.” I had never been one for a man with a badge.
“He’s a really good guy, though. I promise,” she insisted. Mariah laughed, and I shot her a glare that dared her to add to it.
“I’m sure he’s great.” I patted her on the shoulder and smiled again. “But I am just not really interested in dating anyone right now.”
She looked at Mariah and then back to me. “Are you sure you don’t want me to just give you his number?” Mariah laughed, grabbing the towels she had set down and leaving the room.
“You’re starting to sound like my mom, Mrs. Holiday.” My mom had been trying to set me up with anyone she could possibly find for months now.
Mrs. Holiday shrugged. “She probably just doesn’t want you to be lonely.”
“Okay,” I said, dragging out the word slightly more than was probably appropriate. “I’ll be back to check on you in a little while, okay? You should get some rest.”
“Thank you, dear.” She settled into her bed while I wrote her newest vitals on the whiteboard. I turned around to leave, but not before she could speak up again. “If you change your mind on that phone number, let me know. I think you might like him.”
I laughed again, walking out of the room. How could she possibly know that? “Oh my God,” I mouthed silently to Mariah, who stood against the nurse’s station and watched with amusement.
“So, are you going to marry her nephew?” Mariah asked, barely able to get the question out before her laugh burst from her chest. I swatted her arm, but she put her hand up in defense and quietly squealed.
“Oh, relax, I’m just playing with you! But seriously…
the guy from last night. How could you not at least have a little fun? ”
“Connor?” I asked, ignoring her question when I saw him walk in. His well-kept hair the other night was messier today, but his golden eyes carried the same intensity when he walked toward us.
Mariah shrugged. “Was that his name?” she asked, leaning toward me like I was going to give her the answer, but instead, I glared at her, hoping she would catch the hint and shut the fuck up before he picked up on what she was saying.
“What are you doing here?” I asked when he was closer.
Mariah spun around, and her eyes widened with excitement.
She looked at him and then back to me, taking half a step back but planting her feet and staying close enough to hear everything.
I rolled my eyes at her inherent nosiness, knowing she would be using anything I said against me in her interrogation about him later.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you for 16 hours.” Connor smirked, and my stomach swirled with a fresh wave of nerves. Then, I stopped when realization hit me.
“How did you know I’d be here?” I thought back over our conversation during our walk the night before, and I was certain I never told him where I worked.
My chest tightened with premature anxiety.
Should I be more scared of this man than I originally thought?
When it came down to it, I really didn’t learn anything about him last night.
Connor stepped toward me, and when he put his hand on my hip, I considered taking a step back.
I didn’t move, though, not even when he put the other hand on my waist and pulled me to him.
“I have my ways,” he said, his voice rolling from his tongue, like there was no way he was feeling the same vibrating nerves that had overtaken every inch of my body.
“Last night was too short. Let me take you to lunch.”
“I don’t know,” I said, but behind Connor, Mariah was silently screaming, waving her hands in excitement. If she had any say in it, there was no way Connor would be leaving here alone.
“You don’t eat lunch?” He squeezed my hips, pulling me closer. I tripped over the half-step I took, falling against him.
“I do,” I said, standing up straight. “I just have a lot of things I have to do. You know, busy day.” I forced a small laugh and waved vaguely at the emptier-than-usual hospital hallway.
We weren’t busy at all. There was no way he was going to believe the quiet echo of the hospital meant we were busier than usual, especially in the rehabilitation and therapy wing.
Most of our patients had a routine; right now, they were sleeping.
Connor nodded, but the smirk on his face didn’t budge. Neither did his hold on me. “You do look very busy,” he said. “I’ll make it worth your while. Promise.”
Mariah stepped forward before I could even make up a high-maintenance patient who suddenly needed my attention. “She’d love to,” she said, giving me a gentle shove. “I’ll cover the rush.” She winked like she had solved the entire problem.
“Okay, why not?” There wasn’t an excuse I could make that would be believable now.
“Great,” Connor said, laughing. When he put his arm around me, I didn’t fight it. Did I want to? Like Mariah said, he was presumably rich, and he was really sexy—even with the mysterious and dangerous thing. It was just lunch. “What do you say we get out of here then?”