Chapter 4
SERENA
It's been three days since I snuck out of my own apartment like those dudes that robbed the Louvre. Only I left a sexy, sleeping man in my bed and a giant piece of myself I'm never getting back.
That means it’s also been three days of me telling myself it didn't matter.
I’ve been talking to the mirror and reminding my reflection that the whole amazing connection I shared with Blaze was just for one night. Yep, Blaze Reynolds was a fever dream I've already woken up from… So basically, three days of lying that isn’t all that effective.
My brain forgets from time to time, but my body sure as hell hasn’t. I push through the doors of the medical clinic and head straight for the break room. I’m desperate for coffee and a few minutes of silence before my shift starts. I let out a huff.
I catch my reflection in the window. It’s not great. There are dark circles under my eyes and my hair is scraped back in a bun so tight it's giving me a headache. Not to mention the fact that I woke up late and didn’t have time to iron, so my scrubs already look wrinkled.
I haven’t slept well in the last three days.
But that shouldn’t matter, I’m a professional.
This is my third year working as a nurse on Ridgeway Base.
I've handled trauma cases, psychiatric emergencies, and soldiers twice my size who faint at the sight of a needle.
I can handle one stupid one-night stand.
Even if I can still feel his hands on my skin.
Even if I wake up reaching for him every morning.
Ugh, I’m even annoying to myself at this point.
My colleague Maya appears beside me, holding out a cup of coffee like an offering. "Rough weekend?"
"Something like that." I take the coffee gratefully. "What's on the schedule today?"
"New training cycle." Maya checks her tablet. "SERE instructors are coming through for their quarterly physicals. Should be pretty routine… blood pressure, reflexes, the usual."
My stomach drops. SERE instructors.
"All of them?" My voice comes out in a strange high pitched, tight gurgle.
Maya gives me a strange look. "No idea. But there's like eight of them on the schedule, I think. Why?"
I take a gulp of coffee and burn my tongue. "Nothing, that’s fine… I’m making sure I'm prepared is all."
It's fine… Fine like a house being on fire. Totally cool. No big deal. But if there are at least eight of them the chances of Blaze ending up in my exam room still aren’t great.
Even if he did, I bet he wouldn’t care at all.
It was a one off night for me, but he probably does that sort of thing all the time.
He probably hasn’t thought about me for one minute since the morning I left.
I pull myself together and reapply my makeup in the bathroom, you know, just in case.
Then I spend the next hour drowning myself in paperwork.
I tear through inventory reports, patient files, and anything else I can find.
I’m desperate to keep my mind off his dark eyes and tattooed forearms. I need to drown out the way he whispered my name like it meant something.
It doesn't work.
At ten o'clock, the first SERE instructor arrives. He’s a big guy and has a friendly smile. We have no problems. I take his vitals, ask the standard questions, and send him on his way a half hour later.
See? Easy. Professional. I’ve got this.
At ten-thirty-five, the second one comes in. Then the third. Then the fourth. Not a single issue, but also… No Blaze.
By eleven-thirty, I start to relax. Maybe he's not on the list at all. Maybe he's out on a training exercise. Maybe the universe is giving me a break for once in my life. I check my tablet for the next patient.
Reynolds , Blaze. 12:00 PM.
The blood drains from my face.
"Serena?" Maya pokes her head in. "Your twelve-o’clock is here. Exam room three."
"I—" I swallow hard. "Can you take this one? I'm not feeling well."
She frowns. "I've got back-to-back until two. Are you okay?"
Hell no I’m not okay.
"I'm fine." I force a smile. "Just a tired, but I've got it."
I smooth my scrubs and stand outside exam room three for a full minute. I inhale and try to remember how to breathe normally. My hand shakes when I reach for the door handle.
Then I open the door and there he is.
Blaze sits on the chair beside the exam table. His arms are crossed over his chest. He looks exactly like I remember with his dark hair, sharp jaw, and tattoos curling up his forearms like smoke. Only he's in his uniform now and that makes it worse.
He looks… untouchable. Forbidden. And like something I have to have.
I pull my shoulders back and swallow down my nerves. But his eyes find mine, and everything stops. For a moment, neither of us moves. We don’t speak. The air between us is thick with three days of silence and one night I’ll never forget.
Then he smiles. It’s not a smirk. It’s a real, genuine grin that lights up his whole face and makes my chest ache.
"Serena."
The way he says my name. Like he's been waiting. Like he's been hoping to see me walk through the door. I'm going to pass out.
"Mr. Reynolds." I grip my tablet like a lifeline and step into the room, letting the door close behind me. "I'm Nurse Serena Logan. I'll be conducting your physical today."
His smile doesn't waver. "Mr. Reynolds? Really?"
"That's your name, isn't it?" I keep my voice clipped and professional. I don't look at him as I pull up his file. "Date of birth?"
"Serena."
"Date of birth, please."
"August seventeenth." He's still watching me.
I can feel it like a brand on my skin. “The year please.”
"You left."
My fingers freeze on the tablet.
His voice is low. Soft. For my ears only. "I woke up and you were gone. Not even a note or a phone number."
"Please, Blaze, I’m at work." I force myself to meet his eyes and it’s a big mistake. They're darker than I remember. There's something in them that makes my stomach flip. "I'm your nurse. You're my patient. Whatever happened before isn’t…" I shake my head.
"Before?" He leans forward, and I catch his scent. "You mean three days ago? When you invited me into your apartment and I spent all night learning exactly what makes you—"
"Stop." The word comes out strangled. I glance at the door, terrified someone might hear. "You can't… There are rules, Blaze."
"Rules." He says it like it's a foreign concept and there’s a playfulness in his eyes.
"Regulations." I set down the tablet because my hands are shaking too badly to hold it.
"Civilian medical staff are prohibited from having relationships with active-duty personnel stationed on base.
If anyone found out about what happened I could lose my job.
I cannot lose my job. So please just let me get through this. "
Something shifts in his expression. He’s more serious. "I didn't know about the regulations."
"Well, now you do." I pick up the blood pressure cuff, grateful for something to do with my hands. "So whatever you're thinking, can't happen. It was one night just like I said from the start. That's all it was."