Page 42 of Whiskey Wednesdays
Connor waded over and stood beside me. “I made sure she had swimming lessons. She’s a good little swimmer.”
I was relieved. I’d seen a drowning case last year during a rotation in the emergency room, and it scared me when I thought of Elodie. She swam toward a blowup beach ball bobbing in the deep end.
We watched her until she pushed the ball back into the shallow end and played with it there.
Without thinking, I squeezed his hand. “I’m glad you made sure she can swim. You’re a good dad.”
He grinned and snaked his arm around my waist. “Huh. You just said something nice to me.”
Connor slowly hugged me to him, molding my body to his. I froze for a second, then relaxed against him before I could register what was happening. His hard chest and thighs pressed against me, and I instinctively shifted a little closer. By the time my brain caught up a few seconds later, he’d let go.
I tried to get my heart rate under control. “Don’t get used to it. There don’t seem to be many opportunities.”
He licked his lips, then looked down at mine. “We’re just getting started, honey lips.” Then he leaned over and whispered in my ear, “And when I call you honey lips, I’m not just thinking about your mouth.”
Chapter 12
Iwent to the hospital on Friday morning to take Molly, a chronically ill patient I knew from the pediatric clinic, a couple of books from the library. Then I sat with her for an hour to give her mom a little break.
Molly waved tiredly when I walked in. “Did you bring me anygoodbooks this time?”
She was eight years old, but looked younger. Her short hair had been shaved recently when it started falling out again. She had brain cancer, and she’d just gone through another round of chemo after they found more cancerous cells. Her prognosis wasn’t good, and my heart broke a little every time I saw her.
“Yep. And guess why? I found books four and five in theWings of Fireseries at the library.”
She sat up a little and reached out her hands in a “gimme” gesture.
“Holy guacamole, Molly. That’s a great hat.” She had on a bright pink beanie with little neon yellow flowers embroidered on the edge. I’d started using silly little rhymes when we firstmet, and a giggle escaped before she’d rolled her eyes. So I kept doing it.
After visiting Molly, I walked over to Jasper’s room. He was the other chronically ill patient from the clinic I’d started visiting regularly. He was getting some oxygen therapy today, but when I looked in, he was asleep. At thirteen, Jasper had a swagger and a look in his eye that was way too old for his age. He also had cystic fibrosis, and he spent a lot of time at the hospital getting treatments.
The first time I met Jasper, he’d looked me up and down with a little smirk. “You’re smoking hot. Way hotter than the other nurses around here.”
I shook my head and pulled a stethoscope from around my neck. Dr. Kendall, my supervisor, stood behind me. She started coughing suspiciously into her fist.
“I’m not a nurse, I’m a PA intern. And you’re young. Way too young to be telling women they’re smoking hot.”
He was a chronic flirt. But despite that, we’d become friends. I set down thePercy Jacksonnovel on his tray that I’d picked up at the used bookstore, and left a little blue origami whale on top so he’d know where the book came from. I gave most of the kids at the clinic a paper animal or flower when I treated them.
As I drove to Dad’s house that afternoon, I thought about all the time Mom spent in hospital beds, and I couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be for a kid. She used to light up whenever she’d get a visitor.
Dad’s house was empty, and I didn’t see him anywhere on the estate. I stashed my bags in his spare bedroom and reluctantly rang Connor’s doorbell. When he answered, I noticed a few small pink dots on his t-shirt.
His thick dark hair was tousled, and his feet were bare. I’d been around a lot of good-looking, fit men lately who didn’t affect me. But when Connor smiled, the tingles started again.
He stepped aside. “Hey, honey lips. Why aren’t you at the pediatric clinic?”
I scowled at the nickname, but my vagina still clenched. “I have Fridays through Sundays off this semester, except home games.”
“I take it that’s good.”
A reluctant grin escaped. “It’s the first time in almost six years I haven’t had either school, work, or rotations every weekend.”
Connor studied me, then stared down at my mouth for several seconds. I started to squirm a little.
Dropping my gaze, I looked behind him into his house. “Is Dad here? I can’t find him.”
He motioned me inside. “We’re painting a wall in Elodie’s room.”
