Page 19 of Moore to Love
“Then you should probably do something about whatever is going on between the two of you. Before someone else steps in and steals her right out from under your nose,” he warned.
Giving him a curt nod as the only acknowledgment to his advice, I stepped to the side so he could leave the exam room. But I followed close to keep an eye on how he acted around Ellie. As she handed him his receipt, I thought I had overreacted. Then the cocky bastard had to go and prove me wrong.
“It was nice to meet you, Ellie.” John shot me a mischievous look before heading toward the exit. “If your boss doesn’t take good care of you, let me know, and I’ll step in.”
“What in the world?” Ellie breathed, her brows drawing together as she tilted her head back to look up at me. “I swear, I didn’t say anything to make him think you were treating me badly, let alone enough that I’d need to call a cop for help. I barely said hello to the man. I am so sorry. Should I go after him and explain that he has nothing to worry about?”
Before Ellie could jump out of her seat to come to my defense, I clamped my hand on her shoulder. “Don’t pay him any attention. John likes to think he’s funny when he’s not.”
“I don’t see what was supposed to be so funny about that,” she grumbled.
“Well, I—” Stepping back so I was outside of Ellie’s line of sight, I shook my head at Meghan, warning her not to finish that thought. “Think he’s a good pet owner but could use a lot of help in the sense of humor department.”
My little display of jealousy had ruined any hope I’d had of hiding my attraction to Ellie from Meghan. The woman was too astute for my own good when it came to this delicate situation. Which she proved barely twenty minutes later, after my next patient left, and she cornered me in the exam room.
Wagging her finger at me, she ordered, “You need to pull up your big boy pants and ask Ellie out.”
Not bothering to deny the obvious, I groaned, “I can’t. She works for me, and she needs this job. I can’t risk making her not feel safe here. She deserves better than that.”
“I agree with you on part of that. Ellie is awesome and deserves only the best. Especially after all the shit her ex put her through.” She poked her finger against my chest. “Which is why I’m telling you to ask her out. You’re the best man I know besides Roger, and you would never do anything to make her feel unsafe around you.”
I shook my head. “You don’t know how she’ll react if I ask her out. That alone could make me being her boss awkward for her, no matter how much I assure her that I’d never take it out on her if she turned me down.”
“I’m not going to betray her confidence, so all I can say is…just trust me. You won’t regret it.”
Meghan’s words played over and over in my head for the next couple of days as I wondered what Ellie might’ve said about me to warrant that kind of advice. The doubts she’d planted were starting to whittle away at my determination to keep my hands off the woman who I was coming to realize would be hard to let go of if she ever let me close.
10
ELLIE
Iwas so excited by how well my second week at work had gone—and busy thinking about my sexy boss—that I almost forgot this was supposed to be Thad’s weekend with the kids until he knocked on the door at five. Pulling it open, I shouted over my shoulder, “Hurry up and get ready. Your dad is here to pick you up!”
“Daddy,” Madison squealed, running into the living room from the kitchen to throw herself into Thad’s arms. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, sweetie pie.” Thad brushed a kiss against the top of her head and set her on her feet. “How about you go get whatever stuffed animal you’d like to bring to my house while I talk to your mommy?”
“Otay,” she quickly agreed, racing up the steps to her bedroom.
“Honey Bunny.” His brows drew together, and there was no hint of recognition in his brown eyes. So I explained, “That’s the name of the stuffed animal she went to grab. It’s been her favorite for three years, ever since she got it in her Easter basket when she was two.”
“Oh, yeah, right. Of course.” He nodded. “Honey Bunny.”
“Do you have any special plans with the kids?” I asked, wondering if I should pack some of their other favorite things even though they had fully stocked rooms at his house.
“What I do with them on my weekends is none of your concern. I’m their father. I’m more than capable of taking care of them.”
“I wasn’t asking because I doubted your ability—”
My words were cut off by the loud honking of a car. Peering around him, I spotted his Mercedes in my driveway and recognized the blonde in the front seat.
“You brought Penny with you to pick them up?” I snapped, clenching my fists so tightly that my nails pricked the skin of my palms. “Seriously?”
“It’s been almost two years,” he scoffed. “You need to come to terms with the fact that she’s a part of my life after all this time.”
One of the upsides to him bailing on his weekends with the kids so often was that I hadn’t needed to worry about them spending much time with his former mistress turned girlfriend. Except for when he had them on a holiday and his parents had Penny and her family over too.
“If we count all the time you two were sneaking around behind my back, it’s been a heck of a lot longer than two years,” I hissed, lowering my voice so the kids couldn’t hear me. “But that’s not why I’m upset. Madison wasn’t exaggerating when she said she missed you. You haven’t seen them in weeks, and I’m sure they’d appreciate some one-on-one time with their dad.”
