He turned on his computer and began looking at the new admits from the night before so he could prepare for his rounds this morning. It seemed they had a busy night last night at the hospital, which would make for a busy day. Ethan welcomed it, knowing that staying busy would keep his mind occupied.
Grabbing his stuff, he headed out the door towards his first patient. When he was working and visiting with patients, he felt good, like he was where he was supposed to be.
“Good morning, Dr. Harris.”
Ethan paused and looked over to see Beth smiling expectantly at him. He took a few steps towards her and said, “Good morning, Beth. How are you doing this morning?” His dark green eyes studied her as if she were the only woman in the hospital. He was charming, he couldn’t help it, it was something that was naturally built into him, and he couldn’t hide that aspect of himself, even if he tried.
Her pink-hued lips curved even wider as she said, “I’m doing wonderful, Dr. Harris. Will you be attending the benefit this Friday night at the hospital auditorium?”
He leaned against the desk next to her, and smiled when he noticed her fingers rubbing nervously together as she began to fidget. For reasons he never understood, he always made women nervous. But not Brooke last night. She seemed cool, calm, and comfortable in her own skin. He pulled himself out of those thoughts and said, “Of course I’ll be there. I’m looking forward to trying the amazing food from Smokin’ Bob’s, that I keep hearing about. Oh, and of course it’s wonderful to see everyone coming together to raise money for the local animal shelters.”
Her hand shot to her chest as she said, “Yes, I just love animals. Well, I look forward to seeing you there.” She gave him a wink and a small wave as she walked away, but of course, there was that last over-the-shoulder glance that women always did. He waited for it, and when it came, he smiled politely and turned in the direction where his first patient awaited him.
Twenty minutes later he exited the room, rubbing his hands together with hand sanitizer when he ran into Stacey. Her hand reached out, grabbing his arm and pulled him to a stop.
“Ethan, how are you doing?”
Her hand lingered on his arm a few seconds longer than necessary. She was the only nurse who addressed him on a first name basis, even though they had yet to establish that kind of relationship. He figured she assumed it was okay because of their date this Saturday. It didn’t bother him, really, but it wasn’t lost on him that she was doing it to stand out from the other nurses.
“Hello, Stacey. So far so good, this morning. How’s your day?”
“Well it’s definitely improved within the past ten seconds.”
Her smile turned flirty and he made sure to return a smile that hinted more towards professionalism than seducing, but he was never good at gauging how his smiles were interpreted by others. “Well, I’d better get to my next patient. Have a good day, Stacey.”
“Oh, Ethan, wait,” she called out.
He paused and turned around, ready to get on to his next patient, but not wanting to be rude. “Yes?” he questioned, one dark brow rising slightly. He was heading towards annoyed but tried not to show it.
“Will you be attending the benefit this Friday?”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Great, maybe we can sit at the same table,” she said, her flirty tone from earlier now replaced with a hopeful uncertainty that the overconfident Stacey rarely exhibited.
His face softened at the offer and he said, “We’ll see how things go with seating arrangements.” He gave her a fleeting smile as he turned to leave, and then he stiffened when he saw Brooke standing against the nurse’s station in her department, staring at him with a look that he didn’t quite understand. He sighed as he headed towards her, knowing it would be tremendously rude to ignore her, after last night.
He noticed she quickly busied herself when she saw him heading her way and he wondered if she was as uncomfortable as he was about the whole situation. Maybe she had regrets, too. Even though he knew it couldn’t go any farther, or happen again, he hoped she didn’t have any regrets.
“Morning,” he said, as he leaned in next to her. His eyes fell to her hand as she vigorously typed in notes from a patient, and then to the brightly colored mess of necklaces that were draped loosely around her neck. She looked up, her bright red lipstick threatening to pull him into her. Her lips reminded him of cherries, but he knew from experience they would taste like peaches. Everything about her was a paradox. But then she spoke, breaking the trance her full lips had cast upon him.
“Morning, Dr. Harris,” she said, and quickly diverted her eyes back to her work, looking slightly unsure of what to say.
Her tone sounded more business-like than he’d anticipated, and for a moment he was caught off guard. Maybe he had worked himself up over nothing. Maybe she wasn’t looking for anything more than what had happened between them last night. He found himself oddly disappointed by that notion and said, “Umm, I want to apologize for leaving so fast last night. I...”
Her eyes shot defiantly to his as she leaned in towards him and said in a hushed voice, “You already apologized last night and I told you it was fine,” she whispered irritably. “There’s no need for an apology, Ethan. Let’s not make this awkward when we have to work together. We’re both adults. We had dinner and sex, no big deal.”
The bluntness of her words made him take a step back. He definitely wasn’t expecting this response when he’d woken up this morning. A mess of expressions filtered across his face as he tried to find a quick retort to her assessment. The way she described last night felt wrong on all accounts and he found himself a little appalled by how she had just cheapened the night.
“I wasn’t looking for a one-night stand, Brooke. It wasn’t the way I expected the night to end, but I had a good time, and would have regardless if we had slept together or not.” His voice fell into a whisper at the end, not wanting nosey co-workers to start rumors. “And I’d love to go on another date with you.” He didn’t mean to say that last sentence out loud, but he couldn’t stop the words, and the offer was already out and there was no way to take it back. Truth be told, he meant everything he had just said. But could he let himself develop feelings for someone when there were so many unanswered questions from a past that followed him like a black cloud, always there, but always out of reach. After three years, it was beginning to really weigh him down, and at times, it felt like he was dragging the black cloud behind him every time he went anywhere. He just wanted to be free from it, but he doubted that day would ever come. How do you move on when you don’t know what you’re moving on from? If he had a dollar for every time he asked himself that question, he wouldn’t need to be in this hospital right now. And, in a way, as he stood staring at Brooke, he was glad there wasn’t anyone handing out money for unanswered questions.
Her eyes studied his and, with a smile, she said, “Well, I guess we’ll see what happens then.”
And then she turned and walked away, with the open offer hanging in the air, leaving him desperately wanting more but knowing he couldn’t let himself have it. But could he? That question sat on his lips, giving him a taste of hope. It’d been three long years of nothing. Three long years of waiting. How long was he supposed to wait? There were so many questions with no definite answers.
As he watched her hips sway gently from side to side, he thought that there was no better time to try and move on than now.
And in that moment, he knew his decision was made.
Instead of heading to his next patient, he went after Brooke, not giving self-doubt a chance to creep in. She was just halfway down the hallway when he caught up to her and her long, blonde waves danced in the air as she jerked her head to look at him, letting her questioning glare fall on his face.
“Hey,” he said simply, caught momentarily off guard by his own move.
“Yeah?” she asked, as she came to a stop.
They took a step towards the wall to let a patient who was being transported by bed pass, more than likely to or from surgery.
“Thursday?”
She shook her head in question. “Thursday?”
“I said I wanted to take you out again. So, how about Thursday after work?” He shoved his hands into his pockets at his suggestion, anxiously rattling the loose change in there.
She looked at him for a second, as if she were sizing up his question and looking for a hidden agenda somewhere. After a moment, she said, “Um, okay, but I think we should keep it a little less, um, intimate than last night. Not, that I didn’t like it, I just think we jumped the gun a little. And to be honest, that’s not something I normally do and I’m a little embarrassed by my behavior.”
She gave a little laugh, almost nervously, and Ethan found himself liking this shy side of her. He smiled, and said, “Yeah, we probably did, but there’s no need to be ashamed. Like you said, we’re both adults who had dinner and sex, no big deal.” He gave her a smug smile and added, “But I agree, we should take things slower, I’m really not that kind of guy, either, and I promise to be a perfect gentleman.”
Brooke laughed, the shyness gone as she said, “Dr. Sexy who has all the nurses’ panties wet is not that kind of guy? I find that hard to believe.”
Her laughter rose a few octaves and Ethan stood scowling as he waited for her to gather her composure.
She finally noticed his expression and covered her hand over her mouth and said, “Sorry, my mouth has a tendency to get away from me, but that just struck me as funny. Ethan, I’m not oblivious to the rumors of you and the other nurses.”
He shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other. He knew of the rumors, and it irritated him how things could get blown out of proportion. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, Brooke,” he said, his tone falling from flirty to serious. “Dates don’t always equal sex.”
He noticed her stiffen slightly at his change and she quickly apologized. “I’m sorry, that was probably rude of me to say. Sometimes my mouth has a mind of its own. But, you’re right, there are so many rumors that fly through this hospital, and probably ninety percent of them are not even true.”
He nodded. “Whatever other nurses have said about me is more than likely not true. And, I’ve come to realize that small towns do like to talk. Don’t worry about it, maybe you’ll change your impression of me when you get to know me better?” he cocked his head to the side as he asked hopefully.
“Well, we’ll just have to see how good of an impression you make on me first,” she teased.
Smiling, he said, “How about I try on Thursday at seven? I can pick you up for dinner.”
She adjusted her bracelets around her wrist before replying, then shrugged and said, “Okay, that sounds good. Don’t be late, that won’t look good.”
She gave him a wink, turned, and left; leaving him grinning like an idiot in the middle of the hospital hallway.
Chapter 4
BROOKE
As Brooke slid the fluorescent orange and blue paisley shirt on, she hoped it wasn’t too much. It was a little loud, but it went well with her dark skinny jeans and blue pumps, but she had also thought she’d looked good on their first date, only to end up dressing like the tablecloth at the expensive restaurant he’d taken her to. It had been a good laugh though. He hadn’t said where they were going tonight, but she knew a single glass of wine was all she would be indulging in. Better safe than sorry, and as much as she enjoyed the other night, she didn’t want a repeat. She’d jumped in too fast, and she didn’t like putting herself out there towards a guy so soon. But, Ethan was the first guy she’d gone on a date with in a year, and there was just something about him that drew her to him. And, every other woman at Anderson Hospital. She loved small towns, but it was ridiculous how crazy the women were going over him. She felt like she was living in suburbia and all the women were flocking to his house bringing him food and hoping to weasel into the hot new guy’s life. But, here she was, stressing over whether or not her shirt was too much, as she readied herself for a date with the eligible bachelor in town. She frowned, not liking the idea that she was just like all the other women, and nodded approvingly at her outfit. She wasn’t like every other woman and she was going to make sure he knew it. He’d either like it, or he would realize he would rather have a boring suburban housewife, instead.
Just as she was sliding on her blue pumps, the doorbell rang. She slipped a large, blue, rose pendant around her neck and then hurried to the door, yelling, “I’m coming.”
She swung the door open to reveal Ethan’s tall frame standing in her doorway, a bouquet of blue roses in his hand. Her eyes traveled down the length of him and she found herself wanting to see how his backside looked in the tight-fitting khakis he was wearing. She cleared her thoughts and dropped her gaze back to the roses.
“Hi,” he said, smiling. “These reminded me of you,” he said, gleaming with their inside joke. And then his eyes flitted down to her pendant and he nodded as if the necklace confirmed his thinking. “You really like blue roses. But, you look great, Brooke,” he added.
She reached out for the roses and smiled, loving them. “I do, and thank you. You put some thought into the flowers, that’s an impressive start.”
After placing the flowers in a vase with water, she grabbed her purse and they headed out the door. She smiled and bobbed a short curtsy to him when he rushed to open the car door for her. Ethan shook his head and laughed as he shut her door and walked around to the driver’s side.
“So, where are we going?” she asked, as she fastened her seat belt.
“A little restaurant on the outskirts of town called, The Overlook,” Ethan said, as he backed the car out of the parking spot. “Have you been there before?”
“No, but I’ve heard good things about it, and that the view is phenomenal.”
“Which is why they called it, The Overlook,” Ethan agreed with a smirk, as he made a left onto Fifth Street that would lead them out of the heart of the small city of Sweet Haven.
“Extra points earned for snarkiness,” she teased.
“So, I’m doing well so far,” he said with a nod.
“Well, the night has just begun, you could lose points, too.”
“But, I won’t,” he said confidently.
“We’ll see,” she said with a shrug.
She tried not to think of all the women he’d brought there, but it was hard not to, after constantly hearing several women at the hospital talk about going on dates with him. There was a lot of talk about his dating frequency for him to tell her not to believe everything she heard about him. But, she was going to take things slowly now and see how it all played out. She wasn’t even ready for a relationship herself, so she didn’t know why she was worrying herself crazy over what he’d done or not done while dating.
They made small talk on the twenty-minute drive to the restaurant, and when they drove up the winding road that led to the parking lot, Brooke gasped at the scene. The large restaurant, which was fitted with huge windows and an enormous deck, sat atop a hill, overlooking the small valley below.
“It’s beautiful,” she said in awe.
“I see something else that is far more beautiful,” Ethan said, as he pulled the car into a parking spot.
Brooke shifted her gaze to him, her lips curving into a smile. “We’ll aren’t you the charmer.”
“Only when I’m being serious,” he said.
They got out, and as they walked down the stone sidewalk, she couldn’t help but stare at the view below. She had never been to a restaurant as relaxing and serene as this.
“Do you want to eat outside?” Ethan asked, as he held the door open for her.
Her eyes lit up at his chivalry, and she said
, “Of course, who would want to sit inside when there’s a view like this?”
Ethan scoffed. “I agree, but you’d be surprised.”
They were greeted by an older gentleman with a neatly trimmed beard and bushy eyebrows that didn’t quite match his sleek appearance. He looked at them through thick, black glasses and asked, “How many for your party tonight, sir?”
“Just two; and we’d prefer an outside table, please,” Ethan replied.
The man nodded and said, “Follow me.”
Ethan urged Brooke ahead of him, letting his hand fall to her waist as they followed the waiter outside. Their table sat off to the right, next to the small stone wall that lined the patio. They had a direct shot to the beautiful view below.
“Here you are, and here are your menus. Your waiter will be out to get you started on drinks,” the man said, handing them each a menu before turning to leave.
Ethan looked up from his menu and asked, “So, how am I doing so far?”
Brooke tore her eyes away from the scenery, and when she saw the hopeful gleam in his eyes that begged her to tell him he was doing a great job, she couldn’t help but smile. “I have to say, I am impressed so far.”
His smile widened, and he said with a small nod, “Good.”
“So, what is your favorite meal here?” she asked, as she scanned the menu.
She watched Ethan slide his finger down one side of the menu, before saying, “Ah, here it is. The Garden of Chicken.”
When Love Ignites Page 3
