“Really? How long had she been there?”
The two nurses exchanged a glance. “Probably since about ten o’clock,” said the one whose name tag read “Patty.”
So Anna had been on his floor for an hour and a half and she hadn’t said anything. Okay, this definitely called for an intervention.
“I guess that just shows you how busy we’ve been,” said Jake. “Thanks, ladies.”
As he turned to walk away, Patty said, “Did you have fun at the jazz festival Friday night? I saw you there and I wanted to get over to say hello, but...” Patty and Marissa exchanged another look. “You saw for yourself how crowded it was and, well, I didn’t want to interrupt. Y’all looked like you were having such a good time.”
Patty’s words were like a well-landed kick in the gut.
Great. Just great. All they needed was to become a rumor on the hospital grapevine. He should’ve thought of that before losing his mind Friday night.
He stared at the women for a moment, unsure of what to say. After all, what did one say to a comment so full of insinuation?
It’s none of your business?
Quit gossiping?
Get back to work?
What an inappropriate thing for them to say. Celebration Memorial didn’t have an uptight work atmosphere, but they still adhered to a certain level of professionalism.
They must’ve read his irritation on his face, because their smiles gradually faded. He hoped they hadn’t been this out of line with Anna. But if Patty felt free enough to be that bold with him, he had a sinking feeling he’d better find Anna fast and make sure everything was okay.
“Ladies.” He gave them a curt nod and turned back toward the elevator.
This was case in point of why it was a bad idea to date anybody he worked with. He was sure Anna would tell him the same thing once they had a chance to talk.
Relationships were complicated enough. Things like this made them worse. There may have been one day of gossip when he and Dorenda broke up, but it had faded and everyone went on about their business.
Honestly, he hadn’t cared what everyone was saying.
But this was different.
Now every time he and Anna were together, people would be speculating. He didn’t worry for himself; he worried about how it would make Anna feel.
The elevator dinged and Jake steeled himself to see someone else who might’ve been at the festival, someone who would give him a sidelong, raised-eyebrow look. But when the door slid open, a man holding a little girl in one arm and a giant vase of roses in another smiled at him as he stepped out into the hall. Jake smiled back and let them clear out before he got in and pressed the button for the second floor.
To hell with them. To hell with them all. Except Anna.
If he could have a do-over, Friday night would be it. Never in his life had he wanted to take back something so badly. Well, of course the other big do-over would be to go back and make things right with his mother. All those years that she’d lived with that secret and let her sons believe she was the culprit who caused the splintering of their family, when in actuality their dad had given her a very good reason to leave. And he’d been content to take the secret to his grave.
If Jake’s indiscretion with Anna was his reason for not dating coworkers, his mom and dad’s story was the case against marriage. Marriage could turn everything you believed in into a lie. You thought you knew someone, and it turned out they were a complete stranger. Then you had to wreck a lot of lives to get back to the truth.
Jake scrubbed his eyes with his palm, trying to scour away the regret. He had too much to do today to worry about things he couldn’t change.
When he stepped out of the elevator on the second floor, Anna was at the nurses’ station. She looked up and their gazes snagged. For a split second, she looked like a deer caught in headlights, but then the warm smile that he loved so much spread across her face and he knew everything was going to be okay.
“There you are,” he said as he walked toward the nurses’ station.
“Here I am,” she said. “I didn’t know I was lost.”
“Actually, I’m probably the one who is lost. I had no idea you were working down here today. I just went up to three to find you.”
Her smile froze and her eyes got large and she didn’t have to say a word for him to know that Patty and Marissa had probably given her a more intense grilling than they had given him.
He wondered what she’d said, but this was not the time or the place to ask her.
He looked at his watch. “Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite of lunch.”
Anna’s face fell. “I just got back from lunch. I only took a half hour since we’re so busy. I wish I’d known—I would’ve waited.”
“Hey, no problem—”
“Excuse me, Dr. Lennox,” said Cassie Davis, one of the surgical floor nurses. “The family of Mr. Garrity, who is in room 236, is here and they have some questions for you. I told them you probably wouldn’t be able to meet with them right now, but I said I would ask. But if you’re just getting ready to go to lunch, I can tell them you’re busy.”
Jake shook his head. “No, I can talk to them now. It’s fine.”
Cassie handed Jake the patient’s chart. “Thank you,” he said to her as she walked to the opposite side of the nurses’ station. When she was out of earshot, he said to Anna, “Let’s talk later. Okay?”
She nodded.
“Maybe tonight?” he said. “Do you want to grab a bite after work?”
Anna closed the computer file she had been working on. “Actually, I can’t. I have a date. Over the weekend, Joseph Gardner, the guy you set me up with, texted and asked if we could move our date from Wednesday to tonight. We’re going ice-skating.”
Ice-skating in June? That was different. Good. It meant she would have to cover up. She’d have to wear something like jeans and a turtleneck. Multiple layers on top. Maybe even a scarf around her neck.
Anna gave a little shrug. She looked unimpressed.
“Oh, okay. Have fun.”
All Jake could think was, thank God she wouldn’t be wearing that blue-and-white dress.
* * *
Have fun?
Oh, okay. Thanks.
Was that all he had to say?
Then again, what did she want him to say?
“Dr. Lennox is such a great guy,” said Cassie. There was a dreamy note in her voice. “Why can’t all doctors in this hospital be more like him?”
Anna followed Cassie’s gaze and saw her watching Jake disappear into Mr. Garrity’s room.
“Nice and so good-looking...” Cassie sighed, looking absolutely smitten. “A rare combination in these halls, wouldn’t you say?”
“You’ve got that right.”
Actually, truer words had never been spoken. Anna knew all about good-looking doctors who were not of the nice variety. Her husband, Hal, had been smart and handsome, but sometimes he could be the most insensitive, obtuse SOB you could have ever imagined. When he was irritated or bored, he let his feelings hang out there. He could be caustic and rude.
If he’d been on his way to lunch, the patient’s family would’ve had to wait. His philosophy was, if you didn’t set boundaries, coworkers and patients and their families wouldn’t set them for you.
On paper, his argument was valid. The only problem was, he didn’t seem to realize that other people had boundaries and feelings...and needs.
Jake always seemed to have a moment for anyone who asked, yet he never acted as if he felt compromised.
Anna hoped Friday night hadn’t compromised their friendship.
There was no denying that the kiss had blown her mind. She’d never really given much thought to what it would be like to kiss Jake, but now she couldn’t get it out of her mind.
All weekend long she’d felt his hands on her body, felt the phantom sensation of his lips moving on hers. He tasted wonderful, like red wine and chocolate-laced esp
resso from the tiramisu. Flavors that were rich and dark and delicious. Flavors that a girl might start craving once she got a taste.
And she couldn’t even believe she was linking cravings and Jake Lennox in the same thought.
What’s wrong with me? Am I in high school?
No, because in high school Jake had always been like a brother she’d never had.
Now she’d gone and kissed him. And he wanted to talk.
Talk. That couldn’t be good. He hadn’t kissed her at the door Friday night—would she have wanted him to? That needy, greedy part of her that could still taste him probably wouldn’t have objected if he had. But the logical, sensible Anna knew they were flirting with disaster.
She knew what he was going to say. That the kiss had been a mistake. That they needed to pretend it never happened.
She bit her bottom lip.
They didn’t need to discuss it. As far she was concerned it was forgotten.
Ha, ha! Now they’d satisfied that little curiosity, it was time to put it behind them.
She felt her phone vibrate in the pocket of her scrubs, signaling a text. She pulled it out and looked at it. It was from Joseph Gardner, her date tonight.
Maybe he was canceling. God, wouldn’t that be great.
But then she saw the message he left.
Looking forward to ice-skating tonight and seeing if we might fall for each other.
What?
She cringed. Oh, God, that was a bad pun. Ice-skating and falling.
No. Just no.
“Everything okay?” Cassie asked.
Anna hadn’t realized Cassie had walked up behind her. The woman seemed to be the only one in the hospital who hadn’t heard about her public display of...friendship with Jake.
“Yes. Fine.”
She dropped her phone back into her pocket as if it was a hot potato and took a deep breath.
With her attitude, she probably had no business going out with this poor guy. Really, the text was sweet. Corny, but sweet. Despite the fact that she hadn’t even met him in person, it showed that he had a sense of humor. It was the kind of gesture that a woman would find very endearing if she was into the man who’d sent it.
But for the woman who wasn’t even looking forward to the date...
Stop it, Anna. What kind of horrible attitude is that?
Joseph Gardner had taken time out of his day to text her. She should consider it a good sign. She should be nice.
Or maybe she should save him the brunt of her bad humor and cancel...
She drummed her fingernails on the desk for a moment, contemplating what to do. Then she pulled her phone out of her pocket again and texted Joseph back.
* * *
Anna had insisted on meeting Joseph Gardner at the ice rink in Celebration. Even if this guy was a friend of Jake’s and an established investment banker, she didn’t know him. Besides, she liked the idea of having an escape in case she wanted to leave.
She arrived at the skating rink right on time, with her socks and her gloves and the determination to come into this evening with a better attitude than she had had today.
She wouldn’t think of Jake and his lips and his taste of red wine and chocolate.
Nope. She wasn’t gonna invite him along on this date.
She got out of the car and walked up to the window where they sold admission. She looked around, but she didn’t see anyone who might remotely be Joseph.
Should she wait for him out here? Or should she go inside and get her skates?
But if she went inside, that meant she would pay for herself. She had no problem with that; in fact part of her preferred it because then there would be no feelings of anybody owing anyone anything.
But it was awkward. Should she buy his ticket, too? No. That would be weird.
At heart, she was a traditionalist who enjoyed being treated like a lady. But it didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t a lady if she paid her own way.
She really was so bad at this.
No. Not bad. Just a little rusty.
And he was late.
Anna got in line. The box office was manned by a lone teenage boy who didn’t seem to be in a hurry for anything. It took about five minutes to get to the window.
“One admission, please, for the seven o’clock skating session. I’ll need to pay for skate rental, too.”
The teenager checked his phone and answered a text before he methodically punched numbers into the cash register. No wonder it was taking so long. But why should she be in a hurry?
“That’ll be ten bucks. Four for the skates, six for admission.”
As she was fishing her wallet out of her purse, she wondered if she should wait a few minutes longer. What if he didn’t show? Did she really want to be stuck here all evening?
It’s not like I have to stay if he doesn’t show.
As she opened her wallet, someone behind her said, “Anna? Are you Anna Adams?”
She turned around and saw a tall, thin, blond man with sparkling brown eyes.
“Joseph?”
“The one and only. I’m sorry I’m late. You know, when longshoremen show up late for work they get docked.”
She blinked at him. She might’ve even frowned because she had no idea what he was talking about.
“Longshoremen,” he repeated. “They get docked. It’s a joke.”
“Oh!” Anna forced a laugh, even though it really wasn’t funny. It was kind of sophomoric, actually. But she wanted to be a good sport. “I get it. You’re a punny guy, aren’t you, Joseph?”
His eyes lit up and he opened his mouth and pointed at her. “That was good. I think I’m going to like you. Put your money away. When I ask a woman out, I pay. So this is on me.”
She held her breath, waiting for him to deliver another pun, but he didn’t. So she stuffed the ten-dollar bill back into her wallet.
“Thank you, Joseph. Do you go by Joseph? Or should I call you Joe?”
He took their tickets and stepped away from the window, motioning toward the door. “Yeah, it’s Joseph. And you can call me Joseph.”
Umm? Oh. “Okay. Joseph.”
“No, actually you can call me Joe. I’m just kidding you.”
Was that supposed to be funny?
They waited while a family of four entered the building. Then Joseph held the door for Anna, allowing her to step inside first.
At least he was a gentleman.
Inside, the place was at least thirty degrees cooler than it had been outside; the smell of freshly popped popcorn and hot dogs mingled with the scent of dampness. The sound of video games warred with loud music. The rink was already buzzing with activity, but an uncomfortable silence had wedged itself between Anna and Joe. As they waited in line to get their ice skates, Anna could feel the nervous energy radiating off her date. She sort of felt bad for the guy.
She’d been anxious about meeting him, but now she wanted to take him by the shoulders, look him in the eyes and tell him to take a deep breath. He didn’t have to try so hard.
Maybe she needed to try a little harder to take a little of the pressure off him.
“What do you do, Joe?”
“I’m an investment banker, but I’m starting to lose interest.”
He laughed, then cleared his throat when he noticed that Anna was grimacing.
“So you’re a nurse?” he said. “Did you hear about the guy whose entire left side was cut off? He’s all right now.”
Anna winced.
“You better slow down there, buddy. You don’t want a use up your best material before they Zamboni the ice for the first time.”
He looked a little embarrassed. “Too much, huh?”
Anna held up her thumb and index finger so that they were about an inch apart. “Just a tad.”
She didn’t want to be mean, but really, was there anything much worse than canned humor? Couldn’t he hear himself? A horrifying thought crossed her mind—that he could hear himself, but just couldn’t
help this incessant need to make a joke out of everything.
Was there a name for that sort of disorder? Or was it a defense mechanism?
Either way, at this rate, it was going to be a long night. She sat down on the bench to put on her skates. She’d have to ask Jake if his pal Joe had been the class clown.
In all fairness, she’d told Jake that humor was high on her list. She loved to laugh. Who didn’t? But no one liked to be pelted with nonstop rehearsed repertoire.
By the grace of God, Joe managed to contain himself as they finished putting on their skates.
After she put on her gloves, Anna stood, wobbling a little bit. Joe reached out a hand, which she grabbed to steady herself.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been ice-skating. Hope I can still do it.”
She braced herself for another pun, vaguely fearing that she’d left herself wide-open by saying that, but either Joe was out of material or he was showing some restraint.
“Jake told me you were athletic. That’s why I thought this would be fun.”
Fun. Okay, that was a good sign. If he could stop with the bad jokes, she could loosen up a little bit and have fun.
They made their way into the rink. He stepped onto the ice first, looking sure of himself and steady. He held out his hand and helped Anna. She wobbled again, but managed to grab the bar attached to the shoulder-high wall surrounding the ice. But soon enough, she found her balance and they began circling the rink. He seemed to understand Anna’s need to hug the wall for the first couple of rounds. For the most part, he stayed next to her, but showed off a little bit, skating backward every now and then.
At least he didn’t try to hold her hand.
Was it natural for a man in his thirties to be this good at ice-skating?
She gave herself a mental slap for being so judgmental.
When the music changed to a slow song and the DJ dimmed the light and turned on the disco ball, Joe turned around to skate backward and started to reach for her.
“I need a break,” Anna said. “How about we sit this one out?”
They made their way to a table in the concession area. Joe got them hot chocolate and a tub of popcorn. Anna had to give him props for getting it to the table without dropping, sloshing or spilling. She wouldn’t have been so adroit.
How to Marry a Doctor (Celebrations, Inc.) Page 6
