When they finished, Wade shoved his hands into his coat pockets. “I had an interesting talk with Luis Mendes.”
“Our dean? I barely had a minute with him. What did you talk about?”
“How much I love Great Basin Vet Institute.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“I do,” he said. “And…did you know he’s thinking about opening an oncology department next year?”
She sucked in a soft breath. “I didn’t know that.”
“I told him about my residency at Auburn and he…”
When he didn’t finish, she looked up at him. “He…what?”
“He was interested in possibly having me coordinate a residency program here once he hires a department head.”
For a moment, it felt like her whole body went numb, not just her legs. “Here?”
He pulled over an overturned feed bucket closer and sat beside her chair, their shoulders nearly touching.
“Would that be so bad, Elise?”
“It would be…” She thought about all the words she could use. Amazing. Wonderful. Miraculous. Dreamy. Even…impossible. “Nice,” she finished, protecting her feelings with the simple word, but hating how lame it sounded.
He gave a dry laugh. “Nice for me…or you…or the school…or…”
“You want me to say it, Wade?”
“Yeah.” His voice was rough, but he took her hand and grazed her knuckles with his thumb, and nothing about that touch was rough.
“It would be nice for…” She swallowed and held his gaze. “Us.”
“Yeah.” This time he dragged the word out and smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
She chuckled. “You’re, uh, not sure how I feel? Please.”
He just looked at her, his bottle-green eyes warm and inviting. “Hey, a guy can hope, but there’s never any guarantee with a beautiful blond cowgirl.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m officially in the crush stage,” she admitted. “You?”
“I kinda cruised by crush on our first date. Bypassed attraction in the OR. I’m officially into a heavy ‘like’ and hoping it just gets better.”
Was this really happening? She bit her lip to keep from giggling like a schoolgirl. “Things are definitely looking in your favor, Dr. Reynolds.”
He leaned in and closed the space between them, punctuating the heady conversation with an even more dizzying kiss.
“So…” He said when they broke apart. “Speaking of high hopes and the future, I’ve also been doing a little research.”
She blinked at the surprise change of topic. “On sheep or local vet oncology practices or…what?” She couldn’t wait to hear his next take on what might be ahead for them.
He let out a long exhale, his breath fogging in the cold. “I’ve been waiting for the right moment. You have time or are your parents ready to go?”
She glanced at the door. “They ran into some old friends from my horseback riding days and are gabbing with them. Go on.”
What else could he say? He’d just admitted he liked her and would consider a job here. What was left? She lifted her chin, bracing for something beautiful.
“I’ve found out about some amazing studies on spinal injuries. Specifically, functionally complete thoracic injuries. I didn’t want to bring it up until I had solid options—real science, not junk stuff.”
