She tried to pull the phone away, but her friend wouldn’t let go.
“It was only for the picture. He wouldn’t have put his hand there otherwise.”
Mercedes glanced again at the device. “So, for the two seconds, how did it feel?”
The heat that rose to her cheeks must have shown, because Mercedes angled in closer and narrowed her eyes.
“It might have been a bit more than two seconds. For some strange reason, he kept his hand there for a while. Maybe he forgot it was there.”
Mercedes laughed. “Did you forget?”
“Heck, no.”
“Then, I’m sure he didn’t either. Must have kept it there for a reason. How’d it feel?”
Rolling her eyes, she took her phone and texted back a thanks to Blake. It had felt wonderful and had made her nerves quiver while tingles teased along her shoulder where he touched her. Like when he’d tucked her hair into the bonnet and accidentally touched her cheek. But she wouldn’t tell Mercedes that. Her roommate would tease the heck out of her and most likely tell Evan. The last thing she needed was her brother razzing her even more. It was like he and Mercedes teamed up on her at times.
Mercedes still stared once she’d set her phone on the coffee table.
“What? He’s a rich doctor. He probably puts his arm around tons of women who adore him.”
“Do you? Adore him? Come on. Give me something I can work with. I’ve been going through a dry spell ever since Randy Andy decided he needed more than one girlfriend at a time.”
Picking up her phone, she glanced at the picture again and zoomed in closer to Blake’s face. He definitely looked like he was enjoying himself. Those cute little dimples in his cheeks winked at her. Why was she a sucker for a guy with dimples?
“He is adorable, no doubt. Joy sure thought so when he showed up in radiology this morning. Almost broke a nail getting to him before me. You should have seen her face when he called me by my first name.”
“She’s the one with the big chest who doesn’t do any work, right?”
Carli nodded. “She was a little nicer to me after Blake left. Maybe she figures I’ll set them up.”
“Why would you do that if he’s yours?”
Tilting her head, she said, “He’s hardly mine. I’m just working with his nephew.”
Mercedes grinned but went back to her magazine. She was out of her mind if she thought Blake regarded her as anything other than a coworker or advocate for Parker. Yes, his arm around her shoulder had been nice. More than nice. The awareness that had coursed through her was electric, and she hadn’t wanted to move in case she jostled his hand and it fell. But, more than likely, it was exactly what she’d told her friend. The man could have any woman he wanted and was simply touchy feely.
It wouldn’t help her to think anything else.
Blake hovered in the back of the room, observing as the pediatric audiologist, Dr. Jessica Crane, adjusted the hearing aid on Parker’s left ear. The little guy shook his head and babbled as he sat in Annie’s lap. Harrison looked on from behind his wife, his frown showing exactly what he thought of this step in the process.
“Now, I suggest you start him wearing them only a few hours the first few days, so he can get used to them. Take them off before he sleeps or naps and when he’s bathing. And don’t forget to turn them off before you remove them. Otherwise, they squeal something fierce. Parker may not be bothered too much by it, but you might. Same thing with keeping them off until they’re in his ears securely.”
“Thank you, Dr. Crane,” Annie said, bouncing Parker up and down, making him laugh.
“Let’s start with turning the right one on first. The audiogram shows more hearing loss in that ear. We can work up to both of them.”
She bent over adjusting the volume, then pressed the on button. “Now, if you find he’s playing with the volume, we have covers that go over it, so it won’t change. Why don’t you turn him around to face you both? Mrs. Wentworth, how about you try speaking first and see if we get any reaction?”
Annie wrinkled her nose and cooed at Parker. “Hey, sweetie. How are you today? What do you think of these new hearing aids, huh? Do you like them?’
Parker babbled a bit and waved his arms and legs. Was that a good sign? Could he hear anything?
“He does that when she makes faces at him all the time,” Harrison said. “It doesn’t mean he’s actually hearing now.”
“You’re right, Mr. Wentworth. Additionally, if he hasn’t been able to hear until now, the first sounds will be strange to him. Let’s turn on the other hearing aid.”
It took a few minutes as she adjusted the controls. Harrison glanced over at Blake, then behind him. Carli had come in and moved closer.
