He hated to cut his chat off with Carli, but duty called. Once he got done here, he’d have to try and talk to her again, make arrangements to see her. If only he could freeze time.
—Thanks again for checking in. I’ve got to go.—
Running his hands through his hair, he straightened the tie that was hanging half off and shrugged on his suit coat. Hopefully, he didn’t smell too bad or no one would care if he did.
“Did you hear about the cops swarming the place New Year’s Eve?”
Carli peered up at Joy as the woman hovered over her desk.
“The police? In emergency, you mean?” It wasn’t unusual for the police to bring in some drug addict who’d overdosed and didn’t want to be here or the participants in a bar brawl who hadn’t quite finished their fight.
Joy glanced over her shoulder, then turned back. “No, in the pediatric unit. I heard your sexy doctor was involved.”
“With the police?” Her stomach dropped right to the floor. What had happened? When she’d texted him Sunday, he hadn’t said anything. But, of course, he wouldn’t. Blake was too professional to talk about his patients or what went on in the unit.
“Well, his patient was. I saw the x-rays.”
“It’s not our job to look at x-rays, Joy. We aren’t radiologists. It’s unprofessional to even discuss patients if it doesn’t involve what we do here.”
Joy rolled her eyes and shuffled back to her desk. The woman knew as well as anyone the consequences of breaking HIPAA laws.
“I was only wondering if your date got interrupted because of it. You were seeing him on New Year’s Eve, weren’t you?”
Joy had only found out because Blake had stopped by Friday to confirm.
“I went out with my roommate and her friends. We had a great time.” No way was she giving Joy more information than that. Facing her computer, she ignored the curious look she got.
As she dove back into work, she sighed at all the backed-up billing she had to do. With the holiday on Sunday, they’d had yesterday off. That meant she was now hit with three days’ worth. Maybe it was a good thing. It helped get her mind off Blake and the fact he hadn’t wanted her help on Sunday. He was most likely busy with work, but she’d been hoping for a tiny glimpse of him, to help convince herself that he was still interested. Her text conversation with him had been encouraging, but when she’d offered to pick up food or anything else he needed, he’d shut her off fast. Boy, her self-esteem needed a boost. Either that or she had to stop going out with guys above her social strata.
As she went through the weekend’s reports, she noticed one from New Year’s Eve. Blake was named as primary physician. She wasn’t being nosy. It was her job to transfer the information and diagnosis to the billing form. Based on the time stamp and the nature of the injuries, this must have been why he was here all weekend.
Poor thing. Twelve-year-old male with broken bones and internal bleeding. Yeah, she could see Blake not wanting to leave this child’s side. As for the cops…it wasn’t something she could or would ask him about. The fact he was authentically here for a patient instead of taking her to a fancy restaurant helped that self-esteem. Maybe. Having Ted back off so quickly after finding out she was deaf was defeating in and of itself.
Not that she wanted him interested in her if she could have Blake, but what if Blake wasn’t interested anymore? They’d kissed and he seemed quite involved, but did he want more? Was she ready for more? She was no shy virgin, but she also didn’t jump in bed with guys. She needed both of them to be involved and serious. Could Blake even do that with the hours he kept at his job? He’d told Priscilla his work still took up much of his time.
During her lunch break, she occupied her typical corner table so she could people watch and stay out of reach of anyone she didn’t know. It always took a little while to get used to new speech patterns and voices.
Her lunch was almost gone when Blake walked in and over to the counter. Grabbing a to-go sandwich, he then paid at the counter. As he turned, he spotted her and nodded. Would he come over and share a table? Her food was gone, but she still had twenty minutes. It would be nice to spend them with him.
After glancing at his watch, he moved in her direction. The smile that bloomed on her face was only for him.
“Hi.”
Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his smile didn’t quite reach them. “Hi.”
“Want to join me?” Please, make him want to stay.
“I can’t. Sorry. I’ve got a consult in a few minutes. I only stopped here so I won’t pass out from hunger.” He held up his wrapped sandwich. “I do want to talk to you, though. Can we meet after work? Are you busy?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Sure. I can stick around if you want me to.” What exactly did he want? There wasn’t a ton of excitement floating around his face.
“Thanks.” His smile relaxed into something a bit more real. “It won’t take long if you’ve got plans.”
Plans on a Tuesday work night. Funny guy. Pajamas, tea, and a good book or binge watching another Netflix show was about all she had in mind.
“Where do you want to meet?”
“Here is good. That way we don’t have to go too far.”
