“Dimples, huh?” He showed them off spectacularly. “I didn’t know they had that effect on people.”
“Only the ones with ovaries,” she muttered. Her own had been ready to burst since she’d met him.
“Good to know. Now, about us and not dating anyone else…”
“Seriously? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. When I saw you laughing with that guy and his hands were all over you, I realized I didn’t like sharing you.”
“His hands weren’t all over me.”
A frown grew on his face. “From where I was standing, they were in places I didn’t want them.”
“So you don’t want to break up.” She was still having a hard time with the turnaround from her expectations versus reality.
“No! Why would I want that?”
As she shrugged, she smiled. Finally. “You didn’t want me to stop in and get you anything on Sunday. I thought that, after the way you cut me off so quickly, you’d decided it wouldn’t work for us.”
Gathering her hands closer, he leaned and rested his head on them. After a huge sigh, he looked up. “I’d been called away by one of the nurses and couldn’t chat any longer, even though I desperately wanted to.”
“You didn’t text on Monday either.”
“Neither did you.”
“I didn’t think you wanted me to.” She’d listened too much to Evan and his thoughts on clingy girls.
“I was on call Monday and exhausted after two nights of little sleep and dealing with…a very difficult situation.”
“Okay.”
Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “Okay, what?”
Hope, excitement, and all sorts of other positive emotions bubbled up inside her. “You want me, you’ve got me. Exclusive and all yours.”
His shoulders shook as he laughed, but they also seemed to relax as though a weight had been lifted from them. She knew how he felt. If she jumped on the scale, she’d bet she’d lost ten pounds due to anxiety and stress.
Rising, he hauled her to her feet and pressed in for a kiss.
“Can you do that here? We’re at work, out in the open.”
Looking around, he frowned. “I suppose it’s not the best place for it, but I needed to convince myself you’re on board with this.”
He moved a strand of hair off her cheek. “Carli, you are such a breath of fresh air. So sweet and accepting and patient. Especially about my patients. Unfortunately, I need to get back to the unit.”
“Blake, you can’t—”
“I know, I’m tired. I have to check on a few more things tonight first. Then, I have the next two days off, and I’m planning to sleep through both of them.”
“Good. You need it. I won’t text you even though I’ll want to. As long as I know things are good between us, I won’t worry if I don’t hear from you.”
“Oh, you’ll hear from me. And things are definitely good between us.” He ignored their location and kissed her. Short and sweet, but it had intent.
Chapter fourteen
Blake tugged the collar of Carli’s coat up around her neck and tucked in her scarf.
“Warm enough?”
