“No, I’m not.” Another lie.
I sucked.
Karen cocked her head to the side and studied me. I looked away, hating the way my stomach twisted.
But I couldn’t bear any more pain in my life. I stayed closed off for a reason.
And a beautiful woman would not change that.
Over the next few days,I tried to put Dr. Hunt out of my head. But it was proving more difficult as time passed. I looked her up online, needing something,anything,about her. Idiscovered her name was Paige and she graduated from medical school almost ten years ago. I took a guess she might be in her mid-thirties now, but whatever the age difference was didn’t bother me. I still lusted after this woman like a dog begging for his daily treats.
It was even worse when at work. I kept looking for her, finding myself distracted and stressed, when usually I remained level-headed and calm. Even though I was head of security, I still had a boss to report to. And he loved to monitor the cameras throughout the hospital, making sure his security staff followed all the rules.
Thankfully, he hadn’t said anything yet about my recent screw ups so I told myself I couldn’t fuck up again and forced the beautiful Paige out of my head.
It worked.
For a day.
I couldn’t hold back anymore.
On Friday, after my shift ended, I looked for her, knowing she was working in maternity. As part of my job, I monitored who swiped their badges when and where throughout the building and, of course, I couldn’t help but look for hers. She swiped in at seven this morning, which meant she was probably leaving soon unless she was working a twelve-hour shift.
Fuck, I sounded like a crazy person. But I wasn’t stopping now.
I had to see her. See if the spark was really there or was I only imagining it? Because I couldn’t get this woman out of my head no matter how hard I tried.
I rode the elevator up to the fifth floor, exiting onto the maternity unit. I sat in the lobby and waited, but she didn’t come out. After waiting an hour, I figured I’d catch her another time and took the stairs down to the cafeteria. It was easy to pick up something for dinner on my way out.
As I rounded the corner to the entrance, my eyes looked for the menu, whenbam!I bumped into someone, the bag in their hands dropping to the floor and spilling out. “I’m sorry,” I said as I bent down to pick up the mess.
The person placed a hand on my arm, and a shock ran through me, straight to my shoulder. My head jerked up. It washer.Dr. Paige Hunt.
“Hey there, stranger. I’m glad we bumped into each other. Don’t worry about the mess. This food sucks anyway.” Paige laughed and picked up a few more pieces of her salad and shoved them back into the bag. I helped her clean up the rest. “I was looking for a reason to spill it.” She grinned as we both stood up.
“Hey. I was actually looking for you.” I scratched the back of my head, a nervous tick I had, as I took in her gorgeous face. She was prettier than I remembered, her smile warm and caring. Everything I had wanted to say to her was now gone from my mind.
“You were?”
I nodded. “I…I wanted to say I was sorry. For the other day. I was kind of a jerk. I just hadn’t expected you to ask me on a date and I was worried about my niece.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can be a little too forward. At least that’s what I’ve been told. Did you come look for me to tell me you changed your mind?” Paige smiled and I chuckled at her boldness. She really doesn’t give up when she wants something.
“There’s a slight problem. I work here too. As head of security.”
Paige shrugged. “So?”
“You’re okay with that? Because technically we’re not supposed to date co-workers.”
“I’m only here temporarily. A fill in for when other doctors are out on leave until they find someone to cover permanently. They offered it to me, but I declined. I plan on opening my ownpractice at my home. In the meantime, I still need funds, you know?”
Everything about her amazed me. From her gorgeous looks to her fierce goals and how hard she fought for them.
I wanted to kiss her. Right there in front of anyone who walked by, without a care in the world.
Stepping closer to her, I looked into her big brown beauties and smiled. “You’re something special.”
“So, does that mean you’ll say yes to a date now?”
