Aiden opened his mouth to forcefully remind the guy that company policy dictated all injuries be checked out immediately, but Thea didn’t give him the chance.
“Come on,” she coaxed in a firm, playful voice. “We can do it in the ladies’ room. Haven’t you always wanted to see what’s through that mysterious door?”
Despite the bright red stain seeping through the cloth wrapped around his hand, Samuelson managed to laugh, and Thea guided him toward the restroom, the first aid kit under one arm.
When they walked past Aiden, she shot him a nervous smile. “Um, surprise?”
Then she hustled past him with her patient, leaving him rooted in place as the two of them pushed through the door to the hall. Ordinarily he’d insist on being part of the examination, but Samuelson always put on a tough-guy front with the guys, so it might be smart to give Thea a chance to take a look without him feeling the need to posture for anyone. Plus, the instant Aiden was face-to-face with her, he was going to have a hard time not falling to his knees and begging her to never leave. Instead, he helped Mendez clean up the area where Samuelson had been working, hiding his shudder at the tacky blood covering the workbench. Then he braved the restroom.
“How’s it going?”
Thea looked up from the gauze she was wrapping around Samuelson’s hand. “He’ll survive, but he should get it checked out at prompt care. Human hands have tons of nerves and things, so a doctor needs to look at it.” She held up her own and wiggled her fingers to demonstrate. “Gotta keep you nimble,” she told Samuelson before addressing Aiden again. “Can you find someone to drive him to the hospital?”
It was so damn nice to hear her sweet voice again that for a split second he didn’t move. But Samuelson’s grimace of pain spurred him into motion. “I’ll pull my truck to the front.” No need to make the poor guy walk past the scene of the accident in the back.
In the lobby, Trip pushed through the workroom door and skidded to a halt when they spotted each other. “What the hell did I miss?”
“Samuelson nail-gunned his hand. I’m going to take him to get it checked out. Also, Thea’s here.”
Trip blinked once. “Okay, how about I take Samuelson to get checked out and you stay and talk to Thea?”
Aiden didn’t waste a second objecting. “Good plan. Thanks.”
A few minutes later, Trip had loaded the injured man into his truck with a promise to report back, and Aiden was left loitering outside the ladies’ room with his hands jammed into his jeans pockets, waiting for Thea to emerge.
When she finally did, he pushed himself off the wall. “So you’re the new temp who’s had my guys laughing all morning, huh?”
Asgive me a second chancelines went, that one sucked balls, but he was so damn grateful to see her again that his woman-wooing skills flew from his head. Thankfully, she rolled with it, giving a self-conscious curtsy before twining her fingers together. “Yep! Just um… you know. Trying something new.”
“Impressive performance so far. Did I miss a stretch when you worked as a paramedic or something?”
She relaxed as he spoke, her hands landing on her hips and her lips curling into a familiar Thea grin. “Former nanny, remember? I did a first aid course for that one.”
“Thank God. You were a billion times calmer than anybody else would’ve been.”
She lifted her chin. “I’m super-temp. Speaking of, I should…” She jerked her thumb toward the front desk, and Aiden’s first instinct was to tell her that the phone and client requests and the whole damn business could go to hell.
But he knew a little bit about the woman he loved, and he knew she’d want to do the job she was here to do. So he nodded instead of begging her to stay and talk to him in the hallway for the rest of time.
Still, he reached out and caught her wrist as she walked past. “Don’t leave for the day without stopping by my office, okay?”
He didn’t miss the hitch in her breathing or the nervous swipe of her tongue over her lower lip. “Okay.”
The rest of the day proceeded at the slowest pace Aiden had ever endured. The minutes dragged. The hours crawled. Trip texted that Samuelson’s hand was going to be fine. Laughter ebbed and flowed from the lobby area again, and Aiden was murderously envious of every person in this building who got to enjoy Thea’s smiles. But he kept his distance for fear that he’d lose all control and throw her over his shoulder so he could find out what she was doing here.
Finally—fucking finally!—the day ticked to a close, and there was a soft knock on his door. Thea stuck her head into the office. “Is now a good time?”
“God yes.” He shot to his feet and walked around the desk, fingers itching to touch her. But he stopped a few feet away. If she was here, it had to be for a reason, and he was absolutely not going to assume a damn thing this time. He’d spent all day trying to squash the hope bubbling up in his chest, but looking at her sweet face now, he couldn’t hold back the words. “I meant what I said that morning.”
Color washed over her cheeks, but she didn’t look away. “Do you still? Mean it?”
He took a step closer, his voice dropping. “Are you asking if I still love you?”
Her breath hitched at the word, and she nodded, her big brown eyes locked on his.
“Yes. I do,” he said. “And I want to date you.”
She blinked. “What?”
