He broke the kiss. “Boston, I’m so tempted to forget my good intentions and lose myself in you, but the timing is wrong. I don’t want our first time together to be rushed.” He sighed and took a step toward the bank. “We should eat, as I’m going to have to get you back to your place soon so you can go to work.”
“You’re right. I want all that too. Reality sucks sometimes, doesn’t it?” she responded as she followed him out of the creek.
“Tell me about it,” he muttered. His reality sucked big time at the moment. While what he said was partly true, he did want to savor their first time together. What he really wanted was their first time to be without the risk of him falling into another PTSD attack. If that happened Nadia would bring him out, he was sure of that. She’d done it herself the first time they’d met. And afterthe tornado, he’d pulled himself out because she hadn’t walked away from him.
What he didn’t want was for Nadia to be his crutch. He was the one who had to heal himself and he was going to start that before taking the next step in their relationship.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“So then youate lunch and he dropped you home with a chaste kiss on the lips?”
Nadia nodded at Cerise’s question, while she chewed on the sandwich she’d gotten from the cafeteria. Her dinner was a lot less fun than what Mitch had supplied for lunch. She’d been so full after the fried chicken and potato salad she’d eaten, Nadia thought she’d be sleeping through her shift.
Once she swallowed her mouthful, she confirmed her nod. “Yep, it was kind of a letdown after the hot kisses we’d shared at our place then at the creek.”
“Maybe they were only hot to you. Maybe he found them lukewarm.” Cerise said, but her eyes twinkled with mischief. Her friend was well on the road to recovery and for that, Nadia was extremely grateful.
“Very funny.” She tossed her sandwich wrapping at Cerise. “I’ll have you know I had plenty of evidence to suggest that he found our kisses more than lukewarm.”
Cerise fake gagged. “Hey, I’m sick and injured here, you gotta be gentle with me.”
Nadia rolled her eyes. “Puleese, I’ve heard through the grapevine that you’ve been nothing but a pain in everyone’s ass.Telling them what to do and how to dress your wounds. You know they’re professionals and know what they’re doing.”
Cerise stuck her nose in the air. “I can do it better.”
Nadia laughed at her friend’s arrogance. “You are too much. Now can we get back to Mitch, please?”
“Oh sure, Mitch and the lukewarm kisses you shared.”
“Cerise.” Nadia warned.
She held up her hands. “Fine. Fine. I mean if he was with you all the way with the kisses then I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You did say he said he wanted your first time together to not be rushed.”
“Yeah, he did.”
“But?”
“But I feel like there’s another reason why he held back. I wonder if it’s to do with his.” Nadia stopped herself from saying anything more. She had no idea if anyone knew about Mitch’s PTSD attacks and it wasn’t her place to blab about it—even to her best friend.
“To do with what? You can’t leave me hanging here, Nads.”
Nadia shook her head. No way was she going to break his confidence. “It’s nothing. You’re right, he probably just wants to make our first time special. His kiss on the lips when we parted was sensible. One touch and he sets my heart racing and I feel so alive.”
“Whoa there, city girl, are you falling for a cowboy?” Cerise asked propping herself up on her pillow.
Cerise’s question gave her pause, was she falling for Mitch? She couldn’t deny she was definitely attracted to him and she wanted to see what happened between them, but she also wasn’t sure how long she planned to stay in Kerrville. Her contract was for a year with the option to renew for another one.
Her initial plan had been to take this job, get a buttload of experience and then apply back to the major ER departments atBoston area hospitals. With the experience she’d gained working in a busy regional ER, she hoped that would work in her favor.
If she got a job in Boston, it would mean leaving the friends she’d made here. Friends who were more genuine than the ones she’d had since middle school. Also she had distance from her family. As much as she loved them, they drove her crazy and the pressure to compete with her siblings was tiring. Here in Kerrville she could be herself and she found that she was beginning to like who she was here in Texas. She loved the independence and freedom she had away from the glare of her family. She wasneededhere.
“Now you’re taking such a long time to answer my question I’m not sure that’s a good thing. What’s going on, Nadia?”
“I like Mitch, Cerise. I’d like to see what would happen with us. But I also know that my parents would throw a fit if I told them I wanted to stay here. They figured this job was just a temporary one, and maybe it had started out that way. But now, I love working here. I love who I work with. I love being able to be a hands-on doctor that I wouldn’t get the opportunity to be if I’d gotten one of the jobs I’d applied for in Boston.”
Cerise shrugged. “Then stay.”
“If only it was that simple.”
