Sergei’s gaze found mine from across the parking lot, and the faintest shift touched his expression. Not quite a smile. Just enough softness around his eyes to make my chest tighten.
“Oh, no,” Dr. Mendez said, grinning wider. “That man is absolutely gone for you. And he’s younger too. Lucky you.”
Heat crept up the back of my neck, which only made his grin worse. Our age difference wasn’t so great. We were only ten years apart. It wasn’t as if he were in his twenties.
Across the parking lot, Sergei pushed off the SUV andstarted walking toward us, his gait long, measured, and unhurried. He looked like a handsome Bond villain.
He’s worse.
I still didn’t know whether Mendez was right, and I was lucky to have Sergei in my life. Every night we fell asleep together, I kept expecting him to bring up the stolen SD card, which seemed to be futile anyway since I was having a devil of a time cracking the encryption.
“There’s no shame in it,” Dr. Mendez said, making a turn to the right. “Ignore the talk in the doctor’s lounge about you falling in love so quickly again. Life’s too short not to take chances. So what if they speculate you’ve been with this other man before your husband passed away? Anyone who’s worked with you knows you’re a man of integrity and wouldn’t have done that. Have a good day, Dr. Cavanagh. Hope to see you back Tuesday with a smile on your face.”
I was too stunned to respond or to ask him what exactly they were saying about Sergei and me in the lounge. While I hadn’t discussed my relationship with Sergei with anyone, he came around often enough that the staff would have noticed. I’d sensed the conversations turning into a lull abruptly when I walked into a room, but I always assumed it was because they were being sensitive to my grief.
Grief? What grief?
When was the last time I’d thought or cried about Brad? I’d promised to visit him more often, but I was so preoccupied with Sergei and all the sex we were having, I hadn’t found the time.
Despicable.
I inhaled deeply and marched toward Sergei, fully intending to reprimand him for showing up unannounced and causing trouble for me at the hospital. But then he smiled. It wasn’t a big smile, barely even there really, just the slightest lift at the corner of his mouth. On anyone else, I might nothave noticed it at all. But Sergei rarely smiled, and when he did, it felt like witnessing something meant just for me.
The warmth in his eyes hit harder than the smile itself. It softened the sharpness of his face, revealing his quieter nature underneath, and making it painfully obvious that the tiny curve of his lips was only a fraction of what he was truly feeling. And just like that, the irritation I’d been holding on to disappeared before I could even open my mouth.
How could I remain mad at him?
“Sergei, what are you doing here?” I asked, sounding breathless.
“Thought you’d be tired, so I’ve come to bring you home.”
He lowered his head and leaned in. I hesitated long enough for his brows to draw together, but when he started to pull back, I cupped the right side of his face and touched my lips to his in a quick kiss. “Take me home then.”
“You’ve got it.”
He took my hand, walked me to his SUV, then opened the door for me to get in. Dr. Mendez drove by us and honked his horn. I groaned, wishing I could disappear.
“What’s that about?” Sergei asked, starting the engine and following the direction of Mendez’s car.
“Apparently, the hospital staff’s been gossiping about how quickly I’ve landed in bed with another man after…”
“And that’s a problem?”
“I’m a private man. I don’t like this sort of gossip at the workplace. It’s unprofessional.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
I snorted. “No, thanks. Your method of fixing things with fists and weapons is a bit on the side of the extreme.”
He flashed me a grin, settled his attention on the road, and made a left turn, merging into the morning traffic. “At least it’s effective. But why does it bother you so much?”
“You won’t get it.”
“Try me.”
“In everyone’s eyes, I’m a bad person for moving on so quickly.” I folded my hands into fists on my lap. “They’re already speculating that I was with you while Brad was still alive.”
“But we know that’s not true.”
