Page 8 of Baby for Dr. Damaged

“I mean, I’m just a resident,” Amanda says, with a shrug.

I shake my head at her, stepping aside so there’s plenty of room for her to make her own cup of coffee, as well. “That doesn’t matter. You’re smarter than he is by miles. Trust me, I watched him go through his full residency. You have him outclassed by two leagues, at least.”

That gets a smile out of her. She’s so beautiful when she smiles—a brightness seems to fill up her whole face. But this time it’s not just a smile, it’s a flash of something intensely mischievous. While her coffee brews, she suddenly steps forward, inches away from me and rests her hand on my chest.

“Does that mean you don’t agree with him?”

It takes me a moment to realize what she’s talking about. Arnold had called her a hot mess. What’s a polite way out of this? She’s Lawrence’s daughter, for fucks sake, and I just yelled at another doctor for making a pass at her but… I can’t help it.

I brush one blonde strand of her hair behind her ear and tell her, “I wouldn’t worry about themesspart of things. But… Itishard to argue with the rest.”

Just being around her has me in a better mood.

Then, before Amanda has time to come up with any kind of argument against me, I grab my cup from where I had sat it on the counter, turn on my heel, and quickly head for the door.

Right before leaving the doctors’ lounge I remind her, “Hair up. I’ll meet you in Mr. Casidy’s room.”

And then I’m gone, hoping that I read all of her signals the way they were meant to be read, and that I didn’t just make a total buffoon out of myself.

Chapter four

Amanda

It’salong,longshift. Three weeks into my residency, and the hours are starting to get to me. Still, it’s early enough in the day that the sun is actually still up when I step outside, tilting my head back and exhaling hard. A wave of exhaustion washes over me.

My eyes close. For a moment, I just stand there, letting the warmth of the sun bake away the chill of the hospital.

A hand settles on my waist and Jackson asks, “Trying to learn photosynthesis?”

I lean back into the touch without opening my eyes. He has big hands with long fingers and soft skin. When he shifts his grip just slightly, it presses up under the hem of my scrub top. Bare flesh to bare flesh. It’s only a brief touch, but it’s like a bolt of electricity straight to my spine.

Jackson makes to pull away, maybe having realized that his hand had strayed. Before he can, I snap out with my own fingers and curl them around his wrist. Just holding them.

“Something like that,” I tell him. “Don’t you ever just want to stop and bask in the sun after a shift?”

“I don’t have much time for basking,” admits Jackson, sounding amused. “Bonnie is waiting for me at home.”

“I guess this isn’t the time to try and cash in on that dinner I owe you then, is it?” I question.

“Not today, I’m afraid. I have dinner with Bonnie tonight, and panda bears tomorrow,” says Jackson.

I laugh. “Panda bears?”

“A promised zoo trip.” Jackson starts into the parking lot, and I go with him. Patients and visitors have to use the nearby parking structure, but the staff of the hospital have a section that’s reserved for their cars only.

It’s a seemingly small perk, but at the end of a seventeen-hour shift, there is nothing less appealing than trying to find your car in the middle of a pitch-dark parking structure. So, I’m happy about the reserved space.

“I guess baked ziti can’t compare to a zoo trip. What about later this week?”

“I would like that.” A smile crosses his face. “You can come to my place, and I’ll open a bottle of wine.”

“Why does that sound like you want me to stay late?”

“I certainly don’t want you to leave early.”

“Alright then,” I tell him. It’s impossible to tell where our back-and-forth banter ends, and where the real flirting begins. Well, it’s all real flirting on my end. Turns out that the longer I work with the guy, the more I find myself totally taken with him. “Later this week.”

I head over to my car—van, actually—and Jackson follows me, though only because his own car is a little further up. It turns out, we managed to get spots close to each other. He says, “Be careful driving.”

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