Page 31 of Dr. Grump's Surprise Baby

“You don’t need to cover for her. Dr. Nash was in the room when you two signed the sheet. He told me how it went down.”

Emily sighed. “I wanted to have a friend here with me,” she said.

“Understandable. And I think it’s all the more impressive that you went through with your plan to come after you found out you were going to be on your own. What about Cassidy Cook?”

“I don’t know. She and I never really talk.”

Dominic shrugged. “My guess is that she never really intended to come,” he said. “I’m sure her father put her name down, or persuaded her to do it — I don’t think she takes her career seriously. There are several members of the intern group who are in this for the wrong reasons, and she’s one of them.”

“Am I one of them?”

He looked at her. “You know the answer to that question. I know you do. If you don’t, you’re not the woman I thought you were.”

She gave a little smile. “All right,” she agreed. “I do know. I only meant to ask you whatyouthought.”

“You’re doing this because you care about patients,” he said. “Because you want to give them the best care you can. That’s theonlygood reason to get into medicine.”

“Do you think I might be able to get a job at Chicago Grace after I finish my internship?” she asked. “I mean, I know you can’t make me an offer or anything. I’m just asking whether you think it’s possible.”

“I’d recommend you,” he said at once.

Immediately, he couldn’t believe the words had left his mouth. That was a massive thing to promise. He shouldn’t have offered it. And yet, looking into those bright blue eyes that made him feel like he was staring at a cloudless sky every time he looked at her, he knew that he would follow through on what he had said. He would recommend Emily for a job at the hospital, if that was what she wanted — and he hoped that she would, because he wanted to go on working with her. He didn’t want her going into private practice, and not only because it would be a waste of her talents. It would also mean separating the two of them, and that was a thought he couldn’t stand.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “I don’t know how to tell you what your approval means to me, Dom— I mean, Dr. Berger.”

“Dominic is fine,” he said, wondering what the hell he was doing letting the last vestige of professionalism slip away so easily. “We’re not in the hospital right now.”

She looked at him across the table. God, those eyes… it felt like she was showing him things he had never seen before. It felt like he was looking at the world in a new way.

“Dominic,” she said, and Dominic felt as if he had never heard his name spoken aloud before.

He shouldn’t be doing this. He shouldn’t be getting this close to her. It was dangerous for the both of them. It could put both of their careers at risk.

And it was too late.

He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t pull away from her now. Even though he knew it would be better to get her out of the hospital and into some other work environment, he couldn’t. And he couldn’t bring himself to pull away from her and keep things entirely professional either.

He was supposed to be the champion of the idea that people should disconnect from their emotions. He was the one who told everyone who came through the hospital doors hoping to pursue a career in medicine that it couldn’t be done if you weren’t able to switch off your heart and your sentimentality. And now, here he was, developing feelings for his intern.

If only it had just been her looks, he might have been better able to control himself. But he knew that wasn’t all it was. Emily wasn’t just pretty. She was sharp and bright and brought an optimism to her work that he hadn’t felt in years — perhaps not ever. Having her around would refresh him. It would allow him to look at his profession with fresh eyes.

He couldn’t lose her — but he knew that if his feelings for her became known, he definitelywouldlose her. So he was going to have to figure out a way to contain all this for as long as he could, and he would just have to hope that eventually, his feelings would fade away — even though that seemed impossible right now.

CHAPTER 13

EMILY

“Ido get it, you know,” Dominic said.

The two of them were sitting at the hotel bar. The conference had long since wrapped up for the day, and while a few of the other attendees were still around, lingering and socializing with one another, most people had either gone back home or up to the rooms they were staying in.

Emily knew she should follow in their footsteps, excuse herself, and go home. But she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. Right now, it felt like she and Dominic had created a little bubble of safety away from the hospital. As long as they were here, it felt like they were free to speak to one another as equals, to be whatever they wanted to be to each other. She could forget that she was talking to her boss and pay attention instead to the fact that she admired him for his good looks, for his wit, for his…

Well, not for his charm. He didn’t have a lot of that. And yet shewascharmed, somehow, as if there was a gap in her life that he fit into perfectly. As if she had been waiting for someone like him.

And she knew that once she left the hotel, things would have to go back to normal between the two of them. She would have to stop thinking of him as this handsome, intriguing man, and return to thinking of him as just her boss.

It was inevitable, but she wasn’t ready.

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