Page 4 of Devoted

“Ew. No. Sorry, Piper, and no offense, Ethan.”

“None taken.”

“Ethan and I already had this conversation when I thought he was flirting with me just after I was hired and he started bringing people into the ER on calls. I politely told him I wasn’t interested and we agreed to just remain friends,” I explain, recalling that night when I was trying to keep a man alive who came in from a car accident and I thought Ethan was checking me out while I was covered in blood.

“I believe you told me to stop ogling your breasts while you worked on a patient or you were gonna stab me with a scalpel.” Ethan grins as Piper starts laughing next to me.

“Well, you got the message didn’t you?” I fire back.

“Loud and clear. Besides, Jess and I are just friends now. No offense to you, Jess.”

“None taken.” I smile and then reach for my water again, only to realize I drank it all.

“But, hey! I just remembered… there’s a speed dating event in a couple of weeks over at the new comedy club on Maple Drive. You should come, Jess. There will be plenty of single guys there. And ladies too, for me of course.” He winks.

“Yes!” Piper shouts in excitement, clapping her hands loudly and startling me in my seat. “This is perfect! You’ll get to interview a bunch of different guys in one night. You’re bound to hit it off with someone.”

“Too bad you can’t come with me,” I whine just as the corner of Piper’s lips tip up wistfully.

“No, I’m happily taken. But Rachel can. She’s single. You should convince her next week when we go to the park with her and Grayson.” Rachel is Piper’s best friend from back home in New York. She just recently moved out here to Emerson Falls to be closer to Piper and took up a nanny gig for one of Cash’s friends, Luke. Grayson is the little boy she’s watching and next week we’re meeting them at the park for a play date—also known as an excuse for us girls to talk while the kid can run around and deplete his abundance of energy.

The thought of not going alone does makes me perk up a bit. “What time is it at, Ethan?” I turn back to him, waiting for him to respond.

“I think six? I have the flyer in my car. I’ll text you a picture of it later.”

“Okay. Sounds good. I guess at this point, I have nothing to lose.” I shrug and pop the last bite of my granola bar in my mouth, depositing the wrapper in the trash can. “But hey, I’m going to get out of here now. You’ve still got another hour, right?” I ask Piper as I stand and reach for my lower back, wincing at the stiffness from being on my feet so long. I grab my last patient chart on the desk and then make my way around Piper’s seat.

“Yup. Wish me luck.”

“I’ve got to get going too, girls. But hey, I’ll send you that info soon, alright?” Ethan says as he walks backwards away from us.

“Sounds good, Ethan. Thanks.”

“Sorry I suggested you date, Ethan,” Piper shrugs before logging into the computer.

“No worries. We’re just friends.” Ethan is an exceptional guy, he’s just not my type at all. “Alright. I’m seriously leaving now. Hopefully, it will remain calm for you since most of the storm has passed.” I’m speaking literally and figuratively, of course. The rain that pelted Emerson Falls last night only added to the cases we saw in the ER. “Wish me luck too, though. I have to go to the grocery store before I can drive home.”

“Why? Just go when you wake up this afternoon.”

I shake my head. “No can do. I’m almost out of coffee and I used the last of my creamer yesterday.”

Piper cringes. “Yup. You’ve got to go.”

“Told ya. See you when I see you, Piper.” I lean down and give her a hug before processing my last patient and running for my car.

Once I’m seated in the driver’s seat, I realize I’m going to need an energy boost if I’m going to keep my eyes open in the grocery store, lest I end up sleeping curled up in my shopping cart. There’s only one place I know that can give me the caffeine fix I so desperately seek, and that is Skye’s Creations, a local organic coffee house in the lovely town I call home.

I secure a parking space and lock my car before trudging through the puddles gathered on the asphalt from last night’s rainfall. My sneakers are wet and slippery when I make my way through the door, but the scent of coffee, chocolate, and sugar instantly hits my nose, wakes me up, and makes my feet move on their own accord.

Unfortunately though, there’s a line about six people deep and only two cashiers working, a rare occurrence for Skye’s at this time in the morning.

“God, I just need coffee, please!” I grumble to myself, throwing my head back in agony. If I weren’t so desperate to stay awake, I’d leave and just grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks or a gas station. But I thought about a caramel delight mocha all the way here from the hospital, and now my heart and stomach want nothing else.

“Line’s moving,” a husky voice rattles behind me, surprising me at how the sound makes my entire body wake up when I’m borderline sleeping with my eyes open. I can almost sense that the man attached to that voice has to be good-looking, because mother nature can’t be that cruel, right? Curious to see if she’s pulled a fast one on me, I turn slowly to face him, searching for the owner of that beautiful sound.

And what do you know? The man belonging to that throaty timber is even more attractive than my mind imagined. My neck gets a workout as I tip back my head to find one of the most lethal faces on a man I’ve ever seen. Smooth skin, the perfect amount of light brown stubble, full lips, and a jawline that belongs on a magazine. My heart races as the reaction my body is having registers in my mind. But then the smug look on his face smothers the fire burning inside me quickly when he acts more irritated than necessary. “We haven’t got all day, yeah?”

“So sorry for holding you up. Forgive me for trying to alleviate some of the strain on my body from working an eighteen-hour shift and not moving the second the line did.” I roll my eyes at him before turning back around, taking the two steps forward that he was entirely too worried about closing. The pounding of my heart just moments ago from taking in his face has now shifted into higher blood pressure due to annoyance.

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