Page 39 of The Sheriff & the Nurse

“Oh.” She registered the music playing and the credits. She didn’t care about the movie. She could kiss him all night.

He drew her close but didn’t kiss her again, simply held her.

“Clint,” she whispered against his cheek, brave because of the wonderful minutes their lips had been joined and they’d been swept away together. It had to mean something to him. She’d initiated but he’d reciprocated. Oh, how he’d reciprocated. That kiss had been off the charts and only for them, not for any crowd or protection purposes.

“Yeah?” he asked, his voice husky and deep.

“Does all of this mean … you’re interested in me?”

“Interestedin you?” He straightened and eased back enough to see her face more clearly. “Lily, if you can’t tell that I’m interested in you, I’m a bigger failure at romance than even I realized.”

“You’re not a failure …” He was interested, but still hadn’t outright declared how he felt about her.

He arched a brow. “I’m thirty-two. I’ve dated seriously and gotten engaged to exactly one woman, and she was a backstabbing liar. Pretty much a failure.”

“Sheryl hurt you?”

“It was deep.”

“I’m sorry.” He’d been hurt deeply. He must’ve loved Sheryl deeply. Would he ever come to love Lily like that?

“It’s life, right? Did Miles hurt you?”

She shook her head. “It was mutual. We grew apart over the years.” How to tell him she’d always been interested in him?

“That’s good to hear.” He paused, then shook his head. “We’d better get some rest. I’ve got a busy day of sitting in the hospital parking lot tomorrow, but you have to be in top form for your moms and babies.” He smiled and stood, offering her a hand.

Lily took it and let him pull her to her feet, but she was far from done with this conversation. How many times had she backed down from conflict—not demanding her supervisor do something about Dr. Hampshire, not telling Dr. Hampshire off, not telling her family the mess she was in? She wasn’t the type to open up or ask for help; she handled things quietly and on her own.

But now she had to be vulnerable and brave, not back down.

“We need to talk about us,” she said firmly.

Clint’s brow furrowed. He released her hand and folded his arms across his chest. He looked closed off, impenetrable, the way the ‘hot Sheriff Clint Coleville’ had often looked over the years. Not the wayherClint looked. If he said,You … me … it’s a no,she would break in two.

“I …” He rubbed at his jaw. “Let’s talk after you’re safe and this op is done. I don’t want you to feel coerced or like you don’t have a choice in who you date.”

“Excuse me? I want to date you.”

Clint’s face and demeanor softened a bit, but then he shook his head. “You’ve only ever dated Miles. Maybe you need to let yourself explore some options before you decide who you want to date.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” she exploded, the words releasing faster than her fear of him rejecting her could call them back. “You are more closed off than Hitch. Sheryl hurt you so badly that you’ll never move past it? Never love again?”

“She did hurt me, but I want to move past that.” He thumped his closed fist against his leg. “I have to do what’s right, and I have to stand by my word to my brother. I think you should give him a chance once we catch the perp and you go back to your life.”

“Walker?”

He nodded tightly. “He’s had a thing for you for years. I told him I’d let him have his chance with you.”

“Excuse me?” Now she was even more upset. She’d heard him acquiesce her to Walker the other night and he must’ve reaffirmed his commitment to let Walker date her after church today. “You might be the mighty sheriff, but you don’t get to decide who I date.”

He studied her. She’d never seen his blue eyes so conflicted.

“If this”—she pointed to the couch, indicating their kissing session, and then to herself and to him—“meant nothing to you and you can just turn me over to your little brother to date, to hold, to kiss …”

His jaw and mouth tightened. He continued thumping his fist against his leg, but he didn’t say anything.

“Argh!” Lily threw her hands in the air, whirled, and stormed through the main level and up the stairs.

---