Page 26 of Totally Off Limits

“Um, yeah.”

“Do you like it?”

After she finished tying the lace, she stood up. “I think I like it as much as I’d like anything. I’d started out with high hopes, you know? I’ll save the world, help people heal, give them comfort, all while making a few bucks.”

“But?”

“But I did a stint in the ER here in Winchester—and I don’t want to seem overly dramatic, but it was traumatizing. And I don’t mean the patients. Sure, we had some drunk assholes on occasion and one dumb ass who shot his wife’s hand while cleaning his gun, but most of the people who came there were the kinds of people I’d wanted to help, whether it was a kid who broke a bone or an older man who thought he was having a heart attack. But the staff at the hospital…theywere the problem, especially the doctors.”

“Really? Not that I’m surprised.”

“Yeah. It was hard to get them to actually do their jobs. You’d have people stacked up in the rooms or crowded in the lobby, and if the person wasn’t a cardiac or stroke patient or bleeding profusely, they’d get to them when they felt like it. And, near the end, it seemed like if I tried to prod them, they’d take twice as long.”

“All the doctors were like that?”

“Yeah. It’s like it’s part of their training. And don’t even get me started on all the problems with insurance. I just wanted to help people—but the ER was definitely not for me.”

“So you’re not there anymore?”

“Right. I work for Dr. Peterson, so my hours are during the day and my duties are pretty basic. Unfortunately, he’s also an ass. He’s demanding and arrogant and condescending—even to his NP…uh, Nurse Practitioner. He’s already gone through two receptionists since I’ve been there.”

“How long has that been?” Sage asked, running his hand through his hair. Sierra noted that he had hardly changed since high school—not necessarily a bad thing. One thing she’d noticed about both Mickey and Sage was that fame hadn’t seemed to change them negatively.

“Since January.”

“Shit.”

As Sierra nodded, eyes wide, Mickey and Mia joined them again. Mickey had in his hands a ball that was hot pink with white swirls. “We found the lady a ball. It’s not too heavy, but I think we’ll probably still want to help her.”

“Do you think we could set it on the floor and let her push? You know, once she gets the gist?”

“I don’t see why not. Huh, princess?” Mickey said, his voice light and happy.

It was then that Sierra knew without a doubt what an amazing father Mickey would be. No…would have been. He would not ever be Mia’s father except in DNA only. Neither of them could ever know the truth, because that would destroy her tenuous relationship with her family—and, even if she hadn’t needed them in the sense of helping her with Mia, something deep inside her was still seeking their approval, all these years later.

When would it ever come?

It was just a reminder of what Sierra would be expected to do. She already knew her mother hadn’t been bringing up Austin Ackerman just so that two long-lost friends could reunite. Oh, no. Her mother had other designs. In fact, she wasn’t even trying to be subtle.

That just made the evening worse—because Mickey became all the more attractive when Sierra could see him as a wonderful father.

Mickey was hunched over, placing the ball on the shiny wooden floor behind the line. “Now push real hard, Mia. Like this.” With both their hands on the ball, he helped her push—and when she started to chase it as it slowly rolled down the lane, Mickey scooped her up. “Only the balls can go down the lane.”

“Why?”

“Those are the rules. I know. It’s a bummer.”

“Bummer,” Mia said with precision, imitating her father. Sierra was impressed at their efforts, because even though the ball was crawling at a snail’s pace, it was headed straight for the pins. As it got closer, though, it started veering a little to the right, but at least it wasn’t near the gutter. And when it touched a pin, it caused four others to fall.

Mia giggled with delight.

“You got five, Mia,” Mickey said.

“I got five!”

“Yeah. That’s great.”

Sage said, “I guess we’re officially starting.”

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