Page 55 of Beach Vibes

“You’re at my office,” he said, his tone more cool than friendly.

“I wanted to, uh, is everything all right?”

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

Nor did he want to. That much was clear.

The man standing in front of her was so different from the normally warm, friendly, affectionate guy she knew that it was almost like meeting a stranger.

All her happy feelings faded away. Suddenly her good newsdidn’t seem important, which meant she’d been standing in the hallway, waiting for him, for no reason at all.

“Did you want something?” he asked.

She hesitated. “I wanted to tell you I got into the UCLA School of Nursing. They notified me yesterday. It was my first choice because it’s such a great school.”

He stared at her blankly. “Why would you be going to nursing school?”

“To get my RN. We talked about this. Rick, what’s going on? You’re acting really strange.”

He glanced at his watch. “I have patients waiting. Can we discuss this later?”

“Of course.”

She stepped around him and walked to the elevator. When it arrived, she pushed the button for her floor. As the doors closed, she tried to figure out what had just happened. It was like the man she knew didn’t exist and a stranger had taken his place. Not just a stranger, she amended. Someone cold and distant who didn’t much like her.

She retreated to her small office, where she forced herself to focus on work. The frustrations of dealing with the various insurance companies and their ever-changing rules took up her morning and helped to distract her from what had happened earlier. At little before noon, someone knocked on her half-open door.

She glanced up and was surprised to see Rick standing there, a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

“I’m sorry,” he said by way of greeting. “About before. How I acted. Seeing you was a surprise. You’ve never just shown up at my office.”

She ignored the flowers. “You don’t have to worry. It won’t happen again.”

His shoulders slumped a little. “I hurt you. I didn’t mean to.” He set the bouquet on her desk and shoved his hands into histrouser front pockets. “I keep my work and my personal life separate. I compartmentalize because sometimes what I do is difficult. When I’m operating on someone, I need to be fully focused on that. When I leave the surgery center, I try to disconnect from what was happening there. I avoid overlap.”

She felt a little of her anger fade. “You’re saying I was out of context?”

“Yes. I had a patient first thing.” He glanced away. “I had to tell him something he didn’t want to hear. When I saw you, I was trying to figure out the best way to do that. Like I said, you surprised me, and I couldn’t unfocus on work.”

He sank down on the chair opposite. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Jana. I’m sorry.”

The last of her mad faded, and she realized that what she did in a day and what Rick did in a day had nothing in common. The man was busy saving lives. When things didn’t go well for him, it was a lot more than simply having to tell someone their mole removal was going to cost an extra fifty dollars.

“Oh, Rick.” She came to her feet and circled the desk. He rose and pulled her close.

“I’d never hurt you on purpose,” he murmured.

“I know. I promise not to surprise you like that. You’re right—you have to stay in your head for your patients. I can’t be a distraction.”

He drew back and smiled at her. “Tell me about nursing school. You got in. That’s exciting. I know how hard you’ve worked.”

She clutched his upper arms. “I also got financial aid, which is the best.”

“We have to celebrate.”

And here he was, she thought happily. The sweet, supportive guy she knew. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

“Not just dinner,” he told her. “Let’s go away for the weekend.” He hesitated. “Unless you think I’m rushing things.”

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