Page 75 of Frozen Flames

“I’m…good.” He looks good, much better than he looked yesterday. “Claire, please let me apologize.” He takes my hands in his, wheeling closer to me.

I shake my head, my heart torn in half. “You can’t touch me, Harvey. Not anymore. You want Gemma, so we must keep our distance from each other.” I swallow because this is one of the hardest things to do—to keep him at bay.

Really all I want to do is pull this man closer to me.

I want to sit on his chair and kiss him.

Grab his face with my hands and whisper sweet nothings to him.

I want to laugh with him and do dishes with him by my side and play games with him and grow old with him.

Yet the time has come to get off of fantasy island and get a dose of reality.

He lets go of my hands as he looks away, then he nods, wheeling backward. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” I reassure him. “I’ll reach out to Gemma again and then hopefully we can put this behind us.”

And I try to do exactly that.

I try and pretend I never fell for him.

On Friday, I meet with Gemma for a late lunch after wrapping up with Harvey early. I don’t tell him that I’m meeting her. This way, if she asks him about it, he’ll be surprised.

She finally responded to my text and agreed to meet me at a local sandwich bar, where I sit waiting for her. When I see her, I think she looks miserable, with prominent circles under her eyes.

“Hi, Gemma!” I wave to show her where I’m seated, then I play with my nails beneath the table.

“Hey.” She sits across from me, grabbing the menu right away.

I don’t blame her for her air of hostility.

I fell for her boyfriend when all I was supposed to do was help him.

She has every right to hate me.

The waiter comes and takes our orders, and then I thank her for agreeing to meet with me, not sure how else to break the ice.

“Yeah, well…we had to meet at some point.”

I nod, tightening my ponytail. “I just wanted to say that I should’ve handled this better. As Harvey’s nurse and PT assistant, I completely failed my duty.” I start rambling about breaking the code of ethics.

God, why can’t I shut up when I’m nervous?

It’s not my first time around Gemma, yet I know I messed up, and I hurt her.

I sigh. “WhateverfeelingsI have for Harvey will not jeopardize my job in any way, but I will keep things professional from now on.”

I hope she knows I mean it.

“Look, Claire…”

She doesn’t seem to know what to say next, so I tell her the first thing that comes to mind. “I hope you don’t hate me. I’m sorry I was out of line.”

Her eyes widen in response. “I don’t hate you,” she says, as our waiter sets our plates of food on the table. “I guess I’m just wondering… I mean, Harvey doesn’t physicallyneedsomeone with him daily. His parents knew this when they hired you. It was more to have someone spend time with him and focus on his physical therapy.”

I nod, agreeing, not knowing what else to say. I should’ve known that it would come to this. That Gemma would seek to get rid of me or reduce my hours.

She’s not wrong either—Harvey doesn’t need a full-time nurse nor PT assistant.

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