Page 192 of Keep This Promise
She has to kiss me. She has to be ready and able to trust because I don’t want her to ever feel shame over us or what we did.
So, instead of doing the one thing I want, I place my other hand on her back and move slightly.
“Dance with me, Sophie.”
Her forehead touches my chest, and we sway a little. “Dancing in the dark is what got us in trouble.”
I chuckle against her ear. “I think it was the bathroom, love. I don’t remember dancing then, but I’ll always remember tonight. When you spilled juice on me and then danced with me barefoot in the puddle.”
I feel her head move side to side. “Holden?”
“Yes?”
She pauses, and my heartbeat quickens as her finger moves as if she’s tracing something against my skin. “I like you.”
“That’s good,” I say with a soft laugh.
“I like you more than I feel like I should.”
I like her a hell of a lot more than I should, but I don’t say it. Instead, I turn us a little and rub my thumb along her spine. “I don’t think there’s such a thing.”
Her soft sigh fills the room. “I’m not ready to like you that way.”
She has been through hell, and I don’t doubt that she’s scared, but I would burn the world down before I hurt her. The feelings Sophie has, I share as well.
I like the way she smiles.
I love her voice and the way she gets animated when telling me a story about her life. When I’m at work, I count down the minutes until I can get back.
She gave me more in the last few months than I ever thought possible. She gave me a daughter, but even if Eden didn’t exist, I would gravitate to Sophie.
Her warmth radiates off her, and I crave it.
“Then we’ll dance until you’re ready.”
* * *
“Can you order another bag of IV fluids for the patient in room six?” I ask my head nurse, Trina.
Since that day in my office, she’s been much nicer to me. “Of course, Dr. James.”
I give her a wink, and she heads over to the nurses’ station while I make my way to the coffee area. It wouldn’t matter if this were actual sludge, I’d still drink it right about now.
I pour it into a mug, take a gulp, and choke it down because I’m pretty sure it is just that—sludge.
There is about twenty minutes left in my shift, and while it’s been a pretty slow day, it always seems to pick up right before you’re ready to leave. Tonight, I need that not to happen.
I have a sorta date.
“Hey, Holden, how’s it going?” Kate asks, picking up the coffee carafe, flinching, and putting it back onto the warmer.
Lifting my cup, I give her a smile. “It’s going.”
“You’re drinking that crap? I’d rather fall asleep on the floor than drink the coffee at the patient station.”
“It’s caffeine, and I don’t have time to run to the cafeteria.”
She laughs. “Well, we do what we must.”
