Page 73 of Dr. Alaska
His quick smile eased her tension. “Works for me.” After they both sat, he said, “How are things?”
“Good. Better.” She paused. “How’s the business?”
“Great. Dee and I have our schedules full with guests.” Even though he smiled, tense lines bracketed his eyes and mouth. He was still handsome with his tousled hair and his broad shoulders. “This week was busy with the dogs, working on the business, and EMS—those are like three full-time jobs,” he added.
A flash of concern hit her as she read the fatigue on his face. “You’re taking time to rest?”
“You know how it goes. Unpredictable schedules are part of the territory.”
Couldn’t argue that fact. “How are the babies?” It had only been a handful of days, but already she missed Kenai’s trusting brown eyes and Bob’s goofy overbite.
His blue gaze locked on to her. “They miss you.” Mav’s low voice wrapped around her like a warm embrace.
“Just the dogs?”
“No. Not just the dogs.” He started to say more, then stopped.
“I…” She cleared her throat and started again. “This week has been hard, figuring things out.”
“Same here.”
She froze. “Oh?”
“Normally, I’m all about ladies first, but I need to say some things to you.”
Being the focus of his blue eyes scared her. She’d never seen him this serious.
Given everything, he had every right to speak his piece first. “Okay.”
He stiffly perched on the edge of the bed, his face cut from stone. “What happened last weekend was a mistake.”
“Oh. Boy.” She sucked in a harsh breath and blinked hard against burning eyes. Gripping the edge of the mattress, she braced for what was about to happen.
“Wait. Damn it, that came out wrong,” he said. “What I mean is I made a mistake in what I said to you. I said that I was just a case for you to diagnose and fix. That you were here to get the Alaska experience and then you’d leave.” A muscle jumped in his jaw. “I cut both of us off at the knees with those words, and that was wrong. I made assumptions and dumped some of my own baggage on your shoulders, and that was wrong.”
“I do try to help folks. Maybe too much, as it turns out.” She gestured, and he caught her hand with his, holding her lightly so that she could easily pull away if she wanted to.
“If you mean with your ex, he’s an idiot. No offense.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, the action familiar and comforting. “You’re amazing at helping others. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated how you stuck your neck out for me and my sister last weekend.” His voice dropped. “I love how you and I work so well together, professionally and otherwise. I love our connection. I want more.” He paused and pressed his mouth into a tight line.
“But?” Oh, this was going to hurt.
“Deep down, I presumed you’d be like other people who weren’t from the area and, like those people, eventually you’d hate it here and leave. Then, when I overheard your conversation with the locums person, I jumped to the conclusion that everything I had assumed had come true.”
“It’s not like that.”
He gently squeezed her hand. “I know. It wasn’t fair for me to judge you based on my history. It wasn’t fair for me to judge your situation and decisions, based on me.” He flashed a grin. “Not that I wouldn’t love for you to base your decisions on me.”
Sweat prickled at her lower back. “To be fair, I did make a decision this week, and it only partially involved you. The rest of the decision? I had to do what was right for myself.” She swallowed around a lump in her throat. “I was going to talk with you tomorrow, but I probably would have chickened out.”
“This is going to suck, isn’t it?”
“Depends.”
“Damn.”
“I enjoy my practice here in Yukon Valley. It’s a nice group of people. I like working with everyone.”
“But.”
