Page 47 of Just (Fake) Married
“Cures what ails you,” he said, as he took the exit off the highway. “And, the number one thing I know about you?”
“This should be good.”
He stopped at a red light and stretched his arm across the back of my seat, bracing his hand on my headrest. He leaned towards me and I leaned back, stunned by this sudden…closeness. He smelled good. Clean. And his eyes were pretty. They matched the sky outside the window. A pale blue, winter color.
“This no kissing rule you have…I think it’s more like, you really want to kiss me. You really want to kiss me and you’re afraid of what might happen if you do.”
“Uh…” I was speechless. Struck dumb. He knew too much.
His phone rang, and it must have been attached to Bluetooth, because the radio stopped and on the screen popped Dr. Xio Sinai West.
Ethan, so sanguine a second ago, stiffened. Looked at me, and then back at the screen, and then at the road, and then back at me.
“You should answer it,” I said, because he was clearly dying to.
“It’s…”
Without thinking of the consequences of my actions, I hit the accept button on the screen and grinned at him.
He did not grin back.
“Dr. McGraw,” a voice called out.
“Dr. Xio,” Ethan said, his voice tight. He was sitting ram rod straight, like the guy on the phone could see him. “Now is not the best-”
“I wanted to inform you personally, before I sent the official email.”
“Dr. Xio…”
“You’ve been put on probation for three months. At the end of your probation, the committee will reexamine your case.”
I gaped at Ethan, who was clenching his jaw so hard, I could practically hear his teeth breaking. Probation?
Oh, I should not have pressed that button.
This was why he could marry me to save the ranch and the town. Because he was in trouble for something back in Seattle.
“We’ll appeal it,” the doctor said on the other end of the line. “Of course. But the committee was unimpressed with your attitude during the meetings. If you had shown more remorse-”
“I don’t have remorse,” Ethan said, biting off each word like it was food. Dry, brittle food. “I saved that woman’s life, and the fact that Dr. Matthews is butt hurt that I didn’t kiss his ass, is his problem.”
“This is what I’m talking about, Dr. McGraw,” Dr. Sio said, like he was so tired. “It’s not always about right and wrong. Sometimes it’s about playing the game.”
Oh boy. I didn’t know Ethan that well, but my sense was that Ethan wasn’t a game player. Not at his job. Not with people’s lives.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me Dr. Xio. Let’s not worry about appealing the decision,” Ethan said. “I’ll respect the period of suspension and consider my options moving forward. Thank you. I’ll be in touch.”
Ethan stabbed the red button on the screen.
I could only gape at him as he pulled into the empty parking lot in front of the Big Horn County Clerk’s office.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have-”
“No. You shouldn’t have,” he snapped. Suddenly, that person I was getting to know was gone. This Ethan was cold and distant and no longer asking me about my kissing rules.
“What did you do?” I had to ask.
“Saved a woman’s life,” he sighed.
