Page 45 of Check & Chase
I’m still smiling like an idiot when I finally head back inside, only to have Donovan block my path the second I step through the door.
“Dude, what was that with you and the new PT?” he asks, eyes gleaming with curiosity. “The whole team’s talking.”
“Nothing,” I reply, though we both know it’s not true. “Just rescuing her from West’s bullshit.”
“Uh-huh.” Donovan doesn’t look convinced. “Just be careful, man. Team medical staff is off-limits for a reason.”
“I know the rules,” I assure him, though I’m not sure I care about them anymore. Not when it comes to Emma.
And that realization should terrify me. Instead, it feels like the start of something inevitable.
Emma
Chapter Nine
“Knock, knock, Physical Therapist Barbie. I come bearing sustenance.”
Maya’s voice precedes her into my office at the Bears facility, followed by the heavenly aroma of fresh coffee. She sets a tall cup on my desk, then plops down in the chair across from me, kicking her feet up on the corner of my workspace.
“You’re a saint,” I tell her, reaching eagerly for the caffeine. “And get your dirty nurse shoes off my files.”
“Ungrateful,” she says, but removes her feet with a dramatic sigh. “So, are we going to talk about it?”
I take a sip before answering. “Talk about what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that half the hospital where I work is buzzing about you and Chase Mitchell getting cozy at the Bears gala last night?”
I groan, slumping back in my chair. News travels at light speed in Pinewood, especially when it involves the Bears. “We weren’t ‘getting cozy.’ He was helping me avoid Tyler.”
“Mmhmm. By wrapping his arm around you and glaring at Tyler like he wanted to murder him with his crutch?”
“How do you even know about that?”
Maya grins, dark eyes sparkling with mischief. “One of the nurses. Her husband works security at the hotel. Said the sexual tension between you two was thick enough to cut with a scalpel.”
“There was no sexual tension,” I protest, though my face heats at the memory of Chase’s tuxedo jacket around my shoulders, the warmth of his body when I leaned against him.
“Which would be more believable if you hadn’t come home with hearts in your eyes.”
“I did not have hearts in my eyes!”
“Please. You’ve been humming all morning.” Maya leans forward, suddenly serious. “Look, I’m not judging. Chase is hot, you’re hot, there’s history. I’m just surprised you’re letting yourself go there given the whole professional ethics thing.”
“I’m not ‘going there.’ Last night was a one-time thing to get Tyler off my back.”
“Right,” she drawls slowly. “And that smile has nothing to do with a certain blue-eyed hockey player.”
A knock at my door saves me from further interrogation. I look up, expecting Mr. Peterson or one of the other staff members.
Instead, there’s Chase, leaning on his crutches, looking unfairly attractive. My traitor heart does a little flip at the sight of him.
“Am I interrupting?” he asks, glancing between Maya and me.
Maya’s face splits into a wide grin as she stands. “Not at all. I was just leaving.” She turns to me with an exaggerated wink that makes me want to throttle her. “Call me later, Em.”
She saunters past Chase, pausing to offer her hand. “I’m Maya, by the way. Best friend, roommate, and keeper of all Emma’s embarrassing secrets.”
“Chase,” he replies, shaking her hand with an amused smile. “Hockey player, current PT project, and very interested in those embarrassing secrets.”
