Page 43 of Already At Risk
Instead, I took another sip of my drink and tried to focus on the conversation around me. Gemma and Juniper sat together at one end of the table, hovering close and chatting about something in low tones that I suspected was Natalie-related. Juniper looked over her shoulder with a concerned expression in the direction that Natalie had gone more than once.
Meanwhile, Julian and Noah were focused on the children. Noah was busy removing Delilah’s extra clothes, tossing her little hat and gloves on the table, while Julian peppered Chloe with questions about school and her field trip to the zoo. She recounted the story about the macaw to them, and I sat there pretending that I hadn’t heard it before in between checking my watch too many times.
I knew women usually took longer in the bathroom, but not this long, right? It was busy in the Bellflower tonight, but notthatbusy. I doubted the bathroom had a line, and if it did, it couldn’t be too long.
When fifteen minutes had gone by and Natalie still didn’t return to the table, I excused myself, muttering that I had to use the bathroom, too. Julian nodded absently, but I suspected he was the only one who heard me, which was fine. It was preferable, actually.
I marched to the bathroom at a speed that was probably unnecessary. But sitting for fifteen minutes had been torture enough, and I didn’t want to waste any more time before I got Natalie into my line of vision again.
Thankfully, after rounding the corner into the back hallway and getting within steps of the bathroom, Natalie rushed out of it, crashing right into me. She gasped, her palm pressing into my chest as though ready to push me away. But I could tell the moment when she realized it was me.
When my hand flew to her waist, steadying her, her body relaxed, the tension slipping out of her limbs. I pulled her toward me, just a little bit, because I couldn’t fucking help it. I’d been so good about not letting this happen, not letting us get this close, but there was only so much I could do when fate intervened. And immediately letting her go when I finally had the feel of her beneath my palms? Hell if I knew how to do that.
“Oh, hi.” Her voice was breathless, like seeing me there had knocked the wind out of her. She stared up at me with glittering green eyes that looked the slightest bit watery. Her eyes dropped to my chest, and when she realized her hand was still on it, she dropped her arm to her side.
Damn.
“You were gone for a while, and I was—” I bit down on my words before I could finish my sentence. There was no logical reason to be worrying about Natalie London. It wasn’t my place to be worrying about her, but I seemed to be worrying about her a lot lately. Certainlythinkingabout her. In ways that definitely didn’t have anything to do with my job. “Everythinggood?”
“Yeah, all good.” Natalie seemed more flustered than normal, but she flashed me a not-so-convincing grin. “I just hadn’t expected to be going out after work and wanted to clean up a bit.” She fidgeted with the zipper of a light spandex jacket that she’d pulled on, stretchy and white, before looking around me, back toward the table that was out of our line of vision from here. “Chloe’s okay, right?”
“Chloe’s great,” I assured her, forcing myself to drop my hand from her waist and take a step back. “Noah got her a kid’s menu, and they’re doing the word search on the back.”
“Good.” Natalie cleared her throat and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Then she smoothed a hand down her front, pulling at the bottom of the jacket, making me want to frown. It was unusual for her to act self-conscious. “Good,” she repeated.
“You look great, Natalie,” I said because I couldn’tnotsay it.
“I’m certainly underdressed compared to you.” She forced a little laugh, pointing at my suit and tie.
“We’re both coming from work,” I said logically. “Your work just looks a little different than mine.” And again, because I couldn’t help it, I added, “You look great no matter what you wear.”
“You don’t have to say…” She shook her head, averting my eyes. “You don’t have to do that, Cameron.”
“I know I don’t.” I also didn’t have to fix the lock on her door or put together her daughter’s bookshelf or stay over at her house to have root beer floats. “In fact, I shouldn’t.” I shouldn’t do any of the things I’d done or said. “But you do. You look perfect, Sunny.”
Her lips parted as she blinked up at me, like she couldn’t imagine the honesty I was giving her right now. She looked like she wanted to sink into it, let that reality breathe for a moment, but instead, she sank down to a different place.
“Korey would have been annoyed with me.” Her lips twisted ruefully. “He didn’t like it when I wore scrubs out.”
I gritted my teeth together, trying not to react.
“He can fuck off,” I said under my breath. Real professional-like. But I didn’t really care at the moment.
“He sure can,” Natalie said, also talking in undertones, giving a huff, almost like a laugh but drier and without humor.
Then she flashed me a sweet expression, like she wanted to make sure I knew that her attitude had nothing to do with me. It was laced with kindness and optimism, more than most people in her position would have. I adored her for it, for the sunshine she still carried despite all the clouds and rain that had tried to cover her.
“How was work today?” I asked, deciding to switch the topic. I didn’t want to keep talking about Korey, but I didn’t want her to walk away, either.
“Great, actually.” She brightened even more. “We discharged this burn patient who I’d done an escharotomy on last month. They seem to be doing really well, so that was the best part of my day, probably.”
I nodded encouragingly. I had no idea what an escharotomy was, but it sounded important, and it sounded like she did a good job.
She was so fucking smart.
Good with her hands.
Gorgeous.
