Page 42 of Playing Doctor

She was right. This was serious.

“We have two major issues here.” Gabe leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs, his hands dangling between his knees. “My taking this job the way I did has messed with your trust, and again, I apologize for that, but if I had called, told you what I was planning to do, you would have been against it.”

Several conflicting expressions crossed her face until she finally nodded. “You’re right, I probably would have.”

Probably. Gabe swallowed a grin.

“What I did, right or wrong, I did for us.” He reached for her hands, rubbing his thumb over the backs of her fingers. “That morning, at the hotel, when I asked to see you again, you almost said yes.”

Shock widened her eyes, parted her lips. For a moment, Gabe thought she was going to deny it, and then it was as if something released in her and she relaxed. “Yes.” The admission slipped out on a quiet breath. His fingers tightened around hers as his heart thundered in his chest. This fragile balance building between them suddenly became the most important thing in his life. Screwing it up was not an option.

“Less than an hour ago, we decided to see each other on a personal level. I hope that meant we were on the same page.” He watched her work this over in her head and tamped down the urge to pump his fist when she nodded. “This job is background noise. You and I, that’s my most major issue. I need to know if it’s still yours.”

Her blue eyes held his, steady and unblinking. “Yes. I want this to work.”

“Good.” That was what he wanted to hear. What surprised him was how badly he’d needed it. “You’re too far away.” He sat back and patted his thighs. “Come here.”

Her chin came up. Good. His girl still had a little fight left in her. His girl. Damn, he liked the sound of that. He was ridiculously pleased when she pushed out of her chair and sat on his lap. He waited until she settled herself, then he draped one arm over her hips and the other across her shoulders. He skimmed the pad of his thumb down her arm, felt her shiver, then cuddle closer. Trust.

“I took this job because this is where you are, to give us a chance at a relationship. I can walk away right now and never give this hospital another thought except that you work here, but unless you ask me to leave, I’m staying. Now, what has you so worried about the two of us working together?” He’d seen interdepartmental relationships work, but it was something she needed to resolve and he’d do whatever it took to make her feel secure where the two of them were concerned.

She rested her head on his shoulder. Her breath tickled his neck when she spoke. “Working together in the same department will be difficult.” Her shoulders tensed. He slid his hands there and worked the muscles loose. “If no one knows about us…”

“No. I’m not going to lie or hide what’s going on with us. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it for real. I want to date you, meet your parents”—he waggled his brows—“mow your lawn.”

“Administration won’t like it.”

“They can mow their own grass.”

She sighed. “You know what I mean.”

Yeah, he knew what she meant, but now that he was this close to having her in his life, there was no way in hell he’d let his job get in the way of keeping her there. Closing his eyes, Gabe tucked her back in and rested his cheek on top of her head. Contentment settled over him like a well-worn blanket and he’d be damned if anyone or anything ripped it away.

It would work out, he’d make it, but first he had to work it out with Beth.

“Okay, let’s put it on the table. What problems are we looking at?”

She rested her hand on his forearm, skimmed her fingers over the hair there. “A charge and a staff nurse had a relationship a few years ago. Preferential treatment caused jealousy and resentment among the other staff until the charge nurse transferred to another department.”

“So, you had a couple where one supervised the other.”

“Yes.”

He shrugged. “We’re both in leadership roles, so I don’t see a problem there…unless someone takes offense if I open a door for you, or allow you to choose which table to sit at for lunch.” That was easy enough. “What else?”

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