Page 23 of Doctor’s Surprise Twins

Alex Young,Gypsy’s current crush who worked in the phlebotomy lab, was hilarious. We sat eating lunch together, just the three of us, and his natural humor and wit had us cracking up. Gypsy had invited him to eat with us after seeing him in line at our usual lunch spot—the little bistro inside the hospital.

“So, Alex, do you enjoy working in phlebotomy?” I took a huge bite from my cinnamon roll, licking the icing that clung to my lips. Alex tossed his blond waves and shrugged as he finished chewing a bite of his panini. Gypsy was all smiles. I could tell she really found him attractive. She hadn’t stopped grinning since he accepted our invitation to eat with us.

“I mean, the vampire jokes get old.” Gypsy laughed a little harder at his response than she should have, but I had to give him credit. It was a good line. “But yeah. I got into it when I was in nursing school. I found out that something crazy like seventy percent of nurses have a difficult time drawing blood, finding the vein... you know, phlebotomy. And I get paid more than an RN to do this, so it was a no-brainer.”

Gypsy wiped her mouth like she was going to speak but looked back at her plate of French fries in silence. She seemed more shy than normal, which was odd for her because she was always very outgoing. Alex was a really sweet guy, so I continued the conversation for her.

“Dracula didn’t use needles, though, so he was clearly more talented than you. Imagine being given only teeth to do your job.” I snickered and wiped my mouth clean, then sipped my soda.

“Dracula has nothing on me. I once had to give a newborn an IV directly into the scalp. Got it in one try. You know how tiny their veins are? It’s like threading a needle.”

“Impressive.” I raised my eyebrows at Gypsy and kicked her under the table. Her face snapped up to meet my gaze and she grimaced.

“Yeah, impressive.” She looked nervous, and I rolled my eyes at her. “I’m going to use the restroom. I’ll be right back.” She stood and darted away, carrying her tray of food with her. Alex and I watched her stop at the trash and clear her tray before she vanished into the concourse and disappeared.

“Sorry about that. She’s normally really outgoing. I think she likes you.” I winked at Alex, who chuckled.

“I can tell.” He grinned at me, his eyes sparkling. “What about you? What do you do here?”

Lord help the woman who actually got the full fury of that smile turned on her when she wasn’t expecting it because Alex Young was exceptionally handsome. I batted my eyelashes at him, knowing full well that my heart was spoken for and his charm was better spent elsewhere.

“I’m a nutritionist. I work with Dr. Holt and Gypsy.”

And speak of the devil, just as I said his name, Derek appeared, carrying a tray of food in our direction.

“A nutritionist and you eat cinnamon rolls for lunch?” Alex laughed, and it made me laugh too. It was a bit strange that I, of all people, knowing my own health conditions, would choose such an unhealthy confection as a meal.

“You got me.” I took a small bite and watched Derek approaching. We sat together at lunch a lot, though the past few weeks had been interrupted by meetings and a work trip he went on. I’d been feeling ill, so that took up a few days. The other days, we had been surrounded by the rest of the office staff and kept our conversations pretty casual.

Since Derek had made it very clear to me that he wanted only sex and friendship, I had put a bit of distance between us. That distance hadn’t seemed to bother him. He hadn’t even called me, except once when I missed his call because I was showering, and he didn’t leave a message then.

“So, are you seeing someone?”

I hardly heard Alex’s remark because Derek stared me down. But it registered slowly, and I replied: “Uh... yeah. I mean, maybe. I don’t know.”

“So you don’t know if you’re seeing someone? I wasn’t asking if you were hallucinating.” Alex snickered, and I turned to look at him, peeling my eyes away from Derek.

“Uh, no. I’m not seeing anyone.” I made sure to make my voice loud enough that Derek, now only a few strides away, could hear me. I wasn’t in the business of making men jealous just so they would want me, but I wasn’t above it. Besides, if he really wanted only sex and friendship, then Iwasn’tseeing him, and I was a free woman to do whatever I wanted.

I was just never doing that with Alex.

Derek turned away, a flash of frustration on his face. He sat at a nearby table, close enough to annoy me but not close enough to hear our conversation anymore. I lost my appetite, and for the first time in days it wasn’t because I felt ill. I had to swallow back a bitter thought that wanted to march off the tip of my tongue, and instead I rose, collecting my trash.

“It was really nice getting to know you a bit, Alex. I’m not sure whether Gypsy will be back today, but you are welcome to sit with us every day if you’d like.”

I got the distinct feeling that Alex was sad to see me go. He frowned and nodded but said nothing. After watching the way Derek walked past and hardly acknowledged me, I felt like we were back in high school and Curt had gotten to him again. Only I knew better. Derek had done this to himself. He had drawn a line in the sand, and when I decided not to cross that line, he got upset.

I picked up my tray, loaded down with trash, and walked over to his table. I didn’t have to make a big deal about anything to make him get my point. I just wanted him to recognize that I was there and that I had feelings too.

“You didn’t want to sit with us?” I shifted my weight, balancing the tray on one hand as I picked up his straw wrapper and placed it on my tray.

“You seemed all cozy with your new boyfriend over there.” His eyes flicked angrily in Alex’s direction and then turned down to his sandwich. “Didn’t want to interrupt.”

“There was plenty of space at the table. We have lunch together every day. We’re friends, right?” The words obeyed me, like good little school children in a single-file line, marching out to recess down the hallway. And they hit their mark. The groove in his brow deepened into a scowl. I knew what I said when I said it. If he could play this game, so could I, and I’d had nearly two weeks to stew on his infuriating comment about “sex and friendship”.

“Well, you just seem to have moved on so quickly, that’s all.” He shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich. When he peered up at me, I almost lost it. If I hadn’t been afraid of making a scene, I’d have smacked him right across the face. But I plastered a smile across my lips as if he hadn’t said a thing and nodded.

“I’ll see you back in the office.”

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