Page 46 of Eligible Best Friend

“I’m not on you about it, Lia. I’m just asking what you want for your future. I’m not planning it for you.”

I sigh, releasing the tension that’s been building since he started this conversation. “I know, sorry. Mitch isn’t the only one that’s mentioned it. The boss sent me an email about it, too.”

“They don’t run the course every year. I’m sure they don’t want you to miss out. The company would pay for it.”

“I’d have to sign on for three years if they pay for it.” I couldn’t afford to cover the cost on my own. I give him a playful shove with my elbow. “Then we wouldn’t be partners anymore. I’d have my own EMT to boss around.”

The corners of his eyes crinkle. “You think you’d want to be partners with me for twenty more years?”

“You think you’d want to be a career paramedic?”

His humor fades. “Like you said, it’s a good job, and I’m finally stable.”

Ford and I are at the same point in our lives. Both of us were flipped around and had to scramble to make a living. Is he asking me what I want for my future because he’s thinking about his own? “Are you certain your chance to get accepted to a residency has passed?”

“I’ve been out of med school for three years, Lia.” Resolve fills his voice and I want to hit him with the tiny flyswatter someone left in the swag bucket.

“Aren’t there spots in nearby towns that you can apply for? Grand Forks? Bismarck? Here? You’d get to be close to Jayden and it wouldn’t be as competitive.” I’ve never pressured Ford about his residency. Cass did that enough.

That doesn’t mean that I think Ford has to throw away his entire medical degree. He enjoys being a paramedic, but I can tell that it’s not enough. His mind is always working, anticipating what the ER physician will do once we leave. I know because I’ve asked him. What will the ER physician do? is a question guaranteed to start a long conversation that expands my own medical vocabulary in the process. But when I learned how hard Cass was on him, I stayed away from the residency subject.

He loves medicine, but he’s too limited in his role as a paramedic.

“It isn’t just that. I was matched with a prestigious pediatrics spot—then turned it down.”

“A mediocre residency would still get you in the door.” His jaw turns to granite and I clasp his hand. Did I look this stubborn when he was questioning me? “Being a paramedic is an awesome career—not one everyone can do. Just make sure it’s what you want.”

I can’t read the expression that comes over him then. In a flash, he covers it with a grin that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Ready to head back?”

“Not until you tell me what this talk was really about.”

His brows lift. Confirming that he wasn’t just asking out of mild curiosity. “I guess I was wondering if you and I could actually date. Would we work out?”

My mouth opens, but only a little squeak comes out. We haven’t been doing this “friends with benefits” thing for all that long. He’s slept at my place twice and I hung out with him and his kid once and he’s asking if we could…what? “Like date for real?”

“Yeah. Maybe. I mean, we don’t have to.” His gaze searches mine. “I just thought… I don’t know what I thought.” He snorts. “I’m not exactly experienced at this part of dating.”

“You’ll have to elaborate because you know how sad my dating history is.”

His mouth hitches up. “If you’ll excuse my inner fifteen-year-old, I mean, asking a girl to go steady.”

“Go steady?” I giggle more out of nerves, but a spike of delight ignites my belly. “Like, we’re exclusive?”

“We’re already exclusive; we’re just not a couple.” He winces. “That sounds weird.”

“Backward,” I agree with a smile, but I sober quickly. “I’m not looking for the white picket fence, Ford, not yet. Is that what you’re wanting?” It’s what he had planned with Cass. Only unlike me with Samuel, he was all in.

“With the right person, yeah. As long as she’s happy with not-a-doctor Ford.”

I could be happy with just plain Ford. This last year, being his coworker transformed my life. I went home after my EMT classes wondering what the hell I was doing. When I got a job, I felt moderately better about my decision.

Then, during my first month as Ford’s partner, we responded to a car accident. Getting a patient strapped to a backboard in the pouring rain while Fargo’s finest directed traffic around us on a busy highway confirmed my decision. I’d never felt so alive, so useful. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, my heart pounded, and my brain spewed out all the pertinent information I needed. Checking the ABCs—airway, breathing, circulation—how to stabilize the C spine, even introducing myself. It was all there, and as we walked out of the ER, soaked to the bone and elated that we’d made it on time, Ford gave me a simple good job and I was hooked.

I was hooked on the work but also on the independence. I’d earned that good job—no family connections, no one paving the way. It was all me.

“Not-a-doctor Ford is pretty amazing.”

“So are you, Lia,” he says softly.

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