Page 34 of Rules of the Heart

“I’ll do it,” Stephanie finally whispered to the gaggle of nurses around her. She walked over to Ella and leaned against the counter, clearly trying to appear casual, but Ella wasn’t fooled. “Hi, Ella.”

“Hey, Stephanie. Was there something I could help you with?”

“Are you and Doctor Bush dating?” Stephanie blurted out.

“No.”

Stephanie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Are you sure? Because I was sure I saw you wearing her sweater yesterday.”

Ella hadn’t thought anyone would notice, but apparently, she’d been wrong. She really needed to start leaving clothes at Valerie’s house, but they had been avoiding taking that step. It was a step for couples, after all, not friends with benefits, which—Ella had to keep reminding herself—was what they were.

She wondered whether she should lie, but the thought sat wrong with her. On the other hand, she knew Valerie wouldn’tbe impressed if she just spilled their secret to the nurses. If it got out, it would spread through the hospital like wildfire.

“We’re notdating,” Ella said carefully. “We’re good friends, though.Verygood friends.” She looked intently at Stephanie, hoping she would understand.

“Oh.Oh.I see. Well, I’ll… I just need to finish some charts.”

Despite her question, Stephanie clearly hadn’t been expecting Ella to admit—or imply—that she and Valerie were anything more than colleagues. Ella just hoped the rumors didn’t reach Valerie.

There was a good chance they wouldn’t. Valerie was such as stickler for rules that people had learned to keep rumors away from her ears, lest they get into trouble.

Ella watched Stephanie go back to report to the other nurses and couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She couldn’t deny it to herself. Though she and Valerie weren’t dating, Ella wished it was otherwise.

She had wanted to date Valerie from the start, but it was different now. Ella had had every intention to honor the agreement she had made with Valerie—to remain no more than friends. However, her heart had other ideas.

She was falling for Valerie and falling hard. Every day, Ella dug herself deeper into this pit, and she didn’t know how to get out.

The worst was that she was sure Valerie felt the same. She could see it in the way Valerie looked at her, feel it in the way Valerie touched her.

Maybe things were different for Valerie now, just like they were for Ella. It couldn’t hurt to ask, right?

Yeah, that’s what she was going to do. She’d just ask Valerie out on a date. Nice and easy. The worst thing Valerie could do was say no. Ella could live with that.

She was nervous when lunch time came. She and Valerie had picked up their habit of having lunches together again and met at the diner as usual.

“Hey, beautiful.” Valerie pressed an easy kiss to Ella’s lips before sitting down. “What happened to you? Are you waiting to hear back from insurance for a patient or something?”

Ella focussed on Valerie’s lovely brown eyes which were usually warm now when they looked at her instead of the cold hard eyes she had been met with so much at the start.

Strands of greying dark blonde hair had escaped around her face. She looked tired.

“No. I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Fire away.”

“I want to take you on a date—a real date. I know we have these lunches, but these are just as friends. I want to go on something that we both agree is a date, as more than friends. I want to be more than your friend, Valerie.”

Valerie’s face fell. “You know we can’t, Ella. We’re already breaking the rules by even sleeping together. Being in a relationship… It’s too far across the line. It is too risky for me. I’m sorry.”

Well, it turned out Ella had been wrong. Itcouldhurt to ask, and she didn’t think she could live with Valerie saying no. She felt tears threatening and leaped up. “I’m sorry, but I’m not feeling well. I think I need to take the rest of the day off work. I’ll see you tomorrow, Valerie.”

With that, she dashed out.

Ella tried to stop the stupid tears, but they wouldn’t cooperate. She was such an idiot. Of course Valerie had said no. Valerie was too entrenched in her stupid rules to make an exception, even for Ella. Clearly, she didn’t care for Ella as much as Ella had hoped she did.

Ella went home and tried to talk herself out of her growing misery. She should have known this would happen. She had put her heart on the line, hoping Valerie would change the rules for her, but in hindsight, that was a crazy hope. She remembered what Valerie had told her all those weeks ago.

I am not changing the rules. Not for you; not for anyone.

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