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“The fact that he regretted how he treated you yesterday.”

“How on earth do you know that?”

“I ran into him in the parking lot before I left yesterday.”

My ears perked and I paused midway before taking a bite of my turkey sandwich. “And…?”

“And he asked about you.”

“Really? What did he say?”

Molly laughed, and I had to resist the urge to slap myself for sounding like an overly excited schoolgirl. I tried to remind myself that Dr. Sholly was not my type, so I had no reason to be so concerned with what he said about me. I had already dated a handsome jerk before, so I wasn’t about to fall for another one, even if he was a successful doctor.

Upon entering the hospital that morning, I paused in the hallway and for the first time, took a good look at the various plaques of excellence for doctors among the hospital staff. Evan Sholly’s name had plenty of appearances on the wall. It was surprising I’d never noticed before, but I supposed I just hadn’t paid attention. Seeing all the good work he’d done over the years, I had actually started to regret my own behavior a bit as well, particularly since I had more or less implied he didn’t know what he was doing. But in my defense, he had started it by insulting me first. So I didn’t have to feel entirely too guilty about it…

“He just asked me how long you’d been working here. I told him you’d been here as long as me, and that you were one of the most dedicated nurses in this building.”

“Hmm,” I said, attempting to feign disinterest, but once again failing, judging from the smirk on Molly’s face.

“Speak of the handsome devil…”

“What?”

But my question was answered by the door opening and none other than Dr. Sholly appearing. My heart skipped a beat and I almost choked on my sandwich.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” he said.

“Good afternoon, sugar,” Molly said. She eyed me for a second, like a mother scolding her child to be polite. But my vocal chords didn’t seem to be working. Pressing his pretty lips together upon seeing that I couldn’t be bothered to speak, he gave me a curt nod before rolling up his sleeves and approaching the vending machine. My eyes trailed over his muscular arms, intrigued by the tattoos covering them…

Until he turned around with his bottle of Gatorade in hand and caught me staring, causing me to choke for real

this time.

Molly gave me a rather hard thump on the back as I reached for my bottle of water. Thank goodness I hadn’t unscrewed the top yet, or I would have drenched myself.

“Tessa.”

I raised my eyebrows at the sound of him saying my name. My skin was on fire. He made me feel things, things I didn’t want to feel.

“Dr. Sholly?” I said.

“Can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Uhm…Sure,” I said. “Now?”

“If it’s all right,” he said. “It won’t take long.”

“Okay…”

He headed to the door and I realized he wanted me to follow him out of the break room.

Panic-stricken, I glanced toward Molly. Her eyes were wide with amusement. “Go ahead. I’ll keep your sandwich company, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Dr. Sholly chuckled.

As I stood, I ‘accidentally’ kicked Molly in the foot, which only made her goofy expression grow more prominent.

“I’ll let you get back to your lunch soon, I swear,” Dr. Sholly said, still standing in the doorway, holding the door open as he waited for me.