There should be no time for it, but my stomach flutters as if a thousand butterflies have taken up residence in there and my entire body flushes warm with adoration for Reed. God, this man. That he would do that for his day with the Cup. We hadn't even talked about it other than I knew each player got the Cup, but because he hadn't said anything about it, I'd assumed perhaps he had his day before we became an item.
"You're unbelievable," I say as I go to my tiptoes to kiss him. It's a fast kiss that doesn't touch his lips but grazes his chin. He doesn't even have time to touch me or move his face, so our mouths connect before I'm pulling back and heading down the hall.
I call out over my shoulder, "Got to go. Come see me later."
And then I put Reed out of my mind, because right now there are more important things. That doesn't mean, however, that I'm not excited to see him later once things calm down.
--
The Stanley Cup sits in the middle of the hub and everything seems to be getting back to normal. The Emergency Department was the last stop, but not everyone got a turn with it. Anyone who was potentially contagious was off the list, and there was no way they could bring it into the waiting room, so that meant a select few patients got to see it and have photos taken, as well as all of the emergency staff.
Marek is leaning over the low counter that runs halfway around the hub, flirting with one of the nurses. He's shameless, but I've learned over the weeks that's just Marek. He's got boyish good looks with dark curly hair and intense blue eyes that are completely mesmerizing. He's a player for sure, but he's not a douche bag. Of course he wouldn't be a douche bag, though, because he's good friends with Reed, and Reed isn't a douche bag either.
Reed is chatting with Kevin and they have a few pics snapped together by the Cup keeper, a really cool guy I got to chat with at Alex and Sutton's party before she went into labor. The winning team gets the Cup for a hundred days during the summer, and it's his job to care for it during its travels. He was able to quote funny stuff to me, like the fact that the Cup can hold seven bottles of champagne in it and that he's traveled to twenty-four different countries with it.
Kevin and Reed shake hands and Kevin disappears into an exam room. I've still got three hours until my shift is over, but all my current patients are waiting on tests or for discharge.
I saunter over to Reed and his grin back at me tells me he's well pleased with his day with the Cup.
"So, what did you think?" he asks as I reach him.
"I think you made a lot of damn people in this hospital happy, Mr. Olson," I say, and I don't give a crap who's watching or that I'm on duty. I put my hands to the side of his neck and pull him down for a quick kiss.
"That's all well and good," he says casually. "But did I make you happy?"
I give him a coy smile. "I'll admit, having you around during my workday was definitely awesome."
I expect him to laugh or smile or even give me a kiss in return, but instead his eyes turn sober. He leans toward me and asks in a low voice, "The patient that you were working on when I first got here? Did he make it?"
My smile to Reed is sad and tender as I give a small shake of my head. "He didn't."
"That fucking sucks," he mutters, then pulls me in for a hard hug. "I know that's tough on you."
I nod into his chest and let him console me for a moment. I try not to dwell on these things, and thankfully, my days are weighed heavily in favor of saving lives versus losing them, but they still leave a mark on me.
The wall I put in place while in the hospital start to crack a little and a wave of vulnerability hits me. Tears start to sting my eyes, something I never let happen. I push out of Reed's arms and raise the wall again. He studies my face for a second and I get an almost imperceptible nod from him that he understands what I'm doing.
That I can't afford to be anything other than cool, calm, and collected Dr. Ives while I'm in this hospital.
"So, what do you want to do tonight?" he asks me casually, even taking a step back and tucking his hands into his pocket casually.
"Anything else you want to do with the Cup?"
"Nope," he says resoundingly. "It's just you and me tonight, since I've got to relinquish you to Aiden for the next few days to work on your project."
God, I want to throw my arms around him and hug the crap out of him. He said that without a trace of bitterness or disappointment. In fact, he said it in such an easygoing way that I know he's all right with this.
A heavy arm drapes around my shoulders and I turn to see Marek has come up to stand casually beside me. "Let's take your girl out and go paint the town red tonight."
Reed cocks an eyebrow at his friend, and damn, that's sexy. Even sexier when he tells Marek, "I suggest you get your arm off my girl before I break it."
Marek, of course, just laughs and pulls me into his side. "She wouldn't be your girl if I put the slightest bit of effort into her. I could take her away from you in a heartbeat."
A tiny flash of heat mixed with amusement flickers in Reed's eyes. But he doesn't challenge Marek with any return ribbing. Instead, he says, "You couldn't handle Josie. She'd turn you inside out and twist you all around. I know this for a fact, and it takes a real man to accept and appreciate that."
Wow. Just wow. I do that to Reed?
Before Marek can respond, someone's calling my name.
I pull out of Marek's grasp and lean to look past Reed to the hub. It's one of the nurses. "X rays are complete on exam room four."
"Be right there," I tell him. I reach a hand out and touch Reed's forearm. "Let's just stay in tonight, okay? Pizza and beer."
"And bed," he adds with a wink.
"Pizza and beer in the bed," I clarify with a grin as I walk toward the exam room.
"Sounds perfect."
Yes, it does.
Chapter 21
Reed
I tighten the stem that sits on top of the O-ring with my wrench before screwing the faucet handle back on. Reaching under the sink, I turn on the water and then give the faucet a go. After the cold water runs for a few moments, I turn it off and watch it carefully.
Not a single damn drip comes out, and I want to give myself a high five. Josie will be beside herself I fixed it for her, and I expect she'll reward me appropriately. Snickering to myself as I imagine all the ways she might be thankful, I squat down to replace all of the bottles and girlie stuff I'd pulled out from under her sink so I could turn off the water.
Just as I'm standing, the doorbell rights. I shut the cabinet drawer and make my way out of the guest bathroom, through the living room, and to the front door.
When I open it, I'm surprised to see Aiden standing there. I can tell by the look on his face that he's not surprised to find me in Josie's home.
"Hey," he says casually, and holds up a CD in a plastic case. "I'm just dropping more medical charts off for Josie to review. I'd texted her last night that I'd be in the area and she said that was fine."
"She's not here," I say as I reach out for the CD. "Got called into the hospital."
Aiden hands it over with an easy smile. "Cool. Tell her there's no rush on that."
I hold the case up and wave it. "No rush. Got it."
A part of me wonders if this is a ploy of his, to see Josie at an unplanned time. A way to spend time with her that makes it seem like business but it's really not because he just happened to be in this area. But there's also a part of me that thinks this guy is genuine, and he's just working on a project with Josie. He's not given me one single thing to make me think he's being dishonest in his intentions.
Bottom line, I guess I'll never know, and honestly, it doesn't matter. She's with me and not him. She's not looking to be with him, and by all accounts, he seems like an all right dude. You know, outside of breaking Josie's heart once, but that worked out well for me, didn't it?
Aiden throws a hand up in a wave and turns to the porch steps. I start to close the door, but then he turns suddenly. He tilts his h
ead as if appraising me and asks, "Hey...do you golf?"
"Huh?"
"I'm going to get a round of golf in. Want to come with me? I'm a member over at Brier Creek."
While I'm clearly surprised by the offer to hang out, I'm also a little amped. I love to golf, even though I'm pretty bad at it, and I've got nothing else planned today since Josie got called into the hospital unexpectedly.
"Yeah...sure," I respond as I set the CD on the foyer table. "Sounds like fun."
I lock Josie's house and follow Aiden down to the porch steps. "Let me pop over to my house and grab my stuff."
"I'll drive," he says as he rounds the front of a small economy car. "Then I'll just bring you back."
After I get my clubs and shoes loaded, and we're on the road for the short drive over the country club, Aiden starts up casual chatter.
"Too bad Josie got called in," he says as he maneuvers through lunchtime traffic. "She loves golfing."
"Really?" I ask in surprise, my chin pulling in just a tad as I look over at him. "Josie whose big hobby is cozying up to a hard jigsaw puzzle?"
Aiden lets out a bark of a laugh. "Yes, that girl loves her puzzles, but she's got an athletic side. She's not bad actually."
"Haven't seen that side of her yet," I mutter in contemplation.
"Yup," Aiden confirms with a fond smile on his face. "It's one of the things we'd always do to blow off steam from the pressures of residency."
I shake my head slightly as I gaze at the road in front of me. It doesn't seem like a big thing, but it bothers me slightly that I didn't know Josie liked to golf. We've been hanging out for almost two months, been intimate for going on four weeks. And not once have I thought there might be more to Josie than being an amazing doctor and a woman who likes to quietly sit at home while she works on puzzles to unwind. I'd just taken what I'd been given and didn't look past it, conforming herself to fit into a narrow box I'd put her in.
Those thoughts do not sit well with me at all.
And here I am sitting next to a man who knew her intimately for three years. My thirty days versus his three years, and I realize I know nothing.
"So, what else do I need to know about Josie?" I ask as I roll my head to look over at him.
He glances at me before turning back to the road, but in his expression I don't detect any amusement, gloating, or opportunistic desire. Just a guy who isn't bothered by the question.
"Not sure I'm the right guy to be asking that," Aiden says with a slight laugh. "I'm the one who broke her heart, you know."
"And just why is that?" I ask him, my words sounding a bit aggressive as I think of Josie hurting, and it pisses me off.
"We had different dreams," he returns matter-of-factly, sounding like a man who is at peace with his decision. "I wanted excitement and to travel to exotic places. She wanted her slice of the American dream."
"American dream?"
"Josie wanted to start a family fairly quickly," Aiden says, and I reel a little. "Kids, the white picket fence thing. I wanted that too, but I wanted it down the road. I asked Josie to go with me, but she didn't want that, and I just knew the time was right for me to get those things out of the way so I could settle down later."
"And you're back to settle down now?" I ask him.
Aiden chuckles. "Yes, I am, but I'm not going to try to get her back if you're worried about that, Reed. That might have been my intention when I first got here, but I see she's happy, and despite what you may think of me for hurting her in the first place, I care for her. I want her to be happy, and she is."
I do believe that. Josie is happy with me right now, but is she the happiest she could be? Do I have what she needs or wants?
"But I'm sure you already know all about that," Aiden continues as we pull up to the clubhouse. "I mean, that whole wedding fiasco with Josie's sister...Well, the pressure is on her now."
"Wait. What wedding fiasco?" I ask, completely lost. I know Josie has a sister, but that's about all I know.
"Her sister, Jeanette," Aiden says as he puts the car in park and turns to face me. "You know...eloping at the last minute with another guy and leaving her fiance at the altar and her parents holding the bag on a very expensive wedding that didn't occur. Pressure's on Josie now to do it up right. It's the only way to save face for the esteemed Dr. Joel and Mrs. Ives of Beverly Hills."
My head spins. I knew none of this. I mean, I knew her dad was a doctor, but that's it. I knew she had a sister, and I think she lives in Vancouver now, if memory serves, but that's it.
Aiden snickers. "And you know how meticulous Josie is in plotting and planning things. That ten-year plan of hers. Funny, right? But she also knows she can't control everything like that."
Plotting? Planning? I sure as fuck didn't know Josie had some type of clock ticking on starting a family. She's just always been so spontaneous with me. The type of easy, laid back woman who sort of goes with the flow. I have to wonder if I missed something that was staring me in the face, or has Josie been hiding her true nature from me.
"Look," Aiden says as he gives me a pointed look. "You're a great guy. Josie's happy. As long as you give her the right type of support in her career, which as you know is extremely important to her, everything else will shake out fine."
"Support in her career?" I ask, feeling like a large frog is stuck at the back of my throat. I should know what that means, but after all the things Aiden is enlightening me on, I'm not sure that I do.
"Well, yeah. Emergency medicine is incredibly stressful as well as heartbreaking at times. You're out of control all the time, and despite your best efforts, you can't save everyone."
I nod dumbly. "Few days ago when we brought the Cup to the hospital...Josie had lost a patient."
"Then you know," Aiden says softly. "Josie's the type that needs you to sort of slap her on the ass and push her back out there. She hates exposing her vulnerabilities and needs someone to make her strong."
Jesus fuck. She'd lost a patient and I pulled her in for a gentle hug and wanted her to cry in my arms. She didn't want that at all. More important, it's not what she needed.
"I don't know any of this," I murmur to myself, but Aiden hears me.
"You're just learning it," he says casually as he opens his door. "Give it time. The mystery of Josie Ives will be revealed to you."
That might be true, I think as I get out of the passenger side.
But one thing is for certain right now.
I'm not sure I really know Josie at all. Moreover, how can I give her what she needs when I don't even know what motivates her?
--
I'm awoken by a warm heaviness on my lap and I crack my eyes open. I'd fallen asleep sitting on the couch and now Josie is straddling me. She leans in for a soft kiss before pulling back, her hands resting softly on my shoulders.
"Hey," I croak out, then cough to clear my voice. "What time is it?"
"Almost 1 A.M.," she says with a yawn. "Had a huge multicar accident come in and we were short staffed so I stayed."
My hands go to her hips and I hesitantly ask. "Save everyone?"
"Yup," she says with a bright smile, and I breathe out my relief, not just because everyone stayed safe on her watch, but mostly because I'm not sure what I would do to console her if someone had died. Aiden's words have gotten me all kinds of mixed up about what Josie needs and what I'm supposed to give her.
"Well, let's get you to bed," I say as I lunge up from the couch, Josie's legs coming around my waist. I put my hands under her ass to support her as I make my way to the stairs.
Josie tilts her head and brushes her lips against my jaw. "I'm not tired. Strangely energized, actually."
I laugh softly, my hands squeezing the round globes of her ass through her scrubs. "Didn't say we were going to sleep."
We make it to her room and I toss Josie onto the bed. There's a flurry of clothes flying and kissing in between. Josie laughs when I pounce on her, then she's not laughing when I move my
hand between her legs.
She's gasping and squirming when I push my finger into her, groaning at the wetness I find.
"Okay, get that condom on," Josie moans with eyes closed rapturously as I draw circles around her clit.
"Don't think you're really ready for me yet," I murmur thoughtfully as I watch her writhe underneath me.
Her eyes snap open. "I'm ready."
"No...you're not."
I prove this to her by sliding down her body, spreading her legs wide, and putting my mouth to her pussy. My tongue hits her swollen clit and she cries out as her hips buck up.
I chuckle. She's so not ready, but she will be.
I may not know what I'm doing half the time with Josie, but in this bed, I know exactly what she needs. It's the only thing that gives me solace at this point.
Chapter 22
Josie
"How much longer?" Reed calls out from my bedroom, where I'd left him lounging on my bed while he waits for me to finish getting ready. Tonight we're headed out to a fancy dinner, and Reed showed up about ten minutes ago looking beyond amazing.
I've never seen him dressed up before, as it's always been casual shorts and T-shirts for him during the hot summer months. But tonight he's got on a pair of gray dress pants, so dark they're almost black. He's wearing a pale blue dress shirt that he's made semicasual by foregoing the tie and unbuttoning it at the collar. He walked into my house with a matching suit jacket draped over his forearm.
We slept in this morning not only because I was tired from my impromptu shift, but also from the furious way he'd made love to me when I came home. When I woke up, we made love again, and then Reed started this weird chatter that had me wondering who the hell he was.
He wanted to know about any other hobbies I had, and more about my family. We'd spent weeks together with only casual chat about these things, learning about each other slowly and naturally. But now, all of a sudden, it's like he wanted to be an expert on Josie Ives.
Of course, I was flattered at first, but then I became suspicious. Finally, I just asked, "Why all the questions, Sherlock?"
He was completely unabashed. "I played golf with Aiden yesterday. It was quickly apparent I know nothing about you."
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