by Marie Harte
“About you and Lara having plans,” Foley explained.
He’d known this was coming. “And?” Play it cool, man. No more whistling. And stop smiling all the time.
“And we want to know how long this has been going on,” Lou said. “This is big news. I mean, she barely used to talk to you. Now you’re dating?”
“She’s seen the light. What can I say?”
“What the hell are you guys doing?” Del growled from her office doorway and marched toward them. “This isn’t a coffee klatch. It’s called work.” Well, that answered that question. Apparently she had heard Foley the other day making fun of her for joining a book club. It wasn’t that Del couldn’t enjoy a good book, but that she’d joined a romance book club when she didn’t seem to have a romantic bone in her tough-as-nails body.
Today she’d styled her ash-blond hair in some funky twisted braid. Her jeans had seen better days, but her steel-toed boots gleamed with black polish, and her Scooby-Doo T-shirt looked new. No doubt a gift from McCauley—the little one. She wore a new loop in her brow, and the overhead light caught the gleam of the ruby stud in her nose. Feminine but with an edge, their Del. “Scatter and chitchat on your own time.”
“Technically, I’m on a break,” Sam tried.
She glared at him, and he quickly took his big ass back to the Chevy he’d been working on earlier. Foley took one look at Del and joined him.
“You got something to say, Casanova?” She watched Lou like a hungry tiger.
Lou sighed and slunk back to the Camaro he’d nearly finished. With the paintwork all done, he had nothing to do but make a last check on the car. “Later,” he warned Johnny.
“Whatever.” Johnny turned back to the Gremlin, realized Del hadn’t left, and faced her once more. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“That’s better.” She smiled, and he knew what McCauley saw in her. Despite her mean, sexy vibe—and God knew his boss had a rack that didn’t quit—under the hard outer shell, Del had a heart as big as the moon. Hell, she tolerated him and the guys, and he still had no idea why she’d kept them after her dad had taken them on.
She continued to stare at him, one hand on her hip. “So. You and Lara.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jesus. I only mentioned it in passing last night when I told Foley I was too busy for a beer.”
“I heard it from Rena on Sunday. So? What’s the scoop?”
“There is no scoop. We’re dating. I like her, she likes me. It’s a mutual, ah…”
“Fuckfest?”
“Del.”
Behind them, the ROP rattled.
“I know that’s you, Foley.” It shook again. “Fuck, I’ll pay a dollar later. O-kay?” she barked, and it stopped. Her voice softened. “Come on, Johnny. Tell me the truth. Are you using Lara or what? I love you like a brother, but she’s a friend of mine. Just like she’s a friend of Rena and J.T. If you fuck her over, J.T. will skin you alive. After I’m done roasting you over.”
“More like handing him his balls one by one. That, or roasting his balls, but skinning would probably work as well,” Sam offered.
She looked over her shoulder at him.
“What? Am I lying? Fine, fine. I’ll shut up.”
Del turned back. “Well?”
Johnny blew out a breath, uncomfortable talking about Lara with anyone. “You know, my dating Lara is no one’s business but my own.” She just stared at him in silence. “I mean, I could claim harassment, you trying to get into my social life and all, making me talk about personal stuff.”
Some grunting, muffled laughter, and a “What social life?” joined his disquiet.
Del raised her pierced brow.
“Fine.” Johnny gave in. “There’s nothing to worry about, okay? I like her, and I’d like to date her for a while. It’s no big deal. I date women all the time.”
“Not like Lara.” Del studied him, and he felt small under her gaze. “She’s a hard worker and a genuine friend of mine. She’s the real deal, Johnny. A nice girl with heart.”
“I know.” In the few days they’d been officially “dating,” he’d witnessed her helping her nieces and family by running errands or babysitting. All her neighbors they’d run into had a nice word for her, and he damn well knew everyone at Ray’s loved her. She’d made him one hell of a tuna casserole Sunday for dinner, and she’d repeated their version of “happy time in the closet” just last night. The woman could do no wrong in his book. “She’s busting her ass to get through school while working full-time. I get it. She’s cool. I’m not out to screw her over. If anything, you should be warning her not to dump me. I’ll be the wounded party at the end. Believe me.”
“How’s that?”
“Because the jackass is in love with her,” Lou added, not so helpfully.
Del’s eyes widened. “Yeah?”
“I am not.” His heart hammered in his chest. “Look, I have Gizmo to finish and three friggin’ diagnostics to get to.” His turn to take the jobs nobody wanted this week. Diagnostics could be a real bitch and take forever. “Can I get back to work?”
Del nodded. “Sure.” Then she closed the distance between them and murmured, “Things get messy, you can always talk to me. In private, okay?” She patted him on the shoulder and walked back to her office. “Quit burning daylight, you guys. Get to work! Dale’s back next week, and Lou, you’re fu—screwing up the ordering.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He said nothing more until she closed her office door. “Not my fucking job. Who the hell likes computers anyway? Give me paint, or give me death.”
“I’d like to give you and your sorry ass death,” Sam muttered. “Bitching day in and day out. Damn, Son. Cry me a river. Better yet, go drown yourself in one.”
“Hey, not my fault Shaya liked my sparkling personality. Maybe if you opened your mouth to do more than grunt, the chicas would love on you better. A big dick can only get you so far, my friend.”
Sam must have done something that caused Lou to mouth off in Spanish. Then Foley intervened, at which point Liam arrived.
“What the fuck is this?” the nicer of the two Websters yelled. “It’s a garage, not a cage match, you assholes.”
Before Johnny got sucked into the drama, he buried his head under Gizmo’s hood, trying to think if he’d somehow given Del the impression he loved Lara. The l-word scared the hell out of him, and he did his level best never to feel so deeply if he could help it. He loved his father, the guys, and Del like family. But an abiding affection for a woman? That he could do without.
Because he wanted it so damn badly.
He had a bad feeling Lara was the one. The l-word. L for Lara. L for love. He tried to laugh off his worries but couldn’t. A few days of committed dating, and he was seeing hearts and flowers and forever. It would have been embarrassing if anyone had known about it. Del had guessed, but then, she was good at reading people.
He had to make sure Lara had no idea. It would be beyond terrible for her to pity-date him. Or worse, feel sorry for him when she broke things off, the way some of his dad’s past girlfriends had pitied Jack. Johnny could handle rejection—he hoped—as long as she thought it a mutual thing. So he needed to play it cool. To stop jumping on her texts or inviting himself into her life every time she had a second to spare.
He sighed, already tired of this repeat conversation with himself. He wondered what Lara thought when she remembered them together. How serious did she think they were? Did he rate a thought or mention when not in her presence? And, Jesus, I’m a basket case. They’d only been going out for a few days, even if it felt like forever.
Calling himself all kinds of stupid while he finished with Gizmo, he resolved to give Lara some space. I won’t see her again ’til Friday, he told himself. Now he just had to have a little discipline and stop obsessing about her all the damn time.
He dragged his thumb across a stubborn bolt and drew blood.
And it didn’t hurt nearly as much as the thought of not
seeing her for another seventy-two hours and thirteen minutes. And counting.
* * *
Wednesday evening, Lara sighed and accepted her fate. She’d known she wouldn’t be able to reach the weekend without being badgered. With Rena taking some time off from work, Lara had hoped to avoid this discussion. But Rena had finally tracked her down, demanded Lara order them a pizza, and cornered her in her own house.
“I cannot believe you didn’t tell me any of this! I had to find out for myself, seeing Johnny exit the storage closet—the storage closet—ahead of disheveled Nurse Lara. You’re such a ho. And then to avoid me for days!”
“You weren’t at work.”
“You have my number! You know where I live! Oh… On the outside you’re pretty and nice, but on the inside, you’re cruel and easy.” Rena jumped next to her on the couch and bounced, munching on Skittles by the handful. “Tell me, tell me, tell me!”
“Oh my God. You’re worse than my nieces. Give me that.” She tore the candy bag away, wondering if Johnny was at this moment munching on Twizzlers and chasing them down with beer. “So you know Johnny and I are…dating.”
“Is that a euphemism for doing the dirty all over the city?”
“It was just a spontaneous thing at Ray’s,” Lara snapped. “Get over it.”
“So you’re saying you’ve only done it once?”
And she’d silently accused Johnny of being a kiss-and-tell kind of guy. It turned out she was the one with the blabbermouth. “Look, you can’t repeat this to anyone. You have to promise. It’s important.”
Rena seemed to calm down. “I swear. But come on. I’m your best friend. You have to tell me.”
“Okay, okay.” Lara took a deep breath and let it out. Let all of it out—her meet up with Johnny, her buried feelings, even dancing around the intimacies they’d shared, though she knew Rena would read between the lines. “So my real question is, since he and I are dating and monogamous, apparently, does this mean he’s my boyfriend? Just some guy I’m fooling around with or what?”
“To be clear, is he planning to see other women while he’s dating you?”
Lara frowned. “He was pretty adamant that it’s just him and me bumping uglies.”
“Ain’t that a picture,” Rena murmured, then cleared her throat. “So then, you’re… If it were anyone else but Johnny, I’d say you’re reaching toward a boyfriend. But Johnny’s always nice but not too nice. So, probably, just dating? A little more than casual, but a little less than committed.”
“That’s what I thought.” She sighed. “It’s so stupid, and I know this will end badly for me, but I really like him.”
“You always have.” Rena nodded. “You guys spark each other up. I’ve seen it anytime he’s in the bar near you. Even if he’s sitting across the way, he looks for you. The guy is into you, but with Johnny, I’m not sure how far that goes. Either way, I think it’s totally romantic he made you a half-frozen dinner after work last week.”
“I know. It was so sweet. That’s the problem. The Johnny I thought I knew was a player with little more on his mind than the girls at his dad’s strip club. But he’s been so nice to my nieces. Like, sincere-nice, not trying to get into my pants.”
“Where he’s already been several times around town.”
“Rena.”
“Sorry. Continue.”
“He was so scary-tough when he beat Ron up. I didn’t think he had it in him, and well, that hint of meanness is kind of a turn-on.”
“Of course it is. What woman wants a guy who’s a total pushover? You live in our neighborhood, you respect strength. And guess what? Women living it up on Mercer Island want it too. You really do need to come to our next book club. Abby’s got this killer new romance with—”
“Rena, I can barely keep up with my class reading. Between it, work, and my family, I’m even having to squeeze Johnny in. Friday night I have off, and he and I are going out.”
“Doing what?”
“I don’t know. He told me he’s setting it all up.”
“See? That’s romantic. Honestly, a guy who’s already had you is going to the trouble of trying to impress you. That’s a good sign.”
Lara scowled. “Why do you keep acting like I gave away the cow for free? We only slept together a few times.”
“You must have been good, because he’s coming back for more.” Rena wiggled her brows. “And we know he’s a stud, because you still care about him.”
“Shallow, but true. Man, he’s amazing—and not just between the sheets.” Lara sighed. “I just… It’s too soon to think about tomorrows, but I really like him. Except I know they all look good at the beginning. It’s seeing if they can stick around for the long haul that’s the issue. Problem is, I want Johnny to stay. With my exes, I was past ready for them to go.”
“So don’t waste time. Bring your worlds together and see how Johnny handles it.”
“My worlds?”
“Have him meet the folks. Have lunch with him at the hospital one day. Let him see the other parts of your life before you get in too deep with him. If he passes the test-drive portion of the relationship, then you think about leasing or buying, always with an option to trade him in at a later date.”
“You do realize we’re talking about a man and not a car, right?”
“Sorry. I just thought it tied in nicely with him being a mechanic and all.” Rena smiled, her golden eyes glowing with mischief. “And you did like riding him, if I recall.”
“Okay, no more bad puns for you.”
“How big was his stick shift? Or was he all manual and smooth and—” Rena shrieked when Lara hit her in the face with a pillow. Then the girl hit back, and they laughed and mock fought until the pizza arrived.
* * *
The next day at the hospital during her lunch break, Lara wondered where her luck had gone. After an amazing day yesterday getting her work done, prepping for her next practical exam, and hanging with Rena—which always made life better—she’d nearly slept through her alarm this morning. Johnny hadn’t texted. And she’d gotten Nurse Guyen, the ballbuster, as preceptor for the day.
She’d been either ignored, chastised, or forced to watch Nurse Guyen do everything at breakneck speed. Basically, Lara watched how not to treat one’s patients, staff, or students. So in a way she was learning, she guessed.
“Is this spot taken?”
She glanced up from her lukewarm coffee to see a handsome man wearing a button-down shirt and tie. He looked to be about her age, if a little older, and he seemed somehow familiar.
“Um, sure.” A glance around showed several other unoccupied tables. How did she know this man?
“We’ve never met, in case you’re wondering.” He smiled, showing even white teeth as he sat across from her. His sandy brown hair was shorter than Johnny’s, and styled by a pro. The clothes he wore and his comfort in them hinted at a man of confidence and power.
“Oh, okay.”
“That’s if you don’t count last week at the elevator.”
She suddenly remembered nearly running him down. “I’m so sorry. I was running late and didn’t even see you. Hope I didn’t ruin your day.”
“No, no.” He opened the salad he’d bought, along with an iced tea, and grabbed his fork. “Trust me, getting run into by a beautiful nurse was a perk all in itself.”
She blushed. “Well, you can’t mean me. I’m not a nurse yet.”
“A beautiful student then.” His smile looked sincere, as did the appreciation in his bright blue eyes.
Attractive and forthright, two qualities she liked in a man. “Are you a doctor?” Best to nip his flirtation in the bud before it could begin. The students had been warned not to fool around with hospital staff, not that Lara ever planned on doing that. The professional doctors and nurses, unlike their fictional counterparts on television, didn’t screw around at work. Too busy saving lives and caring for patients, they barely had time to finish a shift and eat before le
aving so they could start fresh the next day.
“I’m no doctor. I don’t even work at the hospital. Well, I guess technically I do.” He took a drink of tea before holding out his hand. “Peter Fordham. I’m with Drey Consulting. We’re instructing the staff on the new computer software you—they’ll—soon start transitioning to.”
“Hi.” She shook his hand, surprised to feel it larger and firmer than she might have thought. Peter was more than a computer geek. He had a rangy frame and looked in decent shape. Not as muscular as Johnny, but handsome and wholesome all the same.
“And you are?” he prodded, still gripping her hand.
“Oh, sorry. It’s been a long day.” She eased her hand from his. “I’m Lara Valley, nurse in training. I’m here every Wednesday for morning shifts, I think. And some Thursdays, though that’s been rotating with a nearby clinic.” Where she learned more about working with behavioral-health clients.
“A long day, and it’s only noon. Bummer for you.”
“No kidding.” She guzzled more caffeine.
“You think you have it bad, try dealing with Dr. Doyle. Excuse my French, but he’s a real dick.”
She smiled. She’d heard about Doyle, and most of the nurses said the same. “You don’t say.”
They chatted. Mostly he talked, and she listened, about funny things he’d seen in his week working at the hospital. By the time her break came to a close, she didn’t want to leave.
“Well, shoot, Peter. I have to go.”
“It’s Pete, and I’m with you. Back to work.” They disposed of their trash—and he recycled. Another plus. They left the cafeteria together. “So I’ll see you next week, same time?”
“I’ll look forward to it,” she said, sincere. “You made me laugh so hard I nearly choked on that bad coffee.”
He grinned. “You think today was funny, wait until I see you again. I’ll tell you about my brother, a chief surgeon who thinks he’s God’s gift to women and life in general.” He made a face. “Trust me, you’ll need to hear what I have to say if you end up working here. Brad will take one look at you and go in for the kill.”