Cedar Bluff's Most Eligible Bachelor (Cedar Bluff Hospital)

by Laura Iding

  She nodded, obviously half-asleep as she snuggled deeper beneath the covers, and he had to fight the urge to join her. He stood staring at her for a long time, knowing he was crazy to have stayed to make love to her but unable to deny a surge of satisfaction.

  No matter what, he couldn’t regret making love to Hailey. She’d been so good for him. No, actually, they’d been good for each other. For the first time in what seemed like for ever, the future didn’t seem quite so bleak. Or lonely.

  Only the knowledge that he’d see her in a few hours made it possible for him to turn away and pull on his wrinkled clothes, moving quietly as he let himself out of her apartment.

  He made it to work early, heading to his office so he could review the quality report Hailey had left for him. When he used the key in the lock, though, his door opened easily.

  With a frown, he realized Hailey couldn’t have locked it behind her. Probably because he’d promised to return to check on things.

  When he flipped on the light, his desk was neat and tidy. But there was no report. Hadn’t Hailey told him she’d leave it on top of his desk?

  He opened the top drawer and the side drawers, wondering if she’d meant to leave it out but had, in fact, tucked it away instead. But he didn’t find anything.

  Not even in the garbage.

  Perplexed, he sat at his desk, staring at the computer screen. He didn’t know what had happened to the report, but all he could do was to wait for Hailey to come in. No doubt she’d know where to find it.

  He quickly reviewed his email, responding to the various issues before heading back into the trauma bay for the start of his shift.

  “Hey, Simon. How are you?” Quinn Torres greeted him when he walked in.

  “I’m good, thanks. How was your night?”

  Quinn shrugged. “Not bad. Leila and I didn’t have too many trauma admissions.”

  Simon had been a bit surprised to discover that Quinn often matched up his shifts in the ED with the nights his wife, Leila, who was one of the trauma surgeons, happened to be on call. Apparently they weren’t worried about working together. In fact, they seemed to enjoy it.

  A kernel of doubt gnawed at him, but he shoved it aside. Hailey was the complete opposite of Erica. She was fiercely independent and adorably stubborn. They’d both been on the exact same page last night. He flat out refused to regret taking their relationship to the next level. “How’s Danny?” he asked, focusing on Quinn.

  “He’s good,” Quinn responded with a broad grin. Once his son Danny had had emotional issues that had prevented him from talking, but not any more. “He’s thrilled because we let him spend the night with Ben Taylor.”

  The two boys had been inseparable, even in those early days when Danny hadn’t been talking. He remembered how Hailey had suspected Seth of hurting Ben. If only she knew how much they were all like one big family.

  One in which he’d often played the outsider, looking in. “I bet they had a blast,” Simon agreed. He glanced up at the census board and the dozen or so names that were still listed there. “Give me the rundown on the patients so you can get out of here.”

  When Quinn had finished going through the patients that were still in the ED, Leila arrived, walking toward them and wrapping her arms around her husband’s waist in a tight hug. “Ready, darling?” she asked.

  “Absolutely,” he responded huskily, and the way the two gazed into each other’s eyes made it clear they were heading home to bed but not to sleep.

  Simon flashed a wry grin, for once not experiencing the pang of envy he usually felt when watching the married couples around him. Maybe because he’d spent a rather satisfying night with Hailey?

  And he hoped they’d have many more. The mere thought made him grin.

  “Get out of here,” Simon said, shooing them away. “I have work to do.”

  The four hours dragged by with excruciating slowness as he examined and treated patients. He was standing in the arena when Hailey walked in.

  “Good morning,” she greeted him in a reserved tone, abiding by her promise to keep things professional while they were at work. “Do you have a list of patients you need reviewed today?”

  “Actually, I need the reviews you did yesterday,” he told her.

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “What are you talking about?” she demanded with a frown. “I left the details of my review right on top of your desk.”

  Several employees, two nurses and the unit clerk were watching their interaction with open curiosity. His face tightened and he gave a jerky nod toward his office. “Let’s discuss this in private,” he said in a clipped tone.

  She followed him into the office, and then stopped abruptly when she saw the empty desktop. “I don’t understand. I swear, Simon, I left the report right there on the top of your desk.”

  He let out a sigh. “Well it’s obviously not here, Hailey. Go and check your locker. Maybe you intended to leave it here but took it with you by mistake.”

  “I didn’t take it with me.” Her blue eyes flashed fire and he couldn’t help thinking about how beautiful she looked, even when she was angry. “Carrying things with my crutches isn’t exactly easy. I didn’t take the report out of the office. I know I left it here, Simon. Someone must have taken it. I left your door open because I wasn’t sure whether you had your keys and I didn’t want to lock you out.”

  He remembered how his office door hadn’t been locked. In his haste to find Hailey last night, he’d simply closed the door behind him without checking. “You’re right, my door wasn’t locked. But I’ve searched everywhere, in the desk drawers, even in the garbage, and it’s not here.”

  “Someone must have taken it.”

  He snorted. “Oh, sure, that makes sense. Why on earth would someone take it, Hailey? What’s the point? The report isn’t irreplaceable. You can re-create it easily enough.”

  She slowly shook her head. “I don’t know, Simon. But I still think it’s odd. I can’t help but wonder if someone took it to make me look incompetent.”

  Hailey stewed over the missing report long after she’d re-created it and moved on to the next few cases.

  She wasn’t losing her mind. She’d left the report in plain view. Someone had to have taken it on purpose. To make her look bad?

  She couldn’t help remembering the way the ED tech, Bonnie, had tripped and spilled water all over her the day before. Had that been on purpose too? But if so, why? Bonnie was relatively new to Cedar Bluff, just like she was. Why would the tech dislike her so much? She couldn’t remember having had any sort of run-in with the woman.

  Hailey hadn’t been in Cedar Bluff long enough to make enemies. She’d barely had time to make friends in the two months since she’d started.

  She pushed the paranoid thoughts aside. Maybe the answer was something simple. Like the papers had fallen on the floor and the cleaning staff had tossed them out because they’d thought they were garbage.

  That must be it. There wasn’t some sort of conspiracy against her.

  She focused her attention on completing the list Simon had given her. Even when her four hours were up, she kept working. At a quarter to four Simon opened the office door. “Hailey? Are you ready to go?”

  “No. I need to finish this report first.”

  He leaned against the doorjamb, frowning at her. “I thought Theresa didn’t want you to work more than four hours?”

  “I’m not counting the first thirty minutes it took me to re-create the missing review. As far as I’m concerned, the clock started at noon.” She barely glanced at him, intent on getting the last chart finished. “Go ahead and leave if you want. I’ll take the bus home.”

  She heard him sigh. “Finish your report, then. I’ll give you fifteen minutes.” Her shoulders dropped in relief when he stepped back and closed the door.

  For a moment she allowed herself the luxury of dropping her head into her hands and massaging her temples. Treating Simon like a stranger at work was more difficu
lt than she’d imagined.

  Last night, making love with Simon had been incredible. Better than anything she could possibly dream up. But now, in the cold light of day, nagging doubts threatened to choke her.

  Maybe they were moving too fast. Maybe they needed to take a step back and really think about what they were doing.

  Already, it seemed as if keeping their personal lives separate from their professional lives would be next to impossible. From the moment she’d come into the unit, she’d been able to feel Simon’s terseness as he’d asked about the report. She’d been taken completely off guard at his annoyance after the wonderful night they’d shared.

  With a deep, cleansing breath, she lifted her head and went back to reading the electronic chart. She made several notations and then sat back, rubbing the back of her neck.

  She was finished, with five minutes to spare.

  It was tempting to leave now, before Simon returned. But when she glanced down at the stack of papers containing all her notes, she scowled.

  No way. This time she wasn’t leaving until Simon had the reviews safely in his hands.

  While she waited she gazed curiously around his office. He had his medical school diploma and his undergraduate diploma mounted proudly on the wall. But other than those two items, there was nothing personal that she could see.

  Not even one photo of his family.

  She frowned. Did Simon have family? Surely he had parents somewhere. But the question bothered her. She’d slept with the man but she didn’t really know much about him.

  Other than the fact that he had a former girlfriend who’d started a huge fight in the emergency department, which had cost him his job.

  Why was the lack of knowledge about Simon’s family bothering her now? She’d thought she’d known Andrew very well, had met his family numerous times, but in the end the way he’d started to drink heavily had been a surprise.

  The office door opened, startling her. “All finished?” Simon asked.

  “Yes.” She leaned on the desk to stand, balancing her weight on her good leg. She held out the stack of paperwork she’d compiled. “You might want to put this someplace safe.”

  He came into the room, taking the paperwork from her and leafing through it quickly. “Very comprehensive, Hailey,” he commented. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” She reached for her crutches.

  Simon edged behind her—the office really wasn’t very big—and opened his desk drawer, putting the paper work she’d handed him into one of his files.

  “Aren’t you going to lock it?” she asked, when he slammed the drawer shut.

  “No. I’ll make sure the office door is locked.”

  Hailey frowned. “Humor me. Lock the desk, too. The cleaning people have a key to your office, right?”

  “Yeah, probably.”

  “If the cleaning staff has a set of keys, then pretty much anyone could get one if they really wanted to. Maybe someone on staff doesn’t like the idea of me reviewing the care of our patients. Maybe they’re afraid we might find something they’d missed.”

  He paused, but then slowly nodded. “I’d thought of that possibility too,” he admitted. “Okay, I’ll lock the desk.”

  She stood by the doorway as he searched for and found the keys to the desk. Once he’d locked everything up, he put the key on his keyring.

  Awkwardly, she leaned on one crutch to open the door. Simon came up behind her, and placed his hand in the small of her back. “I’ll get it,” he said, his voice close to her ear.

  His touch, even as light as it was, sent fissures of awareness tingling down her spine.

  She blushed, wondering if he had any idea what he was doing to her. “Simon, maybe you should wait here and let me go first, so it doesn’t look so obviously like we’re leaving together.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Simon responded, but he dropped his hand from her back as he opened the door wider. “Everyone knows I hit you on your bike. It’s no secret that I feel responsible. Giving you a ride home isn’t a big deal.”

  She swallowed her argument, her expression annoyed as she swung out of the office on her crutches. Why the man was so stubborn was beyond her.

  Maybe it was just her imagination, but it seemed like everyone in the arena stopped what they were doing and blatantly stared at her as she came out of Simon’s office and walked across the unit.

  This was exactly what she’d been afraid of. She imagined the rumors about Simon and herself were flying fast and furious.

  “Hailey, watch out!”

  Too late. She belatedly realized water was on the floor when the crutch in her right hand slid out from beneath her.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  SIMON leaped forward as Hailey leaned heavily on one crutch, precariously teetering as she struggled to keep her balance.

  The crutch clattered to the floor.

  “I’ve got you,” he said, catching her and hauling her close in time to prevent her from falling.

  “Thanks,” she murmured, her voice muffled by his shirt.

  For a moment he almost forgot they were standing in the middle of the arena, so overcome was he by the urge to kiss her. But he managed to loosen his grip and take a safe step backward. “Okay now?”

  “Of course.” Hailey pointedly averted her gaze as she stood leaning on one crutch. Simon bent down to pick up the other one, which had crashed to the floor. She took it wordlessly.

  “Call Housekeeping and get someone over here to mop up the spill,” Simon directed the unit clerk, the one with the weird green eyes. “And throw me a towel, please.”

  “I already called them,” Mary assured him, her expression one of concern. He grabbed the towel from Bonnie and placed it over the spill.

  “Good thing you’re so quick,” Bonnie said, “otherwise poor Hailey might have fallen and hurt herself even worse.”

  “Yeah.” He carefully stepped around the wet spot on the floor, wondering why it seemed Hailey was suddenly so accident prone. Especially when the accidents were not the result of anything she’d done.

  If you didn’t count riding her bike in a thunderstorm.

  Simon hurried after Hailey as she’d continued crossing the arena, heading for the hallway leading to the staff locker rooms. He caught up with her right before she disappeared inside. “Hailey? Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” Her low voice was difficult to read. “I’ll meet you outside in the parking lot in a few minutes.”

  He stepped back, frowning as she disappeared into the woman’s locker room. Had she hurt herself but was afraid to say anything? He was tempted to follow her inside, but forced himself to head out to his car.

  True to her word, Hailey came out less than five minutes later. She had her purse slung over her shoulder, and this time she put her crutches in the back herself, before sliding into the passenger seat.

  He didn’t immediately drive away. “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked. “Did you wrench your arm or your shoulder?”

  “No, luckily my arm strength has improved over the past week.” Hailey relaxed against the seat with a sigh. “But I swear I’m cursed.”

  “I doubt you’re cursed, Hailey,” he muttered. “But it does seem as if you’ve had a run of bad luck. I’m glad you didn’t hurt yourself.”

  “Me, too. Where are we going?” she asked, when he turned left instead of right toward her apartment.

  “I thought maybe we’d go out for dinner,” he said, keeping his tone casual with an effort. He felt guilty for not taking her out on a proper date before spending the night in her apartment. He glanced over at her, trying to gauge her reaction. “Is that all right with you?”

  “Ah, sure.” Hailey flashed him a tentative smile. “Dinner sounds good.”

  He relaxed a bit. At least she hadn’t told him to take a hike. “There’s a nice restaurant, Stephen’s, that overlooks the harbor.”

  “Would you mind if we took a walk first?” Hailey aske
d, when he pulled into the parking lot of Stephen’s. “I really need to stretch my muscles. I’m not used to sitting so much. I miss my bike,” she said in a forlorn tone.

  He almost laughed, but then realized she was serious. “So you really enjoy riding your bike everywhere?” he asked curiously. He couldn’t imagine functioning without a car.

  “Yeah, I do.” Hailey turned onto the sidewalk that ran along the lakeshore. “I don’t particularly like exercising in general, especially running, but biking helps to keep me in shape.”

  He thought of the bike he’d purchased last summer. He’d only ridden it once, and that had been for a charity ride that a group of the ED doctors had participated in. His butt had hurt for almost a week after a measly twenty-five-mile ride. “I have a bike,” he told her. “Maybe once you’re off your crutches we can ride together.”

  She threw him a surprised glance and nodded. “Sure.”

  The wind kicked up, bringing a cool breeze off the lake. When Hailey shivered, he suggested they turn around and head inside.

  Since they were still rather early, they had their choice of seating. Simon asked for a table overlooking the harbor.

  “It’s so beautiful,” Hailey murmured, staring through the window at the purple and pink sky. He took the crutches from her, propping them against the wall, and then held the chair for her. “Thanks.”

  “Would you like something to drink?” Simon asked, opening the menu to review the appetizers.

  “Just water for me,” Hailey said as she read through the menu.

  “Not a glass of wine? Or a cocktail?” he asked. Didn’t she realize he was trying to make up for his lapse of not asking her out sooner? “I’m driving,” he teased.

  She frowned and shook her head. “Actually, Simon, I don’t drink. At all. And if you don’t mind, I’d rather you didn’t drink tonight either as you are driving.”

  Surprised, he stared at her. Was she joking? Surely one drink couldn’t hurt either of them. But then he understood. “Because of the accident?”

  She stared at her menu for so long he thought she wasn’t going to answer him. Finally she dragged her gaze up to his. “Yes. Andrew had had several martinis that night and I could tell he wasn’t in any condition to drive, so I told him I would. Unfortunately, he didn’t think he was impaired and kept insisting he wanted to drive. We argued, not just in the parking lot but even after he finally gave me the keys and we started driving home.” There was a brief pause. “I couldn’t let it go.”