LA: Loyalty Or Annilation

Chapter 19

Kristal's POV

I see them leaving.

I don't mean to watch, but movement near the elevators catches my attention while I'm standing behind the nurses' station entering notes.

Jade and Shawn are walking together, his hand holding hers.

My eyes immediately drop to Jade's stomach.

Wow.

Her bump is really showing now. I haven't seen her since the day she came into the clinic, and three months makes a hell of a difference.

For a moment, something curls low in my stomach. I don't think it's jealousy. It's more like the strange realization that their lives have continued outside the little bubble of chaos where ours collided.

They're having a baby.

They should've been here for her—

I stop myself.

Nope. Not my business.

Whatever appointment they had, whatever they learned and whatever happens next belongs to them.

I return my attention to the computer, but something about Shawn's expression bothers me. Not enough to make me chase after him. Absolutely the f**k not. But enough to confuse me.

He should be happy.

Maybe he is. Maybe I'm reading too much into a face I spent five years learning.

Kristal, girl, mind your business.

I click into another chart and force myself to focus.

Then I feel that strange awareness I've developed over the last three months.

I look up.

Dr. Kenny Davidson is walking toward me.

Oh, for f**k's sake.

White coat. Broad shoulders. Dark eyes. Perfect beard. And that sexy little smirk on his face like he knows exactly what happened to my pulse when I saw him.

The knot in my stomach disappears immediately, replaced by a familiar warmth that has become increasingly difficult to ignore.

I look back at my computer.

I'm working. Very seriously.

So seriously that I have absolutely no idea what I'm currently reading.

"Good afternoon, Nurse Jones."

Don't look.

"Dr. Davidson."

"Busy?"

"Extremely."

He stops beside the desk.

"Interesting."

I keep my eyes on the monitor. "What's interesting?"

"You've been staring at the same screen for about twenty seconds."

"I'm reading."

"That's the appointment schedule."

Shit.

"I like to stay informed."

"Of appointments that already happened?"

I finally look at him.

Big mistake.

That smirk deepens.

Lord, give me strength.

"Don't you have patients?"

"Don't you have work?"

"I was doing it until someone came over here bothering me."

"Who?"

I stare at him.

He looks around. "Point him out. I'll handle it."

My lips twitch, but I'm not giving him the satisfaction of laughing.

"You're annoying."

"And yet your heart rate just increased."

My mouth falls open. "You cannot diagnose my heart rate by looking at me."

"I can make an educated guess."

"Go away."

"Are you blushing?"

"Kenny."

His smile turns absolutely sinful.

"There she is."

I snatch up a chart. "Don't you have doctor things to do?"

"Eventually."

"Go do them."

"Yes, ma'am."

He turns, then glances back.

"Greek god."

My eyes narrow.

"I hate Maya."

His laughter follows him down the hallway.

I watch him walk away.

For professional reasons, obviously. Medical observation. I'm assessing his gait, posture, musculoskeletal health—

His ass.

My eyes widen.

Jesus Christ, Kristal.

I whip around toward the computer.

I'm going to hell, and apparently Dr. Davidson is going to look fantastic escorting me there.

---

Later That Evening

Third-Person POV

By the end of the shift, most of the clinic had emptied.

Maya left first, but not before giving Kristal a suspiciously knowing smile. Marcus followed shortly afterward, and Paige disappeared with a cheerful, "Good night, lovebirds!"

Kristal had nearly thrown a pen at her.

Eventually, the constant noise of the clinic faded into the quieter rhythm of evening. Kenny finished his last notes while Kristal completed hers, and somehow, despite both of them technically working, they spent most of the final hour being completely ridiculous.

It started when Kenny stole one of Kristal's crackers and then denied it while actively chewing.

That became a fifteen-minute debate over whether physicians were exempt from basic criminal law.

They were not.

Kenny claimed diplomatic immunity.

Kristal informed him that being handsome was not a sovereign nation.

He looked entirely too pleased that she'd called him handsome.

She immediately regretted everything.

Now they were walking through the employee parking lot together. Kenny had insisted on accompanying her to her car, and Kristal hadn't argued very hard.

The night air was comfortable, and the parking lot was nearly empty beneath the overhead lights.

"So," Kenny said, "you genuinely believe you would've won?"

Kristal stared at him. "I know I would've won."

"You fell."

"I slipped."

"You fell."

"The floor betrayed me."

"The floor was stationary."

"Allegedly."

Kenny laughed.

They'd somehow gotten onto the subject of Kristal's dance class and her attempt at a turn that ended with her grabbing another student for survival.

"Listen," Kristal said, pointing at him. "That floor was slippery."

"You were wearing sneakers."

"Exactly. Suspicious."

"How?"

"Too much traction."

Kenny stopped walking.

Kristal did too.

He stared at her for several seconds before his mouth twitched.

"Kristal, you just blamed falling on the floor being both slippery and having too much traction."

She opened her mouth, reconsidered, then lifted her chin. "Those things can coexist."

"No, they can't."

"They can in Los Angeles."

"What does geography have to do with physics?"

"Everything."

Kenny lost it.

His laughter made Kristal start laughing too.

"You are so full of s**t," he managed.

"I am not!"

"You absolutely are."

"I'm an educated medical professional!"

"Who apparently believes California has different gravity."

That did it.

Kristal doubled over laughing.

"Kenny—stop!"

"I'm just saying, somebody should alert NASA."

"Oh my God!"

"Forget Mars. We need to investigate your dance studio."

"Kenny!"

She laughed harder.

Then—

Snort.

Silence.

Kristal froze.

Kenny froze.

Her eyes widened as heat rushed into her face.

"Oh my God."

Kenny pressed his lips together, but his shoulders had already started shaking.

"Don't."

His expression cracked.

"Kenny."

A strangled noise escaped him.

"Don't you f*****g dare."

That was it.

Kenny burst out laughing.

Kristal gasped. "You asshole!"

"I'm sorry!"

"No, you're not!"

"I'm trying!"

"You are laughing!"

"I can't help it!"

Kristal covered her face. "I just snorted like a f*****g pig."

"An adorable pig."

Her hands dropped.

"Did you just call me a pig?"

"No. I called the pig adorable."

"Kenny!"

She turned and hurried toward her car.

"Kristal!"

"Stay away from me!"

"Come back!"

"Never!"

She was laughing again despite herself, her face still burning as she crossed the pavement.

"You're never seeing me again!"

"We work together!"

"I quit!"

"You love your job!"

"I'll become a stripper!"

Kenny nearly stumbled laughing. "That escalated quickly!"

Kristal looked over her shoulder.

"Goodbye, Dr. David—"

Her shoe caught awkwardly against the pavement.

"Oh s**t!"

Her body pitched forward, but Kenny moved instantly and caught her around the waist before she hit the ground.

Momentum brought them together.

Kristal's hands landed against his chest while one of Kenny's arms secured her waist and the other steadied her upper back.

The laughter disappeared.

Their faces were inches apart, their breaths mingling in the small space between them.

Neither moved.

Kristal could feel the heat of his body through their clothes and the steady beat of his heart beneath her palm. Kenny's gaze dropped briefly to her mouth before returning to her eyes.

For months, there had always been something between them. A joke, a chart, a coffee cup, a restaurant table or simply a reason to step away before the moment became something else.

Now there was nothing.

Kenny didn't pull her closer or try to close the distance. He simply held her steady and waited.

Kristal searched his face.

Three months of patience looked back at her. Three months of lunches, milkshakes, coffee, laughter and small touches that had never demanded anything from her.

Just Kenny.

Her gaze dropped to his mouth.

When she looked back into his eyes, something shifted between them.

"Kristal..." he murmured.

She didn't know whether he was asking a question or warning her.

Maybe it didn't matter.

Her fingers curled slightly against his shirt.

Before fear could remind her of every reason she wasn't supposed to do this, Kristal leaned forward and kissed him.

Kenny went completely still.

For half a heartbeat, panic flashed through her.

Then his lips moved gently against hers.

He didn't take control of the kiss or deepen it beyond what she offered. He simply answered her, letting Kristal decide how far this unexpected moment went.

Her eyes closed.

The kiss was soft and tentative, but the warmth spreading through her was anything but.

When she finally pulled back, she didn't go far. Their faces remained close as her eyes opened.

Kenny was staring at her.

Kristal's brain finally caught up with what her body had just done.

Oh, s**t.

She had kissed Kenny.

Dr. Kenny Davidson. Her coworker. Her friend. The man she'd spent three months insisting she wasn't ready to want.

And judging by the way he was looking at her now, she had just changed something between them.

His mouth slowly curved.

Kristal narrowed her eyes.

"Don't."

"I didn't say anything."

"Your face did."

"My face is innocent."

"Your face has never been innocent a day in its life."

His smile widened.

Kristal groaned and hid her face against his chest.

Kenny laughed softly, his arms remaining loose around her so she could step away whenever she wanted.

"First you snort."

Her head snapped up.

"Kenny."

"Then you kiss me."

"I will kill you."

"Interesting evening."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

She opened her mouth to argue.

Nothing came out.

Kenny's eyebrow lifted.

Damn him.

Kristal finally stepped back, and he let her go immediately. She straightened her clothes, gathered what remained of her dignity and pointed at him.

"We are never discussing the snort."

"Fine."

"Ever."

"Understood."

"And the kiss..."

She stopped.

Kenny's teasing disappeared.

He waited.

Kristal could retreat now. She could call it a mistake and pretend adrenaline had made her do something stupid.

But that would be a lie.

"I don't regret it."

Something warm entered Kenny's expression.

"Good."

She lifted a finger. "That doesn't mean I suddenly know what I'm doing. I'm still figuring myself out, and I'm not ready for—"

"Kristal."

She stopped.

Kenny gave her a gentle smile.

"You kissed me."

Her cheeks heated again. "I'm aware."

"Then that's all tonight has to be."

No demand for another kiss. No questions about what they were now. No attempt to turn one impulsive moment into a relationship she hadn't agreed to.

Just tonight.

Kristal studied him for a moment before smiling.

"Okay."

"Okay."

He walked her the remaining distance to her car.

At the driver's door, she turned toward him, and for one dangerous second, her eyes dropped to his mouth again.

Of course he noticed.

His eyebrow lifted.

"Don't push it, Greek god."

He grinned.

"Good night, Nurse Jones."

"Good night, Dr. Davidson."

Kristal climbed into her car and closed the door. Kenny waited until she started the engine before stepping back.

As she drove away, her lips were still tingling and a smile kept threatening to spread across her face.

For the first time since Shawn, Kristal had kissed another man.

She hadn't done it because she was lonely, because she needed to prove she'd moved on or because Kenny convinced her.

She'd kissed him because she wanted to.

And somehow, that mattered more than the kiss itself.