His Curvy Nurse

1 Laura I stared at the man across from me and wondered how long I needed to stay there before I could leave without feeling like a complete b***h. He continued to drone on and on about himself and how smart and funny and wonderful he was. Seriously. Did the man not realize how boring and thoughtless he was being? I nodded and sipped my wine, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was nervous. I understood that. Dating sucked. I hated it. The only problem was I really liked men, so I had to suffer through the dating part. Life would be so much easier if I found that one guy who was perfect for me, but… Nope, I wasn’t going there. I forced a smile as my date paused and waited for me to respond. I added a nod, and he smiled back like that was the only thing he was waiting for and kept talking. Dear God, there wasn’t enough wine in the world for a date like this one. Our server approached and offered me a sympathetic smile. It was bad when the waitstaff looked like they were trying to come up with ways to extract me. Maybe I should fake an emergency. Nope. That only spurred them on. I’d been there. One emergency, one uttered word of what I did for a living, and they all thought I was a saint. And they all wanted to bring a saint home to their mothers. I was too damn old for that crap. Brutal honesty would do the trick, but I liked this guy. I wanted to get along with him. Our chats online were good, great even. He was clever and funny and…not at all like the boring, self-absorbed man opposite me. “I’m sorry, but are you catfishing me?” I blurted. “Catfishing?” he asked. He slow-blinked as though trying to place the term. “Yeah. One person online and another live. Pretending to be someone you’re not. You just don’t seem like the same guy I’ve been talking to.” He shook his head. “No, it’s me. You’ve been talking to me.” “Hmm. Okay.” I reached for my wine glass, and he jumped right back in where he left off. Harry. His real name was Harry, not MoneyMan like he called himself online. He was in real estate. I wasn’t even sure what that meant because he was not a real estate agent. He actually laughed when I asked. So, I let it go. But I had no idea what he actually did. I tried to listen to him, but he was just so boring. With his equity and transactions and investments. My eyes could win Gold for all the rolls they did. “More wine?” the server asked. She had another bottle in her hand. Bless her. “Yes,” I said before Harry could object. I didn’t know if he would, but I wasn’t taking any chances. The server filled my glass up, nearly to the top. She winked at me and left the open bottle next to my plate. “…equity…” I took a drink. “…investments…” Another drink. “…equity…” Hmm, maybe the conversation was interesting. I snorted, which made Harry pause for two-point-seven seconds. I flashed him a brilliant smile that claimed I was invested—ha!—in whatever he was saying and he jumped back in. And so did I. I drank my wine and pretended to listen to Harry while we finished dinner. I offered to pay the check, or at least split it, but he insisted he pay. While Harry reviewed the receipt to make sure they didn’t overcharge him for all the wine I drank, I texted Elise for a ride. Elise: Did you make up another drinking game? She knew me too well. Me: Yes. Best part of the date. Elise: LOL. And ouch. Sorry. We’ll be there soon. Me: Thanks. I tucked my phone away as Harry handed over his credit card and the receipt. “They didn’t overcharge me. I wasn’t sure since the waitress wasn’t super attentive.” “Really? I thought she was great.” He snorted. “She barely asked if we needed anything. She wasn’t around much. She would drop things off and leave.” “I don’t think she could get a word in,” I mumbled. His head tilted to the side like a dopey dog who couldn’t find the ball his owner never threw. Wow. “So, are you going to follow me home or do you want me to follow you?” “Why?” I was genuinely baffled that he thought I was up for anything beyond dinner. “We just had dinner. It was expensive. You drank almost two bottles of wine. I assumed…” “Wow.” I took a minute to collect my thoughts before I laid into him. “Do you know what I do for a living? Do you know where I’m from? Do you know anything about me? You spent the last two hours talking about yourself. Two hours. Maybe if you’d asked even one thing about me I would be open to…No. No, actually, I wouldn’t. This is our first date. I don’t know you. I’m not sleeping with you.” “Seriously? Why date if you aren’t going to have s*x?” I just sat there. He was why dating sucked so much. Men who thought they were entitled to a spot between my legs simply because they paid for dinner. Um, no. “I’m dating because I’m looking for someone to spend my life with. Someone who cares about what’s in my head as much as he cares about what’s in my pants. If you’re just here for s*x, you should have said so and saved us both a few hours.” I stood up and walked out, hoping Elise and Colin got there before the server came back with Harry’s card and he left. I was almost to the door when the server hurried over to me. “Are you okay?” I stopped and smiled at her. “I am. And I’m really sorry.” “Sorry? Why in the world would you be sorry?” “He was rude and is probably going to give you a bad tip. Let me—” I reached into my purse. “No, please. It’s not a big deal. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Do you have a ride?” Her brown eyes were kind and concerned, more than my date’s had been all night. I nodded. “Friends are on the way.” “Are they here yet?” I glanced at my phone. “I don’t think so.” “I’m going to walk out with you. The owner is really big on safety. I’ll wait with you until your ride comes and then I’ll give him back his card so you don’t have to worry about him coming after you.” I sighed. “Thank you. You’re awesome. Seriously, Jane, can I give you a tip? He’s going to stiff you.” She shook her head. “I’ve already told my manager, who told the owner. He’s agreed to cover what my tip should be if it isn’t that. I’m good.” My phone buzzed in my hand. I glanced down at it. “My friends are here.” “Okay, good. Be careful.” “Thank you. I don’t think he’s violent, but I also didn’t think he would expect s*x on the first date, so be careful.” “I will. Enjoy the rest of your night.” “You, too.” On impulse I hugged her then ran out to find Colin and Elise. Elise took my keys and drove my car home while I told her all about my date with Horrible Harry. Ugh. Men. I was so ready to get back to work Monday morning. When I was working, all my focus went into my job. I didn’t worry about the world outside the four walls of MacKellar Cove Cancer Care. I was zeroed in on my job and the patients I was treating and I didn’t have to think about dating or relationships or the fact that my chance of having kids was shrinking faster than the tumors in our craziest success stories. I pushed all thoughts about my dating life from my mind when I arrived at work. In the lounge, I put my purse in my locker and swept my unruly blonde waves into a ponytail and smoothed a hand over my scrubs. Dr. Allison didn’t require them, but they were comfortable. Plus, the ones I wore had a bunch of cute saying on them and gave me something to talk to the patients about. “Hey, Laura,” Ally said from behind me. “How was your weekend?” I shrugged. “It was okay.” “That doesn’t sound promising. I thought you had a few dates lined up.” I nodded and added lip balm then closed my locker. “I had three, but blah.” “Sorry. You’ll find someone.” I smiled at her perfection and asked, “How was your weekend? Did you guys do anything fun?” Ally married her high school sweetheart two years earlier. They were adorable in a way that made it impossible to hate them even though I wanted to on principle. Her husband worked at the local grocery store, like he had since high school. They were both painfully sweet and the most positive people I’d ever met in my life. They were perfect for each other. “We went to the movies then had dinner with my sister. I should introduce you two. She’s single, too. You can go out together or be each other’s wingwomen,” Ally said with a nudge. I smiled and shook my head. “We’ll see.” Ally was constantly encouraging me to widen my circle. It was funny coming from a woman who spent all her time with her family and didn’t seem to have a lot of friends herself. “I think you both could use it,” Ally continued. “My sister is fine, but she’s a little…distant. And you’re so friendly and outgoing. I think the two of you would compliment each other well. I mean, I guess I don’t know either of you all that well, but I think it’s important to have people in your life who matter.” “I do,” I told her, trying to ease the blow while not asking how she doesn’t know her own sister. “I have a group of friends, and they’re amazing. I would love to find someone like Spencer is for you, but I just don’t have the best of luck with men.” “Ahem.” I looked up at Dr. Allison standing in the door. My cheeks heated under his glare. “Good morning, Dr. Allison,” Ally said brightly. “How was your weekend in Syracuse?” Syracuse. Where his girlfriend or fling or whoever she was lived. Yes, I was jealous. “Fine,” he said, still glaring at me. “We have a new patient in the waiting room. Are you going to go get her?” Ally slipped out of the room around him, leaving us alone. I tried not to drink the man in, but he was impossible to ignore, and impossible for me to resist. His dark brown skin glowed in the soft lighting. His near-black eyes blazed into me. The stretch of his suit across his broad shoulders and chest made me want to burrow in and never let go. I’d never seen him in anything other than the suit he wore daily, but I could imagine, and had, what he was hiding beneath those clothes. “Nurse Kempis,” he said louder, breaking my reverie. “The patient?” “Ah, yes, Dr. Allison. I’m on my way now.” He didn’t move as I walked toward him, his eyes locked on mine until I was standing next to him. He stared at me, that same irritated look he always had lately. “Excuse me,” I said softly. I wasn’t tiny like Ally. I was a big woman with a lot of curves. And he was a big man. Standing next to him, the top of my head reached his chin. His stubborn, hard, bearded chin. I wanted to trail my fingertips over it. Lick him. Press him against the wall behind him and run my hands through his dark hair and find out if it was as soft as it looked. But he just turned and walked out, ignoring me yet again. I sighed and tried not to take it personally. I was an employee, and that meant I was only there to serve him and his patients. Time to get to it. “What does this mean, Dr. Allison?” Marie Kaufman had been referred to our clinic by her family physician. She lived 30 minutes north of MacKellar Cove and was young, mid-twenties, and alone. Dr. Allison wheeled his stool close to Marie. Her legs were crossed and her hands were wrapped around each other. It would all change when he did. Dr. Allison was about to become Nico. Dr. Allison was strong and smart and tough, but Nico overflowed with compassion and understanding and kindness. He had an uncanny way of making the patients feel as though there was nothing he couldn’t do, and in the four years I’d been there, I knew it was the truth. The treatments weren’t always successful, but we did everything possible to give every single patient the best possible chance at a good outcome. And the man who made that happen wasn’t the cold, distant Dr. Allison. It was Nico. Nico was the reason I moved to MacKellar Cove four years ago. I was drawn to him when I first heard about MacKellar Cove Cancer Care. The work he was doing amazed and inspired me. The man himself amazed and inspired me. It wasn’t long after I arrived that my infatuation with Dr. Allison’s skill set became an infatuation with more than just the work he did. Seeing him become Nico over and over again was what made me fall for him. Dr. Allison could be an a*s, but Nico…Nico was everything I wanted a man to be. “Marie, I know this is terrifying for you. I’m not going to tell you not to worry. Cancer is an ugly beast. It’s the kind of thing that fights like hell to destroy you. But we’re going to fight, too. Nurse Kempis and I are going to make a plan for you. We’re going to look at every option. I’m going to call colleagues and make sure we haven’t missed anything. We are not writing you off. We have a very high success rate, and I have every confidence that you will be another one of those successes. This will not be easy. You will need people to help you. But we will be a part of that team.” Marie nodded and chewed her lip. Her hands no longer twisted together. Nico leaned back in his seat and dug a card out of his pocket. “This is my personal phone number. I don’t give this out to everyone, but I want you to have it. You can call me anytime. You are not alone.” She smiled up at him and took the card as tears ran down her cheeks. “Thank you, Dr. Allison.” He nodded and gave her a smile that made it seem like a date instead of a doctor’s appointment. “We will do everything in our power to beat this, Marie. This is not the end of your story.” Marie nodded. I struggled to pull myself together, but I stuffed down my emotions so she could have hers. She was more important than me, and I knew it. I also knew if Nico was giving her his personal phone number, it meant things were going to be tough for Marie. She was going to have more bad days than good. She was going to need support. And he was willing to give it to her. Once Nico left, I went through the next steps with Marie and asked her if there was anything else she needed from us before she left. “Can I ask you something?” She looked up at me like I had all the answers. “Of course.” “Does he really give his number to everyone?” I shook my head. “No. He doesn’t. I don’t even have his personal number. He’s a very private man, and he only gives his number to patients he has a connection with. Patients he knows are special.” “Really?” I nodded. “Yeah. You’re in excellent hands.” “Thank you. All this is a little overwhelming. I thought my family doctor was joking when she said I needed to come here. I never thought…” She sucked in a shaky breath. I patted her shoulder and squeezed it gently. “No one does. That’s one of the things that makes cancer so horrible. It comes out of nowhere. People who seem perfectly healthy, people who think they know why they’re sick, and even people who know there’s a high chance for it are all shocked. Cancer doesn’t care who you are. But Dr. Allison is the best in the area, and he’s going to do everything he can to bring you through this.” Marie smiled. “Thank you. I really…thank you.” “You’re welcome. We’ll see you soon.” I walked Marie to the front and told Tina at reception she needed to come back at the end of the week for her first infusion appointment. I grabbed a quick lunch then was onto infusion appointments for the afternoon. My first patient was a single father whose parents smoked when he was young. At forty-four, Lucas was fighting lung cancer, a battle I knew all too well. “You’re looking good today, Laura,” he said once he was seated in his chair. “And you’re as charming as ever. How are the girls?” Lucas chuckled the way he always did when I asked about his three daughters. They were everything to him. His oldest was in her first year of college but stayed home to go to a local school so she could help with her sisters in high school and middle school. “Carly reminds me of her mother every day. She’s running the show. She keeps everyone in line and tells us what we need to do. And as the youngest, her sisters don’t really love that,” Lucas said. I laughed with him and tied my gown. I adjusted my mask and opened my kit. “We all need someone like that in our lives. Someone to keep us in line.” “She’s it for me,” Lucas said, turning his head away while I accessed his chemo port. He winced then sucked in a breath and relaxed. I tested the access and taped the needle in place. “I have a friend like that. She’s a doctor, fertility specialist. She runs her business like a commanding officer, and her house is about the same. She’s a badass.” Lucas chuckled and nodded. “Sounds like Carly.” “How about the older two? How are they doing?” I worked while Lucas told me his oldest kicked a*s in her first year of college and the middle one was starting to think about what she wanted to do after high school. By the time he was done, he’d taken his pills and his first dose of chemo was running in. “I can barely keep up with myself. I don’t know how you handle three girls.” Lucas chuckled. “Most of the time, they’re handling me. The latest is they want me to start dating.” “Oh, no. That’s dangerous.” He laughed. “Right? I told them I’m not interested, but I don’t know. It’s been six years since my wife died. The girls were six, nine, and thirteen. I’ve been buried in raising them and never thought about anything else. But all this…” He gestured to the room we were in, a room with nine other chairs with people receiving treatment. “Life’s too short to let it just pass me by.” “That’s very true,” I said. I patted his arm. “My friend designed a dating app, Book Boyfriends Wanted. You should check it out. Even if you don’t find someone else, dating and meeting new people can be fun. Your girls are getting older, and when they’re all moved out, you might want a friend if nothing else.” “A friend with benefits?” He waggled his brows. I laughed and shook my head. “You are trouble, Lucas.” “But you love me anyway,” he said. I nodded. “You know I do. I need to update your chart and get my next patient. I’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes.” Lucas nodded and closed his eyes as I stood. He usually took a nap during part of his treatment. Most patients did. The meds they took were powerful and knocked them out, so we kept the room quiet with soft music on to muffle any conversation that might distract them. “Nurse Kempis. A word,” Dr. Allison said as soon as I turned away from Lucas. My heart pounded in my chest and my pulse skipped. He was not happy with me, but I had no clue why. I nodded and said, “Give me just a moment.” He raised an angry brow and crossed his arms, glaring at me while I trashed my protective gear. I made a quick note to update Lucas’s chart, then followed Dr. Allison to his office. “Close the door.” I did as he asked and stood just inside while he walked around his dark wood desk and sat in the large black leather chair. Bookshelves surrounded him and his degrees hung above his head. His office could have been that of a college professor or a lawyer or anyone professional. There was nothing that said who he was. No pictures, no paintings, no indication of a personality. “Why were you flirting with that patient?” “Excuse me?” I blurted. “The patient,” he snarled. “Were you going to give him a lap dance, too? Because we might be a full service clinic here, but I expect you to keep things professional.” I drew back and tried to figure out what I did that was so unprofessional. “I apologize, Dr. Allison, but I wasn’t treating him any differently than I do any other patient. And I believe I was being very professional.” “Oh, so you tell all your patients about dating apps and offer to be their friend with benefits?” “What? I didn’t say that!” “You said you love him.” I drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out before my attitude got me in trouble. How dare he? I was not out of line with my patients. I was respectful and considerate. I asked about their lives and made small talk. I never once crossed a line. I did not give out my personal phone number to any of them. Not since Ms. Georgia. But that was different. “I love my patients, Dr. Allison. I love working here. I love seeing people get better. And you know a positive mindset is huge when someone is going through what every single one of these patients is going through. I talk to them and laugh with them and ask about their personal lives. I need to know who these people are so they trust me.” “No, you don’t. They need to trust you because you’re good at your job, but today…” “What are you saying?” I asked him, flabbergasted. “Twice today I’ve had to speak to you about personal matters in the workplace. Twice today I’ve overheard you speaking to someone about your…relationships. Do not let it happen again.” “Are you telling me I can’t ask my patients about their personal lives?” “No, I’m telling you you can’t f**k them!” he bellowed. I froze. I was paralyzed with fury. I’d never been so pissed off in my life. I wanted to walk across the room and punch him. It took everything in me not to. Four years I’d worked for that man. Four years I’d killed myself to follow his lead and treat the patients who came from all over to see him. Four years. And he thought I was using the clinic as my own personal brothel. I shoved down the anger and pain and f**k you. “Yes, sir,” I said with a sharp nod. “Is there anything else?” He shook his head. I pursed my lips together and turned and left his office. What did I ever see in that asshole?