“HEY, is this hard?” Molly picked up a video game case that was lying on a bookshelf as she waited for him to get dressed. Her legs were having a dickens of a time holding her up, and she’d been forced to walk around, trying to convince her muscles to do their job.
He peered around the corner of his closet door and gave her a smile. “Not yet. But it could be.”
She lobbed a pillow at him. “I meant this.”
Crossing over to her, he glanced at the cover. “A flight simulator?”
“You got me thinking.” She turned the cover over and read the description. “I said I couldn’t fly even if you were passed out at the wheel. I was joking at the time, but what if it really happened? Or what if you were incapacitated?”
His brows lifted. “You mean like now?”
“I’m serious.” A laugh came out and belied the words.
He took the case from her hands and stared at 232 the cover. “We can try it out if you want, but I thought you weren’t interested in flying. That you were going to tolerate it for the sake of your job.”
Yes, she’d meant those words at the time, but a subtle shift had taken place. Not only had her father loved flying but it was Blake’s life. And because of that…
No, don’t go there. Not yet.
But even as the thought whispered through her mind, she was already searching for an excuse to see him again. To not walk away and forget this morning ever happened.
But why? They’d still be working together, so they’d have to see each other.
But it wouldn’t be the same. She’d lose something special once she left this house. They might have known each other for a few short weeks, but if Blake considered their time together a one-night stand…
Surely not. She’d sensed something desperate in his lovemaking that last time in the shower, as if he was fighting something inside himself. Whatever it was, it hadn’t stopped him from bracing his hands against the tile and bringing their time together to a shattering conclusion.
One that had left her limp and shaking.
He’d had to wrap his arms around her to keep from sliding to the floor in a heap. In the harsh light of day, the memory sent a shiver of fear through her. She’d never experienced goodbye sex before, but it was probably pretty similar to what they’d done.
Hello and goodbye all in the space of twelve hours. Maybe he was the smart one.
“When are you off next?” he asked.
“Not until Saturday.” Almost a week away.
“I could come over and install the game on your computer, if you’d like. Show you how to work it. Then you could try it out at your leisure.”
She paused. “I could make us lunch.”
“Will it involve horseradish?”
Molly laughed again, remembering his reaction to Jed’s sandwich. “You’ll have to wait and see. Think of it as expanding your horizons.” She tapped the game he held in his hand. “Something we should both consider doing.”
* * *
The week crawled by, and Blake didn’t appear at the clinic once. Neither did he call. By Friday morning her mood had slid downhill, landing at the bottom with a splat.
She met Sammi outside the exam room with a scowl. “Nail guns should not be sold without a permit.”
The CHA held out the set of pliers Molly had asked her to hunt down. “Hey, I have a nail gun at home.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t use it to fasten your hand to a crate on one of the fishing boats.” She rolled her eyes. “How is it that a man who can open a beer bottle with his teeth can’t stand the thought of pulling a nail out of his own hand?”
Sammi winced. “Sounds like someone I know could use some chocolate. Mark hasn’t called?”
“What?”
“You said you went out with him a couple of weeks ago.” The other woman studied the bright yellow polish on her nails.
It took Molly a minute to even remember the date. “We did, but I think we’re destined to be friends. Nothing more.” All she could hope was that Sammi hadn’t heard about her spending a large chunk of time at Blake’s house.
No one knew. And he’d sworn he’d never tell.
Although why it was okay for Sammi to pair her up with Mark and not Blake she had no idea. Maybe because she was still smarting from needing to be with him more than he evidently wanted to be with her.
Hurt swept through her.
Sammi touched her shoulder, bringing her back to the present. “You okay?”
“Fine.” She sighed. “The clinic’s just been busy this week.”
“I heard the head injury patient is going to recover. The blown pupil was from a previous eye injury. I thought it was from being hit by the crab pot.”
“Me, too.” She squeezed the other woman’s arm. “Hey, listen. I’m sorry for being such a grouch.”
“Don’t worry about it. It happens.” Sammi shrugged. “What are you doing this weekend?”
She wasn’t sure. Blake had said he’d come over on Saturday and install the flight simulator on her computer, but she had no idea if that was still on or not. “Samita and I are going to lounge around the house and be lazy.”
“If you get bored, call and we can do something.”
“Thanks, Sammi, I will.” Being with her new friend would definitely be better than moping around all day. “I need to get back to my patient.”
Fifteen minutes of wrestling and her patient’s hand was free of the board and the nail. She examined the wound again. The metal had shot into the space between the second and third metacarpals. No actual bone involvement, just skin. A stitch or two, a tetanus shot, and some antibiotics, and he’d be as good as new.
“I’d like you to give this hand a break for a few days,” she said as she sutured both the entry and exit wounds.
“My captain’s already threatened to kick my butt if I touch that gun again. He lost almost a whole day bringing me back in to have it looked at.” He checked out the repair and closed his hand into an experimental fist. “Doesn’t hurt at all.”
Molly dropped the needle and tweezers back onto the tray to be sterilized and stood, patting his shoulder. “Wait until the lidocaine wears off. You’re going to want to take some ibuprofen before that happens—six hundred milligrams worth—in about an hour.” She smiled. “But at least you won’t be carrying a board around with you any more.”
He glanced at the instrument tray. “Uh…Doc. You don’t suppose I could have that nail you plucked from me, do you? I want to show it to my boys.”
Her brows went up. “On one condition.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“That you promise to teach them about tool safety and practice it yourself from here on out.”
The burly fisherman gave her a sheepish grin. “It’s a deal.”
Rinsing off the offending nail and then dropping it into his hand, they both stood. Her patient slid the sharp object into the front pocket of his worn jeans, causing her to cringe. Hopefully he would remember it was there before getting into his car to drive away. She really, really didn’t want to have to pull it out of him again—especially not from that region. “Take care, okay?”
“Will do.”
Pushing through the room’s heavy door, Molly watched him walk toward the reception area.
A few strands of hair fell over her forehead, and she shoved them back, the locks feeling as lank and lifeless as she did. She moved into the hallway and turned right, heading in the same direction her patient had.
“You busy?”
The familiar voice caused her heart to skip a beat. She stopped in her tracks, then spun around, finding Blake standing behind her, arms folded across his chest. “You scared me. Where did you come from?”
“Sammi said you had a patient, so I thought I’d wait for you in the hall. Anything serious?”
“Nothing a two by four to the head wouldn’t cure.”
On second thought, maybe she could use one of those herself, judging from the way her heart was still ricocheting around in her chest at the sight of him.
“Ouch. Bad day?”
“About normal for a Friday.” She could be distant, too. Really she could.
He nodded, studying her face for a moment. “Are we still on for tomorrow?”
It took her a minute to realize he was talking about coming over to her house for lunch. Somehow it really miffed her that he hadn’t offered any explanation for his absence, or even tried to see her. “Sure. If you’re still up for it.”
“I am.” He paused as if trying to come up with the right words. “Listen, sorry I haven’t been around. I don’t want you to think…”
Everything inside her clenched. Was he about to give her the we’ve-had-some-fun-but-let’s-just-be-friends speech?
Holding up a hand, she tried to head him off. “Don’t worry about it.”
A small frown appeared between his brows, and he lowered his voice. “I started to come by the clinic a couple of times, but I remembered what you said about keeping our time together a secret. I didn’t think you’d want me hanging around.”
I didn’t think you’d want me hanging around. Those words made her tummy do a back flip. So that was why he’d stayed away.
She did want him to hang around. Very much.
She gave him a smile. “I thought you were going to say…Never mind.”
“Then I had to go to Fairbanks on Wednesday and Thursday.”
“A patient?” Surely she would have heard or been asked to go along.
“No. I had some property that’s been up for sale for a while. The Realtor finally found a buyer, and I had to meet my ex-wife to sign the papers.”
Relief turned to dismay. He’d met his ex-wife and stayed for two days? How long did it take to sign a piece of paper?
You’re being unreasonable, Molly. He just said he was thinking about coming by the clinic.
“That’s okay. Did the sale go through?”
He glanced down the hallway, then tugged a lock of her hair, letting it fall back in place. “It did. I’m glad that’s over.”
If he was glad, she was glad. Except he’d made no move to kiss her.
Why would he? She’d asked him to keep things quiet. Besides, no sense in either of them getting too serious. They were colleagues. That was one strike. A second strike was that the hospital might not even renew her contract at the clinic after the year was up. Which meant she’d end up…not in Anchorage, where she might still see Blake from time to time, but in some other city. Probably in the lower forty-eight.
Where she’d never see him again.
Her heart tumbled even as she smiled and said she’d see him tomorrow.
Two strikes. One more and Molly would be forced to call it a day.
She needed to pray that she could pull herself back together if that happened.