Persephone’s head fell to my chest and she let out a loud laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Please do.” After a quick clean up, we sat down to enjoy our sandwiches and strawberry tea. “Second best thing I’ve had in my mouth all day.”
She froze, eyes wide with shock before she dissolved into a fit of giggles. “I can’t believe you just said that.” She continued to laugh and shake her head, oblivious to the bits of lettuce and pickles falling from her sandwich. “Keep those dirty words to yourself, mister. Some of us have to get back to work.”
“Both of us,” I corrected her. “Except I’ll have a boner every time I look at this desk.”
She laughed again. “That’s how I feel about my sofa,” she admitted with red-stained cheeks. “See you later?”
“Count on it.” I brushed a soft kiss to her cheek and walked Persephone to her car. “Since you took care of lunch, dinner is on me.”
“And dessert,” she shouted before pulling out of the parking lot with a wink and a smile.
I didn’t tell her that I loved her, not yet, but I did.
And I would tell her. Soon.
Persy
“Hey, Persy, you have a minute?” Mel Gibbons stood in front of my desk with her arms folded and a smile on her face.
“For you, I have two. What’s up?” My phone buzzed on the desk and I looked at it with a frown. It was the same unknown number that had called two times earlier today. It was probably a solicitor of some sort, but damn they were persistent.
“Problem?”
I shook my head, finished the line of notes, and pushed the file away. “Just a very persistent unknown caller.”
“Pick up and they won’t be unknown,” she said glibly.
“Thanks, Mel. What do you need?”
She sighed and dropped down in the chair meant for patients. “It’s my husband. He’s having some pain in his leg but the stubborn sucker insists he’s fine.” She shook her head. “Been a nurse for the past six hundred years and my own damn husband won’t take my advice.”
“Mel,” I called her name to stop her from one of her famous rants.
“Sorry.” She grinned and relaxed against the chair. “I called him earlier and lied, and I’m not even ashamed that I did it.”
“Okay.” Melanie was a schemer when it came to matchmaking but she was as honest as they came. “I’m involved in the lie,” I guessed.
“Yes. I’m sorry to put you in the middle of this, Dr. Vanguard, but you know how men are and he’s only coming in because I told him that you said it was past time for his annual checkup.”
I frowned at her overly worried expression. “What’s the big deal?”
“It’s been scheduled for three months from now, but you know better than most how something as innocuous as pain could easily turn into a blood clot or something worse.” She shook her head and tears formed in her eyes, but Mel was a professional and they never dropped.
“Melanie Gibbons, you stop this crying right now.”
She gasped and snapped her lips shut.
“Good. Okay. I’m happy to let you put this lie on me if it’ll put your mind at ease and get Rob in to see me.” Most of the time it was wives who made appointments for their husbands so I doubted Rob would ever catch on to the lie.
“You are?”
“Absolutely. When is his appointment?”
“Tomorrow, just before lunch. He’s gonna be a pain and I figured you might need an hour or so to calm down.”
I laughed at her warning because Rob Gibbons was the most easygoing man in town, more so than Ryan. “I appreciate that, Mel.” The phone rang again and I glanced at the screen with a sigh. The same number.
“Want me to answer it?”
Yes. “No. If it was important, they would leave a message.” That was what I told myself, but the sinking sensation in my stomach refused to go away, especially when the number called two more times on my way home. Maybe I was being petty, but I refused to answer on the grounds that the unknown caller had interrupted my attempts to replay my afternoon in Ryan’s office.
What had come over me, I didn’t know. That wasn’t true—I did know. Ryan. It was the man, plain and simple. The way he held me in his arms, the way he comforted me with his touch and his words, it was more than my poor neglected heart—and lady parts—could bear. He was always my biggest cheerleader. When I’d thought I couldn’t take another moment of medical school or my residency, Ryan had pushed me through. Sometimes he gave me tough love, others he was the beam of sunshine I needed, and somehow, he always knew which one I needed.
And he looked so hot with that smudge of grease on his cheek, which had ended up on my thigh. I left it there all day, as a sexy reminder of my incredible lunch hour.