Then He Kissed Me (Whispering Bay Romance 2)

Ellen waved a hand in the air. “He’s fine! Just a little cold, I think.”

Lola came up behind Ellen. “Well, isn’t he sweet?” she crooned, smiling at Hector.

“Thank you for the sweater, Lola,” Nate said.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s just a little too small for you, don’t you think?”

“Thank you for Hector’s sweater,” he clarified.

Bianca and Janie tried to hide their smiles. They scooped up the wrapping paper and took off down the hallway. Nate had just finished putting Hector in his crate when Lola slapped a print out on his desk. “Frances Kiefer is in room one. She’s feeling dizzy.”

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe she’d prefer to see Ellen this morning?”

“Sure, I’ll be happy to see her. She’s such a sweet lady,” Ellen said.

“No can do,” Lola said to Ellen. “You’ve got two pap smears waiting for you. Special requests. With Doc out again,” she rolled her eyes, “we need to make sure we don’t get behind.”

There were patients in the practice who felt more comfortable with a woman doing their GYN annuals. Nate didn’t blame them, but it put him in a bad spot this morning. Frances Kiefer, no doubt, had absolutely no desire to see him. Not after she’d complained to Doc about him. But he had no choice. Ellen gave Nate a helpless look and went off to see her patients.

“I’ll be in there in a minute,” he said to Lola. She nodded curtly and took off.

Nate slipped his lab coat on. His cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen and frowned. What did Jessica want? “Hello,” he said tentatively.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, babe!”

“Thanks. What do you want, Jessica?”

“Is that any way to greet me? It’s Valentine’s Day, Nate! Aren’t you glad I called?”

Not really. But he didn’t want to seem unfriendly. He and Jessica might be through, but there was no reason they couldn’t be cordial to one another. “How are you?” he asked. “Work going well?”

“Work is going better than well. But that’s not why I called. I have a special present for you.”

“Jessica,” he said, “we’re no longer a couple. Don’t you think getting me a gift for Valentine’s Day is inappropriate?”

“But you don’t know what it is! Go ahead and ask me. Try to guess.”

This was a particular little game of Jessica’s he despised. He’d had to play along when they were together, but there was no reason he had to do so now. “I have no idea. I’m busy, Jessica, so if you don’t plan to tell me, then I’m afraid I’ll have to say good-bye.”

“Wow. Someone’s grumpy. And I bet I can guess why. I miss you, too, babe. Horribly. I was thinking, maybe I can get on a plane tonight and we can spend the weekend together.”

He glanced at his watch. It was eight thirty six. He was officially six minutes behind schedule now. “To what purpose?”

She let out a long sigh. “God, I’ve missed that…way you have of keeping me on my toes. All right, you win. I’ll tell you what your present is. Go check out YouTube. The top six marriage proposal fails is now officially once more only top five marriage proposal fails. I got our video taken off! Isn’t that great?”

“Actually, yes, it is. Thank you.”

“Don’t you want to know how I did it?”

“By asking nicely?” he asked.

“What? Oh!” She laughed so loud that Nate had to pull the phone from his ear. He’d never heard her laugh like that before. Did she think he couldn’t tell it was fake? “That’s another thing I’ve missed! No one makes me smile like you do, Nate.”

“Jessica, I have to go. Thanks again and good luck.”

He hung up before she could get another word in. He had to say, however, he was pleased she’d gotten that video taken down. Although, God only knew who and what she’d threatened to make it happen.

He stepped out in the hallway and braced himself before entering the exam room. As per his usual custom, he knocked, waited a few seconds, then opened the door. Frances Kiefer sat on the exam table. She stiffened when she saw him.