But Savannah was right. There had been something missing. That feeling one got when an attractive man looked at you and his want was so palpable that desire itself caressed you.
That feeling one got when in the new bud of a relationship, when everything was exciting and new.
Only none of this was new. She wasn’t in the bud of a relationship with Trace. Whatever happened this weekend was it. They both knew that.
So, why did she still feel so giddy?
She wasn’t the kind of woman to have random affairs. Or to have affairs, period.
She was giddy. Giggly giddy, even.
And not just because Trace couldn’t seem to go more than a few minutes without stealing a glance her way or finding some reason to come talk to her in between the fairly steady stream of patients who came to the tent.
“He’s a good man.”
Chrissie blinked up at Alexis. Somehow the doctor still managed to look exotically glamorous in her dark shorts and CCPO medical staff T-shirt. How was that even possible? “Pardon?”
“Trace. He’s a good man.?
?
“You know him well?” she couldn’t keep from asking despite the fact Trace had already said he hadn’t slept with the woman. Was she seeking confirmation of what he’d told her?
No, she believed him. As he’d said, he had no reason to lie to her and he hadn’t made any false promises.
“Not as well as I’d have once liked, as I suspect you know.”
Chrissie couldn’t prevent her blush.
“I’ll admit that when I heard he was going to be here, I’d hoped to kindle a spark. The moment I saw the way he looked at you I knew that wasn’t going to happen.” She didn’t bother to hide her disappointment. “So, despite a momentary surge of jealousy, I find myself happy for him, because he really is a good guy.”
With the woman’s blunt honesty, it was difficult not to like her.
“How does he look at me?”
Sliding into the chair across from the triage table, Alexis laughed.
“Like he wants to gobble you up and lick the crumbs from his fingers.” She air-kissed her fingertips with great show. “The way I wished he looked at me.”
There went the heat in Chrissie’s cheeks again.
“So, are you going to tell me about you two?”
More heated cheeks.
“I like him, if that’s what you mean.”
Alexis rolled her dark, heavily fringed eyes. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
Although she owed Alexis no explanation, she found herself wanting to talk to the woman. Probably because Alexis had worked with Trace outside this sheltered tented event world and knew a side of him that Chrissie had never seen.
“We met four years ago at this event,” she said. “I haven’t seen or heard from him since. If anything, he’s only gotten sexier with age, and I’m not blind.”
“Neither is he. I’ve never known him to be so taken with someone.”
“He didn’t date when y’all worked together?”
“Oh, he dated, but I never saw him look at any of them, or me, the way he looks at you.”