‘So they know.’
‘Yep. The place was buzzing with that particular gem that first day. Before you’d even left after the accident.’
‘Of course it was.’
‘I also heard that you’ve been in regularly to check on the older man. Speculation is rife, of course, but I haven’t even told them that you were his bodyguard.’
‘Who said I was his bodyguard?’
‘You were literally guarding that door when I first met you, you look like a bodyguard and... I saw the exit wound on your shoulder.’
‘Very astute.’
T
here was no need for that passing comment to make her feel quite so proud. But it did.
‘Not that I’ve told anyone, of course,’ she added quickly. ‘It’s nobody else’s business.’
He eyed her for a moment.
‘I think I believe you. Anyway, I thought maybe you could give me the low-down on the ER department from a colleague’s point of view. Who makes the best ally, and who do I look out for?’
It was a deft conversation redirection, and one that had her stomach doing that strange jig thing it seemed to have taken up. He wasn’t about to confide in her, understandably, but he wasn’t exactly dismissing her either.
‘As in female attention? Dating?’
He looked vaguely amused.
‘More like, who is professionally territorial? I’m not afraid of stepping on people’s toes if it’s in the patient’s best interests, but I like to avoid unnecessary conflict wherever possible.’
‘Oh. Of course.’
Her cheeks flushed. Again.
‘My life is centred around my son right now,’ he added. ‘I don’t have time for dating.’
‘Hence the wedding band. There hasn’t been anyone?’
He didn’t exactly shrug; his tone achieved that for him.
‘A couple of hook-ups. But nothing serious. You’re the first person who has even met Jamie.’
He didn’t mean it that way, she knew that, but it didn’t stop the heat from radiating in her chest. And then lower. Hotter.
‘I guess they haven’t had Doc Terrence to return,’ she joked weakly, and pretended that a part of her didn’t want him to say that it was more than that.
‘Indeed,’ he answered instead.
Which told her absolutely nothing. Or nothing that she foolishly wanted to hear, anyway.
‘His grandparents will be pleased. I think they were beside themselves the first night.’
‘Jamie stayed with them?’ She didn’t know why she was surprised, it wasn’t as though she knew anything about Logan, or Jamie, or their lives.
‘He’s spent most of his life practically living with them, I was away so much. And with the shifts I’ll be working, they’ll still be taking him a few times a week. It makes sense to keep him comfortable going between them and me.’
‘Keeps some consistency for him.’ Kat nodded, understanding it only too well.