Madi nudged her leg and gave a little whine.
Grateful for a reason to leave her thoughts behind, Harriet stood up. “She wants to go out. I’ll take her for a walk.”
“Now?” He glanced at his phone. “It’s late. I’ll come with you.”
“No need.” She already had Madi in her coat and was grabbing her backpack.
“You’re not walking the streets of Manhattan by yourself at this time.” He retrieved his coat from the back of his chair. His movements were slow and controlled, the way they’d been in the emergency room that day. As if he knew that haste was achieved by thoughtful strategy and not by panic.
She couldn’t imagine Ethan panicking. She couldn’t imagine him lying about who he was, or what he did. Or spending a whole evening talking about himself. He wasn’t the sort who would fill a silence with words for the sake of it.
He was the sort who would take care of his sister’s dog even though it meant turning his own life upside down.
That was the part that turned her heart upside down.
That was the part that made him dangerous.
“It’s not that late. And I do it all the time. It’s my job.”
“You don’t want my company?”
She wanted his company very much. That was the problem. “If you’re going to come with me, you might as well have walked Madi yourself. You don’t need me.”
“I need you.” His gaze held hers and for a crazy moment she felt a rush of awareness she couldn’t remember ever feeling before.
Ethan Black needed her.
Then she remembered he needed her for her canine skills. Not for anything else.
“You don’t need me.”
He glanced at Madi. “You only have to look at how calm and well behaved she is to understand how much I need you. In this situation, you’re the team leader.”
“Excuse me?”
“In the emergency room, we have a trauma team leader. Someone who calls the shots during resuscitation. The team leader decides on the priorities, and the timing and sequence of investigations so everyone is clear what they’re doing. They’re not involved in the actually clinical procedures—their job is to stand back and make the decisions.”
“You’re the leader?”
“Yes, because that’s my role. My area of expertise. Dogs fall outside my area of expertise.”
She had no problem imagining him as the leader. He had a calm air of authority that would no doubt translate into calm in an otherwise tense atmosphere. The confidence and presence that she found a little intimidating would be reassuring to an injured patient and a busy staff.
Harriet attached Madi’s lead. She couldn’t help wishing he needed her for more than her dog-walking skills. “I hardly think you can compare the skill and complexity of what you do in the emergency room, with what I’m doing here.”
“Skill is the ability to do something well. That usually involves two elements—training and practice. Being a doctor is all about training and practice. It’s not magic.”
She was sure there was a great deal more to it than he described, but she wasn’t about to argue because Madi was looking at her anxiously and she recognized that look.
“We need to get her outside now, or she’s going
to have an accident and that wouldn’t be good for your beautiful oak floor.” She crouched down and took Madi’s face in her hands. “We are going in the elevator and you are going to be a good girl. And if we meet Judy you are going to sit and not bark. Is that clear?”
Madi wagged her tail.
Harriet reached for her own coat but Ethan already had it in his hands.
He helped her on with it, and the old-fashioned gesture made her stomach flutter.