King Me (King Me Duet 1)

“You can leave it here. It’s unlikely we won’t have multiple emergency flights coming in or out, but I have your information if we need you to move it.”

I didn’t argue as it was clear they didn’t want me to know where in the hospital Royce was being taken. She gave me directions to the cafeteria and I nodded.

That wasn’t where I went. I took a chance and headed to the maternity ward. I tried to stop a few nurses I passed, and they pointed toward a central desk.

A nurse with dark red curls looked up and grinned at me. “How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Please tell me it’s your sister giving birth and not your wife or girlfriend.”

I chuckled. “Actually, I’m looking for a nurse named Natalie Peterson.”

Her face soured. “Oh. I think she’s busy right now.”

“She’s with a patient?”

“Actually, she’s on break.” I didn’t like what she was insinuating, though I had no right to that feeling. “I have a break soon, handsome.”

Before I could answer, I heard Natalie’s giggle before I saw her. She wasn’t alone. She was with a doctor or a man who wore a white lab coat.

Our eyes connected and she stumbled. The man she was with was there to give her a helping hand. I fisted a hand at my side as the nurse I’d been talking to said, “There she is. She’s still with Dr. Love, I see.”

Natalie had mentioned that she thought a doctor was into her. Instead of coming alone, as she made her way in my direction, Dr. Love, as the nurse had called him, followed, having spotted me.

He was staking a claim. He didn’t stand a chance if I didn’t want him to.

Fifteen

Natalie

There hadn’t been enough time to grab anything more than a yogurt during my morning break. There was one nurse who had it out for me for reasons unknown and kept assigning me task after task. I’d barely had time to breathe.

Before I entered a doorway to find a quiet place to eat, one of the nicer nurses stopped me. “Ignore Nurse Ratched.”

I burst into muffled laughter. She didn’t need to clarify who she was talking about. “Is that her name?”

“No, but that’s what we call her. Anyway, she’s just jealous. Don’t let her get to you.”

So far, I hadn’t. Fetch this and clean that was a part of my job. “Thanks.”

She nodded and kept walking down the hall. I slipped into a storeroom that Ms. Allen had tipped me as a place to grab a short bit of privacy that I was standing next to. I huddled in what amounted to the size of a cleaning closet with supplies on shelves all around me. There was a chair and a little more room for another person if you wanted to have a quick conversation that had nothing to do with work. I sat and ate my yogurt blissfully alone.

The door opened and the hot doctor all the nurses were talking about came in. “Oh. Sorry. I thought I’d eat a granola bar while I had a few seconds.”

“Yeah, no problem. You can stay. I’ll only be in here another few minutes.”

As good looking as the man was, my crush on Liam had only grown after our conversations and our sightseeing adventure.

“Natalie.” I shifted to face him. “Your name is Natalie, right?”

I nodded with a spoon full of yogurt in my mouth.

“I’m actually glad I ran into you. I wanted to see if you’d join me for dinner one night.”

My first thought was to say no, but I stopped myself. Why was I really saying no? Because I liked a guy who’d made it clear we could only ever be friends? I had to let go of the lunacy. Who knows? I could end up liking this doctor more than Liam if I gave him a chance.

“I’d like that,” I said when my phone alarm buzzed. “I should get back.”

I got up and shoved the last spoonful of yogurt in my mouth. I’d been so hungry; I practically licked the spoon clean before dumping both in the trash. The doctor was right behind me and I didn’t notice him follow me out until he was at my side.

“I’m Brian Love, by the way.”

I grinned and maybe even giggled. ‘Yes, I’m well aware of your name.” The other nurses had told me when I first started.

“I hope you heard good things,” he teased.

“I think you know every nurse in the ward has the hots for you.”

“Actually, I don’t. I’m pretty sure Mildred has been married fifty years and loves her husband very much.”

An undignified snort left me, and I covered my mouth, but it didn’t hide my laughter. When I looked around to see who had heard, I locked eyes with Liam. What was he doing here?