Dr. Daddy's Virgin

"And you wonder why you're still single." I laughed, shaking my head. I left the flowers in the engine, knowing we'd probably be stopping by the hospital at some point, and helped Mike do an equipment check that took the rest of the afternoon.

"New girl, eh?" Mike asked after I'd tucked the box under the seat.

"Yeah, well, she's nice," I said, trying not to let on how much I liked Alex.

"Hey, you know it's okay if you fall for someone else, don't you?" he asked as he pulled out the checklist and began reading from it as I checked the supplies and gear. "No one would think any less of you if you fell for someone. It doesn't take anything away from what you had with Quinn."

I was quiet as he spoke. None of the guys had ever talked to me about the fire or losing Quinn because I'd shut it all down. There was no room for anyone to ask me anything aside from whether I was okay or not, and I hadn't wanted to talk to any of them about it once I'd returned to work.

"It's just..." I began, not knowing how to talk about this. It had been ten years that I'd kept the feelings bottled up, and in that time, I hadn't met anyone who I'd wanted to open up to. Sure, I'd slept with a handful of women on the nights when getting my physical needs met outweighed the feelings of guilt that would flood over me the next morning, but I hadn't fallen for a single one of them. "She's different."

"I can tell," Mike said as he focused on the list. "And that's okay, Cam. The guys from opposite shift said she’s cool. You should bring her around the station sometime and introduce her to the people you work with."

"I don't know..." I said, trailing off.

"Does she know about Quinn?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, I think that's why I'm so drawn to her," I said. "It's like she doesn't dwell on the sadness, but she doesn't want to force me to put it all behind me and forget."

"Oh, she's a keeper, man." Mike nodded. "Grab her and hang on with everything you've got."

"Yeah," I murmured. "Yeah."

We finished the equipment check as the guys were staring dinner, so I jumped in and cut up vegetables for the salad. Victor had returned and was studiously ignoring me from the other side of the room. Danny shot me a questioning look, and I simply shrugged and said, "No idea."

#

We didn't go out again for the rest of the night, so the next morning I drove to the hospital before going home. I knew that Alex had worked the night shift because she'd told me that she'd volunteered to help out in exchange for additional internship hours.

"Be a good girl for ten minutes," I said to Tesla, who tipped her head and woofed softly as I grabbed the flowers from the backseat. "I'll be right back."

The ER was quiet, but I didn't see Alex anywhere. The charge nurse looked up when I walked in and smiled.

"You looking for a patient?" she asked.

"No, actually, I'm looking for Alex Pierce," I said. "She's a nursing student, an intern?"

"Oh, I know Alex." She smiled as she picked up the phone and called for Alex over the intercom. "Hold on, she's around her somewhere."

I nodded as I stepped out of the way and waited. A few moments later, Alex came striding down the hall carrying a laundry basket full of towels and linen. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and she looked much younger than her twenty-four years. She was singing something under her breath as she did a little dance step with the laundry, but when she saw me standing there, she stopped and blushed bright red.

"Don't stop." I smiled as I walked toward her holding out the box. "Just switch with me."

"Cam, what are you doing here?" she asked as her eyes moved from my face to the gold box I held out.

"I wanted to bring these to you last night, but just my luck we didn't have any calls," I said as she set the basket down and took the box. I grabbed the basket and followed her to the nurses’ station where she set the box down and opened it.

"Oh, Cam!" she gasped as she saw the roses. "These are beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like them." I smiled. "I was wondering if you'd have time to grab some breakfast with me or maybe dinner tonight is better?"

"I'd love to have dinner with you," she said as she ran her fingers over the soft petals, and I felt myself responding knowing all too well how her fingers felt on my skin.

”I'll pick you up at seven. Dress up, we're going somewhere fancy!" I said.

"Cam! You don't have to do that to impress me, you know," she said. "I like you just fine."

"I know, but I want to take you somewhere special tonight," I said as she tucked the tissue back into the box and put the lid on. Then quickly changing the subject before I got too carried away, I asked, "Do you need a ride home this morning?"