Page 28 of Starting Back
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table as she held my gaze.
“I can honestly tell you, I have no clue about anything at all from where I’m sitting right now. But oddly enough, the one thing I am sure of is wanting to be here with you.”
“Good vacation, then?” I asked, a smile pulling at my lips despite the ache in my chest.
“Leo, this has been one of the best, and one of the strangest, trips of my life so far.” She sat back, squinting at me. “So you’re a firefighter, but are you like a captain or lieutenant or something?”
“Nicole didn’t find that out for you?” I teased. “Lieutenant.”
“Oh, wow. No, she didn’t tell me your job title, but I haven’t looked at my phone since the beach. That’s impressive.”
“And I just got my RN degree last year.”
She squinted at me over her water glass.
“When did you have time for that?”
“It took me a while. On days off from the station, I’d go to class and whatever clinical hours I had to make.”
“Are you switching jobs?”
“No. I was trained as an EMT when I first joined the fire department and was thinking about doing that full time, but I like helping at the scene and after, if that makes sense.”
I’d often wondered what the crash scene had looked like when my parents died, but I was too young to be told any details. I wanted to believe that emergency services and the doctors at the hospital did all they could, but that was always in the back of my mind on any call—to do better and save everyone.
“I can find a per diem nursing job and split my time between that and the fire department, which I’ll eventually do.”
“I think that’s awesome. A good friend of mine is an ER nurse, and he always said that it’s the hardest yet best job there is. It doesn’t surprise me that you want to help as many people as you can. As I keep saying, I haven’t known you for very long, but I can see that pretty clearly with you.”
“Thanks, and since I didn’t get a chance to Google your job, what do you do?”
“I’m a vascular technician. I work at a doctor’s office doing scans, and one or two days per month on call at the hospital. I can be home for the girls at night and feed them at a reasonable hour. Not as cool as your job, orjobs.”
My stomach fluttered when we shared a smile, and I got lost in those damn green eyes again.
“Hey, you have an important job. I bet you’re great at it too.”
“What about me says that I’m great at giving ultrasounds?” She narrowed her eyes.
“You’re sweet and soothing. Direct but gentle hands.”
She laughed before giving me a slow nod. “Direct, gentle hands. First I’ve heard that one.”
“You’re smart.” I shrugged. “And since I’ve met you, you’ve been direct with me.”
“Yeah,” she said, scrunching her nose at me and bobbing her head in a slow nod. “Direct around the foot in my mouth.”
“You’re honest. Genuine. You draw people in. At least that’s what I’m blaming for not being able to stay away from you since the bar.”
A shy smile tilted her mouth.
“Well, thank you. That’s actually very sweet.”
“It’s the truth. Why I’m sure you put a lot of nervous patients at ease.” I reached over and slid my palm against hers. “Easy touch, smooth skin, soft lips.”
Her hand stilled against mine as her grin shrank.
“I don’t think my lips have anything to do with how well I can perform ultrasounds.”
