I snapped my head up. “Oh, sorry ... I didn’t hear you.”
The circulating nurse was standing right over me. “I could tell. You looked a million miles away. Dr. Colton said you should pick out the music ... and just so ya know, happy to have you back. It’s been real quiet since you switched services.”
“Really?” I smiled and walked over to turn on the iPod.
“Doll!” Guy called out, sounding genuinely happy to see me. He finished donning his gloves and did that spinny thing with the scrub nurse. Somehow it tied the gown up, but it looked more like a cheesy dance move.
“Hey Guy,” I said, relieved there was nothing awkward lingering between us. It was starting to feel like old times. Jack backed through the door at the same time.
“No wonder Colton’s in a great mood.” Guy approached the head of the table and started prepping the patient’s freshly shaved head. “Missed you on our service this month, doll.”
Damn mask, it was a crime to hide those dimples.
“Ditto, Kiddo.”
“Hey, Jack.” I chuckled at his stupid humor. I missed the boys. Too bad Sam had the day off. Hopefully catering to his pregnant wife.
“What do you think the chances are I can talk her into permanently joining my team?” Chase’s voice was matter of fact, his usual professional self, but his eyes kissed mine from across the room. Talk about a one eighty from the last time I sat in his OR hoping no one caught on to what was between us. There was not a scrub mask big enough to hide what I felt for this man. Bring on the eye kisses.
Jackson pelted Chase with a dude-are-you-high look. “No offense, Colton, but fat chance.” Only he could get away with that.
Guy seconded the notion. “Yeah, Colton, good luck with that.”
“Hmmm, we’ll see.”
I loved Chase’s confident resolve, but I agreed with the boys. Fat chance. His seductive wink told me he knew it, too. Couldn’t blame the man for trying though. Then just like that Chase was all business, head down with those brilliant focused eyes. Dr. Intensity commanded the room.
“Okay, let’s get started.”
The case went smooth as butter. It was amazing to see how the three of them had morphed into a well-oiled machine over the past two months, reading each other’s moves and anticipating every step. Chase would never admit it, but he was seriously unhappy about losing Guy next rotation. On more than one occasion he slipped about what an asset Guy had been and how impressed he was with his surgical skill. Guy was definitely getting a kickass recommendation for his neurosurgery fellowship. I’d make sure of it.
I handled my part like a pro; I was proud of myself. Mid-case, anesthesia briefly woke the patient up so they could do their brain mapping/tumor removing business, while I kept him calm and talking. He was a forty-five year old father of two, ironically from Massachusetts and had the coolest job. Lobster fisherman. I quietly gushed that I’d probably be spending a good amount of time at the Cape next summer, and he promised to hook me up if he made it out of this surgery in one piece. Needless to say, lobsters were in my future. Even before anesthesia put him back to sleep, the surgical team agreed the procedure was a success. No surprise there, Chase had it covered.
Oddly enough, I liked the operating room. Not enough to commit to the neuro service and abandon pediatrics, but enough that I could skip the nervous stomach routine next time the rotation rolled back in my direction. Good thing too, since Chase wasn’t kidding about making up for lost girl coffees. And my delivery girl made sure to leave her cell number, on the off chance I ever wanted a little breakfast with my morning latte. There were worse ways to wake up; a monotone traffic report was one of them. Thankfully, we were past that. In any case, as much as I loved Chase and trusted him with my deepest and darkest secrets—hell, make that with my life—I’d rather skip the “Don’t waste your money on coffee delivery this week because I’m having a bout of irritable bowel” conversation. Yep, could definitely skip that conversation.
“We’re just about done here. Blue, why don’t you get going? Go get your dad and Sharon to the airport.”
“You sure?” Not like I was doing anything at this point other than listening to Guy and Jackson bullshit while they closed. Still not sure what “closing” entailed exactly, but it always seemed to take forever. Then again, a poor man’s skull was just sawed open. Taking time closing it back up sounded like a solid idea. But I still felt guilty cutting out early.
“Go, we got this.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. If I hurried, I could spend an extra hour with my dad before he and Sharon took off. I was biting at the bit to share my crazy news from last night. Although I wasn’t quite sure how my dad would respond to that conversation. Um, Dad, Chase bought me a mini-beach mansion, and we’re probably going to get married there. Isn’t that amazing? Yeah, I needed to work on my delivery a little more before I picked them up for the airport. Good thing Chase dazzled them this weekend. And not with his money.
I said a quick goodbye to the room and made my way out to wash my hands at the tiny scrub sink area. This operating room had no windows, so I couldn’t see back in, but I heard Chase mumble something about being right back. I smirked. Ten seconds later, warm arms wrapped around my waist as Chase nuzzled deep into my neck.
Mmmm. He smelled crisp, all man. “H-e-y ... you just wasted a surgical gown. They cost a fortune you know.” I giggled. Like I cared about a wasted gown. All I cared about at this very moment were the warm lips brushing against my neck, igniting my fire. Pure heaven.
“Fuck it, I’ll buy the hospital a year’s worth of gowns.” Huh. He probably would. “One more kiss, baby.” Kiss. “Drive safe.” Kiss. “I’ll call when I’m done here.” Kiss. “I love you.”
My lips were suddenly jealous of my neck, so I turned and snaked my arms around him. He was so much bigger than me, but we fit perfectly. “Love you too.” Kiss. “See you later.” Kiss.
His hands automatically found a comfortable resting spot on my ass. I squealed. Not an attractive sound, but it slipped out. “I’m going to be late if I don’t leave soon. I have to stop back at my office first.”
“I just love this ass.”
“It’s all yours ... but later!” I gripped his chiseled cheeks and gave him one last hard kiss. And with that I turned and wiggled my ass all the way down the long corridor. Leanne would have been so proud. Chase chuckled. Best sound ever.
I pit stopped by the recovery room to say a quick hello to Kate. I felt bad she missed my birthday party. She never gave Chase a reason for bailing last minute, but it had to be CJ bullshit, I was sure. She looked awful, like she hadn’t slept all night. And if I had a minute to spare, I would have tried harder to get her to talk to me, but now I really, really had to go. Like now. I gave her a super tight hug and she finally cracked. “I’m sorry, Lil, it’s so screwed up. Can we talk later?”
Damn that sounded cryptic, but then again her whole relationship with the loser was cryptic. Kate needed a LiliSierra-vention stat. Maybe she finally had enough. Good for her, she was too amazing to waste another minute. She deserved her Chase.
I did a quick change out of my (yes, I was still wearing them) hideous brown scrubs and crocs (yes, I caved and got a pair) and back into my solid black pencil skirt (yep, still wearing that too) and heels (ok, those were new).
The elevator was up on eleven. Push. Push. Push. Evidently pushing the button repeatedly didn’t affect the speed of anything. My dad hadn’t called or texted yet. He obviously wasn’t as stressed about missing his flight as I was. Anyway, what was the worst that could happen? They’d miss their flight and have to take the next one, giving us a little extra time together. Time I could use to share my big news. The love of my life wants to marry me ... at our beach house. The more I said it, the less crazy it sounded. Dr. Crazy!