Cedar Bluff's Most Eligible Bachelor (Cedar Bluff Hospital) (8 page)

The sun was warm on her skin, and the light breeze coming off the lake felt refreshingly wonderful. She loved the rhythmic sounds of the waves crashing over the rocky shore.

“I’m so glad we came,” she said, pausing for a moment to tuck her hair behind her ears to keep it out of her eyes. “I didn’t realize how much I needed to get out of that stuffy apartment.”

“I’m glad we came too,” Simon murmured. He walked slowly alongside her, keeping pace with her awkward gait, his hand resting lightly on the small of her back.

She imagined that anyone watching them would think they were a couple. The thought caused a tingle of awareness. She glanced around, thinking it was a good thing the lakefront was deserted on a Tuesday in the middle of the day.

“Hailey, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

She glanced at him in surprise. “Of course not.”

“The day we took care of that young seventeen-year-old motor vehicle crash victim, you seemed to take his death pretty hard. Was that because he reminded you of your fiancé, Andrew?”

They’d reached the lakeshore so she stopped, staring out at the rippling water for a moment. “Yes.”

“Because he died in a car crash too?” Simon asked persistently.

“Yes.” She turned toward Simon, suddenly tempted to tell him the truth. All of the truth.

Even the parts she’d never told anyone.

But the words stuck in her throat.

“Is that why you don’t drive a car?” he asked. “I mean, I had this brilliant idea to offer to share my car with you, but even if I did, you wouldn’t drive it, would you?”

Obviously, he had all the answers, so why bother with the questions? She blew out a breath, amazed that he’d nailed the truth. She’d already told him about Andrew so it wasn’t much of a stretch to put two and two together and come up with four. “No, I wouldn’t,” she finally admitted. “But thanks for the kind offer.”

“Why not? You seemed fine riding as a passenger. Why not drive a car?”

“I can’t,” she said helplessly, avoiding his gaze. “I don’t enjoy riding in a car as a passenger, either. But the reason I go everywhere on my bike is because I haven’t driven a car since the accident. Because I was driving that night. The crash—Andrew’s death—was my fault.”

“Hailey,” he murmured, and suddenly he took one of her crutches out of the way so he could pull her into his arms. His musky scent intermingled with the fresh air coming off the lake. “No, don’t say that. Sometimes things happen. Like you and me colliding in the rain. Didn’t you tell me that hitting you wasn’t my fault? It’s the same thing.”

No, it wasn’t. He didn’t know the whole story. How she’d insisted on driving that night because Andrew had had a few drinks. They’d argued, heatedly. And in the end her decision had cost him his life. If she’d let him drive, she would have been in the passenger seat.

She didn’t want to relive the painful memories. She could feel Simon’s intent gaze. It was tempting, so tempting to hide her face in the hollow of his shoulder. To simply give herself over to his warm embrace.

Gathering her courage, she forced herself to meet his compassionate chocolate-brown gaze.

But before she could say anything to make him understand, she was distracted by his mouth, dangerously close to hers. And whatever thought she was about to voice flew right out of her head.

She must have been a little too obvious because he murmured her name again, almost like a plea, before his mouth came down to capture hers.

T
HE
urgency of Hailey’s response, the way her lips parted invitingly, made it impossible for Simon to pull away. Instead, he broke every one of his rules by deepening the kiss.

He wanted her. More than he could ever remember wanting anyone else. Her taste was like a drug and he was willing to suffer any consequences in order to have more. In some distant part of his mind he remembered to be careful of her broken leg, although he crushed her close, enjoying the way her soft curves pressed against him.

She fitted in his arms perfectly.

Reluctantly, he broke off the kiss when he heard a dog walker approaching. They were standing right in the middle of the narrow path so they needed to get out of the way. He steadied Hailey with one hand and bent over to pick up her discarded crutches from the ground.

Hailey gripped his arm like it was a lifeline, balancing her weight on her good leg. The dazed expression in her eyes only made him want to kiss her again.

How would she look if they made love?

His pulse skyrocketed at the mere thought. He pulled himself together with an effort, ignoring his body’s physical response. Even this kiss shouldn’t have happened.

He couldn’t take things between them any further. Giving in to his libido had cost him more than he could bear with Erica.

“Sorry about that,” Simon murmured, tucking each of her crutches beneath her arms.

She grasped the handles of the crutches and moved out of the walker’s way. She looked up at him, her expression uncertain. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re apologising for,” she said.

He swallowed a curse. This wasn’t Hailey’s fault. It was his. He didn’t know what in the hell he’d been thinking to kiss her like that. And no matter how much he wanted to avoid the topic, Hailey deserved the truth. “I—uh—shouldn’t have kissed you.”

Her gaze dropped to the ground. “I see.” Without saying anything more, she pivoted and continued walking down the path toward the lakefront.

Dammit. Now he’d made her feel bad. He quickened his pace to catch up to her. “Hailey, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. You already said that.” Her clipped tone and hurried pace were the only outward signs of her anger.

“Let me explain, please?” She was crutch-walking at a fast pace and he had to lengthen his stride to keep up with her. “It’s not that I didn’t want to kiss you—” he began.

“Don’t.” Her sharp tone interrupted him. “Don’t bother giving me the
it’s not you, it’s me
speech, okay? I get it. I already heard from Rachel how you have a rule about not dating women you work with.”

He couldn’t completely hide his surprise. “She told you?”

She flashed him a disgusted look. “Yes, she told me. And, really, it’s no big deal. We’ll just forget that this—uh—interlude ever happened.” She grimaced and kept her gaze purposely away from his.

Forget about their kiss? Not bloody likely.

Although maybe she wasn’t as affected by what had happened as he was. The thought was sobering.

He sighed, and found himself wanting to explain. He’d never told anyone about Erica. He’d been too embarrassed to admit how far over the top she’d gone.

And the role he’d played in the fallout. The memory still tortured him.

No, he couldn’t tell her everything. Not his deepest, darkest secret. But he had to tell her something.

“It’s not a bad rule,” he muttered defensively. “If you date people you work with and then something doesn’t work out, it’s a mess. Everyone ends up affected, not just the people who were in the relationship.”

She stopped so abruptly he almost knocked into her. She swung around to pierce him with her direct gaze. “Is that what happened to you?”

The fiasco with Erica was so much more than that, but it was easier just to nod. “Yeah. And it was bad. So I made up my mind not to repeat that mistake ever again.”

She continued to stare at him for several long seconds. “You’re right,” she agreed softly. “It’s not a bad rule.”

His mouth dropped open in surprise, and disappointment stabbed deep. For a ridiculous moment he wanted her to argue with him, to reassure him that things between them could work out. That even if their relationship didn’t last, they’d always be professional enough to work together without dragging their personal lives into the mix.

What a load of rubbish. He really had it bad to even attempt to rationalize this.

Hailey resumed walking and he followed more slowly, scrubbing his hand over his face, knowing he should be glad she wasn’t making this difficult for him.

Yet irrationally annoyed that she could drop what had just transpired between them so easily.

When they reached the lakefront, Hailey stopped and gazed silently out at the rhythmically rolling waves. For several long moments neither of them said anything.

“Thanks for bringing me out here, Simon,” she finally said. When she turned to face him, her earlier irritation seemed to have vanished. “I…really hope we can remain friends.”

Friends? Was she kidding? The urge to sweep her into his arms again, to kiss her senseless, was overwhelming. Every cell in his body protested the idea of simply being friends.

But he forced himself to nod. “Of course, Hailey. I value you as a friend.”

Relief flooded her gaze. “I’m glad. Now that we have that settled, do you mind if I sit on one of these rocks to rest a minute? I’m exhausted.”

Without waiting for a response, she made her way over to a large, flat rock.

And despite knowing she was right, he couldn’t ignore the devastating sense that he’d just lost something precious.

Hailey kept up the pretense of being Simon’s friend throughout the events of the day—the trip to the library, where she discovered they had identical taste in fiction, to the video store, where she discovered they had completely opposite tastes in movies, and throughout the impromptu dinner at a small Italian restaurant that seemed a little too cozy and romantic to be just a dinner for two friends.

Not until Simon had dropped her off at home did she collapse onto the sofa and close her eyes in despair.

There was no way in the world she could do this again. Pretending to be just friends with Simon was too difficult.

And painful.

Despite her exhaustion, images of their day together continued to flash in her mind, like a slide show. Simon intensely discussing the latest novel he was reading. His grimace when she’d picked out a couple of romantic comedies from the video store. The blatant desire in his eyes after he’d kissed her.

She did her best to block them out, especially that last image, but when she opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling she felt like crying.

Maybe she didn’t deserve happiness. After Andrew’s death she’d truly believed she’d suffer for ever. She had punished herself for what she believed had been her fault.

But then she had learned that life really did move on. And the bouts of self-pity came less and less frequently. She’d even found herself laughing on occasion.

For a few minutes there on the path, when Simon had kissed her, she’d begun to believe she might be ready for another relationship.

Only to have that hope brutally squashed.

Okay, enough self-pity, she told herself sternly. One kiss did not a relationship make.

The fact that she’d responded to Simon at all was good news. If she was attracted to Simon, surely she could be attracted to someone else?

Of course she could.

The role she’d played in Andrew’s death had changed her. But maybe she’d been changed for the better?

Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself upright, groaning under her breath as her aching muscles protested painfully.

No matter how sore she was from being out all day, she refused to regret one moment. At least in Simon’s arms she’d felt truly alive.

The next two days were excruciatingly long and boring for Hailey. Despite the books she’d picked up at the library and the movies she’d watched with Rachel, the two days seemed like a lifetime.

How she’d get through two full weeks, she wasn’t sure.

On the third day her cell phone rang and her heart irrationally leaped in her chest as she grabbed the phone, peering at the screen.

Her hope deflated. Not Simon.

Her boss. She forced a cheerfulness she didn’t feel into her tone. “Hi, Theresa. Did you get my leave-of-absence paperwork?”

“Ah, yes, I did.” Theresa cleared her throat on the other end of the line. “But, Hailey, I’m afraid I have some bad news. I don’t think your leave of absence will be approved because you’ve only been working here two months. Normally, you have to be working for a full twelve months in order to get approved for a leave of absence.”

She sank into her kitchen chair, her crutches dropping to the floor with a crash. It took a few minutes to find her voice. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Theresa admitted. “I’m waiting to hear back from Human Resources. The good news is that your health insurance will cover the costs of your treatment for the accident. But normally we have a return-to-work program for staff on medical leave so they can do light-duty functions, and I’m afraid you won’t qualify.”

“Does that mean I have to leave?” Ironically, the first thought that entered her mind was that if she was forced to quit her job, she wouldn’t be Simon’s coworker any more. His rule wouldn’t apply.

But on the heels of that, practical logic kicked in. When the full realization hit, her stomach sank.

“No, you don’t have to quit. But you won’t get any payment for being off work either.”

No payments. And no way to return to work for the full time her leg was in a cast? “Theresa, please, isn’t there some way I can qualify for returning to work on light duty? I need to be able to pay my rent. I’d be willing to do anything—paperwork, or even a triage nurse…”

“No, not as a triage nurse,” Theresa said firmly. “Hailey, you can’t be on crutches and take care of patients. If a patient’s condition suddenly deteriorated, you’d need to be able to respond immediately. And if you hurt yourself in the process, we’d be responsible from a worker’s compensation perspective.”

She couldn’t argue against her boss’s logic. “Okay, paper work, then. I can’t be hurt doing paperwork. I could do chart reviews. The schedule. I’ll be your assistant. I’ll function as a unit clerk. Anything you want me to do.” She halted, realizing she was close to begging.

“I’ll see what I can work out with Human Resources,” Theresa hedged. “We have work you can do, but the problem is that you don’t qualify for the program because you haven’t been here long enough.”

Hailey swallowed hard. “Is there anything I can do to help plead my case?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Theresa promised. “Maybe if I explain how we badly we need some chart audits done before our joint commission visit, they’ll give in.”

Hope flared. “I can do chart audits,” she quickly interjected. “You tell me when and where. I’ll do a hundred chart audits.”

“I need to get approval from the vice president of Human Resources first,” Theresa cautioned. “But I’ll ask and let you know, okay?”

“Today?” She grimaced at her pathetically hopeful tone.

“Soon,” Theresa promised. “Give me a day or two, all right?”

“All right. Thanks, Theresa.” Hailey snapped her phone shut and tried to quell her rising panic.

Surely they’d let her do something. Wouldn’t they?

She buried her face in her hands and battled the irrational urge to call Simon. She hadn’t seen or spoken to him since the day of their kiss. The day she’d pretended to feel nothing but friendship toward him.

No, she couldn’t call him.

She tried Rachel, and ended up leaving a message. Maybe she could help sway Theresa, as Rachel had worked here in Cedar Bluff for a few years.

Of course, Simon might be willing to put a good word in for her, too.

Maybe.

She tried to lose herself in a book, but after reading the same few pages several times she gave up.

Instead, she decided to balance her checkbook. She had a banking program on her computer, so she turned on her laptop and went meticulously through her financial situation.

The news was grim. She would only be able to hold onto her apartment for another six weeks without a paycheck and the rent was due in two weeks.

This time, when her cell phone rang, she held her breath and closed her eyes as she answered it, hoping Theresa wasn’t calling with bad news.

“Hi, Hailey, how are you?” The deep voice was Simon’s. She was so surprised she didn’t answer immediately.

“I’m okay.” She mentally winced at her lackluster response. She tried to brighten her tone. “How are you? Busy at work?”

“What’s wrong?” Simon asked. “You sound upset.”

So much for her attempt to sound cheerful. Since she was feeling desperate, she put her pride aside. “I am upset. Apparently the hospital won’t approve my leave of absence because I haven’t worked there for a full year. My boss told me I don’t qualify for the return to work light-duty program.”

“What? That’s ridiculous.” Simon’s outrage on her behalf made her smile. “So what if you haven’t been here a year? There are plenty of things to do. In fact, I need help with some quality reviews. I’m going to talk to Theresa.”

“Really?” She couldn’t hide her flash of excitement. “Oh, Simon, it would be great if I could help out. Even part-time hours. Anything.”

“I’ll call you right back.”

Simon didn’t call right back, and in the hour that passed she convinced herself he’d been unable to plead her case. A good hour later, Theresa called.

“Hailey? I managed to convince Human Resources to cut you a break and bend our policy. You’re approved for light-duty work but only part-time hours. You’ll do chart audits for us and quality review cases for Simon Carter. Do you think you can start with a few hours this afternoon?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Absolutely! Thank you, Theresa. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“All right, be here about one o’clock and we’ll go over what needs to be done.”