Nursing in Northlake (At the Altar Book 9) (4 page)

After the photographer had finished their wedding pictures, they went to dinner, and Heidi was amazed at the scenery from the top of Reunion Tower. "I assume you're moving in with me," he said.

Heidi shrugged. "My apartment probably isn't big enough for two. Where do you live?"

"Southlake," he said, naming a high dollar community north of Fort Worth. "You?"

"Roanoke. I wasn't sure what would happen, so I'll give notice to my landlords, and we can move me." She rubbed the back of her neck. She hadn't even started packing up, and the time that would take was not in her schedule.

"I'll hire movers to pack everything and move you."

"Really?" She was shocked he'd even offer. Doctors usually expected nurses to not mind grunt work. As soon as the thought flitted through her mind, she forced it away. He was a man this weekend, and she was a woman. There was no doctor/nurse relationship.

"Really. I know how busy you are. I'm happy to do anything I can to help you." He carefully navigated the busy highway toward his house as they talked.

"Thank you!" Heidi leaned her head back against the seat. The pretty pink dress she'd put on after the photos were taken was nice, but she was ready to be back in her jeans and T-shirt, or better yet, her scrubs. She would wear scrubs all the time if she thought she could get away with it.

"You're welcome." Slade carefully turned onto Hwy 114 to drive toward home. "Do you have everything you need for the weekend in your bag? Or should we stop by your house?"

"I have everything I need." She thought about the sexy little nightie her coworkers had gotten her and blushed.

"Good. I'm ready to be home."

"Who's on call for you this weekend?"

"I have a partner. We see each others’ patients on occasion, but not terribly often."

Heidi nodded. "Good. So no chance of you getting called out of bed in the middle of the night?"

"Not tonight or tomorrow night. After that, all bets are off. We try to go for our own patients when they're in labor, so there's really no time when I'm not on call."

"I understand. The DON and I share responsibilities. She takes one weekend and I take the next. During the week we switch off as much as possible. She has a couple of kids still at home, though, so I tend to take the brunt of the overtime when I can."

"Sounds like we're going to be two ships passing in the night."

"Might make getting along easier," she said with a grin.

"Probably. Absence makes the heart grow fonder—or at least gives you less time to hate each other."

Heidi laughed. "Yeah. That's kind of what I was thinking."

When they pulled up in front of his house, Heidi reached to the back for her bag and her dress. Slade put a hand on her arm. "You get the dress, and I'll get the bag."

"All right." Heidi was pleased to see he was so considerate of her. It surprised her.

He gave her a quick tour of the house, and she noted there were three bedrooms and a home office. If she ever got mad at him, she had somewhere to sleep. "You can make any changes you want. I'm not super particular when it comes to decorating."

Heidi nodded. "All right. I'll change a few things, but probably not a ton."

He took her to his bedroom last, waggling his eyebrows at her. "And this is where we're going to make magic happen."

"At least I know you know your way around a woman's body," she said with a grin.

Slade chuckled. "Better than most men for certain!"

"I'm going to take a nice, hot bubble bath before bed. I feel hot and sticky after the pictures. What was I thinking getting pictures like that taken in August in a park in Texas? I must have lost my mind!"

"You did! I wasn't going to say anything, though!" He nodded toward the bathroom. "You use the master bath. Bathtub is best in there. I'll go shower in one of the spare bathrooms."

While Heidi bathed, she couldn't help but think about the night she was about to have. Her wedding night, with a man who was almost a stranger, but who was very attractive. Too bad he was a doctor. She was going to make the most of it anyway. She knew it couldn't last, but she did want children. Why not get them while she could?

She shaved her legs carefully and finally got out of the tub, brushing her hair down around her shoulders. She put on the flimsy little nightgown her friends had insisted on and went back into the bedroom to find Slade sitting with his back propped against the headboard, reading a book. It looked like a spy-thriller type thing. Whatever. She wasn't all that worried about his reading habits at the moment.

She slipped into bed beside him, feeling suddenly shy—something that was very rare for her. "Do you like to read?" she asked softly, trying to take her mind off what was about to happen.

He finished his paragraph before putting a bookmark between the pages. "Yeah, I love to read. I just wish I had more time for it. When you're constantly exhausted from late-night deliveries, it's hard to care about what's happening in a book though."

"That's sad," Heidi said, but she certainly understood. She was always tired from work as well, and seemed to read less and less every year.

"I think so. Do you read?"

"Yeah. I do. Not a ton, but I love to read. Like you, I don't have as much time as I would like for anything but work." She rubbed the back of her neck.

Slade could tell she was nervous, so he didn't touch her yet, but instead turned to her on the bed. "What else does Heidi wish she had more time for?"

Heidi thought about it for a minute. "I like a lot of things. I love to dance, but I never have time—or a partner."

He smiled at that. "You have a partner now. I enjoy dancing a great deal."

"Really?"

He nodded. "I did a lot of country dancing when I was younger, and you should see me on a mechanical bull."

Heidi laughed. "A mechanical bull? Really?"

"Yup. On low speed, I can do all this standing stuff on the back of a mechanical bull. Honestly, it's how I worked my way through college."

"How did you do that?" she asked, shocked at the very idea.

Slade grinned. "Well, it started with my friends saying, 'I bet you can't stand on the back of that bull for one full rotation,' and they'd bet me twenty bucks or whatever. I'd go to the bar during the day between classes and practice. Then when they came up with this outrageous stuff, I could do it. And then we started talking to strangers, and they'd put up money saying I couldn't do stuff. It was silly, but I made enough to eat that way."

"I've never heard of such a thing. Are you pulling my leg?"

He shook his head. "No. I'll show you. Maybe we can try to do that next weekend. No promises, because I might get a call, but I'm always willing to at least try to do it!"

“It honestly sounds like fun.”

“Then we’ll do it. As soon as we can.”

“Do it? Don’t you have better words for the wedding night activities, Dr. Henderson?”

He laughed. “Oh, I do. I can give you a whole list if you want!”

She laughed, moving toward him on the bed. “Maybe you should show me instead.”

Chapter Four

Slade grinned at Heidi. “Feeling bold?”

She nodded. “I liked it when you kissed me, and if I’m going to forget you’re a you-know-what, you’ll have to kiss me more. Like, a lot more.”

He chuckled. “Thanks for trying to forget. Makes my life a bit easier.” He stroked his hands up and down her arms. “You know you could always kiss me.”

“I could. I might later. Now, you have to kiss me. It’s the natural order of things.”

“Why is that?” he asked.

“No idea.”

He sighed, pulling her closer to him by her arms. “I’ll do what you wish just this once. Don’t get used to it.”

“Oh, I definitely know better than expecting a you-know-what doing what a nurse says to do!”

He leaned down and kissed her softly, more to get her to shut up than anything else. As she molded her body to his, he deepened the kiss. His hands stroked over her back through the thin nightgown she wore.

When she’d first stepped into the room wearing that thing, it had been all he could do to act casual and keep his eyes on his book. He was almost afraid to let her see what he felt for her though, with her feelings about doctors coming into the mix.

Heidi sighed into his mouth, moving closer to him. She loved how his bare chest felt pressed against her breasts, and felt her nipples hardening into tiny points. Her hands roamed over his bare back and around to his shoulders and chest. His body was hard, and she was impressed. It had never occurred to her a doctor would be this fit. She’d noticed a home gym in one of the spare rooms, but had assumed he didn’t use it. She now knew she was wrong.

Slade’s hand moved to the hem of her nightgown, moving up under it to her waist, and then up further to tease her nipple with his fingers. She let out a slight moan at the feel of his fingers.

His lips left hers to kiss a trail down her neck and to her shoulder. “How would you feel about throwing this thing on the floor so I can feel all of you?”

Heidi pulled away, lifting the nightgown over her head and tossing it away. “That make you happy?”

His eyes were on her body. “Oh yeah. That makes me happy.”

“Wow. It’s like you’ve never seen a naked woman before.” She winked at him playfully.

He laughed, so pleased she could joke about his profession. “Oh, only once or twice.” He pulled her onto his lap astride him, and she gasped as she came into contact with his bare skin. She didn’t know why, but she’d assumed he was wearing something under the covers, but it was so obvious that he wasn’t. He pulled her forward so her breasts were flattened against his chest and his hands went to her bottom, moving her over him.

Heidi stared into his eyes as he slowly pressed into her. Her gasp of surprise caught him off guard. “Okay?” he whispered.

She nodded, closing her eyes and swallowing hard. “Feels good.”

Within moments, he was moving within her, his hands helping her to rise and fall over him. “Better than I’d dared hope,” he agreed.

When he felt her tighten around him, he was able to let himself go, and he gave a shout as he poured his seed into her. Never had he done that without a condom, and it felt so strange knowing he could make her pregnant. Knowing he
wanted
to make her pregnant.

They curled together afterward, her back to his front, his hands stroking her body, his lips whispering words of praise against her ear. “We’ll have to do this often,” he finally said.

She laughed. “From the sounds of our schedules, tomorrow night will be our last chance for several months.”

He grinned, biting her ear softly. “Oh, I think we can find the time and energy for this.”

She sighed contentedly, closing her eyes. It felt so good just to be held by him. It really was too bad he was a doctor and their marriage could never last.

*****

The next day was pure bliss in Heidi’s mind. They did little except lounge around the house and swim in his backyard. Slade grilled out for lunch, and she promised she’d take her turn cooking at dinner time. There were only a couple of calls to interrupt, the first from her mother, while they were lounging by the pool.

She sighed as she looked at the display. “It’s my mom. I’m sure she needs me to reassure her you didn’t kill me in my sleep.”

He grinned at her. “Tell her I’m really a vampire who transformed you, and now you glitter like the vampires in that stupid teenie-bopper movie series.”

Heidi poked him as she answered. “Hey, Mom.”

“Are you all right? I was hoping you’d call me this morning, and you didn’t!”

“Mom, I have a thirty-six-hour honeymoon. I’m not planning on spending a lot of time on the phone!”

“Well, you should take the time to reassure your mother! You married a total stranger yesterday!”

“He’s not a total stranger anymore, Mom. I’m fine. He’s fine. No one has killed anyone else.”

Her mother sighed. “Heidi, I had a right to be worried about you. You did something very foolhardy.”

“I know, Mom. I’m sorry.” Heidi rolled her eyes at Slade. “He’s a good man, though.” She almost told her mother their wedding night had been great, but she was sure her mom really didn’t want to hear that, and she really didn’t want to say it to her either. “Pass the word around I’m still alive so no one else feels the need to call me, would you?”

“Yes, I’ll let everyone know.”

“Bye, Mom. Love you.” Heidi ended the call, looking at Slade. “Thanks for not killing me on our wedding night.”

“Why would I break my new toy?”

She laughed. “I have no idea, but my mother was sure you would.”

“Not me! I’m not nearly done playing with it!”

His phone rang ten minutes later. “Now it’s
my
mom.”

Heidi laughed, shaking her head. How many well-meaning relatives could call them in an hour's time span?

“Hi, Mom. Yes, I’m still alive. She’s not a serial killer. She’s a nurse! Like you!” He paused for a moment. “Yeah, sure.” Holding out the phone to Heidi, he said, “She wants to meet you long distance.”

Heidi sat up straighter, though she wasn’t certain why. “Hello?”

A warm female voice came over the line. “Hello, my daughter!”

Heidi grinned. “I’m Heidi. You’re a nurse too?”

“I am! I work in a hospital. Oncology. You?”

“I’m an ADON in a nursing home.”

“Tough work. Slade did the smart thing and worked with new life.”

“He did.” Heidi couldn’t help but wonder what the woman wanted.

“I know you won’t be able to visit right away like Seth and Michelle did, so I thought I’d let you know that I would appreciate some grandbabies sooner rather than later.”

Heidi laughed. “I’ll tell Slade he needs to work on that!”

“Please do! I appreciate how reasonable you’re being about this. Do you want children, Heidi?”

“I do. That’s why I went to see a matchmaker. I want them a great deal.”

“Oh good. I’ll let you go then. Drag my boy off to bed. Have a nice time!” The phone went dead, and Heidi stared at it laughing.

“What did she say to you?” Slade asked.

“She wanted to know if I wanted kids, so I told her I do. Then she said to drag you off to bed and have a nice time.”

“Well?”

“Well what?” Heidi asked, her brows drawn together.

“She’s your new mother-in-law. You’d better obey her!”

Heidi laughed, getting to her feet and walking toward the house.

“Where are you going?” he asked, frowning.

“I thought I’d get out of this wet swimsuit and wait in bed for you…something about your mother being ready for grandbabies.”

Slade laughed, getting up and following her. “I’ll get out of mine too!”

*****

Heidi groaned when the alarm went off the next morning. She hated mornings with the hate of a thousand suns. On steroids.

She rolled out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen, starting the coffeemaker. While the coffee was brewing, she showered in an attempt to force herself to wake up. She was in her scrubs with her long hair pulled back in a ponytail when she walked back to the kitchen for her first cup of coffee.

By the time Slade joined her in the kitchen fresh from his own shower, she’d had her second cup of coffee and felt mostly human. “What time will you be home?”

He shrugged. “If I have no emergencies or deliveries, I should make it by six. With? Hopefully by this time tomorrow.”

She nodded. “Sounds like me. I’ll stop off at my apartment on the way to get more clothes to make it through the week.”

Catching her by the waist, he pulled her to him for a kiss. “You look adorable in your pink scrubs.”

“Thanks. Looking good for elderly blind people is the most important thing in life!”

Heidi spent quite a bit of the day on the floor, working with the patients. It was her favorite part of the job still, even though she had to spend a lot of time doing administrative tasks now that she was an ADON.

She had a new nurse she was introducing to the patients shadowing her when she walked into Mrs. McPherson’s room. Heidi loved Mrs. McPherson, because she was always upbeat and singing.

“How are you this morning, Mrs. McPherson?”

“Shush,” came the response. “My concert is about to start!”

Heidi smiled at Rhonda, her trainee, before turning back to Mrs. McPherson. “Oh, I love it when you give concerts.”

Mrs. McPherson glared at Heidi and then began singing in a quiet, sweet voice. “What a friend we have in…” There was a long pause before she screamed, “Jesus!” at the top of her lungs. Heidi had been expecting it, so she just smiled, but poor Rhonda jumped at least a foot.

After they’d left the room, Rhonda asked, “Why did she do that? She scared me!”

Heidi laughed. She knew she should have warned the new nurse, but sometimes you just had to experience people to believe them. “Sorry, I probably should have warned you. That’s how she always sings that song. And that’s the only song she ever sings!”

Rhonda shook her head. “I’m not sure I want to go in her room alone!”

Heidi found herself thinking about how fun it would be to share the story of Rhonda’s introduction to Mrs. McPherson with Slade that evening, and she sighed. She needed to not start relying on him too much. He seemed sweet so far, but she was just waiting for his doctorliness to come out. She might have to strangle him with his own stethoscope when it happened!

She was able to leave work on time, but as she left the building she got a phone call. She looked at her phone and smiled when she saw it was Slade. “Hello.”

“Hi there. How’s my favorite wife?”

“I’d better be your only wife!” She got behind the steering wheel and rolled the windows down for a moment to let the hot air out while she cranked up the AC as far as it would go.

“That’s why you’re my favorite!” His voice grew serious. “I’ve got an emergency c-section. I’m going to be home around seven or eight probably.”

“Are you going to grab something to eat while you’re out, or do you want me to save you dinner?” She hadn’t figured out what she was going to cook yet, so she didn’t care either way.

“I’ll grab something.”

“Okay. See you then.” Heidi decided to drive through Taco Bueno on her way to her apartment. It was easier than worrying about cooking for one person.

She checked on the downstairs neighbor before going up. “Miss Molly! How are you feeling?” Heidi asked in a loud voice, hoping Miss Molly would be able to hear her.

“I’m fine. Don’t shout. I have my hearing aids in.”

Heidi knew from experience the older woman would have them shut off in a minute or two. “Do you need anything?”

“I spilled orange juice this morning, and I’m having a devil of a time getting it cleaned up.”

Heidi smiled. “I’ll clean it up. You sit down and tell me about your shows.” Miss Molly was a soap opera addict, and her favorite topic of conversation was the lives of the people in her shows. Heidi didn’t mind listening while she helped the older woman.

When she finished mopping, and Miss Molly finished telling her about her favorite couples, she asked, “Is there anything else you need? I got married over the weekend, so I won’t be living upstairs anymore, but you have my phone number, right? I can come over any evening you need me.”

Miss Molly frowned. “You got married? Why didn’t I get to meet your young man first?”

Heidi wasn’t about to explain how the wedding had come about. “It happened too fast. My parents didn’t get to meet him ‘til after the wedding either!”

“Well that’s all right then.”

Heidi pulled Miss Molly’s favorite afghan off the back of the couch and draped it over her lap, knowing from experience she would decide she was freezing in five minutes. “I’m going to be in my apartment for a few minutes getting some more clothes, so if you need me, let me know. I’m just going to be living up the road in Southlake, so you can call me.”

“I will. My rotten kids wouldn’t come if I called them. I need someone to look out for me now that I’m an old woman.”