Second Look (A New Beginning Book 3) (3 page)

A couple months ago she had a fling with a doctor at the hospital. He was sexy as hell, available and very willing. However, he also happened to be her boss. Dumb move, especially since they hadn’t spoken of it since that night. She had to admit she was lonely for male companionship and her hot boss fit the bill.

Aside from her embarrassing fling, she missed her parents and her friends. It felt right to finally move back home, even if the past caught up with her.

This was it, though. No. More. Running.

“Mommy?”

Jennifer smiled and answered in a singsong voice, “Yes, honey! I’m in my office!”

She heard her daughter shuffle down the hallway, so she met her at the door and dropped down on her knees to give her a hug.

“Good morning, peanut butter! How are you?”

“I’m good, mommy. Do I have school today?”

Jennifer looked at her beautiful daughter. She had blonde hair, brown eyes and the sweetest smile in the world. She loved to hear Amber’s soft little voice.

“Yes, sweetie. We have to leave in a little bit.”

“Okay. Can I pick out my clothes again, mommy?”

It took all Jennifer had to answer with a straight face. “Yes, of course you can. Do you want any help picking them out?”
Please say yes
.

“No, thank you,” Amber answered proudly. “I can dress myself.”

Jennifer chuckled and watched her daughter walk towards her room, wondering what clothes she would choose. At least she remembered to be polite.

She wanted to let Amber have a little independence, but the other day she chose a purple shirt with pink, sparkly hearts all over it, and then blue and black striped leggings. She finished off her outfit with mismatched socks in yellow and teal. Her teacher told her she looked beautiful, so now Amber wanted to dress herself every day.

She walked back to the kitchen and heated up her cold coffee in the microwave. Jennifer glanced down at her outfit and what she was wearing today wasn’t much better, with her Mickey Mouse top and red scrub bottoms.

At least I match.

She took a deep breath as she heard Amber come through the living room. She must not have put on her socks yet because Jennifer could hear her feet as they made a slapping sound on the hard floor as she rushed towards the kitchen.

Jennifer turned around, opened her eyes and blew out the breath was holding in relief. Today, Amber matched and her outfit looked pretty adorable. She wore a pair of jean shorts with a Minnesota Twins baseball jersey. The shirt was probably on it’s last legs considering it was a bit too tight, but it would do.

No matter where they lived, she would always teach her daughter to love the Twins. They watched as many games as possible on TV. The Diamondbacks were her close second favorite to watch, but the Twins would always be home.

“Nice job, Amber!”

Her daughter beamed. “I know!”

“I have your breakfast ready. Today, my little sweetheart gets a waffle with raspberry jelly, a banana and some orange juice. How does that sound?” Jennifer smiled at her daughter, her eyes shining.

“That’s my favorite.”

Jennifer laughed. That’s exactly what she said every day. Kids were kids, and there were plenty of things Amber did to give her trouble, but all in all she was great and breakfast never seemed to be an issue.

“I have some really great news, Amber!”

“What is it, mommy? Are you getting married?”

Amber’s voice was hopeful when she asked her this question for the hundredth time.

Jennifer sighed and slapped a smile on her face before answering. “No, honey. I’m not getting married.”
I need a man for that.

“Oh. What then?”

“Well, do you remember when mommy told you I was looking for a new job? One in Minnesota?”

Amber nodded while she chewed a bite of her waffle.

“I got the job, sweetie! That means we’ll be flying on a plane and moving closer to grandma and grandpa.”

“Really? I haven’t seen grandma and grandpa for a long time!”

She never brought Amber to visit Minnesota for more reasons than she could count, but her parents came to visit them a couple times a year.

“Well, they came to visit only a couple months ago, sweetie. But now we’ll be able to see them a lot more.” Jennifer gave her a grin. “Guess what else!”

“What?”

“You know how you always wanted to see and feel snow?”

Amber nodded her head and her eyes grew wide, but she didn’t say a word.

“Minnesota has lots of snow in the winter.”

We have it practically six months out of the year, but no need to scare her.

Her face lit up with a bright smile.

“In the fall, sometime after we go trick-or-treating, you’ll get to see your first snowfall.”

Please let it hold out until after Halloween.

“Yes!”

Amber pumped her fist in the air, surprising Jennifer by her action and making her laugh so hard she snorted.

Where the heck did she learn that?

“I’m glad that excites you,” Jennifer told her, still laughing.

“Can we make a snowman, mommy? Like Olaf?”

“Of course we can!”

“Yippie!”

All of a sudden, Amber’s mouth turned downwards. Jennifer was surprised at the fast change.

“What’s the matter, honey?”

“Well, if we move to Minnesota, when will I see Carmen? My other friends? My teachers?”

“Well, you’ll make new friends, sweetie. And maybe someday we can come back and see Carmen again.”

“Oh. I’ll miss Carmen a lot, mommy.”

“I know, sweetie. I’m going to miss my friends too. But I promise we’ll be ok.”

Amber nodded and took another bite of her breakfast.

“Well, peanut butter, time to get going. Get your shoes on and grab your bag. Let’s get out the door.”

Amber quickly drank the last of her juice.

“Okay. I’m ready to go.”

“Hey, don’t forget to go brush your teeth.”

“Aww, do I have to?”

“No, I guess not,” Jennifer told her and then continued as Amber’s face lit up. “You really only have to brush the ones you want to keep.”

Amber’s face fell again. “Okay, I’ll go brush them.”

Jennifer laughed.

Works every time.

After Amber brushed her teeth, she and Jennifer walked outside to a furnace blasting in her face. The summer heat was definitely one thing she wouldn’t miss in Arizona.

*****

“Dr. Taylor? Do you have a sec?”

Sam’s head was lowered and he was writing furiously on a sheet of paper. He looked up quickly, lifted one finger and then looked back down to resume what he was doing.

Jennifer took the rare opportunity to stare.

Sam was handsome, someone who seemed to only grow finer as he aged. She figured he was about 45 years old, although she wasn’t entirely sure because she never asked. That would make him at least 15 years older.

He still had a full head of dark gray hair, but as long as he kept it short it looked more black than gray and made him look years younger. His eyes were a shocking ice blue and his strong jaw, full lips and a slightly crooked nose added to his appeal. He always wore his beard with a couple days’ growth, neatly trimmed to the perfect length, which made him look even sexier.

To add to his good looks, Sam was well respected by the entire staff at the hospital. He rarely socialized outside of the workplace, unless it was a charity event or benefit. His reputation was solid.

Although it was a complete surprise, it really was no wonder she couldn’t resist sleeping with him when the opportunity presented itself. It had been a really long time for her and she’d been lonely. At the time she didn’t realize it would be a one-night stand.

She blushed just thinking back to that night. She was completely changing her life because of it.

But damn, it was so worth it.

Just when she was about to walk away, Sam looked up and said, “Sorry, Jennifer. Come on in. And I’ve told you a million times to call me Sam.”

“Of course, sorry.”

He studied her with his beautiful blue eyes for several long seconds. “What can I do for you?”

Jennifer walked farther into his office with her head held high and handed him her letter. “I’m here to resign.”

He froze and continued to stare with his eyes wide open. She bit her lip to hide her smile.

He scanned the letter and then stood up from behind his desk to move around to lean against the front, putting them only inches apart. He crossed his arms and looked into her eyes.

His deep, sexy voice dropped very low. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

She nodded and fought the urge to back up a few steps.

“Is it something that you aren’t happy with here?”

He motioned between the two of them, so close he almost touched her. It made her flinch.

Was he seriously bringing up what had happened between them? After ignoring it for so long?

Jennifer lifted her chin and maintained eye contact.

“No, it’s nothing that’s wrong.”
Liar.
“It’s time for me to move on. I’ve been looking for something new and I was just offered my dream job.”

Sam frowned. “I see.”

“Please consider this my two weeks notice.”

After she said that, he started firing off questions so fast she didn’t even know if he was listening to her answers.

“When do you start?”

Jennifer hesitated. “In four weeks. It gives me time to get moved and settle into my new place.”

“Is it the same position?”

She smiled. “Actually it’s a promotion.”

Sam’s face lit up. “There’s a job opening being posted soon and I think you’d be perfect for it. I planned to mention it to you once it was official.”

Jennifer froze.
Is he serious?

“Thank you, Dr. Taylor,” she began and then corrected herself when she saw his raised brow. “Sorry, Sam. I’ve already accepted the position.”

Sam tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Wait, why do you need four weeks? Two weeks is a long time to get settled into a new place.”

“It’s in Minnesota.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “What’s there?”

“Most of my family and friends. It’s where I grew up.”

“I really don’t want to see you go. If this is about what happened between us, I’m sorry I handled it so poorly. Don’t let this be just because of that.”

Jennifer was at a loss for words so she shrugged.

“Is that why?”

Yes. Well, partly.
“No, of course not. What happened was clearly a mistake, but it has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to advance my career and move back to family.”

Sam inched even closer and gazed into her eyes. “I don’t think it was a mistake.”

Blink. Blink. Blink.

How could it be anything but a mistake?

She wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Jennifer’s cheeks burned and she wanted to fan her face. Knowing Sam would see her blush made it get even worse until she finally looked down at her feet.

Luckily Sam ignored her glowing cheeks and went back to his questioning.

“What’s the position?”

“Peds unit, head nurse. I’ll have several staff reporting to me.”

“And you’ve already accepted?”

Jennifer nodded.

Sam sighed and looked disappointed. “I’d really like to talk to you about that position I mentioned. Or if there’s anything else that would make you stay, I want to know.”

Anything?

She mentally slapped herself.

Jennifer looked at the clock and winced. “I need to head over to my station before I’m late.”

Sam nodded, so she turned to leave. She was already to the door when she heard his voice.

“Jennifer, wait.”

She turned back to face him and was startled to see he followed her. He was standing so close she could see silver flecks in his ice blue yes.

Does the man know anything about personal space?

She raised her eyebrow. “Yes?”

“Could I take you to dinner? Maybe we could discuss the position I mentioned, see if it’s something that could maybe change your mind.”

Jennifer tried to maintain eye contact, but he looked so hopeful she was forced to look away. She really had no intention of staying.

“Honestly, Sam, I am not going to change my mind.”

“Okay, well, a guy can try.” His eyes searched hers. “I’d still really like to take you out.”

Blink.

How can I possibly turn him down?

“Okay.”

The corners of his lips turned up ever so slightly. “Are you free on Friday?”

“I’ll have to look at my schedule to confirm, but I think it should work.”

“I’ll plan for it then, but let me know if it doesn’t.”

Jennifer nodded and then left his office. She closed his door behind her and leaned back on it to take several calming breaths. She looked up at the ceiling.

What the hell did I just agree to?

As she made her way to the nurse’s station on the opposite side of the hospital, Jennifer glanced out the windows and saw the neon sign for
Cocktail Hour
. The bar across the street was a place she seldom visited, but her co-workers and good friends, Tera and Lily, went every Thursday night for Lady’s night.

It just happened to be where she ran into Sam the night that changed everything and made her need to leave Arizona.

A couple months earlier…

Jennifer was sitting on a barstool, her mouth watering as she watched the bartender make her lemon drop martini. It was her favorite mix of sweet and tart, and she couldn’t wait to take the first delicious sip after her long day.

She heard a quiet gasp and glanced up to see an older woman staring at the bar entrance with wide eyes and mouth open in a silent “oh”.

She saw another woman staring in the same direction and then she heard her whisper, “Who the hell is that guy?”

Jennifer couldn’t help but turn her head towards the bar’s entrance, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever eye candy had just walked in the door.
The guy must be a celebrity or hot as hell.

She couldn’t stop the small gasp that escaped her own lips. She wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her.