The Surgeon's Favorite Nurse (14 page)

The hurt and anger twisting his mouth told her it hadn’t ended well. “What did she say?”

“She talked to her father.” Jake blew out a long breath. “Did I mention that her family had a lot of money?”

“No.”

“My bad.” He shook his head. “Actually
my bad
was being born poor. Her father told me I wasn’t good enough. He asked how I’d feel in his place. Why he shouldn’t believe that I was using his daughter for her money, looking for an easy way to finance my education. Women marry rich guys all the time. But he wouldn’t stand by and let some penniless loser get to his little girl.”

“But he was wrong about you,” she protested.

“He was. But it didn’t matter. He didn’t care that I’d already secured enough in student loans to pay for med school.”

“That’s awful, Jake.”

He dragged a hand through his hair. “Believe it or not, I can understand how he felt. What kicked me in the gut
was that the woman I thought loved me really didn’t. She sided with the family and cut me out of her life.”

“I see.”

“I’m glad someone does, because I sure as hell don’t. But here’s the thing.” He pointed at her. “Blair’s family encouraged our relationship right from the beginning. I thought they didn’t know about my past, but found out her father does background checks on his daughter’s ‘friends.’ The guy used to be a congressman and her mother is third-generation Las Vegas society. They accepted me. In spite of my past. And they couldn’t be happier that Blair and I were together. For the first time the poor guy got the prom queen.”

“So why did you break it off?”

He folded his arms over his chest and met her gaze. “Deep down I knew that Blair and I never would have worked.”

Hope had expected him to say it was because she’d refused to be the other woman. “Then why did you buy a ring? A man only does that when he’s seriously considering a lifetime commitment.”

“Without love it’s just jewelry.” He took a step forward. “Without the proposal of marriage it means nothing. And I just couldn’t make myself pop the question because I knew she’d say yes. Since ending it, I haven’t had a chance to return the ring.”

Hope studied his eyes, the earnestness on his face, but couldn’t let herself believe.

“I need to go.” She moved past him and down the hall, hurrying to the front door. Desperation to get away had her practically running because she wanted so badly to be by herself.

Jake caught her arm in the entryway and stopped her. “Wait.”

“Please, just let me go.” She couldn’t look at him and risk destroying her resolve.

“Did you hear anything I said?”

“Everything,” she confirmed. “Love didn’t work out for you either.”

“Yeah. But I got over it. A long time ago. I told you that story so you’d understand the ring was nothing more than a symbol of how far I’d come from being a penniless loser.”

“Maybe it’s more than that. What if you and Blair belong together?” she asked.

He dropped his hand from her arm. “Life threw me some curves and a lot of hard knocks. But it didn’t make me a liar. Or an idiot.”

“That’s two of us,” she said. This was a hard knock she’d fought tooth and nail to avoid. Why couldn’t he have just taken no for an answer? “The truth is that I’m glad all this came out. You and Blair—”

“There is no me and Blair.”

“That’s not what she said.” Hope chanced a look at him, then wished she hadn’t.

“You’re more willing to believe her than me?” Angry words died on his lips as a frustrated expression pushed through the pleading. “I get it. This is just one more thing to push me away. You’ve been looking for excuses to do that since the day we met. You’re afraid to take a chance.”

Hope wanted to tell him he was wrong about her being a coward, but that would be a lie. Pain was an indicator to make you change behavior and that’s what she was doing. She’d just had a taste of how hard losing Jake would be. This was her last chance to get out before she couldn’t get out at all.

She opened the door and walked out into the cold. With
a desperation that carved straight to her soul, she missed Jake’s warmth. But a clean break was for the best.

Her survival instincts confirmed it was the right thing to do.

But when the door closed softly behind her, survival instincts didn’t keep her heart from shattering.

J
ake hadn’t slept the night before. After Hope walked out on him, he’d paced for a while, then tried to sleep but tossed and turned, wondering what he could have said to get through to her. He was in a crappy mood when he got to the hospital and it didn’t improve when the first thing he got was a message to go to see Ed Havens—stat.

The president of the board of directors had an office at Mercy Medical Center on the second floor, west wing. Seemed appropriate, Jake thought. It was rumored that the former congressman had flirted with presidential ambitions until his flirtatious reputation and an affair with a staffer plus hush money to keep her quiet had surfaced.

Jake wondered why Mrs. Havens hadn’t kicked him to the curb. Some women were attracted by power and paid for it with their self-respect. Blair definitely took after her mother. He couldn’t picture Hope putting up with that kind of crap and admired her for it.

He walked down the green-walled hall and turned right at the end, then stopped at the appropriate office. It was entirely possible that the man wanted to discuss hospital business, but Jake didn’t really believe that. Blair had gone to see Hope to sabotage their budding relationship. Mission accomplished, he thought angrily. Her next stop had probably been this very office, to pout. Get Daddy to make it better.

Jake let out a long breath, then walked inside. A pricey floral-patterned sofa and two coordinating chairs made up the waiting area. The congressman’s administrative assistant, Addie McBride, was at her desk. She was a curvy brunette and smart as a whip. In the months leading up to his appointment as the trauma medical director, he’d gotten to know her pretty well. He’d also gotten to like her.

Walking up to her desk, he gave her a big smile. “Hey, beautiful, are you ready to ditch this job and run away with me to Bora Bora?” It was a running joke.

“I’m still waiting for you to bring me the travel brochures. After all I’ve got my standards. Not to mention ten extra pounds that need to come off before this body goes public in a bikini.”

He shook his head and said, “That excuse doesn’t track with me. And if the boyfriend has any complaints, you should dump him for someone with an actual brain.”

“Too late. He beat me to it.” The tone was teasing, but there was no laughter in her blue eyes. Another relationship had gone south.

He didn’t normally pick up on stuff like that, so it must have something to do with getting dumped himself. Made him more sensitive. And wasn’t that ironic. Because sensitive felt pretty crappy.

“Sorry to hear that. Anything I can do?”

“Beat him up for me?”

“That goes without saying,” he agreed.

“Just don’t damage those magic hands.”

“Okay.”

“Or that pretty face.” Then the teasing disappeared and she was all business. “Mr. Havens is waiting for you.”

“Do you know what it’s about?”

She shook her head. “But he’s not happy.”

“That makes two of us,” he muttered as he walked past her desk.

The door was ajar, so he pushed it open and walked inside. The room was big, with a mahogany conference table to one side. Behind it was a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows with a sweeping view of the west valley, all the way to the mountains. The congressman’s big, flat desk looked big enough to land Air Force One on. Prominently displayed was an eight-by-ten photo of Blair. There were no pictures of his wife or the three of them as a family. Expensive glassware and paintings were displayed throughout the office and Jake would love to know if the pieces were paid for out of the congressman’s pocket or the hospital budget.

The man looked up from his computer monitor. “Hello, Jake.”

“Sir.”

Ed Havens was handsome in a John F. Kennedy way, with light blue eyes and sandy brown hair. In his fifties, he was still trim and fit. A chick magnet.

“Have a seat,” he invited.

“Thanks.”

There were two chrome-and-leather chairs in front of the desk and Jake took the one on the left. All the better not to see Blair’s photo. Every time he thought about her talking to Hope he got pissed off all over again. But Blair
was past history, thank you, God. This was business. He hoped.

“Well, the hospital opened its doors on time and everything went smoothly,” Jake reported. “It’s a little slow right now, but we expected that. In time we’ll be able to—”

“That’s not what I wanted to see you about.”

The man leaned forward and rested his forearms on the desk. Anger simmered in his eyes. “What’s going on with you and Blair, Jake?”

“Nothing, sir. Not anymore. I broke it off. It was the best thing for your daughter in the long run.” Not that it was any of his business, Jake thought.

“She doesn’t see it that way.”

“Give it time.”

“She’s my daughter and she’s not happy. I want to fix this.”

“There’s nothing to fix,” Jake told him. “Nothing you can do.”

On the one hand, he could see where the guy was coming from, trying to protect his child. On the other hand, she was a big girl and had to learn to stand on her own two feet. Welcome to the real world.

The truth was that things weren’t working between him and Blair. Otherwise she wouldn’t have slept with what’s-his-name in Europe and he wouldn’t have fallen for Hope. Clearly he’d fallen hard and somehow he was going to convince Hope that he wouldn’t give up. She could run, but no way was he going to let her hide.

“There’s nothing I can do?” The congressman glared at him. “I went to Washington and served the people of Nevada.”

It was common knowledge that he’d practically bought the seat, but Jake figured there was no win in pointing that out. “Yes, sir.”

“I’m a wealthy and powerful man and you really don’t want to tell me there’s nothing I can do.”

“Blair and I don’t want the same thing.”

“Really?” Shrewd blue eyes narrowed. “It was my understanding that your job was important to you. And that being the trauma medical director at this facility was just what the doctor ordered to really make your career take off. Just the shot in the arm you needed to erase the stigma of being poor white trash.”

The words were like pouring salt on an open wound. An angry rebuttal was on the tip of his tongue, but Jake held back. A vision of Hope jumped into his mind, that day she’d volunteered at the clinic. She’d told him he was a good man. Somehow, those words coming from her had made him believe. No one could make him less than he was unless he allowed it. And that was something he wouldn’t do. Not ever again.

“My patients are my job and they’re very important to me.”

“Oh?” The man leaned back in his high-backed black swivel chair. “It’s come to my attention that the nurse coordinator here at Mercy West is important to you.”

“Yes, sir, she is.”

“More than being trauma medical director?”

“The two have nothing to do with each other,” Jake pointed out.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Doctor.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Stop sleeping with the nurse or I’m rescinding the hospital’s offer.”

“I have a contract,” Jake pointed out.

“It’s not signed. Legal is holding it up.”

“At your direction,” Jake guessed.

“You know Legal.” The man shrugged and looked smug.
“Don’t be stupid, Jake. Do you really want to give up everything you’ve worked so hard for? Women are a dime a dozen.”

“Including Blair?”

“Watch your step.” The man stood slowly, then leaned forward, palms on his desk. “This is how it’s going to be. Dump the woman and patch things up with my daughter or the appointment goes away.”

Jake was seething, but the same willpower he’d used to get him through cruel taunts in school served him well now. He stood and coolly met the other man’s angry gaze. “You don’t get a say in my personal life.”

“Don’t bet on it, Doctor. I can do more than make the appointment disappear. I can ruin your practice.”

Jake took a step forward. “Ed, you’re the one who brought up my past. And here’s the thing about surviving on the street. It’s down and dirty, bare-knuckle, winner-take-all. You learn to be scrappy and come out on top. You really don’t want to take me on.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Jake’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll break you.” The congressman pointed at him. “I’ll have your job.”

“No, Ed.” Jake turned and walked to the half-open door, then turned back and glared. “This is an abuse of power and I’m not the one who will be out of work. You need me more than I need you. And for the record, you can go to hell.”

Jake walked past a wide-eyed Addie who was still at her desk, then out into the hall. He couldn’t ever remember being this angry in his life.

Give up Hope? Not while his heart was beating and there was breath in his body. For the first time in his life
he was grateful for the tough breaks that had landed him on the streets. That had made him strong and stubborn. It’s where he learned that you keep fighting and never give up on a dream. He knew how to get what he wanted.

And he wanted Hope.

“Hope? Have you heard?”

Hope looked up from the budget spreadsheet on her computer monitor and saw Stacy Porter. The green-eyed brunette wearing plum-colored scrubs was standing in the office doorway. She looked like she wanted to rip someone’s head off.

Swiveling her chair to face the E.R. nurse, Hope said calmly, “I’ve heard lots of things. Which one are you talking about?”

“The one where Jake Andrews is no longer trauma medical director because Blair Havens’s father is ticked off about her getting dumped.”

Hope felt the color drain from her face. “I— Wow.”

Stacy walked in and stopped in front of the desk. “I’ll take that as a
no.
”

“Is it true?” If so, it was fifty kinds of wrong.

“I was hoping you could tell me. There’s been no official statement from the board president. But it’s all over the hospital.” Stacy folded her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe you don’t have any information. I’d really like you to tell me it ain’t so.”

“Why would you think I’d know anything?”

“Oh, please,” Stacy scoffed. “Everyone knows you’re the reason Jake finally came to his senses and broke it off with Blair Havens. She’d ruin his life. She’d make him miserable. We were all afraid he was going to ask her to marry him.”

The night before last Hope had seen the ring and knew
how close Jake had come to doing just that. Then she, Hope, had walked out of his house after he’d accused her of being afraid to take a chance. The words had festered and burned inside her all night as she’d searched for a way to put them to rest. But she hadn’t been able to do that because he was right. Even worse, she was an idiot.

How many people got a second chance at love? And how many threw it away, too scared of being hurt again? She’d made up her mind to tell Jake she loved him. Even though she’d completely destroyed any chance that he could return it.

She looked at the E.R. nurse. “Everyone knows about Jake and me?”

“Duh.”

Except for that mind-numbing kiss here in her office, they’d been completely professional here at the hospital. “How?” she asked.

“For starters you couldn’t stand him when you first got here. There were sparks every time you two talked. Then at his party, the conversation just before you walked out? Pretty intense.” Stacy sat on the corner of the desk. “But when Blair showed up the other day and catwalked her way into this office, we were on 9-1-1 alert.”

“For?”

“Chick fight.” Stacy nodded emphatically.

“It didn’t come to that.”

But the other woman had succeeded in breaking them up because Hope had been looking for an excuse.

“There is no Jake and me.” Not anymore, she thought sadly.

“Well, according to my source, you are a couple. And unless he dumps you and kisses up to daddy’s little girl—” The nurse dragged the side of her hand across her throat. “He’s out in the cold.”

Hope knew that was his worst nightmare. All his life he’d struggled to put the poverty and homelessness behind him. Now he was in danger of losing the appointment he’d fought so hard for.

“I just thought you’d want to know.” Stacy walked to the doorway, then stopped. “For what it’s worth, everyone on the trauma team thinks you two make a fantastic couple.”

Hope had finally come to that conclusion, but… There was always a but.

“I appreciate that,” she said. For what it was worth.

“Hope?”

She met the other woman’s gaze. “What?”

“He’s the right doctor, in the right place, at the right time. There must be something we can do.”

Hope knew there was something
she
could do, but first she had to separate fact from fiction. Rumor from reality. She had to find out if this particular rumor was true.

She stood. “I’m going to talk to him.”

Stacy grinned. “My work here is done.”

Hope turned off her computer, then marched from her office to the Emergency Department. Everything looked quiet, so she went into the doctor’s break room and stopped in the doorway. Jake was sitting at the table drinking coffee and looking sexier than any man should in blue scrubs and a white lab coat. Her heart stuttered and sighed before normal sinus rhythm returned.

He glanced up from the newspaper and did a double take before a gleam stole into his eyes. “Hope.”

“Jake, I need to talk to you.”

“Okay.” Wariness slid into his expression. “But I have something to say first.”

He stood and walked over to her, then reached out and shut the door. When it was closed, he took her in his arms
and kissed her. His mouth was warm, his lips soft and desire spontaneously erupted inside her. Her arms went around him as heat seared all the way to her soul.

Their tongues tangled in a dance of erotic yearning. He tasted of coffee and something uniquely his own—flavors that were impossible to resist. But she had to find a way; it was for his own good. She put her hands on his chest with every intention of pushing him away, but the solid contour of muscle felt too good. He kissed the corner of her mouth, then her jaw, and nibbled a path down her neck that made her skin tingle everywhere.