A doctors reunion, p.6
A Doctor's Reunion, page 6
Not that he’d indicated he was deeply attracted to her or anything. An offer to share dinner didn’t mean much these days.
She was the one making a bigger deal out of the offer than was necessary.
“Your car is packed to the gills, should we start filling up my truck now?”
Holt’s question caught her off guard. “You still want to help?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” He looked confused. “Lots of room in my truck bed for your furniture.”
“How do you know? You’ve never been inside my apartment.” She couldn’t help feeling exasperated. It was as if Holt was determined to be sweet, nice, and supportive no matter what she said or did.
“You must have a sofa, kitchen table and chairs, right?” He waved at the truck bed. “They should fit in here without a problem.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s go.” Resigned, she led the way back inside. Thankfully, there was no sign of Greg lurking around near her door.
The way Holt had clearly recognized Greg but hadn’t asked her anything more about their relationship was interesting. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was relieved there was nothing more going on with her and Greg.
Nah. Must be her overactive imagination.
Inside her apartment, Holt eyed the sofa. “How strong are you feeling? If you can hold up one end, I can take most of the weight of the sofa as we make it down the stairs. Shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Oh yeah? What about getting it up the four flights of stairs at the Crossroads?”
He flashed a grin. “They have a large service elevator. Piece of cake getting it upstairs.”
She nodded and flexed her arms. “I lift patients for a living, I’m sure I can manage my end of the sofa.”
“Let’s do it.”
Moving the sofa wasn’t as difficult as she’d imagined. Holt took the bulk of the weight on his end, all she needed to do was help guide it. When they had the sofa stored in the back of his truck, they brought down the four kitchen chairs.
“That’s it for now, we’ll get the table on the second trip,” Holt said.
“And my bed and dresser?” She tried not to blush.
“We’ll take them, too. The apartment buildings aren’t that far apart. It won’t take long.”
“Okay.” Why was she arguing? He was helping her out, saving her the cost of hiring movers or convincing one of her friend’s boyfriends to help out.
Holt was easygoing and never seemed to get annoyed with her. Even when she’d changed her mind twice about where to put the sofa.
By the time they finished moving all her stuff, and Holt was kind enough to put her bed frame together for her, it was getting dark outside. “I’ll spring for dinner,” she announced. “What would you like? Pizza? Chinese? Sandwiches?”
“I could go for Chinese, but you don’t need to buy. I’ll get it.”
“No way. You spent your entire Saturday helping me move, the least I can do is feed you.” She picked up her phone and scrolled through her favorite fast-food restaurants. “Anything in particular you don’t like or any allergies that I need to know about?”
“Nope. I’m easy.” He flashed a grin, and her heart rate jumped up a notch.
“Fine.” She forced herself to focus on food, not on what it might be like to kiss Holt. She ordered spicy shrimp, beef and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, a half dozen egg rolls, and two containers of egg drop soup. When finished, she set her phone aside. “The food will be ready in twenty minutes.”
“Sounds good.” He stood in her living room. “Place looks better already.”
“I really hadn’t intended on moving everything on one day.” She sighed and dropped into a nearby kitchen chair. “But I have to admit, it’s nice to have the hard part finished. The rest of the unpacking shouldn’t take long at all.”
“Happy to help with the rest, too.” Holt didn’t look nearly as exhausted as she felt.
“Really, you’ve done more than enough.” She tried to keep her tone firm, secretly worried she’d cave in to the desire of keeping him around longer. “I’m finished moving for tonight. I’ll unpack more tomorrow.”
“By the way, Jared called and asked me to cover a shift on Sunday night.”
“Really?” It took her a moment to understand. “Dr. Frost is out, huh?”
“Frost? That’s a good one.” Holt grinned, then sobered. “Yeah, Paulette is done at Lifeline, and it sounds like Jared isn’t going to replace her.”
“Really? I’m surprised. I thought the emergency medicine residents fought for the opportunity to fly with Lifeline.”
He hesitated, then nodded. “They do, but the person he had in mind wouldn’t be a good fit with the team either.”
She thought about the female resident who’d come up to talk to Holt when they’d dropped off their patient with pulmonary hypertension. “Dr. Lana Reasby.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know?”
“I heard what she said to you about ruining Paulette’s reputation.” She shook her head. “Ridiculous accusation.”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Thanks. It was ridiculous, and trust me, Lana would not have been any better than Paulette.”
“I’m sure.” There was no denying her relief over not having to fly with either of the two female residents. Which was, frankly, unusual. Normally the female residents were easier to get along with. Less arrogant than some of the others. Glancing at her watch, she realized it was time to go. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Don’t be silly, if you’re paying, I’m driving.” Holt picked up his keys from the counter, then opened the apartment door. “I’m hungry enough to steal a few bites on the way.”
She laughed and realized it had been a long time since she’d enjoyed spending time with a man.
With Holt.
Who would have thought her high school crush would turn out to be such a nice guy?
She slid into the passenger seat of Holt’s truck, waiting for him to get in behind the wheel. As he drove out of the parking lot, she relaxed against the seat cushion. The fall air turned cool at night, and she knew there were frost warnings out for the following week.
Summer was definitely in the rearview mirror, leaving winter looming up ahead around the curve.
The trip to the closest Chinese restaurant, Ming Lee’s, only took them ten minutes. He tried to pay once again, but she stood firm.
They were friends, nothing more.
Inside the truck, the scent of soy sauce and tangy ginger made her mouth water.
Holt glanced at her. “It smells so good I can hardly stand it.”
She chuckled and nodded. “I know, but we’ll be home soon.”
Bright headlights grew closer, the high beams hurting her eyes. She put up her hand to shield them. “Who is that idiot using his brights?”
“I don’t know.” Holt squinted. “Looks like a small car, maybe the driver can’t see very well.”
“But in the process he’s blinding us.” She was irritated with the way some people were rude like that, not caring if their decisions were impacting others.
The lights grew impossibly brighter, almost as if they were coming straight toward them. Her gut clenched, and she braced her hand on the dashboard. “Look out!”
Holt swerved, the wheels along her side of the truck kicking up gravel from the shoulder as he was forced off the road. An instant later, the blur of a red car went flying past them.
The truck ground to a halt, and for long seconds neither of them spoke.
“That was too close.” Holt’s tone was grim.
“Did you notice the red sports car?” She glanced over at him, trying to read his gaze in the dim interior of the truck. “It looked like the red Corvette Paulette Yost drives.”
“I can’t believe she would do something like this.” His protest came out a little too quick.
“Sure you can. But it’s a crazy move on her part. A truck like yours could easily squash her car like a bug.”
Holt didn’t say anything but put the truck back in gear and pulled back out onto the road.
He might not want to believe the worst, but the way the little red car crossed the center line toward them hadn’t been a coincidence.
Not only was Paulette ticked off at Holt, but she wasn’t above seeking revenge.
And she didn’t seem to care about anyone who happened to stand in her way.
The ride back to Kristin’s new apartment didn’t take long, but Holt couldn’t get her comments about the sporty red car out of his mind.
Had the near collision really been an attempt to cause them to crash? He couldn’t believe a resident would be capable of doing something like that. The physician’s Hippocratic Oath was to do no harm.
Maybe the car was Paulette’s and she just wasn’t paying attention. Her being on the highway close to his apartment building could be a coincidence.
He pulled into the underground parking garage and found his assigned space. Kristin didn’t say anything as she grabbed the bag of Chinese food and slid out of the passenger seat.
“I’m sorry about that.” He rested his hand in the small of her back as they took the elevator up to the fourth floor. “I should have reacted quicker.”
She lifted a brow. “I don’t see how you could have, it was difficult enough to see anything with the bright lights blinding us.”
The idea that Paulette might have tried to hurt them, injuring Kristin in the process, caused his temper to simmer. Even if Paulette hadn’t crossed the center line on purpose, she’d been driving recklessly. She should be held responsible for her actions.
“I’ll call the police to report the near collision.” He took the bag of food and waited while she unlocked her apartment door.
“I was thinking the same thing, but I’m not sure it will do any good.” She gestured for him to set the bag on the granite counter. “Did you notice the make and model of the car?”
He slowly shook his head, watching as she pulled plates and silverware out of the cabinets. Kristin wasn’t willowy slender, which was one of the things he liked about her. He told himself to stop ogling her like some teenager. “All I saw was a red blob driving past.”
She grimaced and set the dishes on the kitchen table. “Me either. A red blur could be anyone.”
“Except that Paulette has a reason to resent me.” Technically, Ivan was the one who turned her in to Jared, but maybe she’d spoken to Lana and was upset he’d refused to put in a good word for her.
Frankly, it was the only explanation that made sense.
They unpacked the dozens of white cartons of Chinese food, setting them in the center of the table. He took a seat across from Kristin, waiting as she filled her plate first, sampling each of the containers with an enthusiasm he appreciated. No picking at her salad the way Heidi and Lana had done. When she finished, he did the same.
The food was delicious, maybe more so than usual because he was sharing the meal with Kristin. He was deeply grateful to have spent the day with her, even though they’d worked hard moving all her stuff. Everything had been going along great, despite Heidi’s interruption, until the near collision on the highway.
He took a bite of his egg roll. “Maybe putting the police on notice is the smart thing to do. That way, if she decides to keep doing crazy stunts, they’d have this issue on file.”
Kristin nodded thoughtfully. “I heard rumors about Samantha’s ex-husband stalking her earlier in the year, and part of the problem was that she hadn’t put the cops on notice right away. Her ex had gone to extremes though, even shooting a gun at the helicopter. I’m sure Paulette won’t go that far, but her antics tonight were bad enough.”
She was right. That is, if the driver of the red car was really Paulette. Could it have been nothing but a strange coincidence? He stared down at his plate, his appetite vanishing under the heavy weight of concern. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ll call the Brookland police.”
Kristin finished her meal and sat back against the chair with a sigh. “That was good.”
He couldn’t disagree, although he wasn’t nearly as hungry as he’d been earlier. When he was finished, he carried his plate to the counter, then pulled out his phone. He had to search for the non-emergency number, then made the call.
Kristin combined cartons of leftovers as he waited for the line to be answered. “Brookland dispatch, how should I direct your call?”
“I’d like to report a reckless driver who nearly caused me to crash less than an hour ago.”
“I’ll put you through to the officer on duty.” There was a brief pause before someone picked up. “Officer Tinsdale.”
Holt filled the officer in on what had transpired on the highway. The officer pressed for details, which of course he didn’t have. Holt ended the conversation by giving him the information on Paulette Yost. “She’s an emergency medicine resident like me and was recently dropped from the Lifeline program. She wanted me to stick up for her, but I refused. She drives a red Corvette, and I just want you to be on notice in case she pulls another stunt.”
“I see.” Officer Tinsdale tapped the keyboard, then said, “Paulette Yost does have a 1990 red Corvette registered in her name. But you didn’t catch the license plate, correct?”
“Correct. Because she had her high beams on.” He battled back a wave of frustration. “Again, I just want you to be on notice in case she tries something else.”
“Okay, Dr. Baxter, we have your complaint on record. If you see the vehicle again, and can identify it as hers, please let us know.”
“I will.” He disconnected from the line. “Well, that was useless.”
Kristin’s smile was wan. “You did the right thing. It’s better to have the incident on file, right?”
“Right.” He came over to the sink and reached for a drying cloth. She was doing their dishes, so he began to hand dry them. “At least he didn’t make me feel like a total idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot.” She lightly brushed his arm, distracting him. “Some people just can’t take responsibility for their own actions.”
Like the way he hadn’t stood up for her nine years ago. He finished drying the dishes, then turned to face her. “Can you forgive me?”
She eyed him warily. “For what?”
He lightly cupped her shoulders in his hands, holding her gaze. “For not telling Heidi to shut up that night in the custard stand.”
She averted her gaze. “I thought we settled that? Time to move on, Holt.”
He tightened his grip, urging her to look at him. “I need you to forgive me, Kristin. I was young and stupid. I’d gotten so used to blowing off Heidi’s snarky comments I didn’t really think twice about how you felt. I’m sorry.”
Her luminous gaze softened, and she smiled. “Of course I forgive you. It’s all in the past.”
“Is it? I noticed you took off when Heidi showed up unannounced.”
She stiffened, and he instantly regretted bringing the subject up. But wasn’t it better to face the past now than to worry about the next time his sister decided to show up without an invitation?
“You’re right, I didn’t want to talk to Heidi, so I left. It wasn’t a big deal, she didn’t even recognize me.”
“Heidi is too self-absorbed to notice people around her,” he agreed. “But I want you to know how much I’ve enjoyed spending the day with you. Sharing Chinese was fun, too.”
Kristin’s gaze turned wary, but she didn’t pull away from him. Instead, he thought he saw a flash of uncertainty in her chameleon green-gray-brown eyes.
Slowly, deliberately, he drew her close, giving her every opportunity to pull away.
She didn’t.
The air between them grew thick with tension, and he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze from her mouth. He’d never wanted to kiss anyone as badly as he wanted to kiss Kristin.
He bent his head and captured her mouth with his. Heat flared with the intensity of a firecracker when she kissed him back.
Chapter Seven
If kissing Holt was so wrong, why did it feel so right?
Kristin didn’t know how she’d ended up in Holt’s arms, but pulling away from his sizzling kiss was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. She managed, putting a few inches between them, but not pulling away completely.
For a long moment, there was no sound other than their heavy breathing as they gasped for air.
“Do I need to apologize?” Holt’s deep voice sent a new wave of shivers down her spine.
“No.” The word was little more than a hoarse croak. “But—we can’t do this.” She forced herself to take another step back, breaking free of his warm embrace. “We work together, remember? And I don’t date doctors.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a lopsided smile. “We only work together for a few months, and maybe you should rephrase that last statement. You don’t date doctors who cheat. Something I’d never do.”
The way he said those words, looking deep into her eyes, made her want to believe him. But truly what man went into a relationship thinking, oh yeah, if I get tired of her, I’ll just find someone else.
Cheating wasn’t something that people planned for. It just happened.
Didn’t it?
She gave herself a mental shake. It didn’t matter because she had no intention of dating Holt Baxter.
“It’s late, and I’m exhausted.” She forced a smile. “Good night, Holt.”
“Good night, Kristin.” He looked as if he might kiss her again, but she went around him toward the apartment door. He smiled as if reading her mind. “Let me know if you need any more help tomorrow.”
“I’ll be fine, but thanks. I appreciate everything you did for me.”
He nodded and disappeared down the hall to his apartment. A walk that took all of fifteen steps. She closed the door, shot the deadbolt home, and leaned weakly against the frame, wondering just what she’d gotten herself into.
