Читать книгу Wilder Hearts - Karen Rose Smith - Страница 10

Woofer found his new playmate entertaining, but when he grew tired of the puppy’s games and wanted to rest, little Wags was still going strong.

There’d been a few growls and yips and whines at first, but as the day wore on, the dogs grew more and more comfortable with each other.

So far, so good, Simone thought as she locked up the house and turned off the porch light.

Woofer usually slept in her bedroom each night, but since Wags wasn’t housebroken yet, she decided to put them both in the kitchen. One of the purchases Mike had made was a portable gate Millie Baxter had said might come in handy for separating the two, if it became necessary, and Simone had put it to good use several times.

Neither Wags nor Woofer was happy about being contained, and she hoped they would adjust soon.

After taking a nice long shower, she put on a flannel nightgown and pulled down the covers to her bed. The faint scent of laundry detergent and fabric softener reminded her the sheets were clean and fresh.

As she climbed onto the mattress and fluffed her pillow, it was the first real moment she’d had to relax all day, the first time she’d had a chance to ponder something other than dogs.

And that something was Mike.

Do you ever think about the night we spent together? he’d asked.

Of course she did. How could she not?

She’d never let down her defenses like that before. But there were several reasons she had.

She’d felt unusually pretty the night of Dr. Wilder’s cocktail party.

Dressed in a sexy dress and heels while holding the flute of bubbly had also made her feel elegant and sophisticated—a nice change for a woman who spent her workday wearing scrubs and her time off in an oversize shirt and a pair of comfy sweats or well-worn jeans.

As luck would have it, the conscientious waiter kept refilling her glass until she’d had a mind-numbing buzz, which had made the night seem surreal.

And as enchanting as a fairy tale.

Just seeing the way Mike had looked at her was enough to make her lose her head and pretend to be someone else.

And as he’d taken her hand and led her from the party and out of Peter’s house, she’d wondered if the night air would have the same effect on her as the clock striking midnight had on Cinderella.

But it hadn’t.

Overhead, the wintry sky was adorned with a million twinkling stars. And all around them, crystal flakes glistened on the banks of fresh-fallen snow.

When they’d reached Mike’s Jeep, he’d drawn her into his embrace. Then he’d tilted her chin and lowered his mouth to hers. She should have stopped it right there, but her pulse and her hormones had been pumping like a runaway steam engine, and she’d been lost in the magic of the heated moment.

The first tentative touch of his lips to hers had quickly intensified into a mind-spinning, knee-weakening kiss.

If she closed her eyes, she could imagine it still, the way his tongue had swept into her mouth, stealing her senses and making her ache for more.

Her physical reaction, which had bordered on wild and wicked, at least for someone as staid and conservative as she was, had merely been a result of lust and alcohol.

Still, whether she liked admitting it or not, something deep inside her was moved by Mike’s charm and flattered by his crush on her. So when he’d driven her home, she’d thrown caution to the wind and continued to play the role of a princess at the ball. And for the next few hours, she’d pretended to be a woman who always wore her hair swept up in a classic twist, someone who actually belonged in a sexy dress and spiked heels.

But it wasn’t a game she would continue to play. Not with a guy like Mike, who wanted so much more than a one-night fling. And not when the kind of commitment he wanted would lead to love and marriage, which was more than Simone could—or would—give to anyone.

Too bad she hadn’t been able to get Mike to believe that.

Yet, in part, she could understand why.

On the night they’d made love, she hadn’t had any of her usual intimacy issues, so the sex had been incredible.

In fact, they’d made love until they’d run out of condoms, and she’d lost count of the climaxes she’d had.

But as the morning sun began to peer through the slats of the miniblinds, Simone had awakened, the sheets tangled at their feet and the scent of lovemaking in the air.

Dawn had brought forth a sobering reality, just as the gong sounding midnight had broken the spell cast on Cinderella.

Simone could no longer keep up the pretense in the light of day, so she’d slipped out of bed, grabbed a robe and found an excuse to send Mike on his way.

She just wished she could do the same thing with the memory of their romantic bedroom antics.

A sharp, whining cry tore through the house, and Simone threw off the covers and jumped out of bed.

Poor little Wags.

What in the world had Woofer done to him?

When she reached the kitchen, Wags had stopped his cries and sat next to Woofer at the gate, their tails swishing across the linoleum floor as though the whining had been a ploy to draw her back to them.

Nevertheless, she picked up Wags and looked him over carefully.

There wasn’t any sign of blood.

“Darn you guys,” she uttered.

If Mike had been home, she would have called and insisted he come pick up Wags. But he was on duty tonight.

And she was stuck until his shift ended.

At seven-fifteen the next morning, Simone finally climbed out of bed and, while exhausted, gave up any hope of getting a solid block of sleep. Thanks to the dogs, who’d whined and begged to be allowed to run free in the house all night, she’d slept fitfully. And since Wags wasn’t housebroken, she’d had to make repeated trips outside.

The trouble was, she hadn’t made it two feet out of her bedroom when she was laid low by a wave of nausea, followed by an annoying case of the dry heaves.

Being pregnant wasn’t any fun at all, and she wanted to blame Mike, the stars or just plain bad luck, but the only one responsible was the pale, red-eyed, wild-haired woman staring back at her in the bathroom mirror.

After washing her face with cool water, she’d taken the dogs out to the backyard. Now she stood in the middle of the dew-drenched lawn in her pale green bathrobe and a pair of fuzzy pink slippers that had seen better days. She watched Woofer, who was—hopefully—teaching Wags what he should be doing outdoors and not inside on the kitchen floor.

The sky was overcast, and a wintry chill that had been absent yesterday urged her to slide her hands into the pockets of her robe.

She didn’t want to be outside; she wanted to go back to bed.

God, what was she going to do?

She had to go to work this afternoon and had planned to leave Wags and Woofer in the yard alone, but they still needed supervision.

Mike wouldn’t get off until six this evening, so she was stuck without any chance of taking a nap before her shift started. That is, unless she found someone else to puppy-sit.

Think, she told herself. There had to be someone she could call.

Oh, wait.

Talk about lightbulb moments.

Maybe Millie would take Wags and keep him at Tails a Waggin’ today. Then Simone could get some sleep before she had to work.

“Come on, you guys.” She turned and headed up the back steps to the service porch, the dogs on her heels. She was going to call Mike at the station and tell him he could pick up Wags at the pet store when he got off work.

Once inside the house, she grabbed the phone book and looked for the number, then placed a call to the Walnut River Fire Department.

Woofer, who couldn’t have gotten much sleep either, curled up at her feet, while Wags took off, exploring the part of the house that had been off limits to him all night.

Someone grabbed the phone on the second ring. “Fire department.”

She didn’t recognize the man who’d answered, but supposed it didn’t matter. “This is Simone Garner. Is Mike O’Rourke available?”

“He sure is. I’ll get him for you.”

She was placed on hold for a moment or two, until a familiar voice came over the line.

“Hey, Simone. How’s it going?” His tone was light and upbeat.

Hers, unfortunately, was not. “This isn’t going to work, Mike.”

“What’s the matter?”

“The dogs. I didn’t get any sleep last night. I’m going to have to ask Millie Baxter if she’ll look after Wags so I can get some rest before I have to go to the hospital. And I hope she’ll say yes. If so, can you pick him up at Tails a Waggin’?”

“Sure.”

“You’ll have to watch them tonight. Woofer isn’t always happy about sharing his territory with a pesky pup, so sometimes they’ll have to be separated.” She glanced up long enough to see that Wags had returned, carrying something in his mouth.

When he growled as though he’d captured a pint-size prowler and was going to shake the life out of it, she took a closer look at what he’d locked his teeth onto.

Her shoe!

“Oh, no!” She dropped the phone on the counter and hurried toward Wags, who had chomped down on one of the brand-new black heels that she’d spent entirely too much money on.

But the moment Wags saw her coming, he dashed off, taking the shoe with him.

She’d probably never have reason to wear it again anyway, but that wasn’t the point. “Come back here with that! You’re going to ruin it.”

As Wags ran through the house, dodging her at every turn, she swore under her breath.

Now this was something she could blame on Mike.

Mike gripped the receiver and strained to hear what was going on at Simone’s house.

“Honey?” The endearment slipped out before he could catch himself, and when there was no response from her, he blew out a sigh of relief.

What in the hell was going on over there?

He could hear her yelling at Wags, who’d undoubtedly taken something of value.

“No, Wags. No!” she said. “Bad dog.”

He heard the approaching footsteps as she returned to the phone.

When she got back on the line, he asked, “What happened?”

“Wags chewed up my brand-new shoe.”

Uh-oh. The puppy was going to wear out his welcome, if he hadn’t done so already.

Maybe Mike had better find him a home with one of the guys in the department who had a family. He’d have to ask around.

“I’m really sorry about the shoe, Simone. I’ll buy you another pair.”

“You don’t have to do that. I probably wouldn’t have worn them again anyway. It’s just that…that…” She sniffled, then broke into tears.

Damn. Simone never cried. At least, not out loud or in front of anyone. He’d seen emotion well in her eyes, but she’d always managed to hold it back. So what was with the tears?

Maybe it was that time of the month.

Of course, it could be something else. A buildup of some kind of stress, and Wags had been the last straw.

Either way, Mike had dumped the puppy on her, and the timing had been bad. Talk about guilt trips.

“I’m really sorry for the trouble I put you through, Simone.”

“You’d better be sorry.” She sniffled again, the words practically drowning in her throat. “See what happens when I don’t get my rest? I fall apart.”

“Aw, don’t do that…”

As much as he dreaded the sound of her crying, a part of him liked to see the emotional side of her; it was so rare that anyone did.

Again she sniffled, and he wished he was there to put an arm around her, to let her lean on him.

“I can’t handle this two nights in a row, Mike.”

And he couldn’t handle her tears—at least, not at a distance.

“I’ll take care of everything,” he said, not sure that he could. “If you drive to the pet store and ask Millie to look after Wags, I’ll pick him up there when I get off duty. Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll sleep on your couch and take care of the dogs for you tonight. And when you get home from work, you can go into your bedroom, close the door and get a full night’s sleep.”

It was a last-ditch effort to pull things back together, and he really expected her to say no, to suggest he and Wags find somewhere else to hang their hats.

But she surprised him. “Okay. But if that doesn’t work, you’ll have to figure out something else.”

Nice save. “Okay. Will do.”

“I’ll leave a key under the potted plant on my porch.”

A grin tugged at his lips. He’d been hoping she would give him a key to her place, although he had to admit, these weren’t quite the circumstances he’d had in mind.

But hey. He wouldn’t complain.

A selfish side of him wanted to hold on to every little inch Simone gave him.

Later that afternoon, while seated at the desk at the nurses’ station and reading the doctor’s orders on one of the patient files, Simone yawned, wishing she could curl up in a corner and take another nap.

Bless Millie for keeping Wags earlier today.

Upon returning home from the pet store, Simone had slept for several hours, then showered and got ready for work.

So why was she still so tired?

The only explanation was pregnancy hormones, which meant she’d have to get used to feeling sluggish.

She glanced at the clock displayed on the wall that was directly across from the nurses’ desk: 8:34.

It had been fairly quiet this evening, just the typical Wednesday-night complaints. They’d treated a toddler with a case of croup, a woman with a sliced finger that required sutures and a teenager whose intestinal flu had left him dehydrated.

Currently, they were examining a child with a broken thumb, as well as a middle-aged woman who’d fallen off a scooter and presented with a nasty scrape on her knee and a sprained wrist.

Just steps away, Dr. Ella Wilder was making notes in the injured woman’s chart.

At twenty-nine, Ella was one of the youngest doctors on staff. She was also one of the most attractive.

Her hair, dark brown and straight, was cut in a neat bob that reminded Simone of the style worn by flappers in the Roaring Twenties. It suited her.

And so did her chosen profession.

Ella Wilder had come from a long line of doctors. Her father, Dr. James Wilder, had been chief of staff before his recent death. Her oldest brother, Peter, an internist, was the acting chief of staff until a replacement could be found. Another brother, David, a renowned plastic surgeon who’d been living in Los Angeles, had just relocated here in Walnut River, where he would open a practice.

Only Anna, Ella’s adopted older sister, had opted for a different career path.

From what Simone had gathered, the two sisters had been close growing up, but there was a strain between Anna and all of her siblings now.

Simone, an only child, didn’t understand family dynamics, nor did she try to. Suffice it to say, she found it best to keep her nose to herself and just do her job.

Still, Simone liked Ella, a young woman who’d recently completed her residency in orthopedics at Boston Mass and now worked at Walnut River General. Simone wouldn’t exactly say they were close, since she didn’t warm to many people, but there was something about Ella that Simone admired.

“Dr. Wilder,” Simone said to the orthopedist, “when you have a moment, Dr. Fitzgerald would like you to take a look at some X-rays. Jeffrey Colwell, the little red-haired boy in 4-A, broke his thumb and, apparently, knocked the growth plate out of whack.”

“All right. I’m almost finished here.”

Unable to help herself, Simone yawned again, and Ella chuckled.

Simone felt a little guilty. She prided herself on not missing work more than a handful of days in the last fifteen years, but maybe she should have called in sick today.

“I’m afraid I didn’t get much sleep last night,” she admitted.

Ella slid a glance her way and smiled. “I hope you had a good reason for staying awake—like a special man in your life. Maybe a handsome paramedic.”

There was a glow to Ella these days, which was undoubtedly due to the “special man” in her own life, J. D. Sumner, who had recently resigned from his position with Northeastern HealthCare, the conglomerate hoping to take over Walnut River General.

But Ella was jumping to a conclusion Simone didn’t want anyone to make.

“I hate to blow your theory to smithereens,” Simone said, “but my special someone is a puppy.”

“Oh, really?” Ella closed the file in which she’d been writing. “You adopted another dog, a playmate for Woofer?”

“No. I’m puppy-sitting for Mike O’Rourke.”

Ella’s grin broadened, and her eyes glimmered. “I was wondering how you two were doing. That guy is crazy about you.”

The day after Peter’s cocktail party, while talking privately to Ella, Simone had let it slip that she and Mike had slept together. After all, Ella had seen the two of them locked in a heated kiss beside Mike’s Jeep the night before.

Simone couldn’t blame Ella for wondering, but not everyone was destined for a romantic happy ending.

“Mike’s a wonderful man,” Simone admitted. “And he’ll be a great catch for some lucky woman. But I’m a loner, and I always have been.”

Hooking up with anyone, even a female roommate, would be tough on Simone, who’d grown comfortable with the peace and quiet at home. Of course, having an additional dog around was going to push her comfort level to the limit, but Mike was supposed to be looking for a place that would allow him to keep Wags. So, hopefully, her life would be back on track soon.

“You’ll have to forgive me for wishing it had been the man keeping you awake instead of his dog.”

Simone yawned again. “And you’ll have to excuse me. Boy, what I wouldn’t give to go home early and call it a night.”

“Give me a moment to check that X-ray of Jeffrey’s thumb,” Ella said, “then you can join me for a cup of coffee in the doctors’ lounge.”

“All right.” Simone doubted that the caffeine would be good for the baby, but she also needed to be able to function while at work. She wasn’t going to get off until eleven. Maybe half a cup would be okay.

Fifteen minutes later, as Jeffrey and his mother prepared to head home with his hand stabilized in a cast, Ella returned. “Come on. Let’s take a quick break before we get another rush.”

After letting the E.R. resident and a fellow nurse know where she could be found, Simone joined Ella in the employee lounge, where they poured two cups of coffee and took a seat at the table.

“I’ve been off for a couple of days,” Simone said. “So fill me in. What’s the latest news about Northeastern HealthCare?”

The question shouldn’t have surprised Ella. After all, it was on everyone’s mind.

The threatened NHC takeover had many of the medical staff up in arms. The hospital had a reputation of providing the human touch and the kind of medical treatment patients deserved, while NHC was known in the industry for focusing on the bottom line at the expense of patient care.

“Well,” Ella said, taking a sip of her coffee, “the attorney general’s office has decided to investigate the claims of insurance fraud.”

Simone had known that the state examiner’s office claimed that the hospital was keeping patients longer than necessary and billing for treatment that wasn’t given. She blew out a sigh. “I know we tend to keep patients longer than the average, but that’s because we don’t want to rush them out of the hospital too soon. I can’t believe there’s anything fraudulent going on here.”

“I can’t, either,” Ella said. “But I don’t like what a charge like that means in regard to an NHC takeover.”

“Neither do I.” Simone rested her cup on the table, yet held it in both hands. “If the hospital is found to be at fault, profits will go down and we’ll have problems operating. Then NHC can swoop in like a superhero and save the hospital’s reputation by including it in their ‘family.’”

“Exactly.” Ella glanced at her watch. “Where did the last hour go? I need to call it a day. I’ve been here since early this morning.”

“You’ve got to be tired, too,” Simone said. “Maybe you shouldn’t have had the coffee.”

“It’s definitely been a long shift, which is the reason I wanted a bit of caffeine.” Ella smiled, her eyes glimmering and her cheeks taking on a pretty flush. “J.D. has been staying with his dad since he quit NHC, but today we started living together, and we’re having a celebratory dinner as soon as I get home.”

The couple had been seeing a lot of each other for the past two months, and apparently things had gotten serious. Ella’s happiness was impossible to ignore.

“Congratulations,” Simone said. “Is he taking you out?”

“No, we’re eating in. In fact, he’s cooking and even has a bottle of champagne chilling. Apparently, I’m in for a romantic evening.” She grinned. “So I need to get out of here.”

Simone could understand why. “Have a wonderful night.”

“Thanks. I intend to.”

Simone’s thoughts drifted to the man who was waiting at her house.

Of course, it wasn’t the same.

Even if Mike thought that it should be.