During that time, Nick and his attorney filed the paperwork to form a medical corporation. While the hospital had agreed to his terms, there was no telling how many doctors would abandon a job to be a member of the group. As it turned out, several were. Of course, it was hard to argue with Nick’s goals that included leverage over the hospital in terms of pay, work hours, and even the possibility of hiring scribes so they didn’t have to deal with the EMR. There were two medical professionals from Keddler that applied to join Nick’s business as well.
While he worked to form his own business and negotiate with the hospital, he also took weekly trips to Reno where he saw a therapist. He dealt with past guilts and built an arsenal of skills to cope with stress in the future. I was so proud of him for facing his fears and perceived failures head on.
Today, I was rushing home from work because I hadn’t seen Nick for three days. He’d taken my dad down to San Diego to see the bongos and visit his family. He’d invited me and Eli to go with him, but both Eli and I declined, feeling like this was their thing. I was so proud of Eli in recognizing that Nick was important to both me and Dad. He and Nick were still a ways from being as close as they’d once been, but they had gone fishing on the lake a few times in the last few weeks. It was a start.
As I pulled into the driveway, nerves fluttered in my belly. I was excited and nervous to see Nick.
I was barely in the door, when his arms were around me. “I’ve been waiting like a love sick boy for you to get home,” he said just before his lips were on mine. “Did you miss me?”
“Were you gone?” I ached I missed him so much.
He growled. “Be nice.”
“Okay.” I started to undo his shirt.
“Not yet, baby. I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh?”
He took my hand and led me out the back door. On the deck, the table was set for dinner, champagne chilled in a bucket, and little white lights twinkled as they hung in the trees.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“Did you miss me?” I asked, looping my arms around him.
“Terribly.”
“I know that’s not true. I know you had fun with Dad and the bongos.”
“I did enjoy my time with him. We talked about a lot of things.”
That intrigued me. “Like about what?”
“I’ll tell you later.” He poured the champagne. “I want to make a toast to us.”
“I’ll drink to that.” I clicked my drink, but instead of taking a sip, I kissed him.
“You just want to get into my pants.” He grinned.
“What if I do?” I pressed my body against his groin, noting that he was hard.
“Don’t distract me, woman. I’ve got a plan.”
I laughed. “I don’t want to disrupt the plan.”
He took my hand and led me closer to the lake’s edge where a single lounge chair sat.
“It doesn’t look like you were expecting me,” I said.
“We’re going to share.” He sat and pulled me to sit between his legs. He wrapped his arms around my waist and set his chin on my shoulder. “Look out there.”
I looked over the lake. The sun was setting, casting lovely shades of orange over the water.”
“I can’t remember the last time I watched a sunset on the lake,” I said, settling in against him.
“Your dad and I took a trip to the coast while we were down south and watched the sunset. He has wonderful stories about him and your mom watching sunsets.”
I sighed at the bitter sweetness of that. “He does.”
“Your dad is an amazing man, Mia.”
“I know.”
“One thing I’ve learned from him is how important it is to seize the moment. Don’t wait for something because you think you have time or are uncertain as to how it might come out.”
“My dad misses my mom, but he has the peace knowing he never wasted a moment with her.”
He kissed my cheek. “I don’t want to miss a moment with you, Mia.”
I craned my head around to look up at him. “I don’t either.”
He stared at me with those wonderful green eyes and swallowed. “Then will you marry me?”
My breath caught, making it impossible to respond.
“We can spend our lives not wasting a moment.” He held up a beautiful platinum and diamond ring.
“Nick.” I turned around in the chair so I could straddle him and wrap my arms around him. “Yes!”
He buried his face against my neck. “I love you so much Mia.”
“I love you more, Nick.”
He slipped the ring on my finger, and kissed me as his hands caressed my back. “I was thinking we’d have dinner and enjoy the sunset, but I know how badly you want to get in my pants.”
“I do.”
His eyes flashed with emotion at the words I’d say to him when I joined my life with his. Hopefully, I’d be able to marry him soon. In fact, we could drive to Reno now and take care of it. No, not now. Now I needed to get in his pants.
He had other plans. “Let’s take this inside. I want lots of room to go slow.”
My pussy tingled at the thought of all the wonderful things he’d do to me. “You didn’t talk about my getting in your pants with my dad did you?”
“No. But I did ask his permission to marry you. Well, not permission … but his blessing. Eli’s too when I got back today.”
I stopped and looked at Nick. “You did that?”
“If they said no, I was still going to ask you. But I
