“Who told you that?” he asked. He didn’t think there were that many people around when he was talking to her.
“Gil saw you guys talking. Guess she wasn’t paying much attention to you. Not like you are used to women being all gaga over you. Most are all but leaning into you, not away when you speak. Not sure why some of the nurses think you are God around here.”
He held his hands up. “Weren’t you the one that used to say you played God with your hands?”
Sam laughed. “We both have said it before, but that is with our jobs not our personal lives.”
He dropped his hands down. “Yeah. I know. I know better than most.”
He’d never forget witnessing someone dying on the table the first time and prayed it wasn’t something he did. When the patient’s oxygen levels started to drop, then their heart rate plummeted, he thought for sure he’d calculated something wrong.
When it was all said and done, it wasn’t anything he’d done but rather the patient had a heart condition that no one knew about. Shit like this happened all the time.
Did he go home that night and drink while he stared at the wall and contemplate if he had what it took?
Yeah, he did and he never told a soul. And when the next death came on the table he acted the same way.
That one was a long shot. A patient’s last-ditch effort to remove a tumor with a stage four diagnosis. The patient knew the risks, but they were going out fighting.
That was what Wyatt had in his mind right now. Fighting for what he wanted. Or at least the knowledge of what the hell was going on around him.
“You do. We both do. So what is going on with you and Adriana? Did you really ask her out and she said no?”
“I offered to show her around the hospital. My mother asked me to do that. I was just following orders so that my mother didn’t skin me alive if I didn’t do what she asked.”
“Dude. That’s lame and you know it.”
Wyatt grinned. “You know how my mom is.”
“So she said she didn’t need you to do that. I’m not sure that is really striking out so I guess Gil was exaggerating.”
“Well, I did ask her to dinner tonight,” Wyatt admitted.
“And she said no?” Sam asked.
“I said I could show her around town since she was new. She said no, thank you, that her father could. Then she walked away to get to work.”
This time Sam started to laugh even harder. “Was this before the surgery that you and I were in earlier?”
“Yeah.”
“That explains why you were quieter than normal. It seemed tense in there and I couldn’t figure out why.”
“It wasn’t tense,” he said.
“If you say so. Adriana wouldn’t look at you even when she had to ask you a question.”
He’d noticed that too and it was what sent him to his office to do his work when normally he would have put it off until the end of the day.
“Whatever.”
Sam grabbed a pen and started to circle something on his calendar multiple times. “There. Now I’ll remember it. Actually.” He stopped and picked up his phone and started to type. “That’s better.”
“Remember what?”
“The day a woman told you no.”
7
Celebrity Status
“Wait up, Adriana.”
She turned to see Sherry coming toward her. No, Carrie. No, that wasn’t it either. Whatever, didn’t matter. She’d see the name on her tag when she got closer. It was only the second time she’d worked with this nurse.
“Yes.” She looked at the nametag quickly. “Mary. Something I can do for you?”
“No, just wanted to talk.”
Figures. “I’m a little busy,” she said, going back to her notes on the computer. She’d just closed the last surgery she was scheduled for today.
“Sorry. I can talk while you type. Is it true? Did Dr. Fierce ask you out? Wyatt? And you told him no?”
Are you kidding me? What the hell? “I’m sorry, what did you ask?”
“I asked if you turned down Wyatt Fierce. My God, do you know how many women would love to go on a date with him? Unless maybe you aren’t into men. If that is the case it’s fine too.”
She narrowed her eyes. Staying to herself still caused this crap to happen. “I like men just fine, but I’m not interested in dating anyone right now. Especially someone that everyone else seems to want to be with.”
“Many want to but not many have,” Mary said. Adriana snorted, not believing that. “It’s true. I mean he dates a lot, but I don’t think he sleeps with everyone. I’ve had a few conversations with women who have only gone on one or two dates and not much more.”
“I’m sure he ended things by the sounds of it. Or didn’t call them back.” She knew that type.
“No clue. I never really asked. Anyway, I think you might be the first person I know that told him no. You might get some celebrity status for that here.”
“Great. Thanks for the warning,” she said, picking up her laptop and walking away to finish up her work.
It was just her rotten luck when she was leaving for the day that she’d spot Wyatt in the hallway. Instead of going to her car, she turned and marched in his direction and called his name.
He lifted his head and looked at her, smiled, then got a really good look at her face and it dropped. “What’s wrong?”
“We need to talk privately. Is there someplace we can go where no one can see us?” She wasn’t making that mistake again. Too many eyes here, too many big ears and even bigger mouths.
“We can go to my office if you want.”
“Perfect,” she said and followed behind him. Her eyes weren’t looking at his ass in those scrubs trying to imagine what he looked like under the loose fitting pants. Liar!
Once they were behind the
