Just One Night Together (Flatiron Five Fitness #3) - Deborah Cooke Page 0,28
he might have come to say something about her giving his mom a massage, but maybe he didn’t know.
Maybe he hadn’t even visited the hospital. He could have been busy at F5F. Natasha hadn’t expected him, after all.
Even if he had come to the hospital, Natasha might not have told him.
Maybe she’d been asleep when he arrived.
Haley sighed, acknowledging to herself that she’d been looking forward to seeing him again. The elevator doors opened and she strode across the lobby.
Her interest in Damon might not be mutual. Once might have been enough for him. She might just have been next.
To be fair, she’d thought he was next. Maybe if she was in the habit of seducing gorgeous men, she’d be more used to wanting more.
Joe’s cab was the first in line and Haley slid into the back seat with some relief. It was good to see a friendly face. It was starting to snow, big white flakes tumbling out of the sky. Maybe she’d walk to work the next day.
They wished each other a happy new year.
“Rough one?” Joe asked as the cab pulled away from the curb. “You look tired.”
“Three code blues in a row. It was certainly busy.”
“How many of them made it?”
“Only one.” Haley knotted her hands together and looked out the window at the dark park, suspecting that even the man who had survived the night wouldn’t live long. She found the cardiac ward harder than oncology, which was pretty much the opposite of the other nurses she knew. It was maybe because death came suddenly and often violently. She preferred when the grim reaper stalked his victims for a while.
Maybe because it was easier to believe he might be caught and stopped before he finished his grisly business. Maybe it was because people had time to make their peace with the inevitable and say goodbye. When death came out of the blue—as with a heart attack—it was often over before much intervention could be done.
“I gave a ride to your man tonight,” Joe said.
Haley blinked. Her man? Joe’s eyes were twinkling when she met his gaze in the mirror.
He meant Damon.
Her gut clenched with the conviction that one of the other nurses must have taken him home. Robyn would have done it, in a heartbeat.
“He’s not my man, Joe,” she said.
It was true. Damon had never promised her anything.
Well, he’d promised not to seduce her, but she’d changed that.
He’d said he would please her and he’d done that.
So, why did she feel like forgetting her own rule? She was committed to her career. There was no room in her life for love and marriage, and she didn’t want there to be.
She just wanted another night with Damon.
“Does he work at the hospital?” Joe asked.
“No. His mom’s in the oncology ward.” She watched, her curiosity whetted, but Joe gave no sign that Damon had been with anyone else. “He’s a nice guy,” she ventured.
“I thought so, too. Polite. Good tip.” Joe nodded. “The losers never tip, never think of anyone but themselves.”
The cab was quiet as Joe turned down Haley’s street.
He cleared his throat. “If he’s not your man, then you wouldn’t care that he was alone.”
Haley turned from the window to meet Joe’s bright gaze again.
“I thought so,” the older man said with satisfaction. “I know a thing or two about the world.”
Haley smiled. “Do you?”
Joe grinned as he stopped at her building. “And you wouldn’t want to know where he lives, either, would you?”
Haley leaned forward to pay the fare. “You’re a tease.”
“I’ve seen a lot of life, Haley.” Joe shook a finger at her. “Two lonely people sometimes need a little help to get things right.”
Haley chose not to argue about being lonely. “So, you’re a guardian angel now?”
“Can’t hurt. Leave the world a better place than how you found it.”
“That sounds like a Boy Scout motto.”
Joe chuckled. “Maybe.” He took a pad of Post-It notes from the console, wrote an address, and peeled off the top sheet to give it to her. “I’m going to guess that’s his mom’s house, and that he’s living there alone seeing as she’s in the hospital.”
“You don’t know.” Haley eyed the address, her heart leaping with an excitement that was completely undeserved. She wasn’t going to become Damon’s stalker.
“No. But I’m a good guesser.” Joe shrugged. “It fills the time.”
“Well, I’ll let you know if you’re right.”
“Better yet, invite me to the wedding.”
“Joe!”
The older man laughed. “I knew that would get a rise out of you.”