for improvement,” Nina said, “but I don’t see anything that can’t be easily remedied by the MHIT program.”
“That’s good to hear. Call me again on Friday night so you can give me another update. Now, let’s move on to a juicier topic.”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Nina. You know what I’m dying to hear about.”
“Uh, no. I really don’t.”
“The hunk. I want to know how things are going with the hunk. I’ve seen pictures, remember? That Simon Granger is man candy. Has he shown any interest? Have you given him anything to go on? Put your cleavage in front of his eyes? Walked past him in the halls a little too closely so he could brush up against your boobs or your butt?”
Nina fought to keep herself from blushing. This was a side of Karen she hadn’t seen before. Obviously, it was the liquor talking. She’d better be careful that the same thing didn’t happen to her.
She’d done more than allow Simon to look at her cleavage, but she wasn’t about to tell her friend—and boss—that.
“I have a professional relationship with the man. Even if I was attracted to him—” she couldn’t quite bring herself to say she wasn’t attracted to him “—I can’t go around seducing people I work with, now can I? How would that reflect on the hospital? On my reputation? What if someone claims I slept with him to gain his support for the MHIT program? It could ruin what little legitimacy we have in the police’s eyes.” For just a second, she wondered if that was exactly what Stevens and Simon were hoping for. But no, while she might have believed that at one time, she knew Simon now. She’d witnessed him in action. He was a good cop. A good man. One she wanted desperately.
Karen gulped the rest of her mojito and waved at the barman for another. “You’re worrying too much. You’re allowed to sleep with this man if you want. The question is, do you?”
Of course she did. Her body responded to Simon’s simply by being in the same room with him. Just thinking about his mouth on hers was enough to bring back the needy ache between her legs.
“No,” she insisted. “The question is how are my patients doing? Fill me in on that, would you?”
She did, and Nina laughed at some of the shenanigans her patients had been up to. It reminded her that she really did love working with them. And that once again reminded her of her conversation with Simon. He’d shared his fears. His desire for safety, for breathing room, and his concerns that it made him a coward. She, however, hadn’t shared the details of her own life and fears. Hadn’t confessed that Beth’s death had broken something inside her. That it had literally sent her running, away from work she’d always loved, because she’d needed to feel safe. She’d wanted to work with patients who were already close to dying so that death wouldn’t be a surprise. So that no one could blame her. Her failure to share all that with him didn’t seem fair, especially because part of her knew why she’d held back.
They’d made such progress since the first day they’d met. She hadn’t wanted to give him any reason to dislike or disrespect her again.
Frustrated, she took a bigger swallow of her drink than she’d intended to, draining it. “I’m looking forward to getting back to them,” Nina said.
The bartender placed their third round of mojitos down on the table and then Karen said, “Sure. As soon as you have enough info, you can come back to the hospital.” She waved at the mojitos. “We’ll do this again when you’re done, and one more time when the MHIT training launches. Sound good?”
Nina grinned. “Sure. So long as you remember I’m not making any promises...”
“Like I said, you worry too much.”
Yeah, well, having your life threatened and your cat murdered tended to do that to a person. But the truth was, she’d been a worrier even before those things had happened. It was easy to worry when you spent so much time alone or concerned about others. Being with Simon made her worry less because he was always surprising her—with his depth, his vulnerability, his humor. Sometimes he infuriated her and baffled her, but most of the time he simply made her feel...alive. Imagine if she could feel that way every day.