Cynda and the City Doctor - Theodora Taylor Page 0,28

would never forgive me if I went to work for the enemy. Also, I didn’t want The Fine Prince to suspect that I was so upset about him having a fiancée, that I changed jobs. No, I was way too proud for that.

Besides his fellowship had less than a year left. I could pretend it didn’t torture me to see other nurses flirting with him that long.

“No, thanks. I’m good at Raines-Jewish,” I answered Dr. Grady. “But I’m going to miss you.”

We said our goodbyes and hugged and then that was that. I guess I’ll have to find somewhere else to volunteer, I thought as I walked out to my car. Somewhere DBCare hadn’t gotten to yet.

A small bit of solace came just as I was about to turn left out of the clinic’s parking lot. A text from my roommate.

“Just got off my shift. Teen GSW. Coded. Want to meet me and Amber for a drink?”

Even though I was an ER nurse and my roommate was up in surgical, I easily translated the message. Her young patient had died while undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound. And even though her girlfriend, who was a medical researcher at Wash U. was coming out tonight, she wanted me there, too. Sometimes nurses needed other nurses to commiserate.

Alcohol sounded like a great idea actually. And after I pulled into my space at the back building, I started to text, “Yes. Absolutely. Where you two at?”

But I stopped short before I could push send.

Rhys was sitting on the back steps, leading up to my apartment building. He must have just gotten off his shift too. He was wearing his scrubs which made finding him here even worse. There was no reason for anyone to look as fine as The Fine Prince did in dark blue sanitary clothing.

I slowed and shook my head at him. “No, that devil corporation DBCare just took over my favorite free clinic. I do not need you here on top of that.”

Rhys frowned. “What is this about DBCare being the devil?”

Instead of answering, I sighed and asked him, “What are you doing here?”

He rose to his feet with a chagrined look. “Well, you weren’t returning any of my calls, texts, or post-it notes, so I decided stalking you was the next reasonable step.”

Technically his answer should have been off-putting, not funny. But damn that English accent….

I found myself smothering a smile, even as I asked, “Where’s Ingrid?”

“Returned to Sweden.” He walked down the stairs to stand right in front of me. So close, we were nearly chest to chest. “She left the same day she arrived.”

Sweden. So that was where her accent was from. Made sense that she’d hail from the land of ridiculously beautiful bikini models.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” I answered, keeping my tone unbothered. “I know she was looking real forward to seeing St. Louis.”

That insincere thing said, I started to push past him, but he grabbed my arm.

“Ingrid and I…yes, we were informally engaged. But we were taking a gap year. It was meant as a time for each of us to get others out of our systems before settling down.”

“So I was just a Black diversion for you until you could get married to your Swedish supermodel,” I translated. “Got it.”

“No, you weren’t just a diversion….” He let out a frustrated sigh. “Obviously, I wouldn’t have let things go as far as they had if I hadn’t truly liked you.”

“How is that obvious?” I ask him.

“Well, there were many other women vying to become my next diversion, as you put it, during the time I was dating you. If I’d wanted a simple distraction from my upcoming nuptials, I would’ve taken them up on their many offers. But I didn’t desire them. I desired you specifically.”

“You desired me specifically while you were taking a gap year off from your fiancée,” I repeated, wanting him to hear exactly how that sounds.

He bowed his head. But to his credit, he admitted, “Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want to desire you the way I did. Especially knowing what would be expected of me once my fellowship concluded. But Cynda, you magnetized me. From the first moment I saw you, I knew it was you and only you that I wanted. In truth that was why I acted so coldly toward you in the beginning. You were the attraction I couldn’t resist.”

“Well, you got me,” I answered with a bitter smile. “At least for one night.