Series Starter Firsts in Series Collection - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,54

over-the-top attracted to him, that would have sent me over the edge.

I meet Dr. Harris coming out of the room. “He’s all set once you give him the sample. I’m off to lunch with Helen. See you in an hour.”

I knock lightly and then push open the door. “Here you go. I brought two cans. We have a ton of it back there. That will also give you some time to see if this helps his issue before you invest a lot of money into buying formula that doesn’t quite work with his system. If this one doesn’t work, don’t get discouraged. There are many more we can try.”

“Thank you.” He finishes strapping Knox into his seat before looking up at me. “Lunch time?” he asks.

I look at my watch. Why, I have no clue. Of course, I know it’s lunch time. “Yeah, days almost over.”

He picks Knox’s seat up from the exam table. “Can you join us?” he asks, motioning with his head down to his slumbering son.

Do I? Is spending more time with him a good idea? I already think about him way more than I should. “Yes,” falls from my lips before I can contemplate it even further. I guess that settles that. “How about a drive-thru? I’ve got a few things I’ll need to finish up before we start with afternoon patients. I have about thirty minutes.” I spent my morning thinking about the two of you and got behind.

“Anything you want. We can take my truck since I have the car seat.”

“Okay. Just let me grab my purse.”

“You don’t need it.”

“Uh, yeah I do.” I laugh. “I mean, unless you’ve changed your mind.”

“No. I didn’t and you won’t. I asked you to lunch. It’s on me. So unless there is something else in your purse that you have to have in the next thirty minutes, we’re good to go.” With one arm bent to carry Knox, the other presses on the small of my back. “Time’s wasting, sweet girl,” he says next to my ear.

I fight back the bolt of electricity from the heat of his touch and let him guide us out of the building and to his truck.

“Where to?”

“I’m thinking . . . Taco Bell,” I suggest.

“Sounds good to me. So how has your day been?”

“So far so good. Although, I will admit that once I saw that Knox was on the schedule, it began to drag.” Why I just told him that I don’t know. It’s like my nerves are causing me to spill my guts.

“How so?”

Great. Now I have to explain it. “Just excited to see you guys,” I say honestly.

He doesn’t say anything, just reaches over and rests his hand on my thigh. My scrubs are thin and the heat from his touch is searing. He leaves his hand there while he orders, only removing it to pay, then quickly places it in the exact same spot.

He drives us next door to a church parking lot where we take off our seat belts and devour our lunch. “So, any big plans for the weekend?” he asks.

“Nope. Dawn and I are going to stay in and have a movie night. You?”

“Nah, with the little man being so fussy, we really just need the sleep.”

“Why don’t you see if your mom or Reagan will watch him for a few hours while you get a nap.”

“I can’t do it,” he says firmly.

Reaching out, I place my hand on his arm. I wait for him to look at me before speaking. “Of course you can. You’re an amazing dad, Ridge. No one would fault you for needing a little help now and then. I could even. . . .”

“Thank you, but we got this,” he responds, looking into the back seat where Knox is now sleeping peacefully.

“So, how is the house coming?” I change the subject, not wanting to get him upset with me or just agitated in general. He seems calm and both he and Knox need that right now. We chat for another ten minutes about random things. It’s nothing and it’s everything.

“I guess I need to get you back.”

“Yeah.” I sigh. “Duty calls and all that.” He chuckles. I gather our trash and put it all in one bag, so I can throw it away at the office. Ridge starts the truck, pulls out of the lot and his hand, as soon as he has the truck in gear, rests on my thigh. It’s confusing and stressful, and I never want