Chapter Four
Joshua
It’s been a month since Hazel Rivera walked out of the emergency department. One solid month and I haven’t been able to shake her. How can a single person come in and leave an imprint on my life so easily?
Surely what I remember isn’t as good as I’ve made it out to be in my head—beautiful, funny, and honest. There aren’t many people in the world who can hold all those qualities. Two out of three? Yes, plenty. But all three? No, not until that early morning when I stepped into room five and found her.
Fuck. I’ve fantasized nearly every night of using varying vibrators and dildos to tease her before showing her how good the real thing is. I’ve never been opposed to toys so long as the woman is open and doesn’t choose them over me.
There is something downright sexy about teasing a woman until she can’t take it any longer. Follow it up with fucking her until she can’t see straight? That there is a perfect night.
I love my profession. Helping people has always been my calling, and I thank my mother for setting me on this path. Never have I been so tempted to blur ethical lines until Hazel Rivera stormed into my life.
Ha! My life—as if she’d been in my emergency room longer than two and a half hours, three max. When she walked away after discharge, I was tempted to follow her, to ask her to breakfast, or lunch, or dinner. Anything that would give me more time to get to know her. An opening to show me if our attraction was more than just pheromones.
Alas, logic kept me rooted to the spot until another nurse grabbed my attention. Good thing too because another minute and they would have been asking me why I was just standing there.
I shift the box to my left arm and pull open the door. The post office brings my attention to the present, pushing all thoughts of Hazel to the back of my mind. I know it’s not healthy to obsess over someone, especially one I don’t even know.
I’m relieved when I find only two people in line. Joining them, I watch the person up front walk to the counter. I glance at my box and smile. Inside it is a doll my niece, Annie, asked for. She’s turning seven years old, and of those seven birthdays, I’ve only missed two.
My sister and I may have fought like cats and dogs growing up, but other than Mom, I’ve never loved anyone more. Then she had Annie. That little girl has me wrapped around her finger like it’s nobody’s business. She’s smart, sweet, and funny as hell.
The hair at the back of my neck prickles with awareness when it’s my turn to step forward. I set the box on the counter and greet the clerk. Turning to my side, I glance around and freeze when I see a familiar face.
“Sir?” the man calls out, and I reluctantly pull my attention back to him.
“Hmm?”
“I asked if you wanted to send this Priority Mail?”
I nod. “Yeah—yes please,” I mutter and look for her again in the small post office. Since I showed up only a few minutes ago, more customers have arrived with packages and envelopes. My heart stutters at the thought of Hazel disappearing out of my life once again. It can’t be a coincidence after all this time in such a large city that I found her here at the post office of all places.
Her messy bun catches my attention, and I smile. Keeping an eye on her, I pay and step around the counter people have set their packages on. Hazel is tucked away in the corner, head tilted over a large envelope as she slides some papers into it.
A thousand things come to mind when I approach her. “Hi,” I blurt. Not my finest or most slick of lines said to a woman, but I suppose it will do.
She looks at me and smiles. For a moment, I wonder if she will feign remembering who I am. It’s something I normally wouldn’t question, but I saw only a flash of recognition earlier.
“Hi,” she says, her voice a little breathless with the single word.
“I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Nurse Hottie.”
Hazel winces, and I regret trying to be funny immediately.
“Sorry, I meant it to be funny, but—”
“No, don’t.” Her lips twist in an adorable fashion, and her hand touches my arm. “It’s kind of funny. I’d just hoped that part of my night was a dream, or a nightmare really.”
She seals the envelope and gathers her things. My heart pounds against my sternum, and I worry the opportunity lying before me is disappearing. The woman I couldn’t get out of my head for a whole damn month is about to walk out of my life if I don’t do something, anything.
“How have you been?” I ask, avoiding more reminders of her night in the hospital.
She smiles and looks around us. “Things no longer burn, so there’s that.”
“Always a good thing,” I say and give her my most charming smile.
“You had a rather large box to mail,” she blurts, and it’s then I see she’s also nervous.
