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“I didn’t mean to keep you. I just wanted to apologize and ask for your forgiveness.”
“You are forgiven.”
“Thank you,” he said, taking a step back toward the door.
Grace had never, not once in her life, considered asking a guy on a date, but a sense of panic welled in her at the thought of not seeing Levi again soon.
The words spilled out of her, leaving her unable to stuff them back into her mouth. “Are you busy next Saturday?” she heard herself ask.
Levi appeared as shocked by the question as Grace felt.
“No. Not really. Did you have something in mind?” he asked, sounding hesitant, as though he expected her to make fun of him or something equally preposterous.
“Would you have any interest in going to the movies?”
A smile broke across Levi’s face that was nothing short of dazzling. “I’d like that, Nurse Marshall, but only on two conditions.”
What had she done!
She’d asked out a man, which boggled her mind, and that man had infuriated her the first time they’d met. Other than Dr. O’Brien’s comment in passing, she knew nothing about Levi Gibson beyond the fact that he was good-looking and seemed sweet, now that he wasn’t muttering insults and glowering at her in the exam room.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to go to the movies with him. It would certainly be better than her usual Saturday evening activities of watching whatever was on television with Cindy or reading.
While she pondered the possibilities, her thoughts latched onto what he said. Conditions. He would only go out with her on two conditions. If they involved something nefarious, she would call hospital security on him.
“And those conditions are?” she asked, fearful of how he might respond.
He took a step closer to her, and she could practically see his confidence begin to blossom. “Condition one is you’ll agree to have dinner with me either before or after the movie.”
She nodded, feeling somewhat relieved. Dinner was innocent, practical, and a normal thing one would do on a date. “That’s agreeable.”
“Condition two,” he said, smiling again in that charming way that made her stomach flutter. “Is that you’ll tell me your name and give me your phone number in case something happens between now and then and one of us needs to cancel.”
Grace had no intention of canceling. Not when the handsome cowboy had charmed her with an umbrella, lilacs, and a sincere apology. However, maybe he had no interest in seeing her again and would call Friday afternoon to let her know he couldn’t make it.
Perhaps she was reading far more into the situation than was warranted.
“Come over here,” she said, leading the way to the receptionist’s desk. Grace set down the flowers, wrote out her name and phone number on a slip of paper, and handed it to him, then held out the pen and a notepad to him.
He shook his head. “You write it. It will look like a drunken chicken danced in an inkwell if I try.”
She barely held back a giggle as she wrote his name and the phone number to both his home and his parents’ home on a piece of paper, tucking it in her purse.
“Would you like me to pick you up at your place or meet somewhere?” Levi asked as he took a step back from the desk.
She liked that he’d offered to meet somewhere, making her feel that he’d put her in control of the dating parameters.
“Call me Friday evening, and we’ll figure out the details,” she said with a warm smile, then lifted her hand in a wave as he nodded and left.
She waited until he dashed back across the parking lot out of view to glance at the receptionist.
The woman cocked a penciled-on eyebrow at her. “He’s cute and sweet.”
“He sure seems to be,” Grace agreed, then glanced down at the vase. “Would you mind if I leave these here today? You know how the doctors are about flowers upsetting the patients in our office.”
“I don’t mind at all having these beauties to keep me company all day,” the receptionist grinned as she sniffed the lilacs. “Makes me think of my grandma.”
“Me too!” Grace smiled at the woman and rushed to clock in on time. She could hardly wait for the day to end so she could tell Cindy that the cowboy who had upset her whole weekend had miraculously turned out not to be a big jerk after all.
