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“I know. This is not the appropriate place. But you can’t tell me you don’t still feel this connection between us, even after all this time.” Then his hands fell away from her face, and he walked away.
*
“Oh my gosh, he’s still in love with you,” Izzy said in a hushed tone over the phone. “I can’t believe he has been here for weeks, and you’re just telling me now.”
“No, he’s just messing with me. First, he invades my ER on some silly whim to practice real medicine for a few weeks. Then he buys this insanely massive coffeemaker that makes the most delicious brew it would make you cry. Next, he flirts with every single woman within ten feet of that hospital and attends every event I sign up for just to torture me.”
“He told you he still wants you. He has come up with some excuse to work right alongside you ten years after you broke up with him. And maybe he is done with his glamorous life in LA,” Izzy replied. “Maybe you should ask him to stay.”
“I did not break up with him. He left me. He’s only here for one more week, and then he heads back to his real life in LA. Mercy would like to recruit him, but I don’t think they stand a chance competing with his fancy plastic surgery career.”
“I just don’t see the harm in telling him you want him to stay—or better, test out this vibe. See if it’s just the remnants of an old flame, or if it can be coaxed into a raging fire again. You owe it to yourself and me. You need to get some, and I want to hear about it.”
“You read too many of those romance novels if you think we could just pick up after ten years. Also, I’m his supervisor, and I wouldn’t even know how to test out this vibe. Whatever that means.”
“I’m telling you, he still wants you. I bet he would even move back here for you if you just gave him some encouragement.”
“No, he made his choice when he left ten years ago. How sad would it be for me to throw myself at him and then watch him leave again? He could have stayed then, and he can choose to stay now on his own. We had plans that went beyond medical school, but he left and never came back. There is no happily ever after here.”
“Until now. He is back now. And for the record, those romance novels are my only romantic outlet, so don’t knock it until you try it. What they will teach you is where there was love once, love remains. Don’t let your pride get in the way now. Maybe he has regrets,” Izzy said.
Her beautiful sister had sworn off men since she had Sophie seven years ago. With thick dark curls, curves that matched Margo’s, and dazzling blue eyes, Izzy was the type of woman men couldn’t help but notice. But she’d been so hurt by Sophie’s father, she was too guarded to really put herself out there again. A few men had managed to break through her tough facade, but as soon as they found out she had a child, they weren’t interested in playing family.
“I’m just calling to vent. I’m not looking for advice on how to manage Drake.”
“Okay, good. Because you know I think you should just start sleeping with him and see what happens,” Izzy said.
“Oh my gosh, for someone who is terrified to sleep with anyone for fear of getting pregnant again, you’re very quick to tell me to be promiscuous.”
“The difference is, you and Drake both have fantastic jobs, healthcare, and I’m certain he wouldn’t act like a coward and leave you high and dry if you were carrying his love child. Besides, those eggs aren’t getting any younger,” Izzy teased.
“And on that note, I’m going to bed. Thank you, dear sister, for this supportive conversation,” Margo said.
“No problem, just promise you’ll tell me once you two start getting it on. Love you.”
She hung up, leaving Margo with a head full of fantasies about what it would be like to sleep with Drake again. Like every other woman in the hospital, she could easily see Drake’s sex appeal. She hadn’t missed how he’d grown from being a gorgeous young man into the type of man that commanded attention: muscles honed from years of dedication to his fitness, a thick head full of dark hair, and the faint lines of maturity that made men look even sexier as they aged. Her only option now was to try to ignore all the feelings he evoked.
Chapter Twelve
Drake
The thing he loved most about working in the ER was the pace of each shift. There was no time to think about anything but his current patient. He could block out his nonexistent personal life and his desire for Margo, most of the time. Touching her again had given him clarity. He needed to find the right time away from the hospital, away from donor events, just the two of them, to see how she would react. Her skin had been like silk, and her body had shivered in response. He could swear she would have welcomed more from him, but it was a work event, and she was his attending physician. But outside the hospital, they were still the same college sweethearts that never got a chance to see what they really had.
A nagging voice still made him hesitate. What if he misread her? What would it cost him to believe she wanted him still, to only be rejected again?
Eight hours into a ten-hour shift with back-to-back trauma patients, Drake was dragging. So when there was a chance to either take his thirty-minute dinner break or have a nap, he crashed on an empty bed in the children’s intake bay.
The moment his eyes closed, he saw Margo laughing and spinning on the dance floor with one faceless man after the other. Just when he was about to storm out on the dance floor and claim her, she turned and walked off the dance floor toward him, then threw her arms around his neck, smiling up at him.
“Aren’t you going to kiss me now? I’m yours, Drake. I always have been.”
She felt so real in his arms, he could even smell her soft soap and the argan oil she used in her hair. Her voice sounded in his ear, and when he opened his eyes again, she was hovering above him. Her thick hair cascading down to tempt him, and her hand on his chest.
“This is the most realistic dream I’ve ever had,” he said.
Sliding his hand up her shoulder, he threaded his fingers into her silky, thick hair before gripping the nap of her neck and instinctively pulled her mouth down to his. Her plump lips opened with a gasp right before his mouth crushed over hers to steal it.
She tasted like mint and something he couldn’t name, something that’d he’d been missing for years. Pulling her closer, his other arm wrapped around her waist, and she made a sound of resignation before he could feel the pressure of her kissing him back.
