The Nurse's Secret Suitor. Cheryl Wyatt
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almost commented on it but clamped his mouth shut, sat and stared ahead. Some things were better left unsaid. “It’ll work itself out.” He slid a menu her way.
She leaned in. “Sometimes talking about it helps.”
A laugh choked out of him. “Trust me, not this time.”
The waitress brought ice water. Kate sipped hers like a regal princess. He resisted the urge to guzzle his. Manners were in order. She was, after all, a lady. “Thanks, Caleb.”
“For?”
She shrugged. “Friendship. Hanging out. For getting me.”
“I get you?”
She grinned. “Yeah. I think you do.”
Caleb sliced a piece of nut-dusted French bread for her.
“I could use a friend,” she added. “Bri’s strapped with wedding plans. I’m not the type who thrives alone. I get into too much trouble.” Mischief brightened her gorgeous eyes.
He laughed and tried not to dwell on how astonishingly pretty she was when she smiled. “Somehow, I can believe that.”
“See? I told you that you get me. It’s proof we’re going to be great friends.”
The waitress, a pale-skinned waif with coal-black hair, came back and took their orders, then left them alone again. “I’m glad we’re both comfortable with just being friends,” Kate continued. “Otherwise, people in town might try to fix us up.”
Caleb struggled not to choke on his water. “R-really?”
Kate nodded. “Yeah, besides our waitress and a few others, there aren’t many people our age in town, so everyone seems to think a newly arrived single man must be my Prince Charming.”
“But that’s not what you think,” he said, even though he already knew the answer.
“Nope. I’m not interested in you romantically. It’s nothing personal!” she hastened to assure him. “You seem like a great guy, and I’m glad we’re going to be friends. But you’re military all the way, and that’s not what I’m looking for.”
He nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll only be around for a few months anyway, and then hopefully it’s off to ranger school, so it’s not like I have time for romance, either.” He thought he saw a flash of disappointment cross her face, but it was gone before he could be sure.
“So we’ll make the most of the months as friends. After all, we’ll be spending a lot of time together with fund-raiser meetings and the work we’ll do together to ready props. Plus, Ian texted Mitch and informed him you applied at EPTC part-time as a surgery tech. Mitch called Ian first thing this morning.”
Caleb perked up. “You think I got the job?”
Kate grinned. “I mess with his and Mitch’s to-do list all the time. You’re top of the list for him to call for an interview. Well, after SpongeBob.”
He chuckled. “You wrote that in, or what?”
She shrugged. “You know from being a military medic that humor is what gets us through hard nights and heavy case loads.”
He nodded slowly, enjoying having that military and medical connection with her. Maybe being friends with her while keeping the secret from her wouldn’t be awkward after all. Sure, he wasn’t as smooth as he’d been as BB, but they were still getting along.
“We’re bound to run into each other at the trauma center and in surgery,” she continued. “Plus, Bri and Ian invite me for dinner once a week, and I assume, since Bri can’t stand to leave anyone out and you’re her beloved brother, you’ll be there.”
Caleb coughed. He’d swallowed a piece of ice whole when she said beloved brother. Okay, yeah. Totally awkward here. After he recovered, Caleb leaned in. “Good point. Look, you don’t have to try so hard to convince me to be friends, Kate. That’s not like you, anyway.” He grinned. “I’m fine being friends with you. To friendship?” he suggested, lifting his water glass in a toast.
“To friendship,” she agreed, clinking her glass against his.
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