Page 5 of Silver Fox's Twin Surprise

"Uh, well, two weeks. I mean, this is three weeks now. Sorry." I winced, feeling stupid for that mistake. I was so flustered around him.

"Are you settling in and making friends? I could show you around, maybe, introduce you to some people." His offer was so kind, but the one thing I never did was mix work with pleasure. One little tiff outside of work based on someone's bad attitude would leave me in the lurch during work hours when adults got petty. No thanks.

"Uh, yeah, I've met most of my coworkers and I'm good with that. I don't really socialize with people I work with." My words flowed out of my mouth, and I watched a hint of some sort of negative emotion flash across his face before he flashed me a smile.

"Well, that's alright."

"It's just that socializing with people you work with gets messy." I was blurting stupid comments out now. I hated myself for that.

"I understand," he said, just as his phone chimed. I realized I probably sounded like a total jerk.

His eyes were on his phone screen and I felt horrible. He probably thought I meant him too, which I wasn't sure what I meant.

"I mean… Yes, that would be nice. I'm sorry…" My rambling and backpedaling probably sounded like floundering to him, and he raised his eyes to meet mine.

"I have to run. I have a patient. I'll catch you later?" he said as a question as he stood, and I nodded.

Dr. Cole Hastings walked away with a pep in his step, and my God, his ass was perfect. But I wasn't. I was an idiot and might have blown my chance.

5

COLE

My feet pounded the treadmill as I pushed myself. My six a.m. workout routine was almost bordering on a religious tradition. I wasn't a religious man, but I did treat my body like a temple as much as I could. I knew old age crept up too quickly on most folks and they never got ahead of the curve. I wanted to stay as youthful as I could for as long as I could.

The harder I pushed myself, the better it felt. But I couldn’t outrun the stress of the pending litigation. Even the news on the television here at the gym was talking about it now. It appeared they were keeping my name out of things for the time being, but Twin Peaks was taking a beating in the press. The patient who had almost died was very vocal about healthcare reform. I couldn't fault him. I, myself, wanted it.

I tried to ignore the broadcast, but it was quite loud. Everyone in the gym had their eyes on a television somewhere in the room, and I had to stare down at the treadmill's screen to focus on something else. I thought of work and how I'd feel when I got there. I ran harder until I was panting and thought of ways topleasantly distract myself at work too. The stress there was really getting to me.

Then I thought of the cute nurse I met, Rose—I didn’t get her last name yet. The way we bumped into each other at lunch last week didn't feel like a coincidence. It felt like the universe was telling me that there was something there. Yes, she was new, but how often was it that you bumped into someone twice so casually?

Just thinking of her got me excited to get to work instead of dreading it. I'd have said she was my lucky charm, but after having asked her to do a tour with me and receiving her rejection in such an obvious manner, I realized nothing would ever come of it with her. But the freedom of knowing a woman could spark my soul the way Kate had gave me hope for the future. If not Rose, then someone else for sure. I finally felt ready to move on and start over, and I had Rose to thank for that. It wasn’t a small thing.

I pressed the stop button and the treadmill slowed. Without even looking back up at the offending news broadcast, I slipped out of the gym and into the locker room. I showered and shaved, then dressed and packed my things up. I stopped by a coffee shop on my way to the hospital, and when I got there, I found a parking spot near the front row. I felt like my day was already looking up.

My team greeted me with a few updates on patients, and then I looked at my surgery roster to find out what my day looked like. With nothing on the schedule this morning, I took to rounds early. I carried my coffee with me and my tablet and stopped by my patients’ rooms.

After my third, but definitely not least significant, patient, I had to use the toilet. Too much coffee meant frequent bathroombreaks in the morning. I was rounding the corner to head up the hall to the bathrooms when I smacked into someone walking the opposite way. I dropped my tablet, spilled my coffee, and cussed so loudly I thought the whole floor could hear. Worst of all, the poor nurse took a spill at my expense, landing only inches from the puddle of tepid brew.

"God, I'm sorry," I grunted, swiping at the few droplets of coffee on my scrub pants. When I looked down at her, I felt my chest constrict like a vacuum. "Rose?"

She chuckled and pushed herself up off the floor, and I felt like a fool. "Wow, if you're going to keep running into me, I'm going to need to start wearing a helmet." She stooped to pick up my tablet and handed it to me.

"God, I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. I was in a hurry." Thankfully, the tablet was pretty sturdy. It wasn't cracked or chipped. I tucked it under my arm and sighed.

"It's alright. I'm on break and I just stopped to use the toilet." Her thumb pointed over her shoulder right where I was headed, and she crossed her arms over her middle. "I should, uh… I'll get janitorial to clean this up before someone slips."

"Hey, I can do that…" I glanced around and noticed one of the techs pushing a mop bucket this direction. It was time to mop, anyway. I just gave them the starting point. When I turned back to Rose, she was smiling at me and she hadn't left. I thought back to my invitation to show her around and how she resisted, then doubled back with an apology.

"I guess fate has it ordained that we should keep running into each other—literally." She laughed a little and snorted, which made me chuckle.

"I thought the same thing… Maybe I really am supposed to show you around and give you a tour." I tilted my head, and she seemed pleased by the idea.

"Yeah, sure. I have time to kill. Why not?" Rose stepped aside when the tech walked up. "Sorry about this," she told him, and I felt bad for making the mess.

"Just let me empty my bladder and we'll be set." I left her to watch the floor be mopped and went to the bathroom. After washing my hands, I came back and found her standing in almost the same spot.

She joined me and I began the tour. I took her through every wing of the hospital, including administrative. She asked lots of questions, and I introduced her to a few other nurses and doctors along the way, and when we were running out of time for her break, we headed back toward her hall.

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