Page 43 of Stuck with Doctor Grump

Dear Dr. Cole,

We’re thrilled to extend this final opportunity. The position includes full research funding, private surgical privileges, and a six-figure signing bonus. Travel accommodations to Europe for cardiac conference keynote presentations have been confirmed. Your leadership would be invaluable.

We await your decision.

Warm regards. Benjamin Harris, Chief of Staff, St. Luke’s Medical Institute, New York

I blinked.

Six-figure bonus. Europe. Keynote presentations.

Prestige. Power. Purpose.

The kind of offer people dream of. The kind that doesn’t just knock—it kicks the door down and hands you the keys to a different life.

A better life.

The phone trembled in my hand.

Of course he was going to take it.

Why wouldn’t he?

Why would a man like Damien Cole stay here, in a sleepy town filled with gossiping retirees and duck parades, when he could be flying across the world fixing hearts and saving lives?

Why would he choose this?

Why would he choose me?

I looked down at my reflection in the glass countertop—my cheeks still flushed from earlier, mascara smudged at the corners of my eyes, curls slightly wilted from the humidity.

Messy. Emotional. Complicated.

He had kissed me like I was oxygen. Held me like I was something precious. But kisses fade. Passion flickers. People leave.

He had the perfect escape route sitting right there, blinking on his screen.

My fingers tightened around the bouquet stems.

I shoved the phone gently back down and pulled his jacket off the stool, folding it carefully over my arm like it might crack if I handled it wrong.

My throat burned.

Maybe love wasn’t enough. Maybe it never was.

He almost chose me. But the job? That was certainty. Status. Purpose. A clean, controlled world he could command.

I was none of those things.

I was messy flower petals on the floor, impulsive confessions in garden courtyards, dreams that didn’t always add up to something polished.

He’d kissed me, yes.

But he hadn’t chosen me.

And that was all I needed to know.

I picked up the bouquet with shaking hands and walked back toward the door, forcing my spine straight, my chin high.

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