Page 28 of Dr. Alaska
With a shiver, she peered out the window at the snow swirling over the pine-dotted hills behind the hospital. Today’s weather included cold haze and meager sunshine for a few hours. Chowder was a perfect meal.
After a few minutes of eating in companionable silence, Maverick cleared his throat as his brows drew together.
Uh-oh.
He set down the spoon. “Sorry about bailing on Monday night’s dinner plan. Hilda’s son got sick, so I took her shift.”
Lee could appreciate unpredictable schedules when plans had to change.
Her ex? Not so much. Preston yelled at her if she missed a social function or was late to a business event because of a delivery. In fact, patient care flat-out pissed him off, because it meant during those times, Preston Dupree wasn’t her priority.
He never understood why she couldn’t call in sick when he had a social engagement or if he needed a spouse to join golfing couples, where he spent his time ignoring her as he schmoozed his way up the local government ladder.
How much had he spent on their country club memberships?
More than she had spent on state licensing and professional organization membership.
Criminelly, she hated schmoozing, and she didn’t like to golf, much less do those things together.
Almost as much as she hated—
“Penny for your thoughts?” Maverick’s low voice and brush of his fingers over her wrist pulled her back. “You can verify my shift log if you don’t believe me.”
“What? Monday night? Oh gosh no, I believe you.”
“You sure? For a minute there you looked mad. Dee says that I should start most conversations with an apology, just in case.” His brows drew together. “This may be one of those times. If I said something wrong yet again, my bad.”
Lee stared at the spoon lying next to the half-eaten chowder bowl, her stomach tightening.Quit it. Maverick wasnotPreston. “I know how coverage changes quickly in a rural area like this. At some point, I’ll be the one changing plans.” Assuming there were future plans. “I was thinking about other things, is all.”
“Like how to disembowel someone but not leave any evidence?”
Hoo boy. “You’re not far off!” Lee said as she relaxed and dug back into her lunch. Delicious.
His jaw dropped. “Wait. What?”
“What?” She chewed and swallowed. “I haven’t disemboweled anyone that you would be aware of.” She tapped her napkin to her mouth and grinned at his brow-furrowed expression. “Wonderful lunch!”
“Uh-huh,” he mumbled with his head tilted to one side. He lifted his glass and gulped some water.
She tapped her index finger on the table. “Hold on. This doesn’t count as credit for dinner, does it?”
With a scrape of metal on crockery, Maverick polished off his meal and patted his firm midsection with a contented growl that she responded to in ways that weren’t appropriate in a hospital cafeteria. “No, this is not dinner date. This is lunch with a fellow hospital employee on chowder day.” He lifted his chin toward his partner, who was chatting with two friends at one of the larger tables. “Louise always knows when it’s chowder day at the Yukon Valley Hospital cafeteria.”
Lee laughed. “Oh, so my pleasant company secondary to your hunger?”
He leaned forward, voice quiet so only Lee could hear. “Chowder hunger versus pleasant company hunger are two very different things. I’m lucky to be enjoying both right now, but I have only satisfied my chowder hunger.” He rested his blunt fingertips on top of hers—the tiniest heated contact—and pinned her with an intense stare. “At some point, I’d like to have seconds of the pleasant company.”
“I—” An involuntary shudder worked its way through her torso.
Maverick’s demeanor crumbled as he flashed a self-deprecating grimace. “You’ll notice my expert use of crab chowder as a flirtation device.” He dropped his forehead against his palm. “I know. Real suave.”
Covering her mouth to contain the laugh erupting, she finally composed herself, but not before other staff glanced her way. She smoothed her sweater hem and murmured, “Ranks right up there with a Code Blue as a prelude to a kiss.”
“Hey, that was happenstance. Also, I like the way you think. We should come up with another emergency.” He nodded with a gleam in his blue eyes that made her toes tingle. “But to fully answer your question, my point is, I’m not trying to get out of dinner. We can shoot for this Thursday? A little after seven at the diner?”
“Works for me.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but a beeping noise stopped him. Pulling out his phone, he lifted his hand in a wave. Louise gave a thumbs-up in response and grabbed her tray, getting up from her table.
