Page 25 of Nice Guys Don't Kiss Like That At Christmas
“Oh God,” I laugh, and it feels rusty, like something I haven’t used properly in years.“That one got me through a week of night shifts.”
“I watched it after a twelve-hour emergency calf delivery.While half asleep.Many emotions.”
“Same,” I murmur, then shake my head.“I binged so many shows during the past months.The Bear, obviously.Because why not spend your time off reliving the emotional intensity of a kitchen during service?”
He snorts.The sound is so achingly familiar that my chest constricts.
“AndXO, Kittybecause I needed something with actual joy.And outfits.”
“Balance,” he says.
I point at him with my fork.The kitchen light catches on the metal.“Exactly.”
There’s a beat where I forget where we are.Like really forget.It’s not the kitchen.It’s not Pine Creek.It’s some place where things between us never got broken.Only paused.On hold.His eyes are the same storm-blue they’ve always been, fixed on me like I’m something valuable he thought he’d lost.
The silence stretches between us again, broken only by the soft scrape of forks against plates.I find myself staring at the syrup pattern on my empty plate, something about the quiet with Adam making me want to fill it with truths I’ve been avoiding.
“I got suspended,” I say, not looking up.“My nursing license.That’s why I’m here.”
Adam’s fork stills against his plate.He doesn’t push, just waits.
“Questioning a doctor’s order.”I shrug like it doesn’t matter.Like it didn’t upend my entire life.“Your father knows.I think that’s why he hired me.”
“Dad’s big on second chances,” Adam says after a moment.“It’s why half the staff at the clinic has some kind of story.”
“That’s why the second chance contract?”I ask.
He nods.“He’s got this thing about people deserving another shot.”There’s something in his voice I can’t quite read.“So what happened?With the suspension?”
I take a breath.“I followed protocol, got overruled.My ex was Chief of Emergency and...”I trail off, shaking my head.“Doesn’t matter.The board cleared me eventually, but Chicago hospitals haven’t exactly been eager to hire me.”
Adam watches me, his expression unreadable.“That’s rough.”
“Your dad’s the only one who gave me a chance.”I finally look up.“One month and a good recommendation from him might help me get back on track.”
“To Chicago?”There’s something careful in his tone.
I nod.“I have to.There’s no other plan for me.I want to prove to everyone and to myself that I was right.That I can do it.Whatever it is.That my ex doesn’t get to dictate what happens to me.Not anymore.”
He doesn’t ask why.Doesn’t try to fix it.Just says, “You’re a good nurse, Eve.And your ex was definitely an ass.”
“You don’t know that,” I whisper.
“I know enough,” he says simply.
And for a moment, I let myself believe him.
He shakes his head, a small smile playing at his lips.“I still can’t believe you’re here.In Pine Creek.Talk about...coincidences.”
“The kind readers wouldn’t believe if it happened in books but happens more often than not in real life,” I say, pushing a stray crumb around my plate.“Like people discovering they’re long-lost neighbors or running into their high school crush at an airport during a snowstorm.”
“We’re not neighbors,” he points out, his eyes never leaving mine.
“No.”I smile despite myself.“We’re not.”
The quiet that follows feels different in a way I don’t want to analyze.
“I guess we probably should’ve talked about where we were from.”
