Page 96 of Challenge
“That was a stupid thing to do, Indie Porter. This was a great opportunity for you,” I murmur, staring down at her swollen lips and aching to touch them again.
She huffs out a soft laugh. “I think it’s the smartest thing I’ve done all week.”
I groan and hug her to me. Her selflessness is utterly mind-blowing. Shocking, unexpected, and fascinating on so many levels. Then, in a flash, my arrogance drops. “If you walk out there and tell my brothers I needed a kiss before surgery, I’ll make you pay.”
“Never,” she smirks and kisses me sweetly for good measure. “I think I was the one who needed the kiss. But I will say, if I’m going to lose my job over a kiss, that one was definitely worth it.”
She pulls away when we hear giggles waft through the door that Dr. Prichard is now waltzing through.
With a heavy sigh, he says, “I thought you were smarter than this, Indie.”
She begrudgingly releases me, takes a step back, and straightens her posture. Shooting Dr. Prichard a hard look, she replies, “It’s Dr. Porter. Please refer to me as such from now on.”
With that, she walks out with her shoulders held high and I do nothing to conceal the Camden Harris proud-as-fuck-smirk on my face.
“TELL ME WHATI’M HEARINGisn’t true,” Belle says, rushing up to me in the on-call room.
“It’s probably true,” I reply while stuffing my locker belongings into a garbage bag. “What’d you hear?”
“Indie Crazy Girl Porter! Did you seriously snog Camden Harris in your OR?” Belle knocks the bag out of my hand and turns me to face her head-on, practically slamming me up against the locker. My face evidently tells her everything she needs to know. “What the fuckity fuck?”
Shaking my head, I say, “I didn’t plan to do it, but I had to do something.”
“Why are you emptying your locker?”
Swallowing, I reply, “Because I just left the chief of surgery’s office. I’m suspended for a year and I have to redo my internship when I come back.”
“What?” she screams.
“Belle, it’s fine. It’s probably better than I deserve.”
“So is Camden in surgery then?”
“No.” I roll my eyes. “Prichard threw a huge fit about the OR not being sterile anymore and postponed everything.”
“Bloody hell. What aboutThe British Medical Journalarticle?”
I shrug. “I’m sure there’s nothing they want to talk to me about now. I threw it all away.”
“For a footballer.”
I smile. “For a footballer.”
“Look how you just said footballer with a sleazy smile! God, you’re completely smitten. What are you going to do about your suspension, though? You’ll fall so far behind. This is terrible.”
I shrug. “I’ll figure it out. I mean, I’m still young. I have plenty of time to catch up. I just can’t believe I have a job to come back to.” I flinch as I recall the chief’s face as he ripped into me about my immature and unprofessional behaviour, which he’s totally right about.
“So what are you doing now?” Belle asks.
“The chief said I have to be out of the hospital immediately.”
“God, Indie, I’m so sorry.”
I purse my lips. I suppose I should be more devastated than I am. If I’m being honest, though, the only thing I want to do is talk to Camden. There’s still so much explaining I have to do. I want him to understand me. I want him to know why I behaved the way I did and pushed him away. One public display of affection doesn’t make up for all the heartache I caused.
I throw my bag over my shoulder. When I open the door to leave, I find Tanner looking up and down the hallway.
“Tanner?”
