Who knows why Ellie had stopped by the office so late, but she surely hadn’t expected anyone else to be there at that hour. Discovering she wasn’t alone must have been frightening, and then, to walk down the hall and see… Oh, God. She cringed just imagining what Ellie had seen.
After putting the exam room in order, she retraced her steps and made sure there were no other telltale signs in the office. No stray sock in the hallway. No condom packet left lying somewhere after their hastily aborted adventure. Everything looked good except…uh-oh. She hurried to the waiting room and knelt by the table, quickly retrieving and arranging the magazines she and Josh had knocked to the floor on their way in last night. She smiled, despite her nerves, thinking of how he’d stared at her sternly and promised to teach her patience when she’d reached for his fly…
The door swung open and Ellie nearly stumbled over her.
“Hi, Ellie.” Melody stood and smoothed out the skirt of her peach dress. “Sorry. I know I’m early.” She glanced around the waiting room to gather her courage, and then looked at her boss. Pretty, dark-haired, and normally down-to-earth Dr. Swann looked decidedly dreamy-eyed. Not exactly the expression Melody expected. “I aimed to get here early this morning in case you wanted to…you know…fire me.”
The faraway look in Ellie’s deep brown eyes promptly disappeared, replaced by surprise. “Oh, God no.” She grabbed Melody’s arm and shook her head. “I’m relieved to see you. I was afraid you were going to quit.”
“Are you kidding? I love this job. I don’t want to lose it.” She closed her eyes and braced herself to…go there. “I can’t believe I did something so crazy and unprofessional.”
“Um, wasn’t it you who walked in on Tyler and me kissing in exam room one a few weeks ago? I’d be kind of a hypocrite, calling you unprofessional.”
“This was worse,” she heard herself respond, and immediately wanted to yank the words back. She doesn’t want to fire you. Are you trying to change her mind? And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop talking. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Actually, that’s not true. I was thinking it had been so damn long since a gorgeous, sexy, incredibly attentive guy literally wanted to tear my clothes off and have his merry way with me. And then I just completely stopped thinking.”
Ellie nodded, but Melody could see the cogs in the good doctor’s brain turning. Roger and she had broken up because, according to the rumors Melody herself had started, she couldn’t abide by Roger’s wild sexual appetites. Now she was desperate to have someone tear her clothes off and go at her. Why wouldn’t that someone be Roger?
Luckily, Ellie didn’t ask the question so obviously in her mind. Instead she said, “Who could blame you? Not any healthy, red-blooded woman in the county between the ages of eighteen and eighty, because I hear there’s been a suspicious uptick in small kitchen fires since Chief Bradley landed in Bluelick.”
What a sweetheart. After giving Ellie her best grateful smile, she walked through the door leading from the waiting room to the office proper and paused at the counter where she’d racked the day’s charts. “I really am sorry, and mortified, and I promise nothing like last night will ever happen again.”
Ellie laughed, and put her Jiffy Java to-go cup on the counter. Then she leafed through the charts. “Hey, for your sake, I hope it happens all the time, just not anyplace where a bonehead like me will bumble along.”
“Oh, you’re not a bonehead. I’m sure you were terrified, and then horrified.”
“Try surprised, and then relieved. Honestly, Melody, don’t give the incident another thought. I know you didn’t plan it.”
“I didn’t. I hadn’t even planned on seeing Josh last night, much less getting naked with the man. But I ran into him at Boone’s Market and it felt so good, talking with him, feeling that zing of attraction when he looked at me, realizing he felt the same chemistry. When he invited me to take a tour of the firehouse, I knew we were both looking for an excuse to…ah”—have sex—“spend more time together. But the firehouse is a busy place, full of other firefighters and what have you, so afterward, I offered to take him on a tour of my workplace. As soon as we were alone, things just sort of ignited. I really am sorry.” Thinking of Josh’s “apology” last night, she stuck her tongue in her cheek and added, “Josh is, too.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Ellie waved the apology away. She picked up her coffee and started to head to her office, then stopped and looked back. “So…are you going to see Chief Bradley again?”
“You’ve seen him as naked as a newborn, Ellie. I think under the circumstances, you should call him Josh.”
“You’re evading the question, Miss Merritt.”
She was, wasn’t she? Stupid to feel self-conscious admitting she planned to go on a date with the man. Especially considering everything Ellie already knew via direct and in-person observation. “Yes. He asked me to dinner Friday night. I accepted before I could talk myself out of it.”
Ellie scrunched her brow. “Why would you want to talk yourself out of it?”
“Please. I’ve got ‘woman in transition’ written all over me, and I know it. I’m coming off a long-term relationship and a broken engagement. My head’s telling me stuff like, ‘Take things slow. Have fun. Don’t dive into anything serious.’”
“Sounds logical.”
Leave it to Ellie to appreciate logic. “Yeah. Too bad my”—hormones—“um, heart took one look at Josh and said, ‘Mine, mine, mine!’”
“It’s a little-known medical fact. The heart’s got a mind of its own. I guess yours is over Roger, then?”
“Yes. For a long time.” Uh-huh, keep talking. This is what you need people in Bluelick to focus on now. “We’d drifted into friendship well before we called our engagement off. It just took us a while to admit as much to each other.”
Ellie appeared to weigh the information carefully. Then she drew in a breath. “Okay, well, the thing is…” She let the breath, and her words, out in a rush. “Roger and I are going on a date when he gets back from vacation.”
Wha…? “Roger asked you out?” There had to be some sort of explanation.
Ellie looked sorry she’d said anything. “He did. We’re having dinner at my place.”
What was he thinking? She knew she was staring. Knew she ought to say something, but she fumbled for the right response.
Ellie rushed to fill the silence. “I’ve always liked Roger. In school, I had a big crush on him. Now that we’re both back in Bluelick, I realize my crush never completely faded, but maybe evolved into something new. I think he sees me in a new light, too.”