Maxi had been there when Molly had attempted to take the dinner order. Her first mistake was waking him up to ask him, her second was trying to make the bland dishes sound appetizing.
Maxi had mouthed an apology to the nurse out of her dad’s line of vision.
“Yeah, well I didn’t want to get up and come into my third twelve hour shift in a row after only getting three hours sleep thanks to my new neighbor working on his motorcycle all day. But I want a paycheck, so I did.” She held them out a little further. “So the real question is; do you want these puddings or not?”
Maxi saw that her dad tried to suppress a grin.
“That’s blackmail,” he countered.
“Yep. Blackmail class was right after stand-up, and it was advanced” Stephanie shot right back.
Maxi liked this girl. She liked her a lot.
“Fine. I’ll take the chicken and soup,” he conceded.
“Actually tonight you’re having the turkey burger with a side salad. I ordered it when I came in.” She corrected him as she handed him the pudding. “Tomorrow you can have the chicken and soup after you order it nicely from Molly.”
“Turkey burger?” Her dad’s face soured like he’d just bit into a lemon.
“Turkey burger.” She chirped happily at her dad before turning towards Billy and Maxi who’d quietly enjoyed the show. “What about you two, can I get you anything?”
“No, we’re good. Thanks.” Maxi appreciated the fact that Stephanie and all the nurses had continually checked on them too.
After promising to be back later, Stephanie waved before heading out.
“I like her a lot,” Maxi enthused after she left.
“Yeah, she’s a piece of work. And she’s single.” Her dad’s observation was directed at Billy.
Maxi felt her stomach drop. Which was ridiculous. She and Billy weren’t anything. They’d had sex once. They weren’t in a relationship. There was no reason that her dad shouldn’t be trying to set him up with a pretty nurse. No reason that he knew about anyway.
“She’s not really my type,” Billy said casually.
Please, please, please drop it, Maxi silently pleaded. This was not a conversation that she wanted to be witness to.
“Really?” Her dad didn’t drop it. “What’s your type?”
“I’m partial to brunettes,” Billy answered as a full-blown Cheshire-Cat smile spread across his sexier-than-sin face.
Thankfully, her dad’s dinner arrived and she wasn’t subjected to any further conversation on her least favorite topic.
As her dad reluctantly ate, Billy moved his hand so that it was resting on Maxi’s knee, which she hadn’t noticed had started bouncing up and down. His touch was like a shot of whiskey, spreading warmth through her. She’d spent all day in the hospital room with Billy sitting beside her, but they hadn’t had any contact. She missed it. She craved it.
If this was how she felt after one day without his touch, she didn’t need a professional opinion to know that she had it bad. Really bad. And she had no idea what to do about it…