Empty Net (Five for Fighting #3) Page 2

  Lizzie should’ve checked on the patients in the common area before running off to take her lunch, but she needed to find air that wasn’t heavy with Doug Renaud’s cologne. She didn’t know what it was, but it activated something inside her that made her want to throw caution to the wind and pull the man in for a deep kiss.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she had an instant reaction like that to a man, or if she ever had. Her determination to stay away from the opposite sex made it easy to realize the latter was true. No one had triggered the raw need for something that Doug had. What exactly that something was confused Lizzie.

  It was enough to scare her back into the breakroom, where he wouldn’t find her. As she’d basically run to get away from him, she felt a tether almost pull her back to his side. There had to be some kind of aphrodisiac in the cologne. It was the only explanation she could come up with for the way her hormones had suddenly gone crazy.

  She took a few deep breaths as she looked in the fridge for her container of leftover lasagna. Even with half the staff gone, the clear plastic with a red lid seemed to get lost amongst the other items. Spending lunch tossing items growing mold briefly crossed Lizzie’s mind, but she needed to focus on getting her thoughts straightened out.

  Lizzie wasn’t sure what brand of cologne had lodged in her nostrils, just that it wasn’t leaving her memory anytime soon. There was a hint of something woodsy in there, but overall it was just an assault on the senses. It almost felt like she could taste it on her tongue. She ran her tongue across her top teeth a couple times to try to get the flavor to leave. It didn’t seem to be helping.

  “Who’s the hunk with Goldilocks? You saw him in person, does his flesh look as delectable as it does on the video screen? Because all I could think about while I watched him was how great he’d look with my teeth prints all over him.” Madison spoke before Lizzie realized she wasn’t alone.

  Madison was one of two other nurses who hadn’t picked up a stomach bug and called in sick. The mandate to make sure they didn’t eat lunch from the same restaurant was sure to be sent out as soon as the head nurse stopped vomiting. Lizzie couldn’t afford to eat out, so she didn’t have to worry about picking up a bug. Making a large meal a couple times a week gave her plenty of leftovers for lunches.

  Lizzie found and grabbed her container before she turned to look at Madison. The thirty-seven-year-old looked like she was glowing, with her eyes lit up with wonderment and her cheeks a little rosy. Lizzie had hoped Doug wasn’t as striking as her overactive imagination had led her to believe, but clearly it was fruitless. Maddie rarely dressed up for work, and technically she still wasn’t, but her golden hair was no longer up in its usual ponytail and her thin lips looked a little darker than usual.

  The woman was over a decade older than Lizzie, but she seemed to have the libido of a teenage boy. Lizzie based the comparison on stories Maddie had shared. Stories Lizzie really wished could be unheard.

  “He’s a friend of Nelson’s.” Lizzie didn’t elaborate on that as she maneuvered through the breakroom to the counter with the microwave. Everyone knew who Nelson was. The nurses lobbied to be on duty whenever he scheduled a visit. Well, most of the nurses anyway.

  Lizzie wasn’t sure she’d be able to eat, but she needed to at least try. She’d already lied to Doug about Stephanie having contact with other guys. Lying to herself about her reason for running away instead of watching the interactions out in the common room was more lying than she could handle in one day. Lizzie was usually good about keeping things straight, but that dang cologne was messing with her.

  It was weird how quickly she’d found the words pouring out of her mouth. She hadn’t expected to find him waiting when she ran out to hit print on a schedule that for some reason wasn’t put on the network drive, so it could be accessed on other computers. Finding Adonis standing there waiting to see one of the patients had somehow made an already hectic day even worse.

  The way her heart had immediately rapidly pulsed in her chest made her think a heart attack was around the corner. Doug Renaud needed to come with some kind of warning label. Maybe something like, “make sure you have a defibrillator handy.” Lizzie still felt like she could use a little zap to get her heartbeat back to normal.

  “Then I bet he’s another hockey player.” Madison’s words brought Lizzie out of her regrets for how she handled things. When Maddie noticed she was trying to connect dots in the conversation, she continued with her thought. “I know you didn’t meet Nelson until after he married, but he’s been coming for years, and before that ring landed on his finger, I checked out the options. He’s a defenseman on the Tigers hockey team.”

  Madison made a purring noise and Lizzie was thankful the microwave beeped to tell her lunch was ready. She busied herself stirring her food to make sure it was heated evenly. Doug had mentioned something about being Nelson’s teammate, so Maddie’s assumption made sense.

  Lizzie hadn’t kidded herself that she had a chance with someone like Doug, nor should the thought have even crossed her mind, but hearing he was some sort of athlete made the fantasies she’d come up with peter out. She’d never heard anything good coming from a relationship with an athlete, and she had reasons to make sure her personal life wasn’t shared with the world.

  “Well, he did mention the word teammate, and as far as I could see, there wasn’t a ring on his finger.”

  Lizzie took her food over to the table set up in the small room. There usually wasn’t more than three people on break at the same time, so the room wasn’t big or fancy. It didn’t even have a vending machine for people who wanted a snack during the day.

  “Really? I couldn’t tell from the video feed, but I figured anyone who looked that delicious had be tied down. There could be a ring on a fiancé out there somewhere, but as long as there’s not one on his finger, he might be worth another look. Oh who am I kidding? He’s worth a second look even if there was a ring.”

  Lizzie had thought the same thing about him being tied down, so the disbelief in Maddie’s voice didn’t come as a shock. The other woman remained in her spot as Lizzie filled her mouth with her cheesy tomato concoction. Lasagna was one of the few foods she enjoyed better as a leftover than freshly made, but she wasn’t interested in relishing her hard work from the night before. With every bite she took, the taste of Doug’s cologne seemed to slide down her throat with the food.

  “Just because he’s not wearing a ring doesn’t mean he’s not one of those guys who doesn’t believe in marriage, but has a girlfriend he’s been dating for a decade,” Lizzie pointed out.

  Thinking about how he’d checked out her boobs made Lizzie hope that wasn’t true, for the woman’s sake. She had the feeling he was trying to undress her with his eyes, but that could’ve been wishful thinking on her part. She’d fought to keep from looking at him, because she knew she’d try to figure out if his abs matched his muscular arms. It made her feel better about her mind being in the gutter if she could at least pretend his was too.

  “Hmm.” Maddie tapped a finger on her lips as she thought about whatever new thought had crossed her mind. Lizzie wished she’d hurry up and get on with the rest of her day, because both of them being on break for long was impossible since they were short-staffed.

  “If you want to go ask him for a date, he’s probably still out there.” The suggestion was more to get Maddie out of Lizzie’s hair than something she thought would work out in Maddie’s favor.

  “That’s an idea, but I’m sure he’s got women throwing themselves at him all the time. It’s going to take something more elaborate to make him notice me. He’s probably a decade younger than me, which means it’s going to take a gallon of scotch and some favorable lighting to even get in the door.” Maddie laughed, as Lizzie tried to figure out whether she was joking.

  The two women weren’t really close, but after working together for three and a half months, Lizzie thought she knew Madison pretty well. She seemed to be a perpetual d
ater, claiming six different boyfriends in the short time she’d been sharing dating stories. There were a few one-nighters in there too, but Lizzie tried not to keep close track of Maddie’s sexual promiscuity.

  Lizzie hadn’t had a significant other in over two years, so she couldn’t share any of her own tales of love. Her life was too busy to worry about finding a guy who fit into it, not to mention her last relationship had left a bad taste in her mouth. A taste so bad that Doug was the first guy she’d even let herself think about in a sexual way.

  “I thought you were still seeing Jared.” Lizzie was pretty sure that was the last name she remembered Maddie sharing. There had been Paul, Oliver, Grant, Ken, Marshall and Jared. The order was a little hazy, but she was pretty sure those were the names.

  “Technically, it’s Sam right now, but there’s nothing saying we’re exclusive. He’s twenty-two and has the stamina of an ox, so I don’t doubt for a second he’s plowing every field he can get his hands on.”

  What little appetite Lizzie had vanished as soon as Maddie started painting pictures in her head. She hadn’t met Sam, but a general porn scene started up, and she had to shake her head to try to get rid of it.

  “Alrighty then. What are you still doing standing there? If you don’t think your sex stallion is enough for you, go see what Mr. Hockey has to offer.”

  Maddie seemed to be thinking things over, so Lizzie stood up and took her bowl over to the garbage. There was still half her lasagna remaining, but she knew she wasn’t going to get back to it. Plus, reheating once was delicious, but a second reheat sometimes turned things a bit rubbery.

  By the time she’d put her dishes in the sink to soak, Maddie was ready to announce whatever conclusion she’d come to. Lizzie had only been on lunch for ten minutes, and it seemed like her usual full hour. She wanted to get back to work, so she could keep her mind busy and hopefully get rid of the cologne that still hung in the air around her.

  “Nah. It’s date night with my stallion, as you called him, so I don’t have to worry about satisfaction. What about you? When was the last time you got laid?”

  If Lizzie had managed to take a drink of the glass of water she’d just filled up, the water would’ve sprayed across the room as soon as she heard the question. Maddie had no problem sharing her love life, but Lizzie kept her history private.

  She set the water down on the counter before she came up with a response. It wasn’t like she had to do math in her head to figure out the exact number of days it had been. She was working out the nicest way to tell Maddie it was none of her business.

  “I have enough fun living vicariously through you. Why would I need to worry about keeping track of anything else?”

  Maddie shook her head and tsked as she walked over to the counter and leaned next to Lizzie. “I imagine things are harder for you with a kid at home. You don’t want him getting the wrong idea about having a new daddy in the picture. If you ever need a babysitter, I have a pair of nieces that could help you out. One’s sixteen and the other is fourteen. They’re cheap and come with all sorts of experience from taking care of their baby brothers.”

  Bringing up Lizzie’s son wasn’t the best way to get on her good side. Sure, Ben was the main reason she wasn’t looking for a relationship, but she didn’t blame him for that. She was a mother, and her baby came first.

  Before she could point out that Ben obviously had someone else who looked after him, because Lizzie didn’t bring him to work with her every day, she heard the flutes of her ringtone telling her Ben’s daycare was trying to get ahold of her. Looking at the clock on the wall, it was only a little after twelve-thirty, which usually meant the call wasn’t going to be a good one. The only other time they’d called was when Ben had managed to get a toy stuck in his nose.

  “You’re going to have to hold that thought while I get this,” Lizzie said as she took her phone from a pocket. She didn’t need to verify the number calling, but she did anyway. “Hello?” The word came out as a question.

  “Sorry to bug you, Elizabeth, but I’m going to need you to come pick Ben up. Johnnie seems to be developing a case of the chicken pox, and I’m hoping to keep the kids who haven’t had them from dealing with the displeasure.”

  Lizzie took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She blamed the turn of events on Maddie for bringing up Ben in the first place. Lizzie’s day was already crazy enough, and it wasn’t like she could just drop everything and go home for the day, no matter how much she wanted to crawl back into bed and pretend she hadn’t woken up. Thankfully she still had enough time in her lunch hour that she could pick Ben up and bring him back to work. What happened after that would be left up to the cosmic person screwing with her day.

  The only shining thought she had was the fact that Ben had been given a chicken pox vaccine, so the chances of her being up nights with an itchy, crying two-year-old were small. Ben had rarely been sick, a blessing for a single mother, and Lizzie was hoping that trend wouldn’t change anytime soon.

  “Give me about ten minutes and I’ll be there.” She sighed again as she hung up the phone and looked over to Maddie, trying hard not to show her displeasure with the woman.

  Maddie was working to get some dirt or something out from underneath one of her fingernails. They were standing right next to a sink, so Lizzie wasn’t sure why she didn’t just scrub her hands.

  “I have to go pick up Ben, but I’ll be back in a half an hour. Since we’re short-staffed, maybe he can make some rounds.” Lizzie tried to smile, but there was no way it made it all the way to her eyes.

  Ben had spent the day with her before at work, so she knew it wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. He had to stay in one area, though, and usually there were enough other nurses around that someone could keep an eye on him when Lizzie was called away. With three nurses it was going to be a struggle, but she’d figure something out.

  Maddie’s response was another hum. Half of the woman’s conversations seemed to be wordless replies. Lizzie got enough of that from Ben. She’d hoped spending around ten hours a day with adults would involve a few more words being exchanged. After devoting a couple of years to getting her nursing degree, her dream of being able to provide for Ben wasn’t as luxurious as she’d thought it’d be.

  Since Maddie didn’t seem like she was going to add anything to the conversation, Lizzie fished her keys out of her pocket and made her way out of the room. Instead of turning towards the parking lot, where her beat-up used car was waiting for her, she turned to the left to take one last look at the fine piece of masculine specimen she couldn’t get her senses to stop dreaming about.

  There was a small window in the door separating the living quarters and common room that she could look through without walking into the room. During the fifty-foot walk, Lizzie scolded herself for needing to see him just one more time.

  Something about Doug Renaud called to her, and like a moth to a flame she followed the call. When she got to the window, she closed her eyes before looking out and filled her lungs with air. She needed to try to see him with a pair of fresh eyes. He couldn’t possibly be as beautiful as her mind tried to convince her. It just wasn’t conceivable.

  She slowly let the air out and opened her eyes. The door was directly across from where Doug stood next to Stephanie, with Doug facing Lizzie’s direction and Stephanie turned towards him. Their bodies were close together, and as Lizzie looked on, Stephanie stood slightly on her tiptoes and kissed Doug’s cheek.

  Lizzie shook her head to try to get the image out of her mind as she backpedaled and took off in a fast walk towards her car. There was no reason for the simple kiss to aggravate her. It wasn’t even on the lips, and Doug’s brown eyes only widened slightly at the action, maybe in shock.

  Seeing the small level of intimacy set something off inside of Lizzie. She thought she’d buried the hurt of finding Ben’s father intimately wrapped up with someone else, and everything that happened after that, but it all started c
oming back up. She’d had one conversation with a man, and seeing him with another woman pushed her to that time in her life. There were days she thought she’d make a better patient at the hospital than an employee, and as she got in her car, she knew it was one of those days.

  Chapter Three

  Doug could’ve stood there speechless for fifteen minutes, waiting for Steph to say anything after her claim of him being her only hope. She didn’t immediately elaborate, and the start of their conversation worried Doug enough that he wished he had the ability to disappear.

  He started to hold his breath, afraid she was going to bring Dylan up, along with a new plan to get him away from his wife. Steph had to know there wasn’t a chance he’d help her break the couple up. Dylan and Casey were meant to be together, everyone knew that, and Steph needed to admit that reality.

  “I don’t have to look at you to know where your mind went. Something about visiting with a shrink all the time makes it easy to read body language, and that quick intake of breath makes me think you’re wondering how quick you can make it to the door. Rest assured, this has nothing to do with Dylan. I’m over him. The medicine they’ve been giving me has cleared my head enough that I see what a screw up I was.”

  Steph finally moved, facing her entire body towards Doug, so her back was to the rest of the room. Her amber eyes searched his for a second, while Doug realized the life he used to see in them was missing. Those eyes used to light up any room Steph entered, but the liveliness had been replaced with sadness.

  “It’s hard to get someone to listen and believe you after you’ve been awarded a reprieve from prison because a jury of your peers deemed you insane. I’ve done research, and it’s not something that happens often, so clearly I showed every indication that I was bat dung crazy. I don’t even remember the days leading up to being arrested, just that I was covered in blood. There was so much blood.” Her eyes glazed a little before she refocused on the conversation.