CHAPTER THREE

Falling back into her normal routine was easy. Until a few interruptions happened that threw her off, like when Blake Ingram showed up in the cafeteria during her lunch break with flowers. He sat across from her and smiled sweetly.

“Hi there, how are you?” Blake said with a sweet smile.

“I’m fine…” Josie murmured quietly between bites.

“You don’t look so fine… are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m just thinking about what I have to do next. I didn’t expect to have a stalker…” She teased very slightly.

"I'm not a stalker, they work way harder than I do." He chuckled softly in response. Blake sipped at the cup in his hand. He must have gotten something before he wandered over to her.

"Well, then what are you here for?"

"I wanted to talk to you about my mom a little bit. Let you know she's doing fine. Now doing more to keep herself busy and even started walking again. She read somewhere if she started exercising that she will have a stronger heart."

"That is sort of true, and I'm glad to hear she is doing well. No little pains or anything?"

"None that she has told me about."

"Alright, did her primary say anything?"

"No, he said he would call and never did."

"Hmm, I will have to call him,” Josie muttered and wrote a quick note in her tablet. She hummed and looked up at him, wondering if that was all he had in mind for her.

"I also was a little curious… do you have a day off any time soon?" He flashed a playboy smile and Josie sighed heavily.

“No,” She curved him as hard as she could but with a somewhat nice smile. She did not exactly want to hurt his feelings... but she just did not by any means want to date her patients, or patient’s relatives, or anyone for that matter!

"I see, well that’s a bummer for my plan. I have tickets to a movie, and no one to go with."

"That seems like a personal problem, doesn't it?"

"I mean, I would like for you to go with me, I was thinking dinner and a movie on Saturday?"

"I have to work, sorry." This was only a partial lie. She worked in the morning. She would be free by dinner time and be off on Sunday. But why would she go out with him? She had no desire to do such a thing... did she?

“That's a shame—how about Sunday?"

"I have to work." That time she did lie, and she knew she shouldn't have, but she did anyway. She pursed her lips, knowing it was a terrible thing to do, she tilted her head to the side.

"Why are you trying to skirt around me? I looked at the chart..."

“You are stalking me then!” Josie mused.

"No, I just wanted to make sure that when I asked you, there would be a fifty- fifty chance."

"Well there is zero chance, Mr. Ingram."

"Why?"

"I am not looking for a date right now."

"Why not?"

"That is really none of your concern. My lunch is over, it was nice to hear about your mother doing well. I will be in contact with her after I get ahold of her primary to check on what the test results were." Josie stood up quickly with her half-eaten lunch and already halfway to the trash.

All she could think about was how irritating he had been. How could he just show up at her work like that and expect for her to just agree to go on a date with him?

"Well that was a nice lunch, Ms. Steele. Thank you for letting me sit with you. I really should get back to class."

"You're a student?" Josie asked before she could catch herself.

"Oh no, my years of being a student are far over. I am a teacher at the St. James High School."

"Really? I didn't know that they had new teachers there... I used to speak occasionally for the high school science classes."

“That's neat! Anyway, thanks for having lunch with me, Ms. Steele. I look forward to your call,” he purred. His voice made a deep husky sound that caused Josie to look at him for a second time.

As he walked away her eyes did wander over his body. He was fit, his dark hair just barely had the hint of grey starting to peek through the thick dark strands. As he held the door open for someone, it was evident that his features were not just square but equally as strong as his fit form underneath his dress clothes. Josie had to admit that she wondered why he had been so dressed up during his mother’s time in the hospital.

He must have been teaching when she had her minor heart attack, or had he just got home and hadn't had time to change before getting in the car and meeting her at the hospital?

Shaking her head to rid herself of all these silly wonderings, Josie walked down the long, white-walled hallway with the pale blue stripe running through the center of the floor. She hummed softly. Maybe she should have taken him up on that offer? She thought to herself, but then she shook her head. This was foolish! She did not have time. At least, that was her story and she was sticking to it. Why else would she have said no in the first place?

She went back to work, deciding that would be the best option. She did not want any time for thinking about dating. Her patients needed her.

For the rest of the day she smiled sweetly, spoke with patients and their families, helped the nurses clean up a spill or two, and read over lab work. At the end of the day she spent at least two hours typing up reports for patients as a courtesy for her RN. She could not permit herself to not work work while her nurses also wanted to go home at a decent time as well. Besides, she had some time today.

Once her shift was finally over, she headed straight home. Happy to be greeted by silence and the promise of another bubble bath to soak her tired form. But that's not what she did. She ignored the bath for the next hour and a half and spent that time doing yoga. She did not get around to this nearly often enough, but she knew today was one of those days.

Stretching out those sore spots in her back and legs, especially her legs, she found the ability to relax for the night. The bubble bath was a treat for her muscles and it wrapped her up in its warm embrace soon after. Then a glass of wine and her favorite book helped tuck her into bed for the night.