Play with Me
“Hello.”
“I’m calling on behalf of Will Montgomery. He would like to accept your invitation to come up to your department at Children’s and meet your staff and patients.”
I rub my forehead with my fingertips and bite my lip. “Okay. I can make arrangements for that.”
“Great. He’d like to come up on Wednesday.”
“Of this week?” My voice is much squeakier than normal, but I can’t help it. He wants to come to my job in two days?
“That’s right.”
I sigh in resignation. The kids will be so excited; there’s no way I can say no.
“Okay, what time?”
“Around one O’clock?”
“Okay, we’ll be expecting him.”
I hang up and stare at the phone. Fuck me. Will Montgomery is coming here in two days. It’s been two weeks since the moment in the restroom. Since my colossally embarrassing drunk display.
Since waking up the next morning, naked, in my empty bed.
I really need to ask him how the hell I ended up naked. If my blurry memory serves, I climbed in bed in a t-shirt.
And then, to cap off an incredibly confusing evening, Will had my car delivered to my townhouse the next morning so I didn’t have to take a cab to go collect it from the hotel.
Sweet? Maybe.
Yet, not a word from him since then. Of course, he’s a busy professional football player, and it’s football season, and maybe he’s just not interested in me after the way I laid the bitch-act on.
I couldn’t blame him if that were the case. Not to mention, I did make it clear that I would never, ever be intimate with him.
I’m an idiot.
And now he wants to come to my job and meet my patients. It’s probably just a ploy to get some publicity. He’ll undoubtedly bring some press with him, have his photo taken with sick kids, and it’ll make him look great on Channel 7 News.
Arrogant ass.
* * *
“He’s here. Security just called up.” Jill grins and does a little dance. She and I have worked together since day one. She’s a pretty petite blonde with dark brown eyes and a voluptuous figure. She’s also happily married and has three kids, but not averse to flirting with hot football players.
Who can blame her?
“Okay, I’m going to walk out to the elevators and meet him. Remember, act surprised.”
She winks at me and I walk over to the elevator lobby. I gave my kids’ parents a heads up about today’s guest so they could come and take photos and meet the athlete themselves, but I decided to make it a surprise for the kids.
Finally, the elevators open and I can just stare. He’s brought four of his teammates, all dressed in blue jeans and their team jerseys, pushing carts full of gifts, baskets wrapped in bows and cellophane, full of their team gear; hats, jerseys, pajamas, flags… you name it. They have stuffed animals and games, too.
I look up into Will’s bright, happy blue eyes and I can’t stop the grin that splits my face in two.
He’s spoiling my kids!
“Hey, you’re the prettiest nurse I’ve ever seen.” He offers me that cocky grin and follows the other guys out of the elevator. They are all so tall and broad, making me feel tiny next to them.
I look down at my simple blue scrubs and laugh. “Right because scrubs and ponytails are all the rage these days.”
He leans down to kiss my cheek and whispers in my ear, “Hottest nurse I’ve ever seen.”
Well, then.
I clear my throat and Will introduces me to his teammates; Jerrel Sanders, Thomas Jones, Kip Sutherland and Trevon Wilson.
They are all incredibly polite and look a little nervous, hands in their pockets, shuffling on their big feet, looking about the hospital corridor.
“Thank you so much, all of you, for coming. I haven’t told the kids you were coming; I wanted it to be a surprise. But the parents know, so they could bring their cameras and stuff.” The guys all nod and I look around the lobby. “No press?”
Will’s face sobers. “No, no press. This isn’t a photo-op, Meg. We’re here because we want to be.”
“How did you talk your PR lady into that?” I ask, surprise ringing through my voice.
“She works for us, not the other way around,” he responds simply and grabs a rolling cart full of goodies for my kids. “Lead the way.”
I lead the guys into the corridor, a wide smile on my face, and wink at Jill who is standing at the nurse’s station, her arms folded around her middle.
“Let’s start with Nicholas. He’s played football until this past winter when he got hurt on the field and it was discovered that he as osteosarcoma.” The guys all frown with concern. “Bone cancer,” I murmur and knock on Nick’s door.
“Yeah,” I hear him call.
I crack the door open and shield his view from the guys behind me. “Do you have a sec?”
His eyes light up and he grins at me. He’s got such a crush, it’s cute. “I always have time for the hottest nurse here.”
I open the door wide and step aside so the guys can move into his room, and Will leans down to me on his way by and whispers in my ear, “See? Hottest nurse.”
Nick pales, his jaw drops, and then he starts to laugh. “Oh, my God!”
“Hey, man.” Will approaches him first and offers his hand to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet another player.”
“I’m not playing anymore,” Nick murmurs.
“Once a player, always a player, dude.” Will grins and sits next to his bed. “What position did you play?”
“Quarterback,” Nick responds shyly, not able to look Will in the eye. Nick’s hair is gone, and his once strong body looks weak in the large hospital bed.
“Were you good?” Will asks.
“Fuck yeah, it was only my junior year and I had offers from USC and Florida State,” he says proudly.
“Damn, I’m sorry, man.”
I step out of the room and let the guys chat it up with Nicholas, give him gifts and just make his day.
Hell, make his whole life.
About an hour later, the players file out, smiling and joking with each other and with Nick. Will offers me a sweet, sad smile. “We need to talk later,” he mutters.
I frown and cock my head to the side. Talk? About what? I don’t have time to question him.
“Okay, guys, if you’re comfortable splitting up for a while, there are a lot of kids anxious to meet you. I have extra nursing staff on hand today to lead you around and introduce you to kids and their parents.”