an R.N.,” she said. “Nurse Adams.”
“Nurse Adams,” he repeated. “Thank you for giving me peace of mind, ma’am.”
Her pulse kicked higher under his scrutiny. Few, if any, grown men called her “ma’am.” It was kind of…pleasurable. “You’re welcome. Now please get out of here while I still have a job.”
Ken tried to study the woman’s face without appearing to. Her dark blue eyes were heavy-lidded and astonishing, and her mouth…The woman had that fresh-faced, girl-next-door vitality that provoked neighboring boys to buy binoculars. He mentally shook himself, realizing that last night’s incognito phone call was behind his heightened awareness. The dog whined, reminding him of his immediate priority. Gently, he rewrapped the animal and lifted the bundle from the table.
The nurse held open the door. “I was just going off duty,” she said with the barest hint of a smile. “I’ll show you the exit.”
“To guarantee I make it out of here?” he asked wryly.
“Something like that.”
As he laughed good-naturedly, she removed a leather shoulder bag from behind a counter, then told a clerk she was leaving and ordered an immediate disinfecting of exam room three. As she joined him, he was overwhelmed with the urge to know her, to find out if she were involved with anyone. He scoffed inwardly. Of course someone as beautiful as she would already be involved, maybe married, and probably to a doctor who earned ten times as much as a policeman. Ken tried to keep the dog’s head covered as they headed toward the exit so he wouldn’t get the woman into trouble, but the poor mutt whined most of the way, raising eyebrows. His unwilling cohort kept her eyes averted and walked swiftly.
“Georgia!”
At the sound of the name that had been on the periphery of his brain all day, Ken halted midstride. The woman next to him hesitated, then kept going.
“Georgia!” someone repeated, louder. He turned to see a plump woman jogging toward them. The comely nurse turned as well.
Ken’s feet stopped moving as his brain tried to assimilate the information. This woman’s name was Georgia? He’d never met anyone named Georgia. What were the chances he’d meet two in less than twenty-four hours? He zeroed in on her voice and tried to match hers with the one running through his head. It was possible—he almost laughed—but highly unlikely.
Still, his mind raced for a logical-sounding question that might help him determine if this fabulous-looking woman was the same…No, she simply couldn’t be.
“Get out of here,” she hissed out of the side of her mouth.
But his feet refused to move.
“Georgia,” the woman gasped, lumbering to a halt in front of them. Then she zeroed in on the whining blanket. “Is that a dog?”
“Melanie, did you need something?” Nurse Adams asked her, while frowning at him and nodding toward the exit.
The other woman craned her neck, eyes alight with curiosity, then handed his companion a yellow sticky-note. “I almost forgot to give you this message. Rob phoned and said he was called out of town unexpectedly.”
Ken swallowed and nearly dropped his patient. Rob?
6
HIS TONGUE HAD turned to cotton. Ken stared at the woman he’d just met as she read the note in her hand. This gorgeous woman was the same silky-throated creature who had roused him from sleep last night? His skin tingled with revelation. He glanced up, expecting a spotlight to be shining on his guilt-ridden head.
“Thank you, Melanie,” she said tersely, then proceeded through the door, seemingly lost in thought.
But Ken wasn’t ready to let Nurse Georgia Adams walk out of his life. He hurried forward, mindful of the bundle in his arms. “Wait!”
She turned back, but seemed less than thrilled to see him still standing there. “As I said, Officer, the vet clinic is on Sixteenth Street. You don’t need an appointment.”
He tilted his head, desperate to extend their conversation. “D-don’t I know you from somewhere?”
She looked perplexed. “I don’t think so. I’ve never been in trouble with the police.”
“Georgia Adams,” he murmured to himself, pretending to mull her identity, when in truth, he simply liked the way her name rolled off his tongue. “Georgia Adams…”
“Maybe you’ve seen me in the halls of the hospital,” she offered.
“Wait a minute,” he said, improvising. “I know a guy named Rob who dates a woman named Georgia.”
She took a half step toward him. “Rob Trainer?”
Ah, the identity of the unwittingly deprived boyfriend. “Um, yes.” He shifted the dog’s weight to his left side while he extended his right hand. “Ken Medlock.”
She hesitated, then placed her soft, healing hand in his. “How do you do, Officer Medlock.”
“Ken is fine,” he said, reluctantly releasing her hand.
“I’ll tell Rob I ran into you when he returns from his business trip.”
Uh-oh. “Well, he might not remember me—I’ve only spoken to him a couple of times…casually.” He swallowed. “At the gym?”
“The gym on Arrow Street? Yes, that’s where Rob works out.” She stroked the dog’s ear where the blanket had fallen away. “Poor boy, I hope he’s okay.”
He could only nod, struck dumb by the serendipity that had brought them together. He wasn’t the superstitious type, but it had to be some sort of sign…didn’t it?
“Well,” she said, lifting her hand in a little wave, “good luck. I’m sure the clinic will fix up your friend like new.”
She pivoted on the heels of her sensible white shoes, dragging off a white lab coat to reveal pink scrubs…and a fabulous figure. Her dark hair was pulled into a clasp at the nape of her neck, hanging midway to her back. Nurse Georgia Adams walked thirty feet away to a bus stop, then settled herself onto a wooden bench to wait, just as if she weren’t the most beautiful woman on the streets of Birmingham.
Then Ken smiled as a snatch of their conversation returned to him. I’ll tell Rob I ran into you when he returns from his business trip.
The most beautiful woman on the streets of Birmingham was alone for a few days.
The dog whimpered, yanking his good sense back from the gates of Fantasyland. Ken hurried toward his squad car.
GEORGIA SHIFTED on the hard bench, her cheeks burning with shame. Since Rob had opted to leave her a message at the hospital instead of talking to her in person, he must be upset over their little “session.” Toni was right; she’d spooked him by being so forward. She read the note again, wishing the hastily scribbled message had divulged where he was going, or even how long he’d be gone. Called out of town
