Katie Ashley - The Pairing

“If you say so,” she mumbled, as he punched the down button on the elevator.

After they stepped on the car, Pesh eyed her. “You really are worried, aren’t you?”

She nodded. “My career means everything to me. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize it.”

“Then I’ll make sure we don’t sit by ourselves.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.”

As the car started its decent down, Pesh threw his head back and exhaled a long breath. “Well, that was…”

Megan grinned at him. “The good doctor seems speechless. Surely in all your years in the ER, you’ve seen crazier or more mortifying cases.”

He cocked his head, appearing thoughtful. “A screwdriver lodged in a rectum is probably the tamest.”

“The tamest?” Megan questioned incredulously, as the elevator door dinged open.

Pesh laughed. “A man high on meth walking into the ER with his penis in his hand is probably the craziest.”

Megan’s hand swept over her mouth. “He actually cut off his…” She gazed around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation.

“Is the good nurse speechless?” he teased.

She rolled her eyes at him. “So what happened?”

“We got him sedated and into surgery as soon as we could. I heard they were able to sew it back on. I’m not aware of whether or not it was ever…fully functional again.”

“That is crazy.”

“I know.”

Pesh handed her a food tray. As they surmised their choices, Megan asked, “Was that your standard line of questioning in a situation like that?”

“I think we’ve established that I haven’t been privy to many priapism cases, but yes, any time there is an issue with the penis that is not related to the urethra or bladder, you would ask those questions.” After the food service worker gave them both an odd look, Pesh looked pointedly at her. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “Just to be prepared for the next time.”

He cocked his brows at her. “Do you want to practice your line of questioning? You know, show me what you’ve learned?”

“Let’s get our food first, shall we?”

“Okay.”

After deciding that the grilled chicken salad was about the most appealing item in the food line, she grabbed a drink and some of the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Just as she inched up to pay, Pesh put his tray next to hers. He had chosen some kind of stir-fry that didn’t look appetizing to Megan. When she dug in her purse for her wallet, he handed a twenty to the cashier.

As he took his change, she shot him a look. “What?” he asked.

“You buying my dinner doesn’t look very innocent,” she hissed, as they started toward the tables.

Pesh shook his head with a smile. “I highly doubt she’s keeping the gossip mill going on how Dr. Nadeen bought the lovely new clinical student a salad.”

“You never know,” Megan countered. Trailing Pesh, she watched as he made his way over to a table filled with doctors and nurses. While the bottom half was filled with people, the top was practically empty.

“Mind if we take these seats?” Pesh asked.

“Go right ahead, Nadeen,” a bushy haired doctor replied.

“We’re expecting a few more to join us,” he said, before covertly winking at Megan.

“You play a good game,” she said, softly.

“Thank you.”

She’d just finished drizzling dressing over her salad when Pesh said, “Ready to prove yourself?”

“Are we really going to talk about this while we eat?”

“You’ll learn that most lunches and dinners are spent either reviewing cases or getting input on cases.”

“Fine then.” Putting on a professional air, she asked, “Have you taken any erectile dysfunction medication?”

After swallowing a bite of stir-fry, he replied, “No, never.”

“Do you have trouble obtaining an erection?”

The twinkle returned to his eyes. “I would think you wouldn’t need to ask that question after our previous encounter.”

A shiver went down her spine as she remembered her core rubbing against the hardened ridge in his pants. “Considering it is unlikely that I would have any previous knowledge of the patient, just answer the question.”

He gave her a sly smile. “No, never.”

“Do you have trouble maintaining an erection?”

“I could once again point out that you had personal knowledge of how well I was able to maintain myself once aroused, but I’ll refrain. Instead, I’ll say no.”

“Ha, ha, nice way to get your point in.”

“I had to try.”

She cocked her head at him, giving him a teasing smile. “If a patient was trying to flirt as much as you are during my questioning, then I would have to remind him that I am a professional.”

“I see. Then forgive me for trying to undermine your professionalism.”

“You’re forgiven…for now.”

He took a long swig of his iced tea. “You did really well back there.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you did. For that to be your first case on your own, you managed to keep yourself together and to give the patient the best level of diagnosis and care you could.”

She couldn’t help the warmth rushing to her cheeks that his compliments caused. “Thank you. I appreciate your confidence.”

“I think you’re going to make an amazing nurse. I know that there will be many hospitals vying to hire you.”

Megan shook her head. “I don’t know about that.”

“Don’t underestimate your talents.”

“You think they would want to hire me here?” she asked.

His brows rose in surprise. “You wouldn’t mind a permanent placement here?”

She shrugged. “It hasn’t been long, but I have been happy here. I like the people I work with. I guess I wouldn’t want to go into the unknown when I know what I have here.”

He swallowed a bite of his rice. “That’s understandable.” After wiping his mouth, he smiled at her. “I think they would be crazy not to make you an offer.”

“I hope so.”

Leaning in over his plate, he held her gaze. The intensity in which he stared at her caused her to shudder. She didn’t like the effect he was having on her in the middle of the hospital cafeteria. A mixture of emotions coursed through her—warmth, safety, lust, happiness. She hadn’t experienced that range of feelings with a man in a long, long time.

Finally, he spoke. “I know it would make me very happy to have you here, and I would do everything within my power to ensure you stayed.”

Before she could reply, a tray smacked down onto the table next to her. One of the residents, a young male named Dr. Morris, grinned at the two of them. “So, I hear you two just handled a priapism case.”

“Yeah, we did,” Megan replied. She didn’t dare look back at Pesh to gage his expression on being interrupted.

Dr. Morris groaned. “Oh come on. Give me the juicy details. I haven’t gotten to see one of those yet. The best groin swelling I’ve had is when some idiot tried to pierce his balls, and they got infected.”

When Megan wrinkled her nose, Pesh’s laughter surprised her. Her gaze flew to him, and he winked. “I told you that the conversations we had over dinner were not exactly appetizing.”

“I’m starting to believe you,” she replied, with a smile. Somehow she managed to devour the rest of her salad while Pesh told Dr. Morris the ins and outs of the case. After she finished, she rose out of her chair. “I guess I better head back. You know, with everything being so crazy.”

Surprisingly, Pesh didn’t get up nor did he offer to walk her back. Instead, she saw an acceptance on his face that told her he was letting her go so there would be no suspicion raised about the two of them. “Thank you for dinner,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, with a smile.

His smiles were starting to do something to her that she didn’t like. They were no longer igniting her panties on fire; instead, they were making her long to spend time with him. She quickly slung her purse over her shoulder and strode out of the cafeteria. With the chaos surrounding her, she thankfully put Pesh out of her mind for the rest of the evening.

After two exhausting weeks in her clinicals, Megan was ready for a little R&R. So she was thrilled when Emma called her asking if she wanted to join her for a girl’s day. She was even more stoked when Emma said that Aidan was willing to keep Mason, so he and Noah could play together. Even though she was sure her parents would have watched him, she hated imposing on them so much.

An hour after the call, she was pulling into Aidan and Emma’s driveway. When she opened the backseat to get Mason out, he was already bopping up and down in his car seat with excitement. He loved Aidan and Emma’s house, and he especially loved playing with Noah, even though they were eleven months apart.

She grabbed him and his diaper bag and then made her way up the front walk. Emma answered the door with Noah on her hip. “Hey, I’m so excited you could make it.”

Megan grinned. “You should know by now I have no life except for Mason and work.”

“I feel the same way sometimes,” Emma replied, as Megan stepped through the doorway. As she walked through the foyer and down the hall to the kitchen, Mason squirmed to get down. Once she set him on his feet, he ran into the living room.

That’s where Aidan was lounging on the couch with Beau on the floor next to him. “Beau!” Mason cried. He leaned in to hug the massive Lab. Megan never had to worry about Beau and Mason; he was truly a gentle giant when it came to infants and kids. Beau thumped his tail heartily at the attention.

Aidan glanced up from the TV and smiled. “Hey, how are you?”