Roxie was a nurse, and she’d seen it all in her years of medical service. She liked to try to imagine what her patients would look like just from their charts or the sound of their voices. She rarely ever got it right. Once in a while, though, she was 100 percent correct.
She imagined this woman as a sweet, petite, white-haired granny with glasses. Her voice was just too sweet to be anything other than that. She probably had a dozen grandbabies and two dozen great-grandkids. Roxie didn’t even want to think about the fact that she’d be lucky to have her own child, let alone grandchildren. That was a thought to ponder on another day.
Finally, she peeked into the room and then had to cover her mouth before she let out a surprised gasp. The woman was absolutely nothing like she’d imagined. She was pretty petite, that much was clear, but she wore shoulder-length purple hair and had bright-pink lipstick on her lips, and blue eyelids she was batting flirtatiously at Kian.
He was sitting next to her as he held her hand and laughed at another joke. He seemed besotted with the woman, who was old enough to be his grandmother, and the woman was eating up every single moment of it.
“I’ve told you I used to dance over at the corner of Pearl and Seventieth Street, right?” the woman said in an attempt at a raspy voice, but she went too low and caused herself to cough. Kian turned her slightly and patted her back.
“Yes, Millie, you have, and I wish I would have seen you,” he said. “But you have to slow down a little bit,” he warned.
“Are you trying to tell me I’m old?” she asked, her lips forming into a pout.
“Not at all,” he insisted as he let go of her hand and held her chart, glancing at the numbers. “But you had a close call. It’s okay to listen to our bodies and slow down. I don’t want to see you in my ER again unless it’s to stop and say hello.” His voice was warm and firm at the same time. He commanded respect because he gave it. Roxie hated that she felt her guard slipping as she stood there gawking at the two of them.
“I will most definitely stop in for a visit. If you do a good job and get me out of here quick enough, I might even bring you a coffee,” she said, her practiced pout back in place.
Kian chuckled. “I wouldn’t turn down coffee at any hour of the day. I swear the stuff they serve here is truly just car wax with a little bit of flavor,” he told her.
She had a perfect little melodic laugh that had Roxie smiling again. She had a difficult time not joining the two of them in merriment. This patient right here was why Roxie loved being a nurse so much. Patients who were full of spirit and life and who didn’t allow age to be anything more than a number.
“When my knee isn’t acting up so much, I might have to show you one of my dances,” Millie told him.
Roxie knew not to be jealous of a patient even if she and Kian were in a relationship, which they weren’t, but even with that knowledge, she felt just the slightest stirring of that green-eyed monster light up inside her. It was so much better for her peace of mind to not see Kian at all, and certainly to not think about him at any club looking at dancers who were far younger than Millie and who liked to go home with men like Kian. It didn’t matter if he did that. He was his own man, and she was her own woman. That was the beauty of a breakup, she assured herself.
“I would love to see you dance,” Kian said, his voice still warm. “You were in a line, right?” A line? Roxie was confused.
“That’s right. We could dance all night. I did partner dance, too. I once danced a mean tango,” Millie assured him.
Roxie felt like even more of a fool now. The woman hadn’t been offering to strip for him. She really needed some coffee or something. She definitely needed to sneak away before she did something foolish and got caught gawking at Kian and Millie.
Roxie was getting ready to slip away when Millie’s surprisingly bright eyes looked over and caught her. Roxie grinned and tried to slip away quietly before Kian could turn around, but Millie wasn’t having any of that.
“Who are you, darling?” she asked, her voice just as childlike when she raised it. Roxie wondered if that was truly her voice or if the woman had perfected it over the years.
Kian turned, and now Roxie was certainly caught. If only she’d been able to tear herself away thirty seconds earlier, she could have been in and out without anyone being the wiser. But the old woman had mesmerized her and, unbelievably, caused the slightest bit of jealousy, and now she had to try to explain why she was standing in the doorway like some loony stalker.
She couldn’t figure out what to say, let alone come up with a reasonable excuse while they both looked at her waiting expectantly for a reasonable explanation. Kian’s gaze narrowed as he refused to look away, and that only made it worse. Roxie’s cheeks heated, and she looked guilty as she shifted on her feet, searching for an explanation she didn’t have ready.
“Um, I was just walking from the hospital and thought it might be your voice I heard, so I just glanced in for a moment and then heard Millie tell a story about dancing, and I . . . um . . . love dancing, and I paused too long,” she said in a hesitant voice. Roxie never had been a good liar, especially on the spot like this.
One time she’d been busted cheating and had actually said she’d seen a squirrel run across her classmate’s table and was looking at the desk to see if there were any scratches. The teacher had been so impressed with the creativity of her excuse, she hadn’t gotten busted that time, but she’d gotten a stern lecture to never cheat again. She hadn’t so much as turned her head a quarter of an inch during test time after that, afraid her teacher would be looking, and she’d end up blurting something out like The sky is falling.
“Dancing, huh?” Kian said, sounding utterly disbelieving.
“Yeah, dancing. I used to dance a lot,” she said defensively. In reality, she had two left feet and zero rhythm, but they’d never gone dancing together, so it wasn’t something he would know.
“Oh, you like to dance, huh? Show me your favorite one,” Millie said. She looked so excited, Roxie hated to disappoint the woman, but there was no way she was going to do a dance in front of them and show how very bad she was, proving herself a liar. Why couldn’t she have come up with a better lie?
“Yes, please show us,” Kian said, amusement now dripping from his voice. Millie didn’t seem aware at all.
“There’s no music. I have absolutely no rhythm without it. Maybe next time,” Roxie offered, thrilled with her excuse. That was until Kian pulled out his iPhone and smiled.
“Name the song and I can pull it up in three seconds,” he said, his voice utterly helpful. He was calling her bluff.
“Maybe the two of you can do the waltz for me. I know this room is small, but if you’re careful, it can be done,” Millie suggested.
That was the moment Roxie realized Millie hadn’t really been flirting with Kian at all, because the woman was certainly in matchmaker mode at the moment.
“This room is far too small, and I wouldn’t want to accidentally unplug something,” Roxie said. She moved into the room and came to stand beside Millie, hoping to distract the woman from her request. “Why don’t I fluff these pillows for you? They look quite lumpy.”
“That would be lovely, but then you dance,” Millie said firmly, her eyes surprisingly bright and alert. Roxie had a feeling she wasn’t getting out of this. She glanced from the corner of her eye to see Kian smugly sitting there.