His expression was dialed to royally pissed off, his entire body taut with tension. “Hell, no,” he growled at Jane. “Not happening.”
Jane, maybe five-four, and that was including the pile of wild dark red hair knotted on top of her head, was hands on hips, head tilted back to see the guy’s face, clearly not at all impressed by the macho display. “We’ve been through this before, Nick,” she said calmly. “And we both know who won. So you can either walk to the back of your own free will”—she gestured toward the door behind her, which presumably led to the patient rooms—“or I can call your wife again.”
The guy seemed to shrink. “Ah, man, why do you gotta be so mean? I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“No. You need a Tdap shot today.”
“I don’t need whatever that is.”
“It’s a tetanus shot, and yes you do. You stabbed your thumb on a rusty nail. But I promise, it’s just a little prick.”
“You’re a little prick,” he muttered, then swiped his hand down his face. “Shit, I’m sorry. That was automatic.”
“Understood. Now can we . . . ?” Jane pointed at the back again.
Nick and his mountain-wide shoulders sagged. “I just don’t see why it has to be today. I said I’d come back another time.”
“Please refer to my earlier answer of no.”
Nick huffed out a huge sigh and started shuffling into the lab. Halfway there, he turned back.
Jane was still pointing.
With a huge sigh, he vanished through the doorway.
Jane turned to Levi, registering nothing but a quiet surprise. “Tarzan.”
He grimaced. “Tell me you remember my real name.”
“Of course I do. But then again, I’m not the one with a head injury.”
“I’m fine.” He knocked on the top of his head. “Hard as a rock. And you?” He gestured to her wrist, which wasn’t splinted.
“I’m good.” Her dark green eyes gave nothing away, including how she felt at seeing him again.
As for what he felt, it seemed a whole lot like relief. “I wanted to thank you for saving my ass.”
“You’d have been fine if I hadn’t been there. You only got hurt because you were trying to protect me.”
“I liked the company,” he said, and while she looked to be absorbing that comment, he made another. “You ducked out on me at the hospital.”
“Hey, I made sure you were going to live first.”
This made him laugh. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Are you in need of medical attention?”
“No.”
She looked him over anyway. He’d like to think that there was some attraction as well as assessment in her pretty eyes, but she was damn good at holding her own counsel. “Okay then,” she said. “Welp, I gotta get back to work. Make sure the door shuts behind you. The latch doesn’t always catch.”
He smiled at being so thoroughly dismissed. “Nice bedside manner. Sexy. Only you’re not the boss of me, Jane. I mean . . . unless you ask real nice first.”
“Now you’re just trying to fluster me.”
“Didn’t know I could.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face. “Like you don’t know you have that effect on most women.”
“But not you.”
“I’m not most women. How did you find me anyway?”
“First, I braved North Diamond’s mountain looking for you, only to find out that you weren’t scheduled at that urgent care today. Or at Sierra North, Homeward, or Starwood Peak . . .”
That won him a low laugh, but her smile slowly faded. “I’m off rotation at North Diamond for now.”
He hated the idea that she was afraid to go back up there, but he certainly understood it. “I nearly had a panic attack at the idea of getting on the gondola,” he admitted. “I had to get a buddy from ski patrol give me a ride on his snowmobile.”
That had her looking at him again, her gaze softer now. “It’s not often people try to find me,” she said. “Usually it’s been the opposite.”
That effectively swiped the smile from his face, remembering what she’d told him, that she didn’t have family. His family was a huge pain in his ass, but he couldn’t imagine not having them. “Can we talk?”
Those sharp eyes assessed him, taking in the scar the stitches had left through his eyebrow. “I’m glad you’re okay. But I don’t know what there is to talk about.”
“Maybe I needed to know you’re okay too.”
“I’m fine.”
He smiled at his own usual mantra and his gaze settled on the bruise along her jawline. Very gently, he ran a finger along it. “I’m sorry about what happened that night, Jane.”
She swallowed hard, then shook her head. “None of it was your fault. And I’m sorry, but I’ve really got to get back to work. So unless you’ve got another of your fascinating facts for me, I’ll see you around—”
“If you burned all the new data from just one day onto DVDs, you could stack them on top of each other and reach the moon—twice.”
She blinked, then looked impressed. “Okay, that’s a good one.”
“Also, I brought you something.” He reached into his pocket.
“At least you didn’t ask me to get it out for you this time.”
He grinned, and that felt good. Too good. He held his hand out to her, palm still closed, and her eyes narrowed. “What is it?”
“Suspicious much?” Reaching for her hand, he dropped her necklace into her palm. “One of the search-and-rescue guys found this that night, but they missed you at the hospital. I promised to get it back to you.”
She stilled and stared down at the necklace, her eyes going shiny before she closed her fingers around the locket and brought it up to her chest. “Thank you,” she whispered, voice thick. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Looking at her stare at the necklace again, he thought maybe he did. “I’m just glad you have it back. Jane . . .”
She lifted her face.
“Do you want to talk about it? About what we went through?”
“No. We’re both okay, there’s no need.” She took a step back. “But I owe you one.”
“Actually, you saving my life trumps me getting the necklace back to you. Can I buy you lunch on your break?”
“I’m not hungry.” Then her stomach growled and she grimaced, looking embarrassed. “Okay, fine. I’m starving. After I finish with my patient, I get a break. Meet me at the hospital cafeteria. It’s in the next building over, ground floor.”
He smiled. “It’s a date.”
“It’s not a date. I don’t date.”
“Never?” he asked.
“Well, maybe once in a blue moon.”
His eyes twinkled with mischief. “Then here’s hoping for a blue moon. See you in the cafeteria, Jane.”
She nodded, then watched him walk out of the urgent care—which he knew because he looked back and caught her at it.
With another grimace, she vanished into the back, and he smiled all the way to the hospital cafeteria.