LITMIR.BIZ

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General Hospital. Please spare me the details of who’s dating and dumping who. I’m only interested in the welfare of my patients, and right now I’m trying to ascertain whether—”

      â€œAll right. Fine,” Callie said coldly. “Never mind gathering all the facts and coming to an informed conclusion. It’s clear that you’ve already made up your mind.”

      â€œSheely, you are—”

      â€œI’m tired of talking about this,” Callie said, boldly cutting him off.

      She turned and stalked from the lounge.

      â€œSheely, come back here.”

      She ignored his command and stormed inside the empty women’s locker room. Mercifully, it had not gone the unisex route like the lounge. Each sex still had separate quarters to shower and change clothes.

      Moments later a tall, pretty blond nurse joined Callie in an aisle of lockers, by the long bench positioned in the middle. “Sheely, Trey Weldon wants me to tell you that he has to talk to you. He said ‘right now.”’

      Jennifer Olsen had been in the class behind her in Tri-State’s nursing school and currently worked in the obstetrics clinic, surrounded by expectant mothers. Jennifer made no secret of her ultimate goal, which was to have her own baby as soon as possible. Her more immediate goal, however, was to find a suitable man to marry and impregnate her. Preferably a doctor, with a sizable income.

      At the same moment Callie wondered what Jennifer was doing up here in the women’s surgical locker room, Jennifer must’ve felt obliged to explain her presence.

      â€œI came up to see if Karen wanted to go to the Squirrel Den tonight. There’s a bunch of us going.”

      Callie knew Karen Kaminsky, an OR nurse who’d graduated in Jennifer’s class. “You must’ve missed her. She’s probably at lunch.”

      â€œOh. Hey, Sheely, you come to the Squirrel Den tonight, too, if you want, okay?”

      Callie pictured the Squirrel Den, a relic from the city’s industrial dark age, a dank, smoky, gloomy place jammed with cheap old tables and booths. “Uh, thanks, Jen. I’ll try to make it,” she said politely. I just won’t try very hard, she added to herself.

      â€œSheely, about Trey Weldon, he—”

      Callie sighed. “Tell him you didn’t see me in here, Jennifer.”

      â€œBut this place is too small for me not to see you. I wouldn’t want to lie to the man.”

      â€œCertainly not,” Callie murmured dourly.

      Without a doubt Trey’s credentials met, even exceeded, all of Jennifer’s requirements in a potential husband and father. Too bad, Jen, Callie thought darkly, you don’t fulfill the prerequisites for Weldon class status any more than I do.

      Callie sucked in her cheeks and pointed at the window high above the lockers. “You can tell him I flew out that window on my broomstick. He probably thinks I’m capable of it. All I have to do is swap my surgical cap for my tall, pointy, black hat.”

      â€œThe doctor is always right, and when the nurse doesn’t agree, she’s a witch, hmm?” Jennifer was sympathetic.

      â€œExactly. Just a doctor-nurse disagreement. It’s nothing personal.” Callie felt the need to stress that.

      Although a little voice in her head pointed out that she was taking her inability to influence Trey in the Scott Fritche matter very personally, Callie instructed the little voice to shut up.

      â€œWell, since he’s waiting out there, I guess I ought to go tell him something.” Jennifer lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Sheely, rumors fly around here, but I’ve never heard any about you and Trey Weldon. Still, I’ll come right out and ask, and I hope you won’t take offense. Are you two involved?”

      â€œIn what? A blood feud? No, not yet.”

      Jennifer giggled. “You know what I mean, Sheely. Are you and he, um, romantically involved?”

      â€œNo.” Callie’s heart lurched wildly. She would’ve liked to toss off a breezy quip about Trey being surgically gifted yet disabled in the art of romance, but the words stuck in her throat.

      Because of the disturbing thoughts that flooded her mind.

      For all she knew, Trey actually could be one of the world’s great romantics, passionate, sensitive and thoughtful—yet extremely discreet. Possibly, he kept that part of his life so secretive that only the woman who was the object of his desire knew that side of him.

      What would it be like, to know that there was a deeply secret, romantic side of Trey? Oh, what she’d give to know!

      Thoroughly flustered, Callie forgot to breathe, and then had to inhale sharply.

      â€œSheely?” Jennifer’s voice seemed to come from some other dimension. “Would you happen to know if Trey is going to the Springtime Ball?”

      Callie jerked to attention. She was the one in the other dimension, a foolish one called fantasyland. Jen’s voice came from the real world, and Callie’s return to it was sharp and complete.

      She heaved a small sigh. She was pathetic. Her hot, Trey fantasy, coupled with Jennifer’s query about Trey and the big dance, was so junior high school she wouldn’t be surprised to hear the bell ringing to change classes.

      â€œI don’t know, Jennifer. He hasn’t mentioned the Springtime Ball.”

      â€œI know it’s late, the ball is only two weeks away, but the guy I was going to go with had to cancel. He’s a lawyer and has some stupid conference that just came up.” Jennifer added quickly.

      â€œI hate it when that happens.” Callie tried to sound sympathetic.

      â€œAnd I already have a dress and I don’t want Joshua to think I’ll be sitting at home that night because he can’t make it. Maybe I’ll just go ahead and ask Trey Weldon to the dance. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, you know.” Jennifer smiled, a nothing-ventured-nothing-gained kind of smile.

      Callie suppressed the urge to grimace. She fumbled with her locker combination, hitting the wrong number, having to start over again.

      â€œSee you later, Sheely,” Jennifer called brightly, gliding out of the locker room.

      Callie yanked the top of her scrub suit over her head, while dropping the pants to the floor. The suit was at least three sizes too big for her.

      â€œDon’t think you can hide in there and sulk, Sheely. You are going to listen to me.”

      â€œTrey, Dr. Weldon, you can’t go in there!”

      Callie heard the locker-room door open and slam hard against the tiled wall. She heard Trey’s voice, angry and frustrated, followed by Jennifer’s high-pitched protest.

      But it happened so fast, in just a split second, that she didn’t have time to process all the information until Trey was standing directly in front of her.

      And she was standing in front of her locker, clad only in her white cotton bra and panties.

      Trey seemed to freeze in place. Callie gasped and reached for her scrub top. She instinctively held it in front of her, shielding herself from his startled blue eyes.

      Jennifer shrieked.

      Two

      Trey remained stock-still, as if he’d been turned to stone. It felt that way. He couldn’t

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