She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw twelve vases lined up with a dozen roses in each one, all different colors, all beautiful. She got a really bad feeling, especially since she'd been finding single roses on her pillow for the past week. There'd been no notes, nothing, but she had no doubt they were from Austin. How could she continue to resist him when he acted so romantic? Her heart picked up as she stared at the myriad of colors before her.
"Come on. Spill," one nurse demanded.
"I … " Kinsey hesitated, at a complete loss for words.
"It looks like there may be a good reason you aren't getting enough sleep," another nurse commented, then giggled.
"I've just been working long shifts," Kinsey defended.
"That's not all I've heard. We heard there was some late night activity in your on-call room," Kathy said. She'd been hired the same time as Kinsey, and the two had become close the past year.
"What?" Kinsey gasped, feeling her cheeks heat up, hating that she was signing her guilty papers without saying anything.
"Yeah, Michelle said she walked by and heard a moan, and that it certainly wasn't pain filled, if you know what I mean."
"I … I don't know what you guys are talking about. You know how rumors spread in the hospital," Kinsey said, knowing she was wasting her breath. She would've been right there with them, teasing whoever had gotten lucky, if she weren't the one on the receiving end. There was no privacy in the hospital. She knew that – but when she was with Austin, she forgot everything.
"Well, we might have been convinced that you were only having a really, really great dream, if not for the dozens of thank-you-for-the-best-sex-of-my-life-roses," Kathy said with a laugh.
Kinsey was torn between wanting to throttle Austin and wanting to give him a reason to give her three times as many roses. She'd received flowers before, but not at her workplace, and never so many. She shouldn't have made that comment in the store …
"How do you know they're even mine?" Kinsey said. Maybe, just maybe, there wasn't a card attached.
"Sorry, it's not a roomful, there's always tomorrow."
"The only thing more beautiful than your smile is your eyes."
"Your scent sets me on fire."
"I can't stop thinking about you."
"I dream of nothing but you."
"I bought a rose for every moment of pleasure you gave me last night."
"Oh my gosh, that last one made my heart pound. I swear, if you don't want the guy, I'll take him. I can think of all kinds of ways to bring him pleasure," Marsha, another nurse, said with a sigh.
"You read my cards?" Kinsey asked in astonishment, no longer trying to deny the roses were for her. She was horrified as she listened to her friends read the intimate cards in pathetically deep voices. None of them were going to get any best actor awards.
"Duh! They weren't sealed. We were just going to peak at one, but they kept getting better and better. I really like the one about your luscious body," Kathy said.
"Don't you guys have work to do?" Kinsey snapped, feeling her face flame even more.
"Oh, honey, this is so much better than cathing the old guy in room three again. You have to spill. I swear, with all the excitement of having Joseph Anderson here and all those sinful boys of his roaming the halls, then your new and exciting love life, our hospital has become better than an episode of Grey's Anatomy. I've forgotten all about Dr. McDreamy," Marsha said with a sigh.
"I don't have a love life, obviously just a secret admirer," Kinsey lied, for some reason not wanting to tell them anything about Austin.
"There's not even the slightest chance we believe that, Kinsey. Who's the guy? If you don't tell us, rumors will just spread. Please, please tell me it's one of those dreamy Anderson men. I know most of them are married, a sad situation indeed, but at least one or two of them have to be single," Betty said, joining the conversation. She was a paramedic, unfortunately for Kinsey, not on a call at the moment.
"Look, it's really nothing, not even worth gossiping about. I had a date with a guy, who I'm not even telling you vultures about, and obviously he liked the night. That's all," Kinsey said with what she hoped was a believable tone. She knew many staff used on-call rooms for more than sleep, but she never had before Austin.
Working in the hospital could be an incredibly stressful job, and there was nothing like a few minutes of wild passion to calm the nerves. Her body heated even thinking about Austin sinking inside her.
"Code Blue," a nurse called as alarms started ringing.
All teasing immediately ceased as the staff rushed into action. They may have a great time ribbing one another, but when a life was on the line, they were the first nurses the doctors called. They were the best the hospital had.