Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)(14)

“Well, I’ll be damned,” I muttered. “He’s not Satan after all.”

“What are you guys doing?”

We jumped at the voice. Zander was coming toward us from the double doors.

“Hey. Nothing,” I said, putting my back to the glass. “Just watching a procedure.”

Gloria and Hector took this as their moment to exit and left.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I came down to tell you, I’m releasing Benny today. He looks good. Ready to go.”

I immediately perked up. “Great!”

“So who are you watching?” He peered around me into the room. “Oh, Jacob.” He grinned when he saw what he was doing. “That son of a bitch, look at him in there. I always did like his bedside manner.”

I cocked my head. “You know him?”

He nodded. “Yeah. We were roommates for years. One of my best friends. Great guy.”

I made a face.

He eyed me. “What?”

“No, it’s just I keep hearing that today, but nobody here likes him much.”

He drew his brows down. “Jacob?”

“Yeah. He’s kind of a dick.”

Zander barked out a laugh so loud it surprised me. “Jacob is not a dick. That guy’s the nicest dude you’ll ever meet, trust me. He’d give you the shirt off his back.”

“Jacob,” I deadpanned, crossing my arms. “He’s totally rude.”

“If he’s coming off that way, he’s probably just nervous. He’s an introvert, kind of shy.” He looked at his watch. “Look, I gotta run.” He started jogging backward. “Hey, be nice to him, yeah? He’s one of the good ones.” He turned and jogged the rest of the way to the double doors.

I gawked after him. One of the good ones?

I’d known Zander for years. I not only respected him as a doctor, but I also trusted his judgment in general. I didn’t think he’d say that about anyone unless he believed it was true. I mean it wasn’t true, Jacob was definitely an ass. And he was in cahoots with Gibson for the chief position, which I was still pissed about. But I did believe that Zander believed Jacob was a nice guy.

And Jessica also believed Jacob was a nice guy…

Gibson must like him too.

Huh.

I looked back through the glass. Jacob was finishing the doll. He wiggled it in front of the little girl and then bopped her gently on the nose with it before handing it to her. She clutched it and beamed.

I felt my face soften.

I mean, he had brought me that warm washcloth that day in the supply closet. He could have just taken off, especially after I snapped at him in Benny’s room. And I never really apologized for running into him that day either. Now he was over here saving dolls from certain death…I guess he wasn’t all bad.

I chewed on my lip.

If Jacob was shy, losing all his patients on his first day and then pissing off the entire nursing staff wouldn’t help matters. No one really gave him a shot after that. If he really was “one of the good ones,” like Zander said, that kind of made me feel bad, like it was his first week at a new school and I was one of the mean girls.

Maybe I was one of the mean girls.

I was so crabby lately I was probably shorter with him than I would have been if my life wasn’t a dumpster fire.

Benny was an introvert too. He had a really hard time in school…

Through the sliver in the curtain, I saw Jacob get up and I started for the nurses’ station, but I only got a few feet before I let out a groan and turned back around.

A moment later, when the door to Jacob’s room slid open, I was waiting outside. I stepped in front of him with my arms crossed. “Hey,” I said flatly.

He froze with his hand on the door. “Hello,” he said, looking like a deer in headlights.

“Bring them desserts.”

He blinked at me. “What?”

“You should have brought the nurses donuts on your first day. You showed up empty-handed, that was your first mistake. Cupcakes might save you, but not the cheap stuff. Nadia Cakes, two dozen, get a keto one for Gloria, at least four gluten-free ones, and one vegan. Hector doesn’t do animal by-products. Bonus points if you get a doggie cupcake for Angelica’s new puppy.”

He stared at me, and I turned and walked away.

There. I was nice to him like Zander had asked. I gave him the tools to dig himself out of his nosedive with his team. Whether he chose to take my advice was on him. My conscience was clear. I was no longer a mean girl.

“Hey,” he called after me.

I let out a long breath and turned back around. “What?”

He stood there with this earnest, hat-in-hand, puppy-dog look that made it hard to keep my flat expression. I registered again, almost to my own annoyance, that he was cute.

He had this super-sexy, strong-quiet-type thing about him. Deep, gentle brown eyes, a square jaw with just enough scruff to look a little rugged but still put together. He was maybe five-nine, five-ten, to my five-four. Mid-thirties, in shape. His hands were plunged into the pockets of his black scrubs and he had veins running down his toned arms. I loved well-hydrated veins.

I shook it off. Was he hot? Yes. Fine. Doesn’t matter. Super annoying, though.

“Yeah?” I said impatiently.