Defending Hayden (Second Chances #7)(10)

Crossing my arms over my chest, I pretended to be peeved. “I am so jealous right now. I might try to get out there this weekend.”

Michael nudged me with his elbow. “And I’ll go with you.” He headed for the door and stopped. “Oh yeah, do you still want to get a new phone during lunch?”

“It’d be nice. It shouldn’t take me long.”

He waved me off. “No worries. I was just going to go to the gym during my lunch hour.”

“Sounds good. We can do lunch tomorrow if you want.”

He winked. “Deal. I’ll catch you later.”

Once he left, Jeremiah and I were left alone in the break room. “What happened to your phone? Didn’t you just get a new one?” he asked.

I chuckled. “I did, but it broke last night.”

“That’s a shame. I was going to ask you if you wanted to grab lunch today. I’m dying for that southwestern wrap at the café.”

I was craving one, too. “I tell you what,” I said, looking at the schedule on the table. “Why don’t I just meet you at the café? It doesn’t look like I’ll be too busy around lunch, so I can always get out of here a little early, get my phone, and then head back. Does that sound good?”

Jeremiah smiled. “I’ll see you then.”

He walked out, and I was about to follow him when a phone started to ring; it was coming from my purse. My heart skipped a beat and I gasped, walking toward it slowly. I hadn’t thought about what I’d do if someone actually called Derek’s phone. I pulled it out and stared at the name that popped up on the screen…Evan Townsend.

“Wow.” It was strange to think that in my hands I held Derek McLaughlin’s phone, one of the best NFL linebackers in the league, and calling him was another famous football star. No one would ever believe it.

—

It didn’t take long to get my new phone, and I was able to meet Jeremiah on time. Lunch with him went by quickly, and I was glad for that. Though he was always interested in my personal life, there wasn’t much to tell. I worked and I went home. All of my friends were back in Raleigh, but I’d thought I’d be okay with Michael by my side. Now he was leaving, and I’d be by myself.

“Are you thinking about moving back to Raleigh, too?” Jeremiah asked.

We still had ten minutes before we needed to get back to the clinic, so we took our time walking back. “I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I like it here. It’s going to suck being without Michael, but I know he’s ready to move on to bigger things.”

“And you don’t want to?”

“Not really. I wanted to find a small-town practice to work in. I just wish my family was closer. Three hours isn’t a long way away, but it’s not like I can get off of work and go see them at a moment’s notice.”

He nodded. “I understand. My parents live in Charlotte, so they’re close by.”

“Lucky.” We laughed and he opened the door to the clinic, waiting on me to enter. “Thanks,” I said in passing. He followed me to the break room, where I dropped off my purse.

“If you ever want to go to the Whitewater Center or hiking, you can always call me. I know you like doing that kind of stuff.” His eyes sparkled, and I couldn’t help but smile. If the situation were different, I probably would date him.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Lunch was one thing, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to extend that to outside hobbies.

“Dr. Hunter, our next patient is here,” Amanda announced, entering the break room breathlessly.

“Running late?” I laughed. Her long ashy brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her face was flushed. She glanced from Jeremiah to me, trying to hide her smile.

“I got detained a little longer than expected.” She cleared her throat and straightened her top.

I lifted a brow, knowing exactly what she did during her break. “I see. Well, let’s get to work, shall we?”

I followed her out of the room and breathed a sigh of relief once we were away from Jeremiah. Amanda glanced over her shoulder; thankfully, he’d gone down to the other end of the hall.

“Mixing business with pleasure?” she whispered.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. “Not going to happen. I’m a firm believer in not dating my coworkers.”

“Yeah, but he’s hot. I’d date him in a heartbeat if he weren’t ten years older than me.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “You’re too much, you know that? Besides, you have a boyfriend. Have you checked on the puppies?”

“I did before lunch. I’ll check on them when you’re busy with the Markson dog.”

“No, that’s all right. I want to look in on them. While you’re bringing my next patient back, I’ll take one of the puppies over to Kellie to see if she has space for them.”

“Sounds good, Doc,” she said, hurrying up to the front.

Amanda was the youngest nurse in the clinic, but she was one of the best, with the exception of Margerie, who had been doing it as long as Amanda had been alive. I was lucky to have Amanda as my assistant. Now that I had a few minutes, I headed to the indoor kennel, where the puppies were kept in their own space. They looked like dark brown furballs with splotches of white here and there; definitely a mixed breed, but I couldn’t tell what kind yet.