Cowboy Protector E-Book

Jessica F.

• Herausgeber: Jessica F.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

That damn bull nearly killed me, but it threw me right where I belong—her hospital room.
She’s an angel with green eyes, too innocent for a guy like me.
I’m busted up, but I can still see the way she blushes when I tease her.
She’s off-limits, my nurse, and I’m the bad boy she shouldn’t want.
But I catch the doctor she trusts eyeing her like prey, and it lights a fire in me.
I’ve got millions stashed away, a ranch to run, and now her to protect.
One stolen night changes everything—she’s carrying my kid.
I’ll break every rule to keep her safe from him.

Keywords: Guaranteed HEA, no cliffhangers, happily ever after. billionaire, bad boy, office romance, steamy romance, contemporary romance, love books, love stories, new adult, alpha male, romance, action, adventure, steamy romance, small-town secrets, hot, alpha hero. free book, free novels, romantic novels, and sexually romantic books.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

COWBOY PROTECTOR

Copyright

Blurbs

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Brynn

Roman

Sneak Peek - Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Other books in this series!

COWBOY PROTECTOR

A BAD BOY SECRET BABY ROMANCE

ACCIDENTAL LOVE

JESSICA F.

©Copyright 2023 by Jessica F. - All rights Reserved

In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format.

Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher.

All rights are reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

Blurbs

I’m hell-bent on claiming Brynn… even if it goes against “doctor’s orders”.

Being stuck in a hospital bed for seven days is not how I wanted to spend time here in my home town in Texas.

But, that bucking bronco at the rodeo had other plans for me.

Bruised tailbone, banged up ribs and a cracked tibia.

Sadly, my rodeo days might be over.

One thing that’s brightening my bed-ridden days here is Nurse Brynn.

Her warm smile, caring touch and killer curves under that uniform are driving me wild.

And she’s sneaking me sodas behind her boss’s back. Score!

With every massage from her we’re getting close. A little TOO close.

Nurses getting romantically involved with patients is completely off-limits.

She could lose her job, and I could have this whole town talking trash about me.

I don’t care. Life’s short and we only live once.

The doctor in-charge has noticed the fire between Brynn and me, and we’re paying the price.

He’s being an absolute prick to me and he’s trying to control Brynn’s every move.

He has ulterior motives and wants her all for himself.

There’s no way I’ll let that happen.

I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Brynn from this snake.

The stakes are high, but I’m determined to show Brynn what this cowboy is made of and give her the ride of her life.

Roman

It felt good to hear the crowd cheering for me. My hometown of Carthage, Texas, had always held my most avid supporters. And I needed all the support that I could get.

Sitting atop a fifteen-hundred-pound bull, my hand tethered to it with a bull rope, I gripped the leather lacing, making sure it didn’t slip. All that was left to do was to give the cowboys who held the bull inside the shoot a nod. Then they’d set him free, and my ride would begin.

“Are you ready?” The sound of the announcer’s voice over the loudspeaker did nothing to calm my nerves. Not that I was scared — I had done this plenty of times before. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, making the blood inside them boil.

Sweat formed on my forehead, the way it always did when I was in this particular position. The not knowing what would happen was the hardest part of bull riding. You could watch the same bull do its thing twenty times, and not two of those times would be exactly the same.

“Rodeo fans, allow me to introduce you to Old Yeller, the bull beneath our hometown rider, Roman Ethridge!” the announcer said. “This is the young bull’s debut. Raised right here in Carthage, Texas, on the Whisper Ranch, owned by the Gentry brothers. Roman is not only a rodeo cowboy. He’s also the man who raised this young bull from a little calf. Roman manages the bucking bull breeding program for Whisper Ranch. What better cowboy to introduce this bull to the world of rodeo?”

The crowd roared, and I began to get pumped up for the ride. I nodded my head, signaling the cowboys to release Old Yeller.

He bucked forward, nearly unseating me right there in the shoot. I held on tight, though, tightening my grip around the rope with both hands. The bull continued to get more excited, jumping up and down. “Settle down, boy. It’s just me, your old buddy from the ranch. Now let’s give these people a good show.”

Once the bull settled down, I leaned forward, gripping the rope with all my strength. The cowboy in charge of opening the shoot asked, “You ready, Roman?”

“As I’ll ever be.” I gave one more nod and, this time, the gate came open, and out we slipped like molten lava.

The bull jumped up in the air and then started running in a circle, coming back around to where he had started. I tried my best to stay on top of him, but when he came down from a jump, my hand slipped along with the rest of me.

Unfortunately, my hand didn’t slip all the way out of the rope, leaving me dangling off the side of the monstrous bull who acted like we’d never met before. “Yeller, slow down!”

The bull wasn’t listening to me at all as he continued to jump, kick, snort, and bellow like he was being beaten to death. Which he was not. Other than having me on his back, nothing else was happening to him.

As the bull came around again, I was able to swing my other hand onto the rope and hold tightly once more, pulling myself back up onto the bull’s back. I wasn’t going to get any points now, since I’d used both hands. But the people in the stands cheered me on anyway. They cheered so loud I could barely hear anything else.

I waved to them as we went by and tried to smile, but it felt like my face would break with how hard I had been clenching my jaw. Focused on trying to get my hand free from the rope, I looked at the knot that had gotten screwed up somehow. “Come on!” I shouted as the knot refused to loosen.

The rodeo clowns moved around the bull, trying to get him to follow them out of the arena so that they could help me get off the beast. One of them whistled. “Over here, Yeller!” His bright red suspenders held up old blue jean shorts that were three sizes too big for him. He took his oversized cowboy hat off and began waving it in the bull’s face to get his attention.

The bull was not impressed, and instead of following the clowns, he turned and ran directly toward the stands. “Oh shit!” I yelled as we headed right for them.

I leaned forward and wrapped my arms tightly around the beast’s neck just in time to avoid getting head-butted by him when he jumped up into the air once again.

There was nothing I could do. Old Yeller was headed for the tall fence that surrounded the arena. He meant to get the hell out of there— and fast. And I was stuck to him, going along for the ride whether I wanted to or not.

I began fishing for a handhold as best I could with only one arm to work with. In the meantime, Old Yeller kept scrambling along as fast as he could go, and it must have been pretty darn fast because the sounds of those clowns out there screaming at me had begun to fade away behind us.

But before we could make it to the fence, Old Yeller skidded to a stop, somehow wrenching my hand free of the rope. He turned me loose with one mighty buck that left me lying in the dirt. All I could see was his belly, and my ribs felt like they’d just been stepped on by an elephant.

The next thing I knew, he’d picked me up with his horns and tossed me like a ragdoll. I flew through the air, heading for a future starring nothing but sky and birds who didn’t give two hoots about the predicament I was currently in.

This is it. I’m a goner for sure this time.

Before the last bit of air left my lungs, I came down hard on my ass, the rest of the breath knocked right out of me. For a moment, I just sat there, looking at the stands but not seeing anything but a blurry scene. I heard nothing at all — the fans had gone silent.

Then one voice penetrated the silence as a little girl shrieked, “Help him! The bull’s coming for him again!”

Turning my head, I saw the bull I’d raised from a tiny calf charging toward me. Suddenly, someone grabbed me by the shoulders and began pulling me backward at a fast speed. But it wasn’t fast enough. The bull got to me and managed to get one last stomp in, breaking my leg, before a couple of cowboys caught him with their ropes, stopping him from doing any more damage to my body.

Unable to breathe, I heard the siren as the ambulance came into the arena now that the bull had been cleared out of it. The light faded a little at a time until there was no light left, and I heard no more.

***

The sound of something beeping woke me up. I tried to open my eyes, but it was extremely difficult. Finally, I managed the simple task, only to find a small figure moving about the room.

I noticed that my left leg was lifted into the air by some sort of contraption. There was a tightness in my chest. I also felt something underneath me, keeping my ass off the bed.

With all the lines hooked up to me, it took me no time at all to realize where I was, and then I remembered why I was there in the first place. “That fucking bull.”

The figure turned around and moved toward me. The closer it got, the better I could make out that it was a pretty girl. “You’re awake. Good.” She leaned over me, the scent of flowers filling my nose. “You’ve been asleep for a few hours. Are you in any pain?”

Her nametag said, Brynn. And her eyes were green. A blonde ponytail hung down her back. She was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. “Hi.” I smiled at her, and it hurt to do that, but I did it anyway.

“Hi,” she said as she smiled back at me before putting something against my mouth. “You shouldn’t try to smile. Your lower lip is split a little. Not enough to require stitches but enough to bleed if you try to smile. Here, drink some water. It’ll help.” She looked around, and I saw her pick up a cup off a table and then come back to me.

“Thank you,” I said as I sipped on the straw, not worrying about anything with her looking after me.

“No problem, cowboy,” she said, and I noticed that her voice had a thin twang to it. “Do you need anything for pain? You were given some by the paramedics, but it might’ve begun to wear off by now. I don’t want you in any pain.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“It’s my job.” She put her fingers on the inside of my wrist, lifting it up a little. Even though I was mostly numb, I felt a bit of electricity coming from her touch. “Your pulse is good.” She eased my hand back to lie on the bed. “You are one tough dude, Mr. Ethridge.”

“Roman,” I said. “Mr. Ethridge is my dad.”

“Roman.” She ran her finger over her nametag. “I’m Brynn. I’ll be your day-nurse while you’re staying with us at Carthage Hospital.”

“How long am I going to be here?” I was fine right where I was, but it wasn’t easy finding conversation topics — and I wanted her to keep talking to me.

“I’m not sure. Doctor Green will be in to see you shortly.” She pulled out her cell phone and tapped on the screen. “I’m letting him know that you’re awake now. He’ll be in soon to explain your injuries.”

“Why can’t you tell me what they are?” I didn’t know who Doctor Green was, but I knew I would much rather hear her sweet voice delivering the news to me than anyone else’s.

“I’m not really supposed to do that,” she said and put her phone away. “Doctor Green will do that. So, the pain — are you in any?”

“I don’t feel a thing,” I lied, not wanting her to think I was some wimpy guy who cried over a little — or a lot of — pain.

Shaking her head, she said, “That’s not good. If you feel nothing, then you might have spinal cord injuries, which would mean surgery for you.”

“I can feel. I’m just not feeling any pain. I’m tough, like you said.”

“Don’t let that bravado get in the way of me treating your pain, Roman. I don’t care who you are or how well your body is built. Everyone feels pain.” She softly ran her hand over my left leg that was strung up. “I want to know if this is too high. Are you uncomfortable? Does your hip feel like it’s in a bind?”

“Nah.” There was no real pain in my leg. “Is my leg broken?”

“Doctor Green will tell you about that.”

“So, it is broken?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You can just tell me. I won’t tattle on you.”

She looked at the door, which was closed, then back at me as she bit her lower lip. “No. I can’t.”

It seemed to me that she was a little afraid of this doctor she’d told me was coming to see me. “Is this guy mean? Or is it a woman?”

“The doctor is a man,” she told me, straightening the blanket that covered me. “And he’s not mean, just strict. He’s a great doctor, and you can trust him. Now, I really need you to tell me if you need anything for pain and where it hurts.”

I had the feeling she would get into trouble with the strict doctor if I didn’t tell her the truth. “My ass hurts. My chest is tight, and it’s uncomfortable.”

“Thank you.” Her smile lit me up inside. “I’ll put you on a morphine drip. It will allow you to give yourself a boost of painkillers every half hour. But only use it if you need it. I don’t want you using it only to feel high. It’s so easy to get addicted to pain medication.”

“Thanks for caring.” I could sense that she was a kind person. “I’ll use it responsibly.”

The door opened, and in stepped the strict doctor. His salt and pepper hair told me he was middle-aged, and his lips formed one thin line. He looked strict too. “I’m Doctor Green, Mr. Ethridge.”

“Call me Roman.”

He looked at the chart in his hands instead of looking at me. “Have you been given anything for pain?” He looked at Brynn with a burning expression. As if daring her to have done something wrong.

“I just told the nurse that I am experiencing some pain, and she’s about to hook me up,” I said, trying to draw his attention off her.

“Good,” he huffed as he finally looked at me. “Well, you’ve really done a number on yourself. You have bruised ribs on both sides of your chest.”

“I thought so.” It actually felt like they were broken, but I took his word for them just being bruised.

“You have a severely bruised coccyx, which is also quite swollen. That’s why we have that donut underneath you — to alleviate the pressure on it. The lower vertebra suffered trauma as well. Your left tibia has a hairline fracture, which is lucky for you because there’s a hoof print right in the middle of your shin that’s black and blue. As a matter of fact, you have hoof prints on your chest too. I’m not sure how you managed not to break more bones in your body.”

“I drink milk every single morning, and I take vitamin D supplements. When you ride bulls, it pays to keep your bones strong.”

Brynn came up beside me, holding a bag of something clear then hooking it onto the contraption that held some other bags of fluid. “It’s very smart of you to think about keeping your bones and your body in great shape if you’re going to be doing dangerous activities.”

“Nurse Davis, please refrain from commenting on a patient’s physique,” the doctor said. “It’s unprofessional.”

“Sorry, sir.” Her eyes came to mine. “I apologize for what I said.”

“No need.” I looked at the stern doctor. “It’s cool, man. She didn’t offend me at all. I’m dying for a Dr. Pepper. Y’all got any around here?”

“No. You can’t have any soda right now. And I’m sure she didn’t offend you with her remark. It’s not you I’m worried about.” He put the clipboard into the little box at the end of the hospital bed. “You’ll be staying here for about a week or so.”

“A week?” I didn’t want to be laid up that long. “And what about my leg being up like this? How am I supposed to go to the bathroom or take a shower?”

“You won’t be able to get up to do those things. A nurse will help you when you need to use the toilet. And you’ll be given sponge baths.”

The sponge bath was more than okay with me. Especially if Brynn would be the one doing them. But the help with the bathroom was not. “I want to be able to go to the bathroom by myself.”

“Then you shouldn’t have gotten onto the back of a thousand-pound animal,” the doc said without an ounce of emotion in his expression or his voice.

“It was fifteen hundred pounds, for your information. And I didn’t know I would end up not being able to go to the bathroom without help.”

“Well, now you know.” He looked at Brynn. “Monitor him for fifteen minutes to make sure he doesn’t have a bad reaction to the morphine, then get to the other patients.”

“Yes, Doctor Green,” she said with reverence in her voice.

“I’ll check on you each morning when I make my rounds, Mr. Ethridge. If you need anything, just press the nurse’s button on your bed.” And then he left without even saying goodbye.

“He’s a real treat.” I rolled my eyes at Brynn with the sarcastic remark.

I saw the little grin that she tried to fight off, and for a moment all the pain left my chest. If I could coax some of those sweet smiles from her each day, I’d be healed in no time.

Brynn

“He’s adorable,” I said with a sigh as I sipped hot coffee from a styrofoam cup in the nurses’ lounge. “He’s beaten up pretty good too. But you wouldn’t know it from the way he’s talking. He’s as tough as they come.”

“Don’t go falling in love, Brynn,” Bethany, a fellow nurse, teased me.

“Doctor Green would kill me if I did anything remotely romantic with any patient.” I knew better than to do anything that was against the doctor’s rules.

“I bet he’s a real cowboy,” Tammy, another nurse, said with a sigh. “Hardworking and doesn’t complain about anything.”

“You’re right about that. The only thing he asked for was a Dr. Pepper, which the doctor refused him for some odd reason.” I didn’t see why Roman couldn’t have a soda if he wanted one, but I wasn’t about to question Doctor Green.

“You should totally take one to him, Brynn. Some doctors can be assholes,” Bethany said, “Doctor Green being one of the biggest ones who works here.”

I didn’t like to talk about people behind their backs. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to say bad things about the man who’d taken me under his wing since I’d first shown up to intern for his office. “He’s strict but fair. An utter professional at all times, too. I shouldn’t even have questioned why he didn’t want the patient to have a soda.”

“Um, you are human, right?” Tammy asked, then laughed. “Sometimes, you can be such a Stepford.”

“A what?” I asked.

“You know,” Tammy said, “Like the movie Stepford Wives? The women were all very pretty and totally subservient to their husbands. That’s you, but you’re that way with Doctor Green instead of a husband.”

“I am not!” There was no way I would’ve ever considered myself to be subservient. “He’s my boss, Tammy. I’m supposed to follow his orders.”

Bethany added her two cents, saying, “But do you have to enjoy doing it so thoroughly?”

“It’s not like I enjoy following orders, Bethany.” I couldn’t believe these two, ganging up on me. “You both follow orders too.”

“At least we gripe about it though,” Tammy said as her hands moved to rest on her ample hips. “That’s all we’re really saying to you, Brynn. Stop thinking that Doctor Green is always right. He’s not. And he’s not even as fair as you say he is either. Personally, I see him as a control freak. And since you’re the only one who actually allows him to control you, he’s turned you into his favorite puppet.”

I would show them. They would see that I wasn’t some puppet for the doctor. Going to the fridge, I found a couple of cans of Dr. Pepper inside and grabbed one. “You two are wrong about me.” I stomped away, on a mission now to get the carbonated beverage to the poor cowboy who was in need of something fizzy and sweet. “I am not anyone’s puppet!”

Grumbling to myself as I went into the hallway, I missed seeing the man who had obviously spotted me. “Nurse Davis, where do you think you’re going with that thing?”

It was Doctor Green, and the frown he wore told me he had already figured me out.

So, I had to come up with something quick. “Um, nowhere, sir.”

“You looked like you were definitely heading somewhere.” He looked up the hallway, his eyes on the door to Roman’s room. “You wouldn’t be going against my order that he not have any soda right now, would you?”

“No, sir.” But I did want to know why he would deprive the poor broken man of anything. “May I ask you why you told him that he couldn’t have any soda? I mean, for my own medical knowledge. Not that I’m trying to challenge your decision.”

His dark brows drew together as anger became clear in his expression. “Do you have any idea how sugar-laden that soda is?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “But how can a little sugar hurt him?”

“You’ve seen the bruises on his body. He’s got a lot of healing to do, and sugary substances won’t help him do that. Plus, there’s caffeine in that soda, and that will interact with the morphine and make it less effective than he needs it to be right now. Even though he may be acting tough, that boy is in a lot of pain right now. He was just putting up a front to impress you.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “I saw the way he looked at you, Brynn. And I noticed the way you looked at him too.”

I froze at that comment. “I didn’t look at him any differently than I look at any other patient, Doctor,” I lied. I hadn’t realized I’d been such an open book while in Roman’s company.

“Don’t try to fool me.” He removed his hand. “I’m too old and wise to ever believe that lie you just told me.”

“If I looked at him in any way that was unbecoming of a nurse, then I am sorry. And I will be sure to watch myself whenever I have to check up on him.” I lifted the can of soda. “As for this, it’s mine. I had no intentions of giving it to anyone but myself.”

“Brynn, if you continue lying to me, there will be consequences.” He looked at the door across the hall from us. “That storeroom looks like the perfect place for a time out.”

“A time out?” Does he think I’m some spoiled child?

“You know what I mean. Put that thing in the trash and get on with your duties,” he ordered.

“Of course, Doctor Green.” I did not like the way he’d treated me as if I were some child who needed to be punished.

Just as I turned to go back to the nurses’ lounge to put the soda back into the fridge, I felt his fingers graze up my arm. Then he rested his hand on my shoulder, turning me back to face him. “Hey. You know that I care about you, right?”

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “I know you do.”

“Good. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Cowboys are nothing but trouble. You don’t need any trouble in your life. You’re going places, Brynn. Someone like that self-destructive kid would only slow you down. He could even bring you down to his level — if you let him.” He placed his hand on my cheek, looking at me as if I were the only person around — which I was not, as Tammy and Bethany had just come out of the lounge and into the hallway.

I cut my eyes at them as they moved past us, giggling. Insanely embarrassed, I felt my cheeks heating with a fierce blush. “I’m not about to let anyone bring me down.”

“Good. Because you deserve to be happy. But you need to be careful of who you’re happy with. When you’re as gifted as you are, you have to be on the lookout for those individuals who are looking to take advantage of you. That boy in there is definitely looking to take advantage of your generous nature. But he’ll give you nothing in return. You do understand what I’m saying, right?”

“I understand.” The words felt thick in my throat, as I knew exactly what he was saying. I honestly doubted whether he had the right to tell me such things. But I had no idea how to say that to him without sounding rude. “Thank you for your concern, Doctor Green.”

“That’s all I have to say about that. Just know what I said is only for your own good.” He removed his hand from my shoulder. “Now go ahead and get rid of that thing.”

“I’m going to put it back where I found it.”

“So, you were going to give it to him,” he said with a smile.

I wasn’t going to admit a thing. “No, sir. I was not going to give this to him. When he brought up the drink, it made me crave it myself. But after talking to you and this thing stirring up so much, I’ve decided that I no longer want it.”

“Hmm.” He didn’t seem to know whether to believe me or not. “Don’t you see that the boy has already manipulated your mind?”

I could not believe him. “I can’t see how he’s managed to do that in the few minutes I was in that room with him.”

“He said he wants something, and you end up wanting the same thing. Don’t be a sheep, Brynn. You’re much too smart for that.”

I almost wanted to tell him the truth so that he wouldn't think I was some dumb sheep. But I couldn’t bring myself to do that. “I’ll watch myself when I’m around him, like I said before.”

“See that you do. You know, his looks will diminish as he ages. You might think he’s hot stuff right now, but the life he’s living will ensure he looks ninety by the time he’s only forty. Mark my words. I’ve never seen a cowboy who hasn’t aged remarkably badly.”

It almost seemed as if the doctor was jealous of Roman. “What makes you think that I think he’s hot stuff?”

With a chuckle, he put his hand back on my shoulder. This time, his thumb grazed my chin. “I can read you like a book, girl. How long have we known each other?”

“I was eighteen when I walked into your office for the internship. I’m twenty-two now. So, about four years.”

“Plenty long enough for me to know who you really are. You know that I think the world of you, and I know you’re going places. Like when you join me to take on jobs for Doctors without Borders. I can count on you. I can trust you. I’ve always got your back. Just know that.”

He’d begun to make me feel a bit uncomfortable with all the touching, so I took a step back to put some space between us and make it so he couldn’t touch me anymore. “I know that, Doctor Green. I understand you perfectly too. I’ll keep myself in check. I’ve got patients to see to now.”

“Yes, you do,” he went back to stoic mode and strode away from me.

“So, what was that all about?” Tammy asked as I turned around and found her walking up to me.

“Well, he thinks I’ve got a crush on the broken cowboy.” I held up the can of soda. “And he was sure I was taking this to him too.”

“Man, he’s good, isn’t he? Like he can read your mind or something.”

“I guess he does have a point, though. I mean, we did just meet. And how do I know that cowboy isn’t trying to take advantage of me?”

“It’s impossible to take advantage of someone when you share a mutual attraction, Brynn,” she shrugged. “Maybe you should at least give him the soda before you make any final judgments about him.”

“You’re right.” I looked over my shoulder to check that the doctor was nowhere to be seen. “What the doc doesn't know won’t hurt him. I don’t think a little Dr. Pepper will take the edge off the morphine. And now that I can see that he’s sort of jealous of Roman, I know he did it out of spite.”

Tammy smiled. “So, you’re okay then? I mean, he really worked you over.”

“It was that noticeable?” I winced with embarrassment.

With a nod, she said, “I think you should try to distance yourself from that man. Not the cowboy, the doctor. He gives off a weird vibe when he’s with you. I don’t like it at all. It’s not quite fatherly either. It’s more like he has this idea that you’re his in some way. You know what I mean?”

“Not at all.” I didn’t see Doctor Green that way. “He’s my mentor, that’s all he is to me. He’s trying to train me so that I can be the professional that I’m seeking to be. I trust him.”

Tammy looked dubious. “I don’t know, Brynn. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to trust him with anything.”

“You don’t even know the man well enough to be talking bad about him.” I arched an eyebrow at her accusingly. She was just trying to drive a wedge between me and the doctor. The bad part was that the doctor had warned me that people might try to do this — so they could shove me out of the way to make room for them to be mentored by him.

“Maybe you’re into him,” she said with a snarky sound to her voice. “Sorry I didn’t realize that sooner.”

“I am not into him in that way.”

“Well, he’s into you. You can’t really be that blind, Brynn.”

“Whatever, Tammy. I’m done with this conversation. I’ve got work to do, and so do you. We need to get back to it and stop talking about dumb things that don’t matter at all.” Every direction I turned toward seemed to lead to me feeling awkward and sort of attacked, and I was done feeling that way.

Shoving the can of soda into my pocket, I headed toward Roman’s room. I wasn’t sure if I would give it to him or not. But I would be the one making that decision, and I promised myself that I wouldn’t let what anyone else said influence my decision in the least.

No matter what, I was going to try and be a professional in this situation. It didn’t matter how good-looking the cowboy was — he was just a patient. I had to think of him in that way and in that way only.

Doctor Green was right. I had been looking at Roman with stars in my eyes. I had to stop doing that. Even if Roman had looked at me that way first. That didn’t matter at all.

If I were going to be the professional that I wanted to be, I had to not think about how a person looked. I couldn’t care if they had amazing eyes or lush, thick dark waves of hair. I had to deal with their symptoms. I had to help them alleviate their pain. I had to help them get back on the road to good health again — and nothing more than that.