Grumpy Doctor’s Holiday Twins (Forbidden Doctors #17)

12. Ethan

12

ETHAN

I t was a Saturday, and one of the perks of being in more of an admin position was that I had the weekend off. But I couldn't sit in that cold, dark house by myself another second. At least at the hospital, I could busy myself with work, and since I was forced into giving up my hotel room, they had booked up and there was no room for me at the inn. I spent my day working and now, coming up on eight at night, I stood in line at the coffee shop listening to the chatter of the baristas as I waited for my turn to order a nice black coffee to drink before heading home.

"Yeah, well I heard he was at the tree farm playing kissy face under the mistletoe with a brunette, so don't get your hopes up." One of the baristas had a good chuckle at some poor bloke's expense, and I scowled at even the mention of the dumb holiday tradition as it reminded me of the peck I got from Melody.

The line inched forward and I moved up a step as the banter continued over the hiss of the espresso. "Yeah, well the hot new doctor is still hot. I'd say a nine if we were ranking from one to ten." The other barista's words grated on my nerves. I knew she was talking about Lucas Hart and it made me angry instantly. The first one had mentioned a tree farm and I knew what that meant. The woman he'd been kissing was Melody.

The barista served the customer in front of me, and I stepped up to the counter feeling so jealous that I was churning mad. The thought of Melody kissing another man just rubbed me the wrong way. She wasn't even pining over me or sad in the slightest way that I'd told her nothing could work out between us.

"What'll it be, sir?" the woman in front of me asked.

"Coffee, black," I grumbled, and I felt like the dark brew would match my mood. I shouldn't have cared. In fact, I should have been happy for her. I'd seen the way Hart interacted with her children, and I had even thought about how she deserved a man much like him. But the reality of it was too much.

"Coming right up," she said, turning to fetch my coffee as their banter continued. "I guess he might be seeing her. I think she's a nurse."

"Yeah, well if he's not, you can be sure the next time he comes in here, I'm makin' sure to bump into him under that mistletoe." The second one laughed so hard that she snorted, and I clenched my jaw. Even the rumor of Melody dating him was too much to bear.

They continued chatting but I blocked it out, too upset by my own jealousy to allow myself to listen to it. Hart just moved here. He knew nothing about our town or the traditions. He knew nothing about Melody either, like the fact that she put a sprig of cinnamon in her cocoa or how she only used peppermint lip gloss in December. I knew those things, and I was the one who should have been kissing her at that tree farm, but I was prideful and refused to go.

"Anything else, sir?" the barista asked as she slid the cup across the counter to me, and I stared at it blankly for a second while I made up my mind.

"Yes, actually. A cup of your 'Merry Cocoa-latte' with a cinnamon stick in it, please," I told her, and the words tasted bitter on my tongue. How many times had I ordered that drink for Melody and brought it to work for her? Now, just saying the name of the drink made me feel tense. I'd been protesting any part of the holiday for so long, and I felt like I was caving.

"Gotcha. Coming right up." She nodded at another barista, and I took out my wallet to pay.

Melody was at the hospital when I left only a short time ago, still decorating trees. To me it looked like she was alone, though I'd seen a few other volunteers around my lunch hour helping her. If I caught her and was at least able to chat and press her for information about Dr. Hart and how close they were getting, it would help me sleep better this evening.

I just wished John would find the replacement and let me off the hook so I could leave. Then I wouldn't feel nosy and even out of control about this. It was irrational that I even cared since I was leaving town anyway, but I did. And because I did, I knew I'd never sleep tonight without finding out exactly what was going on.

The barista delivered my second cup, and I headed out with a cup in each hand, which was the same way I walked back into the hospital. I expected a team of volunteers surrounding her and having to pry her away to some place more private, but she was alone in the lobby, putting tinsel on one of the last bare trees in sight. The wing was dark, though I knew a bit deeper down the hallways, life was still being lived, nurses with patients, families settling in for sleep.

Melody looked up when the elevator doors shut and I raised the cup of cocoa to her that I'd bought. "Truce," I said, and I noticed some fleeting tension on her forehead before she smiled.

"Oh, gosh, just what I needed." She straightened and let the tinsel droop as she reached for the cup I held out. "Oh, gosh, cocoa and cinnamon. You remembered." The way her eyes sparkled when she grinned at me warmed my heart, and I felt like the Grinch on that show when his heart grows three sizes. It was almost painful. My point wasn't to cozy up to her and rekindle a relationship, though burying the hatchet would probably be a good thing. I was here strictly to put my mind at ease.

"Looks good," I told her, breathing out a sigh. I didn't care what it looked like. I hated Christmas trees and the whole lot, but I knew it meant a lot to her. The happiness on her face at my statement showed her pride in her and her team's work.

"Thank you. We've been at it all day and we still have a few more here, and then the wreaths for every door to do tomorrow." Melody sipped the cocoa and moaned in pleasure. Her hands hugged the cup as she sighed softly. "What brings you by? I thought you left for the day already."

I undid my scarf and unbuttoned my coat and slid them off after setting my coffee on the registration counter at the front desk. Then I draped my coat over the countertop and pushed my sleeves up. Even if I had to do the decorating myself, I was going to find out how serious Melody was with Dr. Hart, and my gut churned because I knew if she was getting serious with him, I'd feel things. Things I'd want to hash out with her too, which might lead to more arguing or hurt feelings.

"John sort of lectured me about it being my responsibility and leaving it on your shoulders." He hadn’t as much as said that, but a few comments he made and the facial expression he had while saying them clued me in. But even still, I'd have just blown it off and done my own thing had it not been for those baristas' conversation.

"Ah, yes, John can be that way." She snickered and turned to set her own cup down.

"So I heard you and Dr. Hart had a good time picking out trees." When I said it, her back was to me, and I watched her shoulders stiffen and her entire body tense. Maybe I was being too direct, but the question was out.

"Uh, yes, we picked them out just fine." Melody turned slowly and returned to her job of stringing tinsel. I picked up a golden bulb from one of the nearby boxes and studied the branches for one that was free so I could hang it, but they were pretty covered.

"Where's he at, anyway?" I asked blankly. "Thought he'd be here helping." I found the perfect spot, a bit too high for Melody to reach, and strained to stretch up and hang the bulb. Whoever had put the star on the tree had to have been very tall. Probably Loverboy.

"He was here all day. I sent him home a short time ago. I'm just finishing this tree." She ducked under my arm and I stepped back to give her space, and I couldn’t help but notice the curve of her backside in those form fitting jeans that were all the rage in fashion now. My heart fluttered as I let my eye linger there a bit longer than I should have.

Melody was intoxicating, though. She always had been. I'd never been able to keep my eyes off her, not even when we were much younger and more foolish. She was a nursing student and I was a resident, and her curves always drew my attention.

"Hmm, heard you kissed him too," I mumbled, but my eyes were still fixed on her body, even as she straightened and turned toward me, catching me in the act. I didn’t even blush at being caught. She knew how I felt about her body. But she shrugged nonchalantly and avoided eye contact.

"Mistletoe… and tradition. You know." She turned away again, and I could've sworn I saw embarrassment on her face, or nervousness, maybe. Did she think I was judging her? Or was she thinking I was being too nosy? I was, but I didn't care. The whole town knew about her kiss. Why couldn’t I?

I watched her struggle with some tangled lights and tried to read her body language. I knew her well, though I hadn't been around her for a while. Melody was trying to mask her insecurity by busying herself and here I was being a big, dumb oaf. This wasn't helping bury the hatchet at all, and she was feeling uncomfortable with me. I was better than this, though I hadn’t shown that side of me to her in a long time.

"Here, let me help," I offered, and I reached for the lights, but she turned away at the same time and they came unraveled and half of them dropped to the floor.

She blew out a breath in a flustered way and a few loose strands of her hair puffed into the air. Then she bent to pick them up and as she did, she wobbled on her feet. I reached for her arm, but not before she lurched forward into the tree where her hair snagged on one of the branches.

"Eeek," she squeaked out and dropped the remaining lights as she tried to wrestle her hair free from the tree's iron grip, and I swooped in to help.

"Wow, that's messy… Oh, God, there's sap on it." My fingers stuck to the tree first, then her hair, and the more I tried to fight it free, the stickier it felt.

"Just let me…" she grunted, but even her fingers couldn't untangle it, and she whimpered as I leaned down to pluck the stands of her hair out of the pine sap.

It took a few more seconds, but I managed to free her locks from the tree, but when she stood up, my fingers were still firmly stuck to her hair with the sap, and that left my hand dangerously close to her face.

Melody looked up at me, our faces almost touching now, and when our eyes met she didn't look away. She looked sad, almost, not embarrassed or anxious anymore. I didn't back away. I couldn’t, not without pulling her hair. I felt the same explosive chemistry with her I always had, the kind I felt when she drove me home and started crying in remorse.

"Ethan, I didn't kiss him. I couldn't. I know tradition, but my phone rang and…" She stopped, and I wanted to know why she couldn’t kiss him. Why wouldn't she? He seemed perfect for her.

"And?" I prodded. My chest felt like a constrictor was clamping down on me.

"And I wanted it to be you, but he isn't you."

"Of course he's not me. He's a Christmas-obsessed fool like the rest of this town and?—"

And she kissed me. She rose right up on her tiptoes, no mistletoe needed, and she planted a firm kiss on my lips, and I couldn’t push her away. I didn't want to, either. I was an idiot, but I kissed her back and I liked it.