Unexpected Reality (20 page)

The smile on my face is huge. Who wouldn’t be smiling getting a text from the hotness that is Ridge Beckett? I place my phone on the nightstand and drift off to sleep with thoughts of him and his hands all over me.

I’m at the office an hour early. With being off yesterday, I wanted to be able to check my e-mails and go through the pile that’s always waiting for me on my desk after a day off. I get lost in the daily grind getting caught up. It’s not until I hear voices down the hall that I realize that it’s time to start the day for real. I’m covering today for one of the girls. She works every Saturday, but this week, her son had something going on, so I told her I would cover for her. It gave me yesterday off, which was nice.

The schedule is filling quickly as I work on keeping the patients roomed. This keeps the doctors happy, which makes everyone else happy. There is a small break in the schedule. This gives me time to scope out the rest of the day. Scrolling through the patient list, I stop when I see his name.

Knox Beckett.

I open his chart to view the chief complaint. It looks like he’s been fussy for a few days. Poor guy. Last weekend, Ridge had said he’d been off all day. He’s my last patient before lunch, so that will give me the opportunity to take my time. Pathetic right? Excited to delay their visit just to be with him, both of them really. That baby boy is too precious for words.

The rest of my morning seems to drag on. I keep watching the clock wishing for time to move faster.

Finally, the little green bubble beside his name, letting me know that they’ve checked in appears. I waste no time.

“Knox,” I say to the waiting room.

Ridge stands. His inked arms grip the baby carrier as he walks toward me. “Kendall,” he says. It’s almost like I hear relief in his voice.

“Hey.” My voice is all breathy, and I can feel my face flush with embarrassment.
Get it together, Dawson!
“We’re going to be in room four,” I say, walking along behind them. Once in the room, I shut the door for patient confidentiality and pull up Knox’s chart on the computer. “So, what’s going on with the little guy?” I ask, trying like hell to remain professional.

Ridge runs one hand through his hair, while the other rests on Knox’s seat that is on the exam table. “He’s been fussy. I thought maybe it was just me and that he could tell I was nervous, you know? But then Mom said he’s been that way for her too.”

“Any changes in the household? Wet diapers? Bowel movements?” I fire off a round of questions. Ridge answers them all and just as we finish, Knox starts to fuss. I watch as Ridge carefully lifts him from his seat and lays him against his chest. He’s patting his back and bouncing him a little in his arms to try to soothe him. His efforts are wasted as Knox starts to cry. I can see that Ridge is exhausted, so I step in. “Can I hold him? You look like you could use a break.”

He gives me a small smile. “Is that in your job description?”

Shit. “I—”

Ridge chuckles softly. “I’m kidding, Kendall. Are you sure you won’t get in trouble?”

“Never, gimme.” I hold my arms out. He transfers him to me, not before his hand rubs across my boob. I don’t dare look up, just keep my eyes trained on Knox. “Hey, handsome.” I keep my voice low and even. “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well.” Knox whimpers but his cries have quieted down.

“He hates me,” Ridge says, his voice defeated.

“He doesn’t hate you. Babies can sense your emotions. He knows that you’re exhausted. He doesn’t know how to handle that. It makes him irritable. Besides, you said that he was fussy with your mom as well,” I point out.

He doesn’t say anything, so neither do I, at least not to him. I speak softly to Knox, letting my voice help soothe him.

“You’re good with him,” Ridge finally says.

“So are you. Don’t forget I’ve seen you in full force dad mode. We all have good days and bad days, Ridge. Especially since this little guy can’t tell you what’s wrong.”

“Yeah,” he agrees.

“Knock, Knock,” Dr. Harris says, entering the room. He eyes me holding Knox.

“Sorry, I’ll just—”

“No, stay.” Ridge’s request leaves no room for negotiation.

“You two know each other?” Dr. Harris asks.

“Yes. I graduated with his sister, Reagan.”

He nods. “All right, well what seems to be going on with Mr. Knox these days?” he asks, washing his hands.

Ridge tells him how Knox has been fussy, and basically every detail of the last week. And he thinks he’s bad at this dad gig. I tune them out as I hum softly to Knox, rubbing his back.

“Kendall,” Dr. Harris says.

I turn to face him. He’s wearing an odd expression, but Ridge is wearing a smile. He’s so damn sexy.
Focus, Kendall.
“Yeah,” I answer him.

“Can I examine my patient now?” Dr. Harris smirks.

Shit.
I nod and hand Knox over to him. I decide that I should leave them to it and reach for the door handle. Ridge, who is sitting in the chair next to the door, reaches out and grabs my arm. He doesn’t say a word, but the look in his eyes is pleading. He’s been telling his mom and Reagan that he can do this on his own and he can, but I can see it plain as day that he doesn’t want to be alone. I smile, letting him know we are on the same page. Instead of taking the seat next to him, I lean against the counter and watch as Dr. Harris examines Knox and asks Ridge a few more questions.

“So, I think we should switch his formula. I hear some bubbles in there.” He gently pats Knox’s belly. “It’s common in infants. Let’s try this sensitive formula.” He pulls a pad of paper out of his pocket. “Here’s the name. All major retailers should carry it. Kendall, why don’t you check the supply closet to see if we have a sample we can give him until he can get to the store.”

I nod my agreement and quietly leave the room. I hear Ridge ask, “So he’s okay?” just as I close the door. He’s a good man. A man who is dealing with being a father for the first time all on his own, and he loves his son. If I wasn’t already over-the-top attracted to him, that would have sent me over the edge.

I meet Dr. Harris coming out of the room. “He’s all set once you give him the sample. I’m off to lunch with Helen. See you in an hour.”

I knock lightly and then push open the door. “Here you go. I brought two cans. We have a ton of it back there. That will also give you some time to see if this helps his issue before you invest a lot of money into buying formula that doesn’t quite work with his system. If this one doesn’t work, don’t get discouraged. There are many more we can try.”

“Thank you.” He finishes strapping Knox into his seat before looking up at me. “Lunch time?” he asks.

I look at my watch. Why, I have no clue. Of course I know it’s lunch time. “Yeah, days almost over.”

He picks Knox’s seat up from the exam table. “Can you join us?” he asks, motioning with his head down to his slumbering son.

Do I? Is spending more time with him a good idea? I already think about him way more than I should. “Yes,” falls from my lips before I can contemplate it even further. I guess that settles that. “How about a drive-thru? I’ve got a few things I’ll need to finish up before we start with afternoon patients. I have about thirty minutes.”
I spent my morning thinking about the two of you and got behind.

“Anything you want. We can take my truck since I have the car seat.”

“Okay. Just let me grab my purse.”

“You don’t need it.”

“Uh, yeah I do.” I laugh. “I mean, unless you’ve changed your mind.”

“No. I didn’t and you won’t. I asked you to lunch. It’s on me. So unless there is something else in your purse that you have to have in the next thirty minutes, we’re good to go.” With one arm bent to carry Knox, the other presses on the small of my back. “Time’s wasting, sweet girl,” he says next to my ear.

I fight back the bolt of electricity from the heat of his touch and let him guide us out of the building and to his truck.

“Where to?”

“I’m thinking . . . Taco Bell,” I suggest.

“Sounds good to me. So how has your day been?”

“So far so good. Although, I will admit that once I saw that Knox was on the schedule, it began to drag.” Why I just told him that I don’t know. It’s like my nerves are causing me to spill my guts.

“How so?”

Great. Now I have to explain it. “Just excited to see you guys,” I say honestly.

He doesn’t say anything, just reaches over and rests his hand on my thigh. My scrubs are thin and the heat from his touch is searing. He leaves his hand there while he orders, only removing it to pay, then quickly places it in the exact same spot.

He drives us next door to a church parking lot where we take off our seat belts and devour our lunch. “So, any big plans for the weekend?” he asks.

“Nope. Dawn and I are going to stay in and have a movie night. You?”

“Nah, with the little man being so fussy, we really just need the sleep.”

“Why don’t you see if your mom or Reagan will watch him for a few hours while you get a nap.”

“I can’t do it,” he says firmly.

Reaching out, I place my hand on his arm. I wait for him to look at me before speaking. “Of course you can. You’re an amazing dad, Ridge. No one would fault you for needing a little help now and then. I could even. . . .”

“Thank you, but we got this,” he responds, looking into the back seat where Knox is now sleeping peacefully.

“So, how is the house coming?” I change the subject, not wanting to get him upset with me or just agitated in general. He seems calm and both he and Knox need that right now. We chat for another ten minutes about random things. It’s nothing and it’s everything.

“I guess I need to get you back.”

“Yeah.” I sigh. “Duty calls and all that.” He chuckles. I gather our trash and put it all in one bag, so I can throw it away at the office. Ridge starts the truck, pulls out of the lot and his hand, as soon as he has the truck in gear, rests on my thigh. It’s confusing and stressful, and I never want to leave this truck.

“Thank you for lunch,” I say, climbing out.

“Always, sweet girl.” He winks.

I give him a bright smile. “Give him a kiss from me,” I say and quietly shut the door. I turn and walk away before I won’t allow myself to. Ridge Beckett the man is tempting as hell. Ridge Beckett single daddy is almost impossible to resist.

The rest of my weekend flows by. Dawn and I just hung out Saturday night at the house. We had our wild days in college; now it’s Netflix and Ben and Jerry’s—at least that’s how it’s been since we moved here. We often go to my parents’ for Sunday dinner, but they’re still out of town until Friday. I haven’t talked to them, but Mom sent me an e-mail with a few pictures. They look like they are having a great time.

Today starts the work week. I’ve gone back and forth a thousand times on whether or not I’m going to stop by my grandparents’ on the way to work. Considering I was just there on Friday, and I spent time with him on Saturday, I’m going to wait until tomorrow. I’ll drop in on Tuesday and Thursday. Dad will be back on Friday, and then I’m off the hook. I have to admit that makes me a little sad.

“We riding together today?” I ask Dawn.

“Works for me. We are on the same shift right? Hell, I can never remember.” She walks to the fridge and checks the staff schedule we keep there. “Yep, we’re both eight to five today.”

“Even better. You about ready to go?”

“Yeah, just let me get my watch and shoes and I’m good,” she says, rinsing out her juice glass.

Work is uneventful, just the daily grind. That is until my phone alerts me to a text message while I’m sitting at my desk, working on the staff schedule for next month. Pulling my phone out of my purse, I see it’s from Ridge.

Ridge: Delivery.

Attached is a picture of several boxes stacked up in the living room.

Ridge: Cabinets, sweet girl.

Me: Right. I should’ve known that. Looks like a busy day.