“Man, he’s so freakin’ honorable, isn’t he?” Casey mused.

“Yes, he is,” Megan replied, glumly.

Emma shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with his honor. It’s what attracted me to him in the first place. There are so few gentlemen left on the planet.”

Before she could stop herself, Megan blurted, “But I didn’t want a gentleman. I wanted to get laid.”

Casey grinned. “Don’t we all?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Just when I think your pregnancy hormones haven’t made you even more sex crazed, you go and say something like that,” she grumbled.

Megan twirled the straw in her Diet Coke thoughtfully. “What’s bizarre is even though he should have been completely and totally turned off by what happened that night, he’s still interested in me. I mean, the man is gorgeous and has half of the women in the hospital panting over him, and he still wants me.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Emma asked.

“He’s interested in dating, not sex.”

Emma’s brows furrowed. “But wouldn’t you have sex eventually if you were dating?”

Megan sighed. “We’re at a stalemate—I just want straight sex without dinner and a movie, and to quote him, he wants to show me a whole new world through a date.”

“How Aladdin of him,” Casey quipped to which Emma shot her an exasperated look.

With a shrug, Megan replied, “Basically we’re going to stay forever in the friend zone because neither one of us is willing to give in.”

“Would it really kill you to go out with the guy?” Casey asked.

Megan widened her eyes in surprise. “You mean, you of all people are actually advocating me giving in to him?” She jerked her thumb over at Emma. “I’d expect that out of her but not you.”

Casey dabbed the corners of her lips with her napkin. “It’s just a date. I don’t think he’s going to drug you and drag you to a wedding chapel.”

“I’d certainly hope not.”

“So what’s wrong with having an innocent dinner and maybe a movie?” Casey asked.

“Because that’s not fair to him. I’d just be leading him on, and I think we can all agree that he doesn’t need that.”

“Exactly,” Emma agreed.

Cocking her head, Casey eyed Megan thoughtfully. “Deep down, you like him, don’t you?”

Megan rolled her eyes. “Of course I do. Everyone likes him.”

“No, you really like him. You find yourself thinking about him more than you should. And you’re kinda wishing you weren’t such a stubborn ass about dating him. Because even though you’d kill to know how well he uses his wang, you’re even more intrigued about what being loved by him would be like.”

Dumbfounded, Megan could only stare at Casey. She’d certainly hit the nail on the head about her feelings. Finally, she sighed. “Look, it’s a no-win situation. I’m a nursing student. I can’t get involved with a physician. It just wouldn’t look good on my record. That’s just one of the many reasons it wouldn’t work between us.”

“Fine. You just keep telling yourself that.”

“Why don’t we talk about something else?” Megan suggested.

“Who’s up for a movie after we hit the mall?” Emma asked.

Megan chewed her lip. “Oh, I don’t know if I should be gone that long. I don’t want to take advantage of Ankle’s kindness for watching Mason.”

Emma shook her head. “He won’t mind. He’s happy to do it.”

As Megan raised her brows skeptically, Casey snorted. “Lemme guess, you bribed him sexually to get him to give up a perfectly good Saturday watching two kids who are under two.”

A red flush entered Emma’s cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Casey laughed. “Oh Em, you are so busted!” Leaning forward, she put her elbows on the table and stared straight at Emma. “So what was it? Green lingerie? A blow job? Maybe a b**w j*b while wearing green lingerie?”

Refusing to meet Casey’s inquisitive gaze, Emma finally murmured, “It was a b**w j*b in the shower this morning, okay?”

Casey snickered. “I knew you had done something. Hmm, that was fun. It was like solving a sexual game of Clue—it was Emma in the shower with a blow job.”

Megan brought her hands up to cover her eyes. “Umm, hello? That’s my uncle you’re talking about.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll refrain from making any more comments about Aidan and Emma’s sex life.”

“Thank you,” Megan and Emma replied in unison.

“Shopping and a movie then?” Casey questioned.

Megan reluctantly agreed. “I’ll just blame you two if Ankle gets all pissy.”

Casey winked. “Just blame Emma. Then he can take it out on her later…in the bedroom.”

“I seriously hate you,” Emma grumbled.

Thankfully, the food arrived then and all sex-based conversation was forgotten. At least for the moment.

Chapter Eleven

Brushing his hand across his sweaty brow, Pesh leaned back against the glass door of the trauma area. As the adrenaline began depleting from his system, he needed to prop against something hard for support. Regardless of how physically drained he felt, he was emotionally on cloud nine. A beaming smile lit up his face as he stared across the room at the gurney. On it, a young woman was getting acquainted with her newborn son. She had been brought in just twenty minutes before after a car accident sent her into early labor. The paramedics had gotten her through the roughest patches, but thankfully, they had made it to the hospital in time. Because her labor was so advanced, they hadn’t risked getting her up to the Labor and Delivery floor. Instead, they’d wheeled her in, and Pesh had gone to work. It really was an amazing moment considering he’d only delivered three other babies in the history of his medical career. Each one was an experience he treasured.

The woman glanced up at him and smiled. “Thank you so much, Dr. Nadeen.”

“You’re very welcome. They will be taking you up to maternity in just a few minutes.”

As he stepped out of the room, he found himself ambushed by Kara, one of the shift nurses. “Hey there. How’s the good doctor doing today?”

The way she spoke was more of a purr, which was a pretty apt summation since she basically acted like she was a cat in heat anytime he was around. He cringed as she ran her hand up his arm. “It’s fine, thank you. How are you?” he questioned politely.