Free The Surgeon's Favorite Nurse by Teresa Southwick

should have been a big clue that this dinner wasn’t about impressing her.
    Last night Hope had all but accused him of using Blair to get the hospital appointment. Years ago when he was nearly finished with college and applying to med school, someone else had accused him of using the woman he lovedto buy his way into the big time. It wasn’t true then, but he’d lost her anyway. There was just a little truth in what Hope had said, enough that he didn’t like himself. It was a feeling he was too familiar with. He was here to make things right with Blair.
    She was a beautiful, long-legged, blue-eyed brunette. In her lavender cashmere sweater and body-hugging black slacks, she was a stunner who turned men’s heads every time she entered a room. He’d been one of those men, once upon a time. Tall women were his type. Until recently. If he were being honest with himself, it had changed when he met Hope. Somehow her compact, curvy little body had snagged his attention and wouldn’t let go.
    “You’re preoccupied.” Blair’s foot slid up and down his calf as she sipped her white wine. “Is it work?”
    If only. That would be less complicated. “No. Work is going fine. Couldn’t be better.”
    “Is there a reason why you brought me to your favorite restaurant?”
    He was a little surprised she remembered how much he liked this place. “Yes.”
    She looked around at the dark wood walls and crystal chandeliers overhead. Fresh flowers topped the snow-white tablecloths on every table. “I suppose it’s romantic.” Smiling, she reached across the table and touched his hand. “Is there something you want to ask me?”
    “We need to talk.”
    “That’s a chick line. Are you getting in touch with your feminine side, Jake?”
    “It’s more under the heading that confession is good for the soul.”
    A slight frown puckered the skin of her forehead. “Oh? That sounds ominous.”
    “I’ve met someone. A woman,” he clarified.
    A small smile curved her full lips. “If you’d confessed to meeting a man that would be seriously surprising.”
    “Actually it’s more than that. I slept with her, Blair. Last night.” He didn’t mean to be quite so blunt, or add details, but there was no point in dragging this out either. He lifted the longneck bottle of beer to his mouth and took a drink, letting the information sink in.
    “I see.”
    Then she was leaps and bounds ahead of him because he didn’t see at all. “It wasn’t planned. It just happened.”
    Jake was watching her face, the lack of immediate reaction, knowing what was coming. Wait for it. Wait. And there it was. A slight pursing of the mouth. The head tilt and hair toss followed by the pretty, practiced pout.
    “Although we never officially committed to an exclusive arrangement, I have to admit that’s not what I expected,” she said.
    Neither had he. Hope was a predicament he could never have foreseen. “I’m sorry.”
    “I suppose this is the night for it.” She sighed. “I have to confess, too.”
    “Oh?”
    “While I was in Monte Carlo, there was a man. Paolo. But it was just a fling. A very European thing.” She reached over and covered his hand with hers. “I hope you’re not upset, baby.”
    He wondered whether she would have confessed on her own if he hadn’t. Or quite possibly it was a lie to keep the playing field level. And that was the thing. It never would be level if you compared their backgrounds side by side. She was way out of his league. She’d grown up in a gated estate in Las Vegas and a luxury home in Washington with private schools and tours of Europe. He’d been homelessand hungry. Scholarships and student loans paid for his education.
    Whether she’d actually had a fling or was lying to make him jealous, it didn’t matter. Unlike the last time he fell for someone out of his league, his heart wasn’t damaged. He wasn’t the least bit peeved. They’d been over for a while, but neither had taken the steps to