“I knew the first night that boy wouldn’t last,” Mo said to Sage as they followed Spence and the other nurses from the room.
Sage thought that John Duncan must be scratching his head, thinking he’d been admitted into a psychiatric hospital instead of his usual place. Yes, it was crazy, but tonight had been pure entertainment.
“I’m sure glad I haven’t gotten on your bad side, Mo,” Sage said.
“Ah, girlie, you’re too pure to get on anyone’s bad side,” Mo replied with her cackle.
“I don’t know. Spence sure as heck gets irritated with me often enough.”
“That’s because you’re a hot woman,” Mo said as she moved toward the exit. “I’m taking a smoke break. Unless the entire town of Sterling shows up, I don’t want to be interrupted.”
With that, Mo left Sage, and the emergency department went back to its calm setting. At least Sage couldn’t say that her job was boring. There always seemed to be something new happening.
Standing outside with the snow drifting down while she tilted her face up to the dark skies, Sage laughed in delight. This was something she’d certainly missed while living in the hot sun of California. Yes, it made driving a true pain, but who cared when you got to feel the delicate flakes of snow fall on your tongue and melt in your mouth.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
Sage jumped at the sound of Spence’s voice and turned to find him beside her. “I’m not playing,” she insisted. “It was just really slow, so I thought I’d come out for a breath of fresh air.”
“Take all the time you want to stand out here and play . . . er . . . get some air. You’re right, it is a slow night.”
“Yes. I normally love to keep busy, but after the last couple of shifts, this is perfect. I just hope the newly fallen snow doesn’t cause a mountain of accidents.”
“Most of the people here are smart enough to not go out unless they have the proper vehicle,” he said, then looked pointedly toward the parking lot. “You won’t be driving yours home. The roads won’t get plowed until morning.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll just drive really slowly. Besides, I’m out of here in an hour. The roads will be cushioned without being icy,” she said as she spun in a circle, causing the flakes falling all around her to swirl in her human tornado.
“As I said, you won’t be driving home. I looked at that car of yours. It’s not fit for the roads of Montana.”
“Look, Dr. Whitman, just because I don’t have some fancy-schmancy truck doesn’t mean I’m a menace to the highways. I’ll take it slow.” She hated that he felt he had the right to come out here during her moment of peace and say whatever pleased him.
Do this! Do that! Move it, Dr. Banks. In the ER she couldn’t complain about Spence’s orders, but when it came to what and when she drove, he didn’t have a leg to stand on. And since he had such fine legs, that was a shame.
“We can argue more about it in an hour,” he said peremptorily.
She looked at him while he stuck out his tongue to catch a snowflake. Despite his last words, for him, the subject was finished. He’d had his say, and in his opinion the conversation was over and done with.
Sage scooped up a large mass of snow and began forming a ball. She was nearly finished when he noticed what she was doing, and he took a cautious step backward.
“Now, Dr. Banks, I would just put that down slowly if I were you.”
“I’m not you, Spence. Why so formal all of a sudden?”
“Retaliation will be swift and furious,” he warned her with a gleam in his eyes that she should have tuned in to.
But she’d never been able to resist a challenge, and the snowball in her hand and his arrogant smile were just too much to resist. Without giving it much conscious thought, she let the ball fly from her palm. It whizzed through the air, aimed with deadly accuracy right at his incredulous eyes. But he turned at the last second and the snow exploded against the side of his head.
He lifted a hand and wiped the snow from his hair. “I can’t believe you actually threw that.”
She was already regretting her impulsive decision. She’d started a war with only one possible outcome, and that wasn’t her victory. Still, if she was going down, she’d do it fighting. First, she’d attempt escape, but if that didn’t work, it would be all weapons set on automatic fire.
“That was my pager,” she said, and she immediately turned and began running toward the side doors she’d come through earlier.
“Not gonna happen, Sage. Mine would be going off, too, but good try,” he yelled, his voice seeming to be only inches behind her ear.
She tried to pick up her pace but found herself sliding—beneath the fresh layer of snow was packed ice. She was going to fall flat on her rear if she didn’t slow up. Of course, she was going to fall if she stood still.
She’d take her chances with the snow. Speeding up, she saw freedom in her sights when suddenly, strong arms wrapped around her waist, spinning her around and stealing the breath from her lungs, and then she and Spence were launching into the air.
“We’re going down,” he said, stating the obvious.
Sage cried out, expecting this to hurt, but he somehow managed to turn them around before they fell, and his back landed with a splash in the snow while she bounced against his chest—his delectably hard chest.
“Mmm, now this isn’t bad,” he said as he brought his hands up to cradle her head.