Waking up the next morning, Sage gasped to see it was almost noon. She had slept for a solid ten hours without waking once. That’s when she noticed her phone was ringing.
“Hello.” The sound of her groggy voice would certainly scare away a telemarketer if that was who had dared to wake her.
“Good morning, beautiful. You have exactly thirty minutes to dress and open your front door for me,” Spence said, his voice pure sunshine.
“Thirty minutes will barely make me presentable,” she warned.
“Baby, all you need is three minutes, just enough time to slip on shoes and a coat, because you wake up beautiful.”
“Flattery will certainly get you whatever you want, Dr. Whitman,” she said, feeling like giggling.
“Ah, then I must do it more often. You now have twenty-eight minutes,” he warned.
“Then I better hang up.”
Without waiting for a good-bye, Sage hung up the phone and rushed to her bathroom, where she showered and dressed in a flat ten minutes. She brushed on some mascara and lip gloss, threw her hair up into a ponytail, and bounced down the stairs. She made a cup of coffee, which she downed right before the doorbell rang.
Swinging the door open, Sage didn’t even have a chance to speak before Spence lifted her in his arms, kissed her breathless, then carried her from the apartment and down the stairs and set her in his truck before running around to his side and climbing in.
“That’s what I call a good morning,” Sage said with a laugh.
“I told you I would be picking you up today. I hope you got enough rest,” he replied, grabbing her hand and placing it on his thigh as he began driving.
“I slept like a rock. I feel more rested than I have in a while, and I desperately needed it after the week I’ve had.”
“Being a resident is hard, but once you make it through, you will be so glad you did it.”
“I am exhausted all the time, but I wouldn’t trade it. I’m doing exactly what I love,” she said.
“Being a doctor has to be in your blood. Some have it and some don’t. You, Dr. Banks, certainly have it.” She turned and kissed his cheek, overflowing with happiness.
“Where are you taking me this morning? Are we jetting off to another city? More jazz and sex?” Sage asked. For someone who liked order so much, she sure was a different person when with Spence, easily going with the flow.
“I’m kidnapping you. Isn’t that obvious? And kidnap victims are never told where they’re going.”
“The weather is supposed to get worse today, Spence. We don’t want to get caught out in it, and the ER will probably be busy because the roads are sure to get icy.” The dark clouds were threatening to dump a lot of new snow onto the area.
“You worry too much,” he said as they headed out of town. “Just let go and relax. Today will be fun.”
“I can have fun, you know.”
“Prove it, Sage. Tell me one reckless thing you have done in your life.”
“Well, there was the time . . .” She had nothing. She dredged her memories desperately in hope of finding something—anything she’d done that didn’t have a purpose.
“See, Sage? I’m right. As always.”
“You’re not always right, Spence,” she snapped, her smile suddenly evaporating as she scooted over, no longer in the mood to snuggle. “And I demand to know where we’re going.”
So what if she liked to have her life organized? It wasn’t a crime to be responsible. As a doctor, Spence should be a whole heck of a lot more worried about what he chose to do. He had a reputation to maintain. People had an expectation of the way doctors should act, and why shouldn’t they? Wild and crazy guys weren’t very reassuring.
“I’m ensuring that you keep a promise,” he said, taking another turn and going up an old and winding logging road.
Big, fat snowflakes starting splatting against the windshield, and Sage watched while the road began to get a fresh layer of white atop its base of older snow.
“We should really turn around before we’re stuck up here,” she said. “Anyway, what promise?”
“We aren’t leaving until we’ve reached our objective. As for the promise—you said you’d make sure I got the perfect Christmas tree. And that was weeks ago.”
“We didn’t need to come all the way up here for a tree. There are beautiful ones already cut and trimmed and ready to buy,” she said as he pulled up to an old hunter’s cabin and parked his truck.
“Yes, but those trees aren’t fresh. They could easily die before Christmas, and become dry and dangerous. And you call yourself responsible! You don’t want the lights to spark a fire and burn down my house, do you?”
“That’s why you have to look at the base of the tree and make sure it’s still moist. You just cut the last couple inches off the trunk so it can soak up water.”
“There’s nothing like cutting your own tree,” he told her as he stepped from the truck and walked around to her side.
“This is foolish. It’s freezing out here and we’re going to get stranded in a snowstorm.” Sage refused to budge.
“Then we get stranded. The cabin’s stocked for emergencies.” Spence reached in and easily removed her from the truck, letting her body slide down his as he held her against him. “If we get too cold, I have ideas on how to warm us back up.”
“What cabin?”
“This is my brother’s hunting cabin. We come up here often.” She looked at the snow-covered cabin, impressed. Then Spence leaned down and kissed her, making her forget all about the snow, the cabin, and her little fit, and heating her up while also leaving her trembling—not a bit from the cold.