A Nurse To Tame The Er Doc. Janice Lynn

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СКАЧАТЬ her hands on her hips, “you made that look easy.”

      “It’s all in how you handle the pole.”

      Taylor’s cheeks heated and she ordered her mind to get out of the gutter.

      “Um...yeah...well...” She hemmed and hawed, then brushed her palms down her shorts. “Thank you for your help.”

      “Anytime.”

      His grin was cocky as all get-out. “Anything else I can help with?”

      “I feel guilty you had to help with that,” she admitted. A strong independent woman should have been able to figure out how to put up a tent, right?

      “Wasn’t any trouble. I was on my way to my tent to grab a drink.”

      “Your tent?”

      He gestured to the tent next to hers.

      Next to hers. Seriously? The medical staff parking/camping area located behind the main medical tent wasn’t that big. What were the odds?

      He was offering help, but that hard-won independent streak refused to be silent. “Grab that drink and check on me in a few minutes, if that’s okay.”

      “Be glad to.” His eyes danced with what she could only describe as happiness. How could any one man radiate so much positivity?

      Trying to ignore the fact that Jack was a tent away, that if she coughed, sneezed, or made any other weird noises, he’d hear, Taylor pulled the air mattress from its box and placed it inside the tent. She hit the battery-operated control button and was relieved when the unit blew up perfectly. Within minutes she had her bed made and her bag to one side. The tent was large enough that both she and Amy could have set up their air mattresses, so with just the one she had floor space.

      “Everything going okay?” Jack asked when she climbed out of the tent.

      “So far,” she told the man sitting in a fold-up chair facing in her direction.

      He held a refillable drink container and a protein bar. “You know it’s killing me not helping, right?”

      “White knight syndrome?”

      He shrugged. “Momma taught me to be useful syndrome.”

      Taylor laughed. “Fine. You can help.”

      Immediately he rose, set his water bottle down on his much sturdier appearing table than the one she’d just pulled out of the back of her car.

      “I take directions well.”

      Taylor arched her brow. “A man who takes directions well? I thought those were the things of unicorns and fairies.”

      He winked. “Try me and see.”

      Taylor gulped back the thoughts that ran through her mind. “Well, I’ve got to set up the canopy tent. Amy said to be sure to put it as close as possible so it would help shade my sleeping tent.”

      “Yep, otherwise your tent will be hot as Hades in the daytime.”

      She pulled out the canopy tent her friend had left in her living room along with the other camping items for Taylor to pick up on her way to the festival. “Let’s see if we can figure this out.”

      The canopy tent was easier to set up, and not just because Jack was helping.

      Well, maybe because he was helping. Certainly, it was more fun and had gone faster.

      “What’s next, ma’am?”

      “The table?”

      He lifted the folding table from where she’d propped it against her car and set it up beneath the canopy tent, which had been scooted partially over the entrance of the smaller tent she’d be sleeping in.

      Holding up a lightweight tarp she’d pulled from a duffle bag that contained at least one more, Taylor said, “I found the tarp with the tent and used it as a moisture barrier per Amy’s instructions, but was I supposed to do something with these?”

      “Amy usually attaches them to the sides of the canopy to create shade and keeps one to put over her tent if the weather doesn’t co-operate and it decides to flood.”

      Taylor wrinkled her nose. “If it decides to flood, I’ll be sleeping in my car.”

      Jack laughed. “You wouldn’t be the first person to do so. Just set an alarm so you don’t overheat after the sun comes up. It gets too hot fast inside a vehicle.” He took one of the tarps and began attaching it to the canopy. “With Amy canceling, I’m surprised you decided to camp rather than stay at her place.”

      Trying to mimic how he was hanging the tarp, Taylor began attaching a second tarp to another side. “She insisted that rather than go back to her place I stay here and enjoy my first music festival.”

      “Really?” He looked incredulous. “This is your first music festival?”

      “Hard to believe I’ve been missing out on this all these years.” Giving him a wry look, she spread her arms to indicate the festival just beyond the main medical area.

      Together they worked to attach the third tarp, leaving the fourth side open. “Since this is your first music festival experience, I’ll make sure it’s a good one so you’ll want to come back.”

      Butterflies danced in Taylor’s belly. “Oh?”

      “Since neither of us are on duty tonight, you want to watch the shows with me?”

      Ha. Was this a trick question or what? Wander around by herself or sit next to a charismatic man who had awakened her dormant hormones? Hmm...hard decision.

      It should have been a harder decision given his profession.

      Still, she was smiling when she said, “I’d love to.”

      * * *

      Taylor could get into music festivals. Or maybe it was the man beside her she was into. Glancing over at him, she couldn’t help but think how fortunate she was to have him there this week since Amy hadn’t been able to attend. Otherwise she might really have packed up and gone to Amy’s.

      Amy had texted earlier to make sure she’d arrived, and everything was okay. She’d not mentioned her unexpected reaction to Jack but had said everything was great.

      Maybe if Jack were anything other than a doctor, she’d give in to the heat, let herself have a free pass life experience.

      She wrapped her arms around her knees and looked back toward the stage where a band with a current chart-topping song had kicked off the festival an hour before and was still jamming out.

      Around them others on blankets were watching the show and others danced along to the tunes, some dressed similar to Taylor’s shorts and T-shirt, some in costumes, some in not much of anything at all.

      “Having fun?”

      She СКАЧАТЬ