“Hi.”
“So, are you settling in?”
She nodded. “Everyone has been so nice and helpful.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that. We usually have very good success rates with our clinical candidates.” Megan smiled before her head dipped back down to work on the chart. Nervously, he scratched the back of his neck. Things were rolling along with them now that he knew he shouldn’t try to rock the boat. After all, he had promised her he would keep his distance. But he couldn’t help himself. In the two months since their first encounter, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her. Now that she had shown back up in his life so out of the blue, he couldn’t help feeling that it was fated.
Ask her to dinner, his mind shouted. He bit down on his lip to keep the question he was burning to ask from escaping his mouth. Finally, it rushed forth before he could stop himself. “Why don’t you let me buy you dinner after work?”
Megan’s scribbling pen stilled on the chart. She glanced up and cocked her head at him. “Dinner implies a date, and I thought we were clear on that.”
He gave her a nervous smile. “Well, I was only offering some less palatable cafeteria food. I hardly think that constitutes a date.”
“In my realm of dating consciousness, any time you sit down at a table while eating and drinking together, it is a date.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, he countered, “If that were true, it would mean you were dating your father and brother every time you sat down together. I know your family is close, but I don’t believe they’re that close.”
Megan’s brows rose. “Oh, is the good doctor cracking jokes now?”
“Perhaps.”
The corners of Megan’s lips turned up. “Then what exactly would you consider a date?”
Pesh leaned back against the wall, surmising her teasing smile. “A mutually agreed upon event.”
“You’re so proper,” Megan teased.
He rolled his eyes at her, something he rarely did until he began spending more and more time in her presence. “And you’re avoiding the initial question.”
Megan put down the pen and chart and crossed her arms over her chest. “So, if you could take me on a date, where would we go?”
Pesh rubbed his jaw in thought. “Well, if would have to be something you would want to do, but I would begin with dinner.” When she started to protest, he held up his hand. “Somewhere that was romantic with candlelight and soft music—perhaps a place where we could dance in between courses.”
Staring at him in surprise, Megan replied, “You’re serious?”
“Of course.”
She slowly shook her head back and forth. “Okay, go on.”
“Once we finished wine and dessert, I would then want to take you somewhere you’ve never been—”
“Like your bedroom?” Megan interjected with a smirk.
“I do believe you’ve already been there before.” The teasing faded from Megan’s expression, and a flush entered her cheeks. “May I continue?”
“Yeah,” she murmured.
“I would want to be with you to experience something you never have before—an art gallery, an opera, a musical. Anything that would bring wonderment and excitement to your face.” He gave her a small smile. “And it would mean all the more that I was getting to share it with you.”
He watched with almost mild amusement as she processed his words. Most likely she had never had a man speak to her the way he was, and it was certainly affecting her. Feeling like it was time to go in for the kill, he asked once again, “So, will you have dinner with me?”
Pesh leaned forward expectantly as Megan opened her mouth. They were interrupted by the sound of Emma’s voice. “Oh thank God. I’m so glad you two are on .”
Her anxious tone was the only thing that could have torn Pesh’s attention away from Megan. He glanced from Emma to Aidan, who was grimacing and rubbing his head. “What happened?”
Emma replied, “He fell and hit his head,” at the same time Aidan grunted, “Nothing.”
Megan stepped forward and went over to Aidan. She gasped as she surveyed him. “Ankle, your pupils are huge!”
Pesh took his penlight out of his coat pocket and went to Aidan. As he flashed the light into Aidan’s eyes, he grimaced. “Yeah, they are. What exactly happened?” He made sure to direct his question to Emma since she appeared to be the only one being honest.
“We were at my OB’s for our first ultrasound.”
Pesh’s eyes widened. “Ultrasound…you’re pregnant?”
“Again?” Megan questioned by his side.
The concern for Aidan on Emma’s face washed away and was replaced with a beaming smile. “Yes, I’m eight weeks.”
“Why didn’t you say something at dinner Sunday?” Megan asked.
“Well, I only found out two weeks ago, and we wanted to wait to tell everyone until we had the first ultrasound.”
Megan’s blonde brows creased. “So what does the ultrasound have to do with Ankle hitting his head?”
Emma pursed her lips and cut her gaze over to Aidan. “Would you like to tell them?” When he shook his head and then winced, Emma sighed. “When they hooked me up to the fetal monitor, they thought they heard two heartbeats. At the word ‘twins’, Aidan passed out and hit his head on the counter and the floor.”