“Are you okay?” Dr. Taggert asked, concern filling his features.
“I'm fine,” I managed to get out. “Just swallowed funny.”
He watched me for a second before taking my word for it. “Anyway, I know that he's not really seeing Katie, but he's sure been a good sport. He knows that the Ladies' Bridge Club is the way to the town's heart. I'm glad he's got a good head on his shoulders. Upsetting them would not be good for the business.”
“And the business is still yours?” I asked, hoping I didn't sound like I was prying.
“It is. I was worried about giving up the practice, but Jacob is putting my mind at ease. A few more years of him running the clinic and keeping a low profile, and I'll be more than happy to finalize everything. I might even be ready to retire by then.”
He chuckled.
“So, you still own the practice? If Dr. Matthews screws up he won't be able to buy it?” I asked, feeling my heart sink.
“Yes. If Jacob does anything that damages the image of the practice, I won't sell it to him. I don't see him doing that, though.” Dr. Taggert took a bite of his pizza. “He's not the hot-headed kid he used to be. He makes good decisions now.”
I nodded and set my pizza down. I wasn't hungry any more. In fact, I felt a little sick to my stomach.
“Feel free to have another slice,” Dr. Taggert said, motioning to the box. “I got us plenty.”
“I'm full,” I replied. “I actually need to finish some charting. It was good to see you, Dr. Taggert. Thank you for the pizza.”
I headed out of the break room and went to my office and closed the door. Guilt weighed heavier on my shoulders with every step.
If word got out that Dr. Matthews and I had banged in the break room, the Bridge Club would be furious. They would ruin Dr. Matthews' reputation, which would hurt the practice. Given the morality clause that I'd just learned about, that meant that Jacob would lose the practice.
I couldn't do that to him. He loved this practice and the town. I was only going to be here for a year or two. It wasn't fair to ask him to risk everything to be with me when I couldn't even say for sure that I would be here in a year.
I had to give him up. No more break room encounters. We would be professionals. What happened yesterday had to be a one time thing. I was going to resist those blue eyes and perfect ass. I told myself it wouldn't be hard, even though I knew that was a lie.
I slumped into my desk chair. Between Abigail's threats and Dr. Taggert's clause, this day sucked.
A soft knock caught my attention. “Come in,” I said, straightening up in my chair. It was probably Donna coming to tell me we had patients.
Instead, Jacob opened the door. Despite my decision not to be attracted to him, my heart still sped up. I couldn't help but notice the smooth motion of his muscles under his scrubs and the way the light caressed his hair.
He closed the door behind him.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” I swallowed hard. “We need to talk.”
He nodded, but before he could say something that would make me change my mind, I spoke first.
“Yesterday was a mistake,” I told him, watching his face to see his reaction. His eyes widened, but he didn't look too surprised. “We can't do it again.”
“I agree,” he said softly. “It was the adrenaline and the situation. We weren't thinking clearly.”
I hated hearing him say it. I had this secret hope that he was going to tell me that he actually loved me and that it wasn't a mistake.
But that was something for rom-com movies and daydreams.
“We're still friends, though, right?” I asked, my heart in my throat. I liked spending time with him and the other night at the diner, with absolutely no romantic intentions, had been amazing. I didn't want to lose that.
Jacob's face softened and his shoulders dropped. “Of course we're still friends. We never stopped.”
That made me feel at least a little bit better.
“Okay. Then we just pretend that nothing happened last night.” I wanted to add on “even though you were amazing,” but that didn't feel like it would help the situation. We were trying to move away from having sex, and telling him he was a sex god wouldn't help with that.