Read Online Love Me Knot by Shelli Stevens - Free Book Online

fault after fleeing town when she’d promised to have dinner with him.
    Or maybe he was relieved that it gave him an easy out.
    Her heart twisted a little and she blinked back the sting of tears. She was so conflicted.
    She stood up and approached the charge nurse on duty.
    “Hey, Carol, I’m going to take my break in a few.”
    The older woman nodded without looking up from the chart she was glancing at. “Okay. Anything I should know about?”
    “My patients are doing well. Everyone is stable.” Ciara’s gaze caught briefly on the man walking down t he glass bridge hallway that led to their ward. Did his build look familiar? Or was that wishful thinking?
    “The patient in room seven was just medicated with Reglan and is doing better,” tension coiled through her as the man disappeared out of view for a moment, “but he may need some Zofran if the nausea contin...”
    Ryan stepped around the corner into the ICU and her knees buckled.
    The charge nurse followed her gaze and made a not-so-quiet noise of interest.
    “Good timing on that break,” Carol murmured and disappeared down the hall.
    “Hey.” Ryan approached her, looking all too sexy in his jeans and button down black shirt.
    Her tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of her mouth and she could barely form a response. Maybe she squeaked out some kind of hello?
    Ryan was here. Had come all the way from Oregon to a small hospital in Idaho.
    “Did I hear that right?” He gave a slight smile. “Are you able to take a break right now?”
    “Yeah, I’m due for a lunch.”
    “You mind taking it with me?” Even though the smile remained, there was uncertainty in his gaze. A nervousness that gave her a hope she didn’t want to feel.
    “Sure.” She followed him out of the ward and to the elevators. She didn’t have her purse to buy anything, but right now food had just slipped on her priority list.
    He was here. Ryan was here . The realization kept spinning in her head.
    Behind closed elevator doors the room seemed to shrink, leaving her with a heightened awareness of the man beside her. She tried not to stare at his shoulders and remember how they’d felt beneath her hands. Tried not to remember the sound of his laughter in her head, and how it could make her stomach flip.
    Of course he wasn’t laughing right now, and her stomach still felt like it hosted a dozen butterflies.
    “I was right,” he murmured, turning slightly to glance down at her.
    “What?”
    “You look just as gorgeous in scrubs and a ponytail as you did all dolled up at the wedding that day.”
    A flush heated her face and she ducked her head. It meant nothing. This man was a born and b r ed flirt.
    “Thank you.”
    “My car’s out front. Thought we could go for a drive?”
    “Sure.” God, she really wished she could get out more than a few words. She must sound like a complete idiot.
    A few minutes later she settled in the front seat of a shiny black sports car.
    He’d barel y driven out of the parking lot before the cork on her emotions popped off.
    “I’m sorry, Ryan .”
    He whipped his head to look at her. “Wait, what? Why the hell are you apologizing?”
    “Because I left early.” She twisted her hands in her lap and kept her gaze lowered. “I st ood you up for dinner when I kne w you wanted to talk.”
              “Shit, Ciara, you don’t owe me an apology. I don’t blame you one bit for taking off, I probably would’ve done the same.” He cursed. “Is there somewhere I can pull over? Where we can be somewhat private?”
    She swallowed the lump in her throat. “There’s a small road about a mile ahead . Take a left and it’ll lead you to a lake.”
    Ryan floored the gas pedal and the car raced forward, then turned onto the road she’d mentioned. A few minutes later they were parked at the lake—or really more of a pond.
    He turned in his seat to look at her. “First, let me just clear up one thing.”
    “Oka—”
    He cupped her face