Love Me Sweet (Love Me book 1)

Chapter 29

Two days later Lia was in the break-room icing a busted lip. A patient had been fighting them and Lia had gotten and elbow to the face. She would have a nice bruise and a swollen lip by the end of shift.

"How are you feeling?" Silas asked, sitting across from her and gently lowering her hand that held the bag of ice.

"I'll live, and I didn't lose any teeth." She smiled and winced.

"How's Faye doing?" Lia watched Silas carefully for any hints about how he felt towards Faye, but like Ben, he wasn't giving anything away.

"She's better, she should be able to come back to work in a few days." He leaned back in his chair watching Lia. "How did everything work out with Ben and the man you met last week?"

She shrugged. "I wrote him off, no one would believe the story he's pushing. I told Ben and he didn't seem to care overly much about his accusations."

Silas nodded. "I'm glad to hear it." Then he stood and left, and Lia could only shake her head in disbelief. It was obvious by the questions he asked that he cared, but he wasn't into the details, but then weren't most men that way. They never asked the interesting questions.

Lia couldn't help but think of Ben's mother. She had asked plenty of questions when they had dinner at her house a few nights ago, and it had amused Lia to watch Ben as he kept shooting his mother warning looks. He had even gone so far as to pull Lia and his mother aside and explain to her, once again, that it wasn't a real engagement. Mrs. Emerson had looked at Lia who had nodded solemnly and then winked at her when Ben had looked away. Needless to say, her exuberance did not wane.

Mr. and Mrs. Emerson's house was right off the water. It wasn't a showplace but it had the feeling of understated wealth about it as if everything was top of the line but well loved and chosen with care. Ben's parents and her family had hit it off, spending the entire night jumping from conversation to conversation as they sat around the outdoor fireplace and chowed down on freshly caught seafood.

Lia and Ben hadn't had to say much and remained in the background on opposite sides of the table. They had left late, and her family had left the next day, assured that Lia was in good hands with Ben and his family. Their trip had been shorter than most, and she was secretly relieved. She had enough to deal with without having to worry about them watching and listening to everything that she and Ben said and did.

Lia looked up as Chloe entered. "You're going home," she said, doing the exact same thing that Silas had, looking at her cheek and lip. Lia protested, but Chole shook her head. "Silas insisted and so it has been done."

"He isn't even a doctor at this hospital." Lia grumbled, secretly relieved because her head had started to hurt.

"He will be, he's been asked to join the staff, and as long as he passes all of the necessary exams, he will be one of us soon enough." Chloe smiled, happy at the thought.

"I thought he was only here temporarily while writing a book." Lia frowned, wondering if Chloe and Silas had a thing going. Lia had hoped he would fall for Faye. Faye needed someone to love her. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask about her and Silas out right when Ben entered the break room.

"Good, here is Ben to take you home," Chloe said, patting Ben on the shoulder as she passed him on her way out the door.

Ben looked at Lia's frustrated expression and busted lip without making a smart alec comment. "How are you feeling?"

"I have a headache!" she spat, tired of everyone worrying about her.

"You are a headache!" he smiled. "Get your stuff, let's go."