Only You (Stevens Book 12)

Chapter 8

Mave and Aggie made it through the food line in the hospital cafeteria without incident. If anyone recognized Mave, they didn't point her out or try to approach her. She kept her ball cap pulled low and held her phone between her shoulder and scarred cheek as if she were talking with someone.

"That was an Oscar-worthy performance," Aggie said drily as they chose a high-top table to sit and wait for Roark and Sam. Mave made sure that her back was to the room and her scarred cheek was facing Aggie.

"Work with me, Agatha," Mave hissed. "It's my first time out."

"I'm sorry, it's just habit to tease you," Aggie said with an apologetic smile.

They had begun to eat when Aggie and Mave noticed Sam and Roark enter the cafeteria. They weren't the only ones to notice, either. With their long white lab coats and stethoscopes, they looked like doctors and naturally drew the eyes of those around them.

Mave watched as one of the young blond, peppy nurses jumped out of her chair, her ponytail swinging to and fro as she held onto her stethoscope while she rushed Sam and Roark.

"The nurses can't help themselves. Both men are so handsome." Aggie watched her husband closely.  "Although most of them do know me, and they know that Roark is mine, so they respect the boundaries." Aggie continued to watch as she shoveled a spoonful of pudding into her mouth.

"They don't know that Sam is taken, though, do they?" Mave said grimly as she watched the nurse rush him and place her hand on his arm as she lifted on her tiptoes and said something softly in his ear.

Sam looked amused, and his amusement grew as he looked across the room and caught Mave's angry stare. He let his eyes wander over her, and Mave got the feeling that he wasn't really paying attention to what the nurse was saying as he nodded.

"If only she knew Sammy was in love with a famous movie star," Aggie said in a tone that seemed to be egging Mave into doing something about the situation.

"It doesn't matter if she knows. Sam knows," Mave gave him a slow smile, and his gaze changed from amused to intense in a second. "There, situation handled," Mave said as she took a bite of food.

Roark must have grown impatient of waiting for Sam because he said only a few words, and the nurse blushed and then scurried away back to her table and friends.

"I see Dr. Merrick still has the same magic touch with the nurses," Aggie laughed as she took a bite of Jello.

"Didn't you get any fruit or vegetables?" Mave asked, looking at her junk food-filled tray. "Maybe a protein or two?"

"No, Roark is all about healthy food. I only get to eat the good stuff when he isn't around." Aggie started to shovel the food into her mouth more quickly as the men moved through the food line.

Mave did a covert scan of the room, and everyone looked as if they were busy with their lives and not paying her or Aggie the least attention. A few minutes later, when the men joined them, Roark picked up Agatha's tray and dumped it before sliding another one filled with fruit in her direction.

Mave had to hide her smile at the sour look on Aggie's face at the change in food options.

"Why do you hate me!" Aggie said as she leaned back in her chair, staring down her husband.

"Trust me, you would know if I hated you," Roark said seriously.

"Like that nurse that you just put in her place?" Aggie was itching for a fight.

"I simply told her that we had come to eat and were on a limited-time schedule." Roark started on his lunch, watching his wife across the table, waiting for her comeback.