Clean Inspirational Romance: Escape to Paradise (Inspirational Happy Sweet First Love Second Chance Romance) (Contemporary New Adult Love Inspired Holiday Short Stories) by Johanna Jenkins Page B

processing exactly what it was he had said to her.
    “Oh, I’ll set up a profile for you really quickly.” She pulled open a file cabinet to pull out a sheet of paper and handed it to him, along with a clipboard and pen. “Fill that out for me really quickly and I’ll get you logged into the system.”
    “Do you have an appointment with us?” Bridget scolded herself internally and fixated her eyes on the screen. She was determined not to let her attraction towards the man ruin her near perfect performance at work. She was at work, and at work, she would focus solely on that.
    “Yeah,” the man nodded. “Theo Noyes, ten forty-five.” Bridget clicked the designated slot. His name popped up and she nodded, more to herself than to him. “Thank you Mr. Noyes; Dr. Winters will see you shortly.” As per usual, she finished her statement with a customary smile, but this time, it was different. This time, it was returned to her, and she couldn’t deny the little flutter she felt in her stomach.
    The man – Theo – Bridget corrected herself, headed for the nearest empty seat and proceeded to work on the slip of paper she had given him. He had chosen a seat very near to the fish tank, and the five-year-old that had once been preoccupied with the fish now had a new – in his eyes – playmate to talk to.
    “Hi, mister!” He toddled up to Theo, who, though slightly surprised, managed a smile at the child.
    “Hi there. What are you doing?” He attempted – and failed – to keep his attention fully on both the paper he was filling out and the child before him. Bridget hid a smile; it was absolutely endearing.
    The mother, by now, had looked up from her magazine to shoot her child a warning look. “Matthew,” she said, her stern tone leaving no room for argument.
    “No, it’s quite alright,” Theo laughed. “I used to do that all the time when I was a kid. Drove my mom nuts.” The mother gave a relieved laugh, nodding in agreement. She was grateful for the presence of a person who understood; many others she’d encountered could be quite rude in the unwanted presence of a child.
    “Let the nice mister finish filling out his paper, okay, Matthew?” She still felt inclined to chastise her child briefly, still keeping an eye out for him. The child pouted, but returned to racing his little wooden cars. Theo grinned at the petulant expression.
    “I’ll finish the paper quickly,” he promised the child. “Then I can talk to you, or play with you, or something.” True to his word, the pen moved faster on the paper. It wasn’t a long sheet – merely one to collect patient information, so Bridget figured he would be done relatively quickly. When he finished, he stood up, and, mortified at the possibility of being caught looking, Bridget quickly returned her gaze to the computer, only allowing herself to look up at him for a second when he stopped by her desk to return the paper, pen, and clipboard.
    “Thank you, Mr. Noyes,” she said, taking the items from him.
    “Oh, just Theo works,” he flashed her a smile.
    “Alright, Theo,” she laughed, turning her eyes downwards to read the paper. She pulled out her keyboard, tapping furiously away and making short work of creating a new profile for the system. When she next looked up, the child was racing cars with a rather bemused Theo.
    Bridget had to work hard to keep her laughter in. Theo was crouched down near the floor, awkwardly bent in half so that he didn’t knock over any furniture or crush any toys, and had a look of intense concentration on his face as he raced a tiny blue car around the carpeted raceway. Matthew held a wooden, yellow car and made animated zooming noises as he circled the laps quickly.
    “Amanda.” Randy’s voice interrupted her staring and Bridget looked up to see the previous patient – Rachel – come out of the doors and head straight for her. The mother of the child stood up, motioning for him to come along.
    Reluctantly, the