"All right, we've got chicken parmesan, which I actually think is really good despite the smell, some corn, which may not be quite as good, and for dessert, chocolate pudding!" Juliet grinned as she walked into the room, carrying their tray of food. "Italian's my favorite, so I hope you're hungry." she said, setting the food down.
"You eat lunch with all your patients, Blondie?" James asked, a happy grin on his face. His life had become much brighter since meeting her the day before.
"Just the ones that blackmail me." she replied quickly, smirking at him in that sweet way only she knew how to do.
"Hey now, woman, that was not blackmail!" he objected with a chuckle, "Don't go gettin' me in trouble."
"Wouldn't dream of it." she said innocently, taking a bite of her chicken.
"Mm. So, you know I get outta the joint in a couple months…once you're done savin' my life, we should talk about goin' on a real date." he suggested, showing off those adorable dimples again.
Juliet chuckled softly, "A real date, huh? Why don't we just focus on getting you cancer free first? Then we'll talk about dates. I'm not actually allowed to date patients, you know…you'd better be worth bending the rules for." she told him with a grin.
"Oh I am, Blondie. So how come you ain't afraid of me? All them other doctors, they don't wanna get anywhere near me, but here you are." he said, almost in admiration.
"I've always had a thing for danger." she teased him, laughing wholeheartedly. "You're not someone to be feared, James."
"You sure about that?" he asked with an amused grin.
"Absolutely." came her immediate reply. The others could see him as dangerous if they wanted to, but she knew it wasn't so. He had a side that was every bit as gentle as a bunny rabbit when he chose to show it.
"Well then, lucky me." he said, reaching out and taking her hand in his.
"James…" she said softly, her head beginning to spin at the contact. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then looked at him solemnly, though she retained a soft smile. "We can't get caught up in something right now, it's not good for either one of us." she explained.
"Too late for that, Blondie. I'm already caught up." he told her simply.
She admired how unafraid he was of his feelings, and how unapologetic he was about them. Letting out a soft sigh, she spoke. "I have to operate on you tomorrow."
"Thank you, Dr. Obvious." he said, bearing his dimples to her again as he grinned. "Listen. I'm not in the business of romancin' women. I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you. I'm not the commitin' type, never have been. It's just…lookin' at you, it makes me feel like I could be, ya know? There's somethin' here, doc, whether you wanna admit it or not. If you wanna wait 'til after tomorrow, we'll wait 'til after tomorrow, but make no mistake, Blondie…I'm not givin' up."
Juliet paused, almost staring him down, "And is that something you tell all your attempted conquests?"
He had to laugh, "Wouldja stop lookin' at me like that? I'm not tryin' ta bullshit ya, here, I'm tryin'…I'm tryin'. And it ain't good for a sick man to get rejected, ya know. You should be careful."
She smiled, "I'm not rejecting you, I just…it's the timing, James, it's off. I can't…we can't. I need to operate on you, and you need to recover. If my head is clouded, it could hurt you, and I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt because I wasn't completely focused. So please…can we just call ourselves friends for now?"
James let out a sigh, "Friends, huh?" he mustered a smile, noting that their hands were still entwined, "Well alright, then, we're friends…for now." he grinned at her, giving her hand a soft squeeze.
Returning his smile, she quipped, "You're gonna have to stop flirting with me now."
"Aww, come on! What fun is that? Sick men need fun, too…"
"Would you stop playing the 'sick man' card?" she asked with a laugh.
"Nah, chicks eat it up." he said, his grin broadening.
Juliet rolled her eyes, "I just bet they do." she replied, grinning back.
"Juliet," he said, his expression suddenly turning serious, "I know I said I wouldn't give up, and I wouldn't, but…I ain't the kinda man that deserves a woman like you and I know it. Hell, I don't deserve nothin' but what I got, which ain't much. I can't take ya out to fancy restaurants or buy you jewelry for your birthday or anything like that. People are always gonna look at me like a criminal, and that's my own fault. So I'm just sayin'…if you turned around and ran the other way after this surgery business is done with, I wouldn't blame ya."
The blonde paused a moment to take in what he'd just said. "Do you really think I'm that superficial?" she asked, taking his hand in both of hers, "I'm not the kind of woman who cares about fancy restaurants or jewelry. Actually, I work so much that I don't really have a social life at all. This is my social life," she said with a small smile, "I'm not running. I'm going to do this surgery, you're going to live, and then…who knows? We have time, James. We can take this slow, do it right…and that means focusing on getting you cancer-free first."
"I don't think you're superficial, Blondie, I was just sayin'…" he said, managing a smile. "C'mere," he said, reaching out with his free hand and placing it behind her neck, pulling her closer to him.
Their faces were only inches apart when she took a breath, "James…" she objected, but he interrupted.
"Don't go gettin' all I-have-to-operate-on-you-and-we-can't-do-this-now on me, dammit," he said with a grin, though his eyes retained a certain level of seriousness. His expression mirrored it with his next statement, "We both know I might not be here tomorrow, and if I'm gonna go, I ain't gonna do it without gettin' to kiss you at least once."
In that moment, Juliet couldn't think of one single reason to object, and when his lips met hers, she welcomed them. The kiss was soft, almost chaste, but she felt the passion behind it. It lasted for 23 seconds, but neither of them was counting. When they finally pulled apart, both were smiling. "Damn it," she said softly, running her fingers through his hair.
"What?"
"I think I just got caught up."
