Anything but Love by Celya Bowers

eyes.
    Max slid off the desk and hugged Jami, not giving one ounce of care about Kendall’s rule of no public displays of affection. “Yes, Jami, I know how hard this is for you. I know what you’re feeling. I feel it, too. You deserve to be happy, Jami. So does Dylan.” Giving in to his feelings, he kissed her.
    He expected her to pull away, but she grabbed him and returned his kiss with the same intensity. When they finally separated they were both out of breath. Jami grinned at him as she wiped lipstick from his face. “Looks like we’ve been thinking the same thing.”
    Max nodded. He hadn’t dared hope she felt the same. Well, yes, he had, but now what? “Looks like.” He leaned forward to kiss her again, but the phone rang. “I bet you a granola bar that’s Kendall.”
    Jami giggled and glanced at the caller ID display. “It’s her.” She answered the phone with her cheery voice. “Good morning, Dr. Matthews’s office.”
    Max listened as Jami nodded at whatever Kendall was saying. Probably a list of things for Max to have done before she arrived.
    “Sure, Dr. Matthews, I’ll tell him.” Jami ended the call.
    Max pulled out his PDA, ready to make the necessary adjustments in the day’s schedule. “Okay, what does she want me to do?”
    Jami shook her head. “Nothing. She says she’s bringing breakfast for the staff and apologized for oversleeping.”
    Maxed dropped the PDA on the desk. “What did you just say?”
    “Close your mouth,” Jami said. “You heard correctly. She’s bringing breakfast.”
    “Oh, you mean her version of breakfast.” Max picked up the PDA and began checking to make sure the handheld computer was still operable. “Bagels, fruit, cottage cheese, soy milk, and juice,” Max drawled, imagining the meatless meal.
    “No, Max. Dr. Matthews said she was stopping by the Donut Hut.”
    Max dropped the PDA again. “You’re trying to tell me that a strict vegetarian is going to the greasiest food pit in Arlington? Her arteries will clog instantly the minute she walks into the joint.”
    Jami nodded. “And she sounded unusually chipper this morning. You know how grouchy she is in the morning and how she despises people being late.”
    Max studied the facts before him. Kendall sounding happy and volunteering to bring breakfast didn’t sound so out of the ordinary, but for her to set foot inside the most fattening place in town, something miraculous had to have happened, he mused. He grinned as the light bulb clicked on in his head. Cole was to have escorted Kendall to the charity dinner Saturday night. He’d stood Max up yesterday for a Sunday afternoon of drinking and watching some sporting event at the local pub. Could it be true?
    “Max, why are you looking like that?” Jami began typing on her computer keyboard. “Why do you think she’s in such a good mood? I’ve worked for her for over five years and have never known her to sound that chipper on the phone.”
    Max nodded. “I’m sure she’ll enlighten us when she gets here.” If his suspicions were correct, she should be singing Cole’s praises when she arrived.
    * * *
    Today was the day for changes, Kendall decided as she parked her car in the hospital’s underground parking lot. For some strange reason, she felt happy, as if only good things could happen to her that day.
    Maybe the man in her bed that morning had a little something to do with it, but still, today was a start. She spotted two transporters taking a smoke break. The young men froze as she waved them over. They hurriedly put out their cigarettes and ran to her.
    “Yes, Dr. Matthews, I know we aren’t supposed to smoke there, but designated smoking is clear on the other side of the hospital. Our break would be up by the time we got there.”
    Kendall held her hand up to stop him from babbling. “That’s fine. I really just needed some help carrying this to the nurses’ station in my department.” She opened her passenger door to reveal