Must Be Fate: (Cody and Clover) (A Jetty Beach Romance Book 3) by Claire Kingsley Page A

driver’s side door of my car. “Why are you driving? You should be lying down.”
    “I’m tired of lying down, and I feel fine,” I say. “I got a job.”
    “You what?”
    Why is this such a shock? Am I such a disaster that he can’t believe I found a job right away? “A job. You know, the thing where you go to work and they pay you?”
    “Where?”
    “Old Town Café,” I say. “I went in to get coffee and thought I’d ask. It turned out she had an employee quit just before I got there. It was totally meant to be.”
    “That’s great, Clover,” he says, looking back at the door to the clinic.
    “So I thought I’d come tell you, and you’d be happy for me, and we could go have lunch. It’s noon, and you went to work at like six this morning.”
    His face shows surprise, and I realize it’s probably weird that I know that, given that I was upstairs in his bedroom and should have been sleeping. But I hear him get up and shower in the other bathroom every morning. I always imagine what he looks like naked, and can’t get back to sleep.
    “I did, but like I said, I have patients to see,” he says. “I’m happy for you about the job, but you can’t just show up here like this.”
    “Oh, yeah,” I say, looking away. I feel awful. Of course he can’t just leave. He’s a doctor. People put their lives in his hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think. I was just so excited, I wanted to tell someone. And, well, I don’t know anyone else.”
    His face softens and he touches my arm. Oh, I like it when he does that.
    “I’m sorry, I’m just really busy today. Congratulations on the job. That’s really good news. I’m impressed.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Definitely,” he says. “You haven’t even been here a week, and you managed a head injury and a new job.”
    I give him a playful smack on the arm. “Okay, go save lives or whatever.”
    He laughs. “I don’t know about that, but I do have to get back. I’ll see you tonight, okay?”
    “Sure.” I open my car door.
    “And Clover?”
    “Yes?”
    “Go lie down,” he says. “You’ve had a busy day. Your brain needs rest.”
    “Yes, Dr. J,” I say with a grin.
    I get in my car, but I’m not going to head to his place yet. I have a lot of thanking to do, and now that I have a job lined up I don’t have to be quite so worried about spending a little money. As much as I want to thank Cody in other ways, I have an idea. I’ll make him dinner.
    How long has it been since he’s come home from work to a hot meal? I wonder if his ex cooked for him. Well, if there’s one thing I can do as well as make coffee, it’s cook. I’ll stop at the grocery store, get ingredients, and make him something fantastic. It’s the least I can do after everything he’s done for me.
    Quite pleased with myself, I drive off to put my plan into action. 

Clover’s surprise visit sets me on edge. I walk past the front desk, knowing Darcy’s eyes are on me. When it comes to gossip, my front desk staff is rivaled only by the nursing staff. They’re going to have a field day trying to figure out Clover.
    I go back to my office and have just enough time to check my messages before Maria, my nurse, buzzes me to say my next patient is waiting. I bring up the chart on my tablet. Shit. It’s Lyle Brown. If he’s here, it probably means his treatment isn’t working. Which means I’ll need to go back to the drawing board.
    Lyle is a man in his mid-forties who came to me recently with stiffness and muscle spasms, primarily in his neck, upper back, and shoulders. I followed standard protocol and sent him home with a sedative to help him sleep and muscle relaxers to ease the spasms. I haven’t heard from him, so I hoped he was doing better.
    I can tell by his face when I enter the exam room that he’s not better. “Hi, Lyle. I hope you weren’t waiting long.”
    “No,” he says. He winces and his hand clenches a few times.
    “Still having trouble?” I ask. I swipe