Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Okay. Now I’m committed. Just come on over when you get home.
I turn my phone off without seeing if she responds. Besides, I don’t want any temptation that I might chicken out and cancel. I toss my phone back down on my towel and look up to find both Marek and Holt staring at me with shit-eating grins.
“What?” I ask grumpily.
“Hot date tonight,” Marek says assuredly.
“With Josie,” Holt adds. “It’s all over your face. You look scared shitless.”
“Fuck off,” I mutter as I flip my leg back over the bench for another set.
“Going to take her to a fancy restaurant?” Marek asks, completely undaunted.
“Order champagne,” Holt suggests. “That will loosen both of you up.”
“Bring flowers,” Marek teases.
“But not a corsage,” Holt advises. “This isn’t high school prom.”
I growl under my breath, not amused at all. They’re not helping. If anything, they are causing my anxiety to flare, because I have now committed myself to taking this to a different level with Josie. I might strike out. She might be horrified that I want something different. Or even worse, what if we just don’t have the type of chemistry needed for something more? I know I’m attracted to her, but that doesn’t mean it will be good if we do have sex.
Fuck, I’m out of sorts. No fucking confidence whatsoever, feeling like when I lost my virginity in Melody Carey’s bedroom our sophomore year of high school.
I pop back off the bench and decide to add some more weight to the bar. If I’m lucky, I’ll drop them and strangle myself so I don’t have to go through with this insane idea that could go wrong in so many ways.
Chapter 8
Josie
Standing on Reed’s doorstep, I smooth my sundress down and take three deep breaths. It does nothing to loosen the anxious knot in the center of my chest, and for the tenth time since I walked out of my house, I consider going back to my bathroom and removing the makeup I’d put on.
It’s going to be so obvious that I’m different when he opens the door. I normally will just hang with him in my scrubs and hair in a ponytail, not worrying about what Reed thinks of me.
But tonight is different because he made it different.
Cooking dinner.
For me.
Bah.
Why in the world would he do such a thing, when I know he hates to cook? He and I are pizza-and-beer kind of people. Low mess and no fuss.
Reed definitely made tonight different, which was why I was compelled, for the first time since I started working at Raleigh Memorial, to recruit another doctor to cover my last cases so I could leave right when my shift was over.
I came home, and for the next forty minutes I’d showered, shaved, put on makeup, dried my hair, and put loose barrel curls in it. I put on a freaking dress of all things. It’s not dressy, but totally casual and summery, and it’s definitely obvious that I’m different tonight.
I’m different because Reed’s offer was different, and there’s a very good possibility he’s going to open the door, take one look at me, and determine that I’m nuttier than a fruitcake. Worse yet, he could take one look at me and see the naked, pathetic desire I might have for the possibility of something more than friendship. He’ll see that my dress scoops low and I’m showing cleavage. If he were to get under my dress, he’d find not my normal cotton high-waist panties, but my silk and lace ones.
Damn, but my face heats up and I actually turn away from his door, intent on going home and texting him that I’ve come down with a very contagious virus. I even take one step across the porch, when I’m halted by the sound of Reed’s door opening.
“Josie?” he says hesitantly, and I cringe. A full-body cringe that I’m sure he can see from behind.
I spin back around and level him with a seriously bright but completely fake smile. “Oh, hey. I was getting ready to knock on your door, but then I remembered I left my…um…my…”
My words trail of and Reed cocks his head in question. “Iron on?”
I shake my head. “My purse on the counter.”
“You don’t need it,” he says as he opens the door and motions me in. “We’re not going anywhere.”
I swallow hard as I turn to face him fully. He gives a short, sterile sweep of his eyes down my body and I don’t miss the slight flare of shock in them. It’s the first time he’s seen me in a dress.
Reed doesn’t say anything but just waits expectantly for me to enter. I swallow hard and feel like I’m marching off to the guillotine or something. When I step past Reed, I stumble slightly as I realize he’s wearing cologne. I’ve never smelled it on him before, but oh my God, is it good. Like so good I want to lean toward him and sniff harder.