he’d desperately wanted to be The One—though he’d rather pretend it was.
Nope, the rising heat was caused by the mere thought of Avi. What little touching they’d done, that little kiss they’d shared…Every time he’d kissed Lucy, he’d willed himself to feel that—that specialness, that electricity, that affection and pleasure and arousal and hunger—but he never had. Kissing Lucy had been sweet, bland, like kissing his sisters.
Kissing Avi… damn .
At the other end of the line, Lucy’s laugh was light and happy. “Wow, she’s left you speechless. I’m impressed. For what it’s worth, I liked her. She’s good for you.”
“You could see that in the five minutes you saw her last night?”
“Yup. That’s my superpower. I can tell in mere minutes whether a person is good, bad, or ugly.”
“And yet you’re friends with Cadore.” First meetings set the tone for a relationship, they said, and his first meeting with Cadore—every meeting—hadn’t gone well. It wasn’t just that he’d resented Cadore’s place in Patricia’s life, his place in Lucy’s life. There had been a definite never-gonna-be-buds vibe going on, too.
She laughed again. “He says the same thing about you. Don’t worry about Patricia introducing Avi to Joe. She’s really into you, too.”
Ben thought so, too, especially after that kiss, but for Lucy’s benefit, he snorted. “How could you tell? We didn’t even speak to each other while you were there.”
“Superpowers,” she reminded him. “Does Patricia know?”
“Yeah, I think so.” There’d been a sly, enjoying-herself-too-much sound to her voice when she’d suggested Avi should meet Cadore.
“She must be delighted. I certainly am, and I want juicy details next time we talk, got it?”
“You expect me to kiss and tell?”
“Honey, I expect you to do a whole lot more than that.” With another cheerful laugh, she said, “Gotta get ready for work. Have a good day.”
He was still smiling when he pulled into the parking lot and into his usual space in the far corner. Some days the only exercise he got was the hike to and from the building. After jogging up the stairs to the fourth floor, he filled an insulated mug with coffee, ripped open a granola bar from his desk drawer, took a bite, and headed for his pod of exam rooms.
He could guarantee he would be on time for appointments only twice a day: the first one in the morning and the first one after lunch. He didn’t like keeping people waiting, but some patients just needed more than the allotted time. The patients weren’t the only ones inconvenienced; though the clinic closed at five, he rarely got out before six, sometimes seven.
“That’s why you’re paid the big bucks,” he murmured to himself as his medical assistant directed him into Room 1.
Tonight, he really wanted to get out by six.
He’d texted his address to Avi last night before falling into bed. Need directions? he’d asked.
I’ll Google it , she’d replied with a smiley face.
She wouldn’t find much besides directions. He didn’t have an online life. What free time he had was devoted to family, friends, baseball games, and other minor things like eating and sleeping. The clinic’s website gave a basic bio; the Facebook page Bree had pestered him into doing sat unupdated; he didn’t even know what the latest trend since Twitter was.
He suspected Avi was more sociable than he was. If he had a few minutes today, he just might Google her. If he was lucky, he’d find some photos of her…and forget to go back to work.
“How was your weekend?” his patient asked.
It was a standard question. He had a standard answer— Good —which could mean anything from double-header extra-innings wins for the Drillers, a family get-together at Sara’s house, or never leaving the loft the entire time. This time, though…Just thinking of Avi raised the temperature in the room, made the air heavier and thicker so that filling
Nope, the rising heat was caused by the mere thought of Avi. What little touching they’d done, that little kiss they’d shared…Every time he’d kissed Lucy, he’d willed himself to feel that—that specialness, that electricity, that affection and pleasure and arousal and hunger—but he never had. Kissing Lucy had been sweet, bland, like kissing his sisters.
Kissing Avi… damn .
At the other end of the line, Lucy’s laugh was light and happy. “Wow, she’s left you speechless. I’m impressed. For what it’s worth, I liked her. She’s good for you.”
“You could see that in the five minutes you saw her last night?”
“Yup. That’s my superpower. I can tell in mere minutes whether a person is good, bad, or ugly.”
“And yet you’re friends with Cadore.” First meetings set the tone for a relationship, they said, and his first meeting with Cadore—every meeting—hadn’t gone well. It wasn’t just that he’d resented Cadore’s place in Patricia’s life, his place in Lucy’s life. There had been a definite never-gonna-be-buds vibe going on, too.
She laughed again. “He says the same thing about you. Don’t worry about Patricia introducing Avi to Joe. She’s really into you, too.”
Ben thought so, too, especially after that kiss, but for Lucy’s benefit, he snorted. “How could you tell? We didn’t even speak to each other while you were there.”
“Superpowers,” she reminded him. “Does Patricia know?”
“Yeah, I think so.” There’d been a sly, enjoying-herself-too-much sound to her voice when she’d suggested Avi should meet Cadore.
“She must be delighted. I certainly am, and I want juicy details next time we talk, got it?”
“You expect me to kiss and tell?”
“Honey, I expect you to do a whole lot more than that.” With another cheerful laugh, she said, “Gotta get ready for work. Have a good day.”
He was still smiling when he pulled into the parking lot and into his usual space in the far corner. Some days the only exercise he got was the hike to and from the building. After jogging up the stairs to the fourth floor, he filled an insulated mug with coffee, ripped open a granola bar from his desk drawer, took a bite, and headed for his pod of exam rooms.
He could guarantee he would be on time for appointments only twice a day: the first one in the morning and the first one after lunch. He didn’t like keeping people waiting, but some patients just needed more than the allotted time. The patients weren’t the only ones inconvenienced; though the clinic closed at five, he rarely got out before six, sometimes seven.
“That’s why you’re paid the big bucks,” he murmured to himself as his medical assistant directed him into Room 1.
Tonight, he really wanted to get out by six.
He’d texted his address to Avi last night before falling into bed. Need directions? he’d asked.
I’ll Google it , she’d replied with a smiley face.
She wouldn’t find much besides directions. He didn’t have an online life. What free time he had was devoted to family, friends, baseball games, and other minor things like eating and sleeping. The clinic’s website gave a basic bio; the Facebook page Bree had pestered him into doing sat unupdated; he didn’t even know what the latest trend since Twitter was.
He suspected Avi was more sociable than he was. If he had a few minutes today, he just might Google her. If he was lucky, he’d find some photos of her…and forget to go back to work.
“How was your weekend?” his patient asked.
It was a standard question. He had a standard answer— Good —which could mean anything from double-header extra-innings wins for the Drillers, a family get-together at Sara’s house, or never leaving the loft the entire time. This time, though…Just thinking of Avi raised the temperature in the room, made the air heavier and thicker so that filling
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