“You’re lying,” he said gently, coming closer with a slight smile. “Can I help with anything?”
I shook my head, the breeze ruffling my hair. “Thanks, but no.”
“May I ask what it is, so I know whether I should worry about you or not?”
Somehow the thought of him worrying about me filled me with…something. Something nice. A flicker of warmth. I knew it wasn’t professional to vent to a patient, but the words tumbled out anyway.
“My sister’s wedding is tomorrow night, and my incredibly judgmental aunt is going to be there, and since I’m not married to a rich professional type, I’m a worthless spinster in her eyes, and she’s going to give me an earful all night long so I won’t even enjoy the party. She’d canceled, so I thought I was safe going without a date, but now she’s coming again.”
“If you had a date, would you enj
oy the night more?”
“Yeah.” Straightening up, I smoothed down my hair. “But that’s okay. It’s Janice’s special night, so I’ll keep a smile on my face no matter what.”
Looking up into those deep brown eyes, I slowly realized what James was about to say as he opened those sultry lips. “I could stand in as your date.”
“I…Oh. Really?”
He cautiously stepped closer. “Listen, Molly, you’ve really started to pull me out of the dark hole I was sinking into. I can’t possibly thank you enough for that.” His smile was making my stomach tighten strangely. “I was thinking about bringing you chocolates or something, but if it would help you out, I would be happy to be your date.”
James looked so hopeful that I would have said yes even if he hadn’t been saving my weekend. “That…that would be amazing. Thank you.”
He pulled out his phone. “Can I get your number? I’ll text you tomorrow for your address and pick you up whenever you like.”
I recited it while he quickly typed. “James, I really…I mean, this is a huge favor. Thank you.”
“We’ll have fun,” he said, flooring me with a wink. “We’ll put your aunt in her place, and I’ll talk you up to whatever relatives you like. See you tomorrow.”
His gait was a little smoother as he got into his huge pickup, and I swore he looked even taller. I gave him a quick wave then rushed back into the clinic to catch up on paperwork and prep for the next patient. I wanted to get ahead of everything so that I could leave on time and research dress shops.
Even if it wasn’t a real date, exactly, the dress I had planned to wear tomorrow wasn’t nearly cute enough.
CHAPTER FIVE
* James *
Saturday morning I did all of my stretches and exercises while I had my morning coffee so that if Molly asked me, I could answer her honestly.
I couldn’t believe that she agreed to go on a date with me. Even though I was probably just doing her a favor, and she might not even think of tonight as a date, it certainly felt like one to me.
Half of my mind kept telling me to not get my hopes up. The other half was so excited it couldn’t even think in words, flinging around a tornado of hope, lust, and strangely deep feelings for a girl I barely knew.
Somehow I managed to wait until noon to send Molly a text asking how formal the occasion was, and for the address and time I should pick her up.
She assured me that it was “medium level wedding fancy” so any dark suit would do. My custom cut jet-black Italian suit had been hanging on the bedroom door all day, and I combined it with a crisp white shirt, silver cufflinks, and a rather flashy yet still tasteful titanium watch.
Ten minutes before I had to leave, I sent her another text.
Me: Sorry to bother you, just one more thing – what color dress are you wearing?
Molly: It’s sort of a dark teal.
Me: Perfect. I’ll see you in about 25 minutes.
I forced myself to sit on the couch completely still for a few minutes before I left. I didn’t want to be so early that she didn’t have time to finish preparing, and I wanted to make sure that I was calm. Of all the healing crap the doctors had told me about pain management, the one thing that really had helped was taking slow, deep breaths.
Somehow I was going to have to play the part of her attentive date, with no expectations.