“Georgia…” I began, swallowing hard and shifting so I was sitting up more. “You’re not a bet, a conquest, or a joke—”
“Stop it. Don’t deny it. I know guys like you. I’ve watched you snicker about me behind my back since middle school. ‘Can’t park your minivan there.’ There is absolutely no logical reason in the world that someone likeyouwould ever be genuinely attracted to someone likemeif there wasn’t a contingency attached. And if it’s because you have some fetish, well—” she took a deep breath, trying to think of how to end this, “—well, I’m not one of those girls either. So stop it. Pick another target. Bother someone else. I don’t care. Just let me do my job. It’s the only thing that matters to me in the world.”
Blinking at her, I tried to process everything she was saying. If I had something else to say, I didn’t get the chance as Georgia picked up my call button and set it on my lap.
“If you need anything hospital-related, push the button. If you just want to make jokes about your enormous dick, save it for someone who gives a shit.” She turned, hightailing it out of there before I had the chance to gather my thoughts.
georgia
I sped walkpast Dakota and headed straight for the elevators. I needed some air.
“Gia? Everything okay?”
The elevator suffered the brunt of my anger as I jabbed the ground floor button. I ignored my youngest sister as I waited. Next, I assaulted the close door button and stood there shaking anxiously as I watched the numbers digitally change.
When the door opened, I nearly ran into some poor pregnant woman, throwing an apology over my shoulder as I rushed for the doors.
Once outside, the air didn’t relieve the heat flooding through me. I was simply too angry. Wasn’t that why I suddenly felt a thousand degrees hotter than normal? Crossing to a bench, I dropped onto it, catching my head in my hands as I hunched over.
Hot angry tears stung my eyes as I sat there, reliving the moment in my head. Eventually, the salty tears pooled in my palms, and I had to sit up, wiping my hands dry on my scrubs. I was being stupid. I shouldn’t let him make me feel this way—I was a grown woman. I was giving him the power by turning myself over to him emotionally like this.
Renewed with this mantra, I took a deep breath and rose from the bench. I was going back in there to do my job, and then I was off for three days straight, visiting Carolina and the babies.
I felt confident, some of the pressure in my chest blossoming away as I made my way to the doors. Re-entering the hospital with a swipe of my ID, I walked back toward the elevators and paused by the two vending machines. Slipping a finger between the waistband of my scrubs, I retrieved the fold of bills tucked into the lace of my panties and pulled out two before returning the rest to its hideaway.
Pushing the bills into the machine, I fought to feed it as my eyes roamed over the options. Settling on a Caramilk, I punched in C6 and watched the machine dispense the option. I knew better than to eat my feelings, but sometimes, courage needed a boost, and chocolate wrapped around creamy caramel did the trick.
Collecting my change, I dumped it into a donation jar on my way to the elevator bank, hitting the up button as I unwrapped the bar and bit into it. My sisters teased me because I didn’t use the squares provided, but I never had. There was no sense in changing an old, harmless habit.
“Well, fancy meeting you here.”
I nearly choked on the chocolate as I turned to look up at Dean, one of the hospital’s top donors.
“Dean,” I coughed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand before smiling. “Nice to see you.”
“You, too, Georgia.” He reached out, running his thumb along the corner of my mouth in a way that left my stomach knotting before I watched as he brought it to his mouth and licked it clean.Jesus. “I was hoping we’d run into each other. When can I take you on that date?”
Dean had been asking me for dates for as long as I knew him. I always told him I couldn’t because he was a donor, but frankly, I was insecure. He was a good-looking man for his age. It was clear he kept in shape, unlike me. He was starting to gray, but it worked for him. If anything, it made him hotter alongside the stubble on his jaw.
But that wasn’t what made me insecure. It was his ex-wife who, like him, was on the board, and I saw just as much of her, if not more, than him. She was a good decade older than me, but her waist was trim and tight. You could bounce a quarter off her ass, and her breasts looked like they were still in the right place.
Dakota swore it was all plastic, but if it was, her doctor was a magician.
How could he go from someone likethatto me?
I looked down at the comfy mules I was wearing and then glanced back at him. I didn’t need to see my reflection in the stainless steel of the elevators to know that after hitting forty, my weight settled around my stomach and thighs, and my breasts had succumbed to gravity.
I found Dean’s attention uncomfortable for the same reason as Hunter’s advances.What’s there to like?
But Hunter did, and he’d made it so abundantly clear this afternoon that maybe, just maybe, they knew something I didn’t. The doors dinged open, and Dean stepped in first, holding it for me while I followed him in.
“You’re going to leave me hanging then?” He grinned as he hit the button for his floor, and I noted we were going to the same level.
“No, I was just reviewing my calendar, and tomorrow night works for me if you’re free?” I offered him a bashful smile. This was way out of character, but I thought maybe if I did get involved with someone, at the very least, it would get Hunter off my back. If it worked out, I got a sexy boyfriend. All my sisters were happily married, and while I might’ve had my shot a few years ago, it hadn’t worked out.
Maybe it was my time.
“I will clear my schedule to make room for you,” he said as he took my hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing the back gently. My stomach knotted again, and my cheeks grew hot. When the elevator finally dinged open again, Dean winked before walking ahead of me.