Logan:Ouch. Sounds like someone didn’t forgive me after all.
Lauren: *shrug*
Logan:Can I make it up to you? What are you doing?
Lauren: I’m studying, probably won’t be home until late.
Logan: Studying for what?
Lauren:If you’re going to ask me out, shouldn’t we save that for date conversation?
Logan: Planning ahead. I like it. Dinner on Saturday?
Lauren:I can do Saturday. I’ll meet you, just tell me when and where.
Logan:There’s a new grill called Republic on the Plaza. 7:00?
Lauren: See you then.
Logan: Have fun studying.
Lauren released a sigh and set her phone facedown on the table. She attempted to focus on her work for several minutes but had trouble concentrating.
She was trying to put herself out there because Emma was right. It had been two years since she’d been on a date. But she didn’t particularly want to go out with Logan. He’d been smooth and charming at the bar that night and was attractive in a boy-next-door kind of way, with curly blond hair and blue eyes framed by laugh lines. His approach had been confident and flattering, and he’d clearly been interested in Emma at the start. But Emma had claimed that she had a boyfriend—she didn’t—and to his credit, Logan hadn’t seemed disappointed to shift his attention to Lauren. He said he was in marketing, which was a perfectly respectable career.
So why wasn’t she more excited? Why did she feel indifferent toward him, and the prospect of getting to know him better? Was it ridiculous for her to think she’d one day feel that spark…that sudden, unexplainable attraction, to someone? Like she’d felt when she’d run into Andrew, in this very room?
Lauren closed her eyes and laid her forehead in her palm, her elbow propped on the table. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, and it was becoming a problem.
Andrew’s eyes.
Andrew’s smile.
Andrew’s hands.
She ground her teeth together in frustration. This was bad. Very bad.
He was a patient. He was off-limits. Right? Even if she wasn’t directly over his care anymore, she was a provider at the cancer center where he was receiving treatment.
Plus, as previously discussed, he was too attractive. Even if he hadn’t ended up in her clinic that day, she still wouldn’t have been interested.
Shouldn’t have been, anyway. She couldn’t even convince herself—no wonder Mandi had given her the side-eye.
Stop it. Focus. You’re here to study, and you’re going on a date with someone else. Everything is F-I-N-E.
Pep talk complete, Lauren lifted her head and opened her eyes, to find herself looking right at a smiling Andrew.
“Hi.”
Lauren blinked.
He was still there. Still smiling.
“Andrew? What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to study.” He held a laptop and notebook in one hand. “What are you doing here?”
“Same.” Lauren’s pulse sped up and she pulled at her ponytail, a nervous gesture she’d picked up in her teenage years.