“I was thinking we could do something a little more private. Stay in, watch a movie on television. You know, that kind of thing.”
“Sounds like a quiet sort of evening.”
She pouted. “Oh, no. I wasn’t thinking of being quiet at all. I guess if your place has thin walls or something, I could scream into a pillow or something.”
I gulped. She hadn’t said what I thought I heard. Or had she?
“Brooke,” my voice was hoarse and raspy. She was torturing me. This had to be payback for trying to ignore her. “How soon before I can see you again?” I was too old to be feeling this desperate.
“I guess you’ll have to ask me out later. Won’t you?” She picked up her coat, tossed it over her shoulder and sashayed out of the restaurant. I couldn’t look away. Her ass swayed back and forth in a way that had me wanting to chase after her. She didn’t look back.
10
BROOKE
My heart was still pounding when I got home. I couldn’t believe I had done that. I had done my best, and from the look on Mark’s face, my best had worked.
He could have blue balls for all I cared.
“You’re home early,” mom said. She didn’t look up from her movie, which was a good thing because I still had a face full of makeup, and my coat was open.
I pulled my coat around me closer, just in case.
“Yeah, there wasn’t anything we were willing to stay up late for. It’s been a long week.”
“Welcome to being an adult and the working world. You’ll be too tired to party. Time to get used to it.”
I thought that was rich coming from someone who had barely graduated college because of me, and who never had to work a full-time job. I grunted and headed up the stairs.
I needed to wash my face and see if I could get my nerves to calm down enough to go to sleep.
After hours of tossing and turning, I finally fell asleep. It was a good thing that I didn’t need to go to work in the morning. I couldn’t wake up with my alarm, so I went back to sleep.
That was the best decision ever. Or maybe the worst. I had super-hot dreams about Mark that were so real I swear I could still feel his touch on my skin when I woke up.
I spent the day in a brain fog brought on by lack of sleep and too much desire. I willed him to call or text me. He knew what he had to do. How long was he going to drag it out? I had pretty much told him that on date number two I would be naked. It’s what he wanted. It’s what I wanted.
I was actually looking forward to work on Monday morning. I would get to see Mark. I was mildly disappointed that there wasn’t a bouquet of flowers waiting for me. I never had confirmation they had come from him, but after our date, I would have expected a little something.
When he walked through those glass doors and smiled, I came very close to losing my cool. On Saturday I demonstrated my exceptionally bad acting skills. This morning, he got to see my real acting skills.
I nodded in response to his nod. I was as disengaged as he was. Of course, my pulse was racing, and I had to breathe around a lump in my throat. But on the outside, I was one cool customer.
I made eye contact with him after he got on the elevator. He winked as the elevator doors started to close. I wasn’t able to maintain my cool demeanor after that. Fortunately, with the door closed, he didn’t see me melt.
I spent my morning directing patients to their respective doctor’s offices. The phones were constantly ringing. I felt like a circus performer spinning plates on tall poles. If I didn’t keep my plates rotating, they would wobble and fall.
I was in the middle of helping a woman look up the name of her doctor when the phone rang.
“Information desk, please hold.” I didn’t give them a chance to say anything before I hit that hold button and returned my attention to the woman in front of me.
I waved as she nervously got onto the elevators. I didn’t think she believed me when I said she had an appointment with a Dr. Spears on the fourth floor. I sat back and sighed. It was the first moment of peace since my morning started.
“Oh, crap!” I saw the red flashing light. I had someone on hold.
“I’m so sorry about that, thank you for holding. How may I assist you?”
“Is Brooke there?” I closed my eyes and felt all the strength melt from my limbs. Mark had the most amazing voice. He could read the phone book to me, and I would find that sexually gratifying.