Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Someone who wasn’t me.
Gilly came over, asked me to order her a cosmo, and then left me at the bar as she went over to join Jacob and Lucy. There might just well be a fight over that blond beauty tonight. But neither one of them would win.
Andy let me cut in front of him.
“Can I get a cosmo and a glass of red wine, please. Andy? What would you like?”
“I’m fine. I’ll sort myself out.”
“Coming right up,” the barman said.
“Did you enjoy today?” Andy asked as we stood next to each other at the bar.
Enjoy wasn’t a word I’d use. Being so close to Jacob all day was conflicting. I had to spend every minute of the day fighting my instincts to be near him, touch him, kiss him. And now knowing he was fighting it too? It was worse. The knowledge was like slow burn acid, corroding my logical thoughts. I knew it was ridiculous to think about giving into our desires. Doing so had the power to hurt us both . . . but the desire and need in me was rising with every passing moment.
“It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting when I got my acceptance paperwork,” I replied noncommittally. I glanced over at Jacob, who was talking to both Lucy and Gilly now. Gilly had broken out her best hair flip.
“You’re a great communicator,” he said. “And a really good listener.”
I smiled. I didn’t know whether or not to confess my first chosen profession. I’d had plenty of practice listening to people tell me the most intimate details of their lives, from cheating on their husbands to secretly hating their children. And in between there was a lot of talk about holidays and work drama. My clients didn’t need anything from me but a haircut and a friendly nod of the head. Medicine was completely different in most ways, but there were a few similarities.
“Did you enjoy it?” I asked.
Andy told me what he’d enjoyed about the day, which was most things, as fit his enthusiastic nature. The barman presented our drinks then took Andy’s order.
“Sounds like you got a lot out of the day.” I nodded at my drinks. “I better get Gilly’s cocktail to her.”
“See you over there.”
I avoided looking at Jacob as I took Gilly’s drink over.
“Thanks,” she said, taking the cocktail from me. “Sit down.”
Gilly and Lucy were sitting in the two seats opposite Jacob. The only seat left was on the small sofa next to him.
Gilly clocked my hesitation. “Don’t even think about slipping off to your room.” She turned to Jacob. “Can you believe I found this one about to head to bed? She wasn’t even going to come down for dinner.” She shook her head like I was the stupidest person she’d ever met. I took a seat as far away from Jacob as possible without sitting on the arm of the sofa. As soon as I sat, he crossed one ankle over his knee, the movement shifting the air. I took in his musky, clean scent that had embedded itself into my sheets after our date. Shit. I should have given Gilly her drink and told her I was in the middle of a conversation. But here I was, sitting right next to the very man I was trying to avoid.
“We were just saying what an amazing day it’s been. I’ve learned so much.”
“Sooo much,” Lucy added. “I just know it’s going to really help my soft skills with patients and make me think about how I’m communicating during handovers. You know what I mean?”
I nodded. Wow, they were really sucking up.
“What about you, Sutton?” Jacob asked, a twinkle in his eye that told me he was up to no good. “Did you learn anything?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “Lots of things.”
“Like what?” Lucy asked.
I sighed. “You can’t tell what people are thinking unless you communicate properly.”
“Yes, no one teaches mind-reading at med school.” Gilly laughed like she was having the best time in the world.
“What else?” Jacob asked. He was pushing this, and I couldn’t tell whether he was trying to be provocative—trying to get me to confess something—or whether he was genuinely interested in getting feedback.
I shrugged. “I’m a really bad swimmer?”
“Did you check out the pool?” Lucy asked excitedly. “I brought my swimsuit so I’m really hoping I can squeeze in a dip before sessions start tomorrow.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize there was a pool,” Gilly said. “How did you find out about that?” she asked. She and Lucy began to talk about the website and swimming. I could feel Jacob’s gaze on me but I couldn’t bring myself to meet it. My self-control was hanging by a thread as it was; one wrong move and it would snap and smash into pieces on the floor.
“You’re not a bad swimmer,” he mumbled under his breath.