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“What are friends for?” he asks, and I poke him in the ribs.
Friends, I tell myself.
That’s all that we are.
Except this feelsa lotlike flirting.
A game we’re playing, to see who can crack first.
I give him a sly grin and spin around, swaying my hips from side to side as I walk to the garage. I look at him over my shoulder and his eyes are heated. He’s staring at my ass without any shame.
Point, me.
FOURTEEN
LACEY
Addy,one of the nurses on duty, pops her head into my office.
“Lacey? There’s someone here to see you,” she says.
I frown and check my calendar. My afternoon is light, and I have thirty minutes until my next appointment. I even had time to sit down and eat lunch at my desk today, a small miracle for an office that’s suffering from a staffing shortage during the holiday season.
“There is? Who?” I ask.
She breaks into a grin. “I think it’s better if you come out here and see for yourself,” she says.
I pull on my white coat and push the sleeves halfway up my arms. I move down the hall, anxiously wondering who could be waiting for me. Maybe it’s Director Hannaford popping in to see what I’m bringing as my silent auction item. When I turn the corner into the waiting room, I stop in my tracks.
Shawn is near the reception desk talking with a group of kids. He’s down on their level and nodding along to whatever they’re saying. When he tilts his head back and laughs at something funny, my insides turn to mush.
“He’s been here for ten minutes and hasn’t looked bored once. Not even when Benny Tyler sneezed on him,” she says, and she gives me a knowing grin. “You’re so lucky.”
Shawn glances our way from across the room. He smiles when he spots me and stands up, towering over the boys and girls vying for his attention. I walk toward him, and I feel like I’m missing the hint to a riddle.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Hi, baby,” he says, and he winks. “I brought you a coffee and a muffin. Do you have a minute?”
“Do I—what? Yes. Uh, yeah.” I pat his shoulder awkwardly, and it probably looks like I’m trying to dust off a piece of lint instead of showing him affection. “Thanks… babe.”
Shawn rolls his lips together, and I can tell he’s trying not to burst out laughing. “Can we go to your office?”
“Sure. Yeah.” I look at the girls behind the reception desk. “I’ll let you know when I’m ready for my two o’clock.”
“I have some things to talk over with Ms. Lacey,” Shawn tells the group of kids. “I’ll see you all again soon, okay? Everyone has the invitation to the Titans’ mini-camp I gave them? Good. It’s almost time for the holidays. You all are going to be on your best behavior for your moms and dads and guardians, right?”
“Yes,” the group says, and they hang on to his every word.
I can barely get them to look at me when I’m handing them a lollipop.
“That’s what I thought.” He ruffles their hair and steps toward me. He rests his hand on my lower back and holds the hallway door open. “Lead the way, Lacey girl,” he murmurs low in my ear, and my feet forget how to move for a minute.
It takes a gentle nudge from Shawn for me to step forward, and I swear the asshole chuckles under his breath. We weave past nurses and patients and parents who stare at the giant man walking behind me as if they’ve seen a ghost.
He looks wildly out of place here, with his backwards hat and the tattoos down to his hands, but he doesn’tactout of place. He acts like this is exactly where he belongs.
He says hello. He stops to give a little girl a high five. A mother pulls a dirty napkin from her purse and he signs it with a flourish, not batting an eye at the ketchup stain his signature covers. When we make it to my office, it feels like I’m floating on air.
