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Luz
Brown hair, blue eyes, tall. Sweet, as far as I can tell. Driven.
Blue eyes. Ugh. I shake myself. I need to get over this infatuation with Jonah. It’s bad for my health. I actually licked my lips while watching him talk earlier. It’s obscene.
I text the number Luz sends me. A nice, normal message, asking if he wants to get dinner on Wednesday. Not the message of a madwoman who wondered what color her boss’s underwear was this morning. Black. Most definitely black. I squeeze my eyes shut at the memory of Jonah hooking his thumbs under the waist of his shorts as he walked to the lockers.
“Thompson,” he barks.
I take a deep breath and walk calmly into his office. Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him. I look. Mistake. His blue suit makes his hair look even blacker, shiny like a raven’s wing. He forgot to shave this morning, because the hollow of his cheeks and his sharp jaw are covered with dark stubble. It makes him look rakish and hotter than usual. Oh no.
“Would it kill you to call me Callie?” I say, instead of something dumb. I give myself a mental pat on the back.
“Yes. Now come here and look at this.”
“Near you?”
“Yes. I don’t bite. Come on.” He points at something on his computer.
I inch closer, and he growls under his breath. I huff and stand next to him. Heat radiates from him. The smell of his cologne fills my nose. I mentally calculate the cost of one spritz. Anything to distract me from leaning in to smell him.
“Are you paying attention? Look at this. We didn’t get the FOIA results back yet, but Adam did pull the files you requested. The public records. This was among them.”
“Sorry,” I mutter and lean closer to the computer. “This looks like a court case. That’s odd. I didn’t see this when I looked at the lawsuits against the company.”
“You wouldn’t have. Because it names Dylan personally, and not the company. It’s a claim of wrongful termination. I want you to see what else you can find on the person who filed the suit.”
“No. No, no. I’m not getting involved in this.” I back up as Jonah glares. I don’t know what Jonah wants me to do with this information, but it makes me feel dirty.
“What’s wrong?” he snaps.
“Wrongful termination is discrimination most of the time. I’m not going down that road. Whoever filed that lawsuit deserves to be left in peace.”
His eyes flare in surprise. “So that’s where you draw the line?”
“Yes,” I choke out. “Of course. You really think I’m that bad?” All of my desire for him evaporates at the reminder that he really does hate me. “I think I need to take a break. I’m going to get a coffee.” And take a walk. Maybe all the way back home.
“I’m sorry.” His deep voice comes from behind me. I freeze, fists clenched, and then force myself to turn back to him. His eyes are shadowed.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me. I know you wouldn’t use that. I believe you. And the suit isn’t claiming discrimination. It’s claiming Dylan assaulted his CFO and then fired him a week later because the CFO went to the police.”
I inhale slowly. His face is sincere. “I’m sorry,” he repeats. “Are you going to make me say it again?” He looks so annoyed that I smile against my will.
“I accept your apology. Now tell me about the lawsuit. Maybe it’s something I can use.”
* * *
On Wednesday, I meet Sam right after work. He’s fresh from his hospital shift, so we meet near my apartment, which is conveniently a short bus ride across the park from the hospital. He is sweet, like Luz promised. Handsome, with a square jaw and all-American man good looks. He cares deeply about his patients.
“Aren’t you tired from being on shift?” I ask. His face is lined with exhaustion. “I know Luz sleeps for a whole day.”
He smiles tiredly. “Nurses have it harder than doctors do. And Luz is a trauma nurse, so she’s on her feet with adrenaline pumping. I’m an oncologist, so the exhaustion is frequently more emotional than physical.”
He’s sensitive. And he doesn’t have that superiority Luz claims lots of doctors adopt. I like it. Or I should. I feel nothing.
He tells me about moving from Boston. He jokes about how he named his dog Frodo.
