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“What?” Colt laughed and said, “Are you serious?”
“You have to remember that college was an escape for me, and I hated a normal classroom environment. So I chose a major where I’d have the most freedom and the most creative fun, and I drew and painted and then I’d go back to my dorm and write until the early hours of the morning. My college years were some of the best of my life, plus my parents paid for it because it was an Ivy League school and it made them look good to tell their friends their daughter went to Harvard.”
Colt choked on his water and coughed until he saw little black spots in his eyes. “You went to Harvard?” he finally gasped out.
“Yeah, but I didn’t graduate,” she said.
“Just getting in is impressive,” he said.
“Yeah, well I started submitting my books my junior year and I ended up with an agent in one of the top firms in New York. I was just about to start my senior year when I signed a three-book deal for enough money to buy an apartment in Manhattan. So I withdrew from my classes and didn’t look back. I sent my parents an email about my success but they didn’t bother to reply. Not until two years later when the movie came out for the book I’d sold.”
“I hope you’re not offended,” Colt said, his hand tightening around his bottle of water. “But I don’t think I like your parents all that much.”
“I’ve had years to get over it and a lot of therapy,” she said. “They are who they are. And maybe I wouldn’t be who I am if they hadn’t been the way they are.”
“I guess that’s one way to look at it,” he said. “Just a small detour in the path can change our entire destiny. So for whatever you’ve been through to get you here to this place, I’m grateful.”
Her cheeks colored with embarrassment, and he noticed not for the first time she didn’t know what to do when people complimented her. If it was about her work, she had a smile and a patent answer. But anything else a look came on her face as if she wasn’t entirely sure she believed the one who gave her the compliment.
She cleared her throat and went to take another bite of her sandwich, and her cell phone buzzed. Her expression changed in an instant. Gone was the woman who was fierce of wit and gentle of spirit, who was a little shy and unsure of herself outside of her comfort zone. And in her place was a woman filled with nervous tension and anxiety, and an undercurrent of anger.
“Chewy and I should get going,” she said. “I know you’ve got to get back to work.”
He wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easy. “Do me a favor would you? I’ve got to change into some clean scrubs. Can you put everything in the dishwasher for me?”
He didn’t give her a chance to respond but headed off to his bedroom to change clothes. When he came back a few minutes later she was closing the dishwasher and Chewy was standing by the door with his leash.
“Thanks,” he said. “I’m running a few minutes behind.”
“Do I want to know why you needed fresh scrubs?” she asked.
“Probably not,” he said, grinning. “Which is why I changed into the extra jeans and t-shirt I keep in the office before I walked over to see you. But let’s just say that Dale Beamis isn’t having to worry about that boil anymore.”
“You’re right,” she said, grimacing. “I didn’t want to know.”
Colt walked them down the stairs and opened up the back door. He’d lock it behind them after they left since he kept extra medication in the back room and Doc Wallis had a break-in several years before of kids looking for drugs.
“My last patient is at five,” he told her. “I’ll stop by and get groceries and then head to your place. It’ll probably be around six by the time I get there.”
She looked at him hesitantly and he wondered if she was rethinking their date. Before he could think better of it, he leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. He let it linger, enjoying her gasp of surprise and then the slightest pressure as she kissed him back.
He pulled back slowly, pleased to see she was slightly off balance. “I’ll see you tonight.” And then he looked down at Chewy. “Make sure she gets home safe.”
Chapter Nine
Zoe stood in the shower and let the hot water beat down on her head. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been in there, but it had given her the chance to replay her conversation with Colt that afternoon and the kiss that had followed.
If she was being honest, she’d replayed the kiss more than once.
She wasn’t sure she could handle a handsome doctor cooking for her and making her laugh, and then kissing the daylights out of her. The parallels to Todd were too similar. He didn’t cook for her, but he’d taken her to expensive restaurants and the theater, whisked her away to Paris for the weekend. She’d been dazzled by the attention. No one had ever made her the center of their universe before, and she’d been intoxicated by it.
She’d been a fool with Todd. She’d never let herself be one again.
The hot water had done wonders for her headache and the stiffness at the back of the neck, and she felt like she had somewhat of a game plan where Colt was concerned. She needed to focus. She had a book to write, and she didn’t need a small-town doctor romancing her with home-cooked dinners and enticing her with the family she’d never had and wasn’t sure she wanted.
She got out of the shower and jumped a little at the sight of Chewy, sunning himself on the bathroom rug. He looked up at her lazily and then stretched so his belly was faceup.
“I’m not sure I how I feel about you watching me shower,” she said.
