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“Well, I do like flowers.”
She stood and took my hand to pull me up. “All right, darlin’, you get out there and see what the man has to say. By the way, he looks mighty fine in his jeans. Me-ow.”
I straightened out my scrubs and laughed. “Do I look okay?”
“Honey, you are prettier than every rose in Texas. Now get going.”
I gave Lorelai a quick hug before I scooted out the door and toward the check-in desk. I took lots of deep breaths in and out. I hadn’t seen Julian since our date on Sunday. That was four days ago. I’d figured he was blowing me off. Honestly, I was kind of okay with it. I was a little tired of men, as of late. However, I was going to claim my flowers. And maybe check out his butt one more time. It was a lovely sight.
Demi, one of our part-time attendants, was manning the check-in desk when I arrived. The young woman was gazing dreamily at the doctor as he browsed our line of skin care products. Julian was carefully holding a square handblown vase filled with a large bouquet of roses that was bursting with greenery. It was as stunning as he was in his tight jeans and button-down, his Ray-Bans resting on top of his head.
When Demi noticed me approaching, she blushed and quickly turned to look at the computer on the desk just as Julian saw me. He smiled while looking me over in my scrubs.
We met in the middle of the lobby.
“Hey there,” he crooned.
“Hi. What are you doing here?”
He held out the gorgeous flowers. “I was in the neighborhood and thought you might like these.”
I took the flowers, which were quite heavy, and breathed in their heavenly scent. “These are lovely. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He seemed nervous, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“So you were . . . just in the neighborhood?”
A crooked smile appeared on his face. “I finished up my appointments for the day and I’m not on call, so I thought I should see what you were doing.”
“You could have called.”
He stepped closer, allowing me to breathe in his musky scent. Mixed in with the fragrant roses, it was kind of intoxicating. “I could have, but I wanted to see you.”
“You did?”
He brushed my hair back, off my shoulders. “I found I’ve been missing you.”
My stomach did a little swoop, but I played it cool. “Oh. That’s nice.”
He gave me a wide grin. “Do you know what else would be nice?”
“What?”
“I was hoping you would join me for a night of painting, chocolate, and wine. There’s a great studio downtown that does date nights, and I made reservations for tonight, if you’re amenable and available.”
I tilted my head side to side, pretending to debate. The man had me at he’d been missing me. “What kind of chocolate?” I teased.
“Any kind you want, Gracie,” he whispered.
The swooping in my stomach got bigger. I swallowed hard, trying to remember to be cautious. Though maybe Lorelai was right, I shouldn’t overthink it, just see where it went. After all, he had come to find me. “I would love to, but I have one more client today and I didn’t bring anything to change into.”
“I happen to be partial to scrubs. And you’re beautiful, regardless of what you’re wearing.” He was good. Maybe too good to be true. Yet, this didn’t have to be anything serious. I mean, he admitted to being terrible at long-term relationships. So perhaps we could just be two people who enjoyed each other’s company for the time being.
“Okay. I should be done by five.”
“Then I will be here at five.” He leaned in and brushed my cheek with his lips before whispering in my ear, “Just so you know, I intend to taste the wine on your lips tonight.”
A little shiver went through me. “I prefer white wine.”
“Good to know.” He kissed my cheek one more time. “See you soon.” He strutted off.
I watched him go, finding myself very much looking forward to our lips meeting.
Demi interrupted my thoughts. “You’re so lucky.”
Maybe for once I would be.
~*~
I held in my laugh while staring at Julian’s copper moon painting. It looked more like a block of deformed swiss cheese.
“It’s awful, I know,” he lamented.
“I wouldn’t say that. I think it’s an abstract take on it.”
“You’re just trying to be nice.”
“Maybe.” I grinned.
He forcefully dropped his paintbrush in the provided cup of water, making a splash, looking sincerely disgusted with himself for not being good at something. The guy had graduated from UCLA with honors, and he was a well-respected doctor. It was weird that a painting would rattle him. I was beginning to think the Bronsons had totally screwed up their kids. I almost felt the tiniest bit bad for Morgan. Almost.
