She nods. “Nice to meet you—Joshua.” I smile, and she peeks from me to her watch and back. “Oh, shoot. I have to run. I’m late for work.”
My disappointment tastes bitter as I nod my understanding. She worries her lip and begins to walk away after muttering her good-bye. I follow behind, keeping my steps slow. I don’t want to concern her.
I dip my head and unlock my phone and stare at the screen. A whole damn month I wasted thinking about Hazel. Sighing, I step off the curb and move toward my car. If she was interested, the conversation would have gone differently. Clearly, I misread her signals, and it was time to move on.
It was all for the best, I suppose. If Sabrina heard about this, she was sure to cause problems. I wish I could find her a man, so she’d leave me the fuck alone. A job in a different hospital would be even better, but I really enjoyed working at Memorial.
Hearing a car waiting for me to get in my vehicle, I pick up my pace. Rounding my trunk, a honk startles me. “What’s your problem?” I mutter under my breath and freeze when I see Hazel. I hurry to her car as she lowers her window. “Hey.”
She smiles and my stomach flips. “I’m so sorry, Joshua!” she says quickly. “My answer is yes to dinner. Let me give you my number, and we can work out the details later?”
My face lights up, and I know I’m grinning ear to ear. “Sure.”
I press save on the new contact and call her. “There, now you have mine too.”
“Thanks. It was really great running into you, Nurse Hottie,” she says with a smirk, and before I can retort, she drives away. I watch until she disappears to the right before I return to my car with an extra bounce in my step.
“I guess I didn’t read her wrong after all.”
