Page 388 of The Doctors Will See You Now

Fucking hell. Well, that went well.

It’d been just a little over a week since I’d met Nick Raines and a few days since I’d seen him in the flesh.

Not bare flesh, sadly.

But, as I was finding out, you could learn an awful lot about someone through text messages.

We’d been messaging each other nonstop over the past several days, slow and steady, getting to know each other, sharing tidbits of our days, and little, careful insights into our pasts. It was a nice change of pace from the usual quick and reckless leap that most people made into the world of dating.

But, fuck, okay. That’s kind of bullshit.

Because I was starting to grow tired of the slow.

I wanted more than just his words through the inbox of my phone. I wanted to spend actual, face-to-face time with him. I wanted to see that sexy smile of his in person. I needed to ease this incessant craving for more.

More bare flesh, my vagina whispered. She wasn’t wrong.

Thursday nights were notorious NYC dance club nights, and my closest girlfriends in the city, Harper and Ivy, had already started their normal chattering about it since early this morning. They wanted me to meet them at one of our favorite little dive bars, the Iron Horse, for some drinks, and most importantly, dancing.

Harper: Just come out, ya loser. It’s been forever since we went dancing.

Ivy: YES! Harper’s right, Char. You’ve been back in the city permanently for almost a month now, and we still haven’t had a Thursday dance night.

I’d really only been back for two weeks, the assholes, but I understood that excitement sometimes influenced hyperbole. Plus, Ivy wasn’t especially good with things like time and distance. She’d once told me something was just up the block when it was ten. Ten fucking blocks instead of one.

Even though they’d been annoying the shit out of me all day, I couldn’t deny that a night out sounded like a much-needed reprieve from a long week of workweek monotony.

As I sat behind the large desk in my office, I glanced around the room and got an idea. I tapped out of the group text with the girls and pulled up my last conversation with Nick.

Me: How’s the world of brains?

Nick: Stimulating. How’s the hunting of heads?

I grinned at his response and typed another message.

Me: Surprisingly boring. You’d think it’d be messier, but there’s nary a stain on me. Is today an office day?

Nick: Keeping my mouth shut about stains on you. And yep. No surgeries scheduled until Monday.

I shivered at his innuendo. Holy fuck, look who brought his A game.

Perfect. I knew Nick’s schedule well enough by this point to understand that an office day meant he wouldn’t call it a night until at least seven. Which meant I could stop by his office on my way to the Iron Horse and kidnap him for drinks and dancing.

No doubt, he’d be surprised, and probably more than a little hesitant, but if I’d learned anything from trivia night, he’d eventually come along.

The man worked his ass off, and when he wasn’t working, he was usually spending time with his daughter. It was all very noble, but at some point, a person needed to let loose.

Get ready to live a little, Nick.

Me: Mind if I stop by your office on my way home?

Nick: As long as your reason for stopping by doesn’t include you trying to convince me to move to Alaska for a job opportunity.

Me: LOL. No, smartass. I’m stopping by because I want to see you.

Nick: Then, in that case, please do stop by. And how about we grab dinner together?

Me: Perfect.