Page 40 of The Doctors Will See You Now

I also hoped I wasn’t a lonely bat with poor dental hygiene at her age. I wanted a husband, not seventeen cats.

“Tell me, what has you so happy about the weekend?” Marlene asked and waggled her brows. “Hot sex?”

A shocked laugh escaped my lungs. “Uh…no.”

“Hot date that could possibly lead to hot sex, then?”

“No, you horny woman,” I said on another laugh, and Marlene grinned wide and unashamed. “No hot date. No hot sex.”

But you could have a hot date…

And hot sex. Hot, hot, hot sex with Will and his penis.

I could’ve gone on the date with Will. I wanted to. He’d asked me, and at first, I’d felt my stomach climb up and into my throat, but the bottom had dropped out just as quickly. It all seemed like it was in jest. Like he would’ve been dating me just to help his reputation.

Can I date you because I want to?

His words repeated inside my brain.

Did he want to date me?

I didn’t know. He seemed earnest in those words, but his earlier words… Dating you. Maybe that would solve some of my problems?

Yeah, not so much.

But you really like him.

I did. I really liked Will in all of his handsome, brilliant, funny, and sometimes hilariously awkward glory. He made me laugh. God, he made me laugh. And smile. My days had become better just because he was in them.

“All set, ladies?” Will poked his head into the nursing office with his briefcase in his hand and his suit jacket slung over his arm.

“Quitting time?” Marlene asked, and Will nodded with a smile.

Marlene didn’t waste another moment. She was logged out of her computer and grabbing her purse before anyone could say otherwise. For a woman who didn’t like Fridays, she sure looked happy to be strolling out of the office.

“Have a good weekend, Mel,” Will said with a smile. “See you Monday?”

My chest panged at the idea of having a whole weekend without his stupid smile and any hope of having it just for myself being missing when I did see it again. “See you Monday,” I said, but the words felt all wrong. And the situation felt all wrong as I watched him turn out of the doorway and head down the hall.

My body jumped into action before I could process what I was doing.

My legs moved at a rapid pace down the hall. “Will!” I called toward his back. “Wait a minute.”

He stopped in his tracks and turned toward me. His head tilted to the side in question. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I nodded and took a deep inhale to catch my breath. “Yeah, everything’s great.”

“Okay,” he responded with a confused smile.

I stared into his deep blue eyes as I tried to find the right words, but I didn’t know what to say. I figured shouting the words Date me! would be a little weird. But it was those two words that just kept sitting behind my tongue, ready to shoot out of my mouth like a rocket.

“Is there anything else or…?” he asked when the silence had reached an awkward amount of time.

Now or never, Mel. Just say it. Say. It.

“Date me!” The words burst past my lips before I could stop them. Oh. Jesus. My eyes went wide in embarrassment. “I mean,” I started and nervously cleared my throat. “Is the offer still on the table?”

Will’s eyes creased at the corners once his smile consumed his face. “The dating offer?”