Page 73

“Lucy, hey,” he said, smiling. He was tall, with pale skin and green eyes. The only downside was his hair was definitely thinning, but she had yet to meet a doctor with great hair, so it was whatever. Couldn’t have everything!

Besides, she wasn’t exactly interested in his hair, at the moment …

“Tyler, hi!” she said, bridging the space between them. She threw her arms around his neck in a hug, which seemed to surprise him, but he recovered quickly, wrapping his arms around her. She pulled away, glancing at Grayson, who looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.

It was a good thing there was a doctor on site!

“This is my boss, Charles,” Lucy said, latching on to Tyler’s arm and intentionally pushing her boobs up in the process. Grayson’s eyes flicked down again. His hands tightened to fists at his sides.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” Charles said, stepping over with his cane. Grayson strode forward with him, holding out a hand.

“I’m her—” Grayson started, but Lucy cut him off, unsure of what he was going to say. He was—what? Her coworker? Her sworn enemy? The object of her sex dreams?

“Assistant,” Lucy said, smiling at Tyler sweetly. “He’s my assistant.” Tyler reached over and shook his hand, while Grayson glared, definitely trying to break Tyler’s fingers with how strong his grip looked.

Grayson was stewing, practically radiating discontent.

“Okay, time to go!” Lucy said, pulling Tyler away. She waved at Charles and Grayson, grinning. Grabbing her coat, they headed out, walking the short distance to Mateo’s, which was packed with the dinner rush.

“Hey, Lucy,” Mateo said as they entered. “Table for two?”

“Hey, Mateo,” she replied. “Yes, please.”

Mateo led them to an empty table, where they slid into the seats.

“You know everyone around here?” Tyler asked, sitting across from her.

“Ha ha, kind of,” she replied. “I love this small town.”

“It’s cute,” he said, looking around. “I can see why you like it.”

She beamed. That was a good sign. He was from the city, and sometimes New Yorkers were so obnoxious about only liking the busy city life, but she loved the quiet suburbs.

They ordered their food and chatted. He was nice, not picky or insufferable. He had grown up in Manhattan but was doing his residency at a hospital in Long Island. As Lucy and Tyler talked, Mateo kept an eye on her, which she appreciated, but luckily, Tyler didn’t seem like a serial killer.

If things continued to go well, she would definitely hook up with him later. Excitement thrummed through her at the prospect. He did have a nice mouth—not as nice as Grayson’s, but it would do!

Until the date took a turn for the worse.

They were talking about work, and he was going on and on about how hard his life was—which was fine!—except he didn’t ask her once about her job. She lost a bit of her appetite then and moved her food around her plate as he kept going.

She tried mentioning her work, but he brushed it off. Gritting her teeth, she mentioned it again a little while later, and he paused, looking at her with a confused expression.

“I thought that was a temporary thing?” Tyler said. “Didn’t you study data analytics? I figured the bookstore was just for extra cash while you looked for a real job.”

Irritation spiked through her.

“Being a bookstore manager is a real job,” she said, brows furrowing.

He laughed. “No, yeah, of course, I just meant like … an adult job?”

“Well, we don’t hire children, so I would assume it is, in fact, an adult job.”

“Yeah, no, I know … sorry.” He laughed again, and the sound grated on her. “It’s just …” He trailed off.

“What?” she asked, not bothering to hide her scowl. “I have a real adult job. Same as you.”

He looked taken aback at that. “You can’t compare our jobs,” he said. “I’m a doctor.”