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“I guess she thought it would be a clever way to get her daughter and me to go out on a date together. And she’s right. I probably would have found reason not to go out with just Harper if she had given me her daughter’s number. But with the way she pulled it off, she got me out of the house and out on a date with Harper, and I’m on cloud nine right now.” I shrugged.
“You know, that does make sense,” he said with a nod. “Still, I would have wanted to be a fly on the wall if I was her. I would be dying to know what my daughter would say to my doctor if I was crazy enough to put them on a blind date. I mean, you have to admit that it’s pretty ballsy for her to come through and do that for her. And you, too, for that matter.”
“Gwen’s one in a million,” I agreed. “And Harper. I’m telling you right now, I said I would call her, and I’m wondering how long to wait before I can do it and not seem like I’m totally desperate.”
“Hmm, she was that good, huh?” he asked. “Well, if that’s how it all works out for you, I’m happy for you. Just talk about random, you know? Maybe one of these days I’ll have some crazy woman tell me she found my soulmate and just hand her over with a red ribbon.”
“Not exactly what happened, and I’m not saying she will be my forever. I’m just saying that last night went amazing, and I’m already looking forward to going out with her again. I’m sure she’s going to agree to another night out, I just don’t want to freak her out with coming on too strong.”
“Did you at least fuck her?” Nick asked. “I was teasing about the three way or anything with your patient, but on a serious note, I really do want to know if you got any from Harper.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I was totally down for it, but she stopped me from going into the house with her when I dropped her off after. Said she wasn’t that kind of girl.”
“I appreciate it when they do that up front,” Nick said. “You know? Like tell you right up front they’re not going to give you some that night, giving you the option to pick whether you want to shoot the shit or head out.”
“Right, I would rather know up front that I wasn’t going to be getting any before going in after the date night, but if she had told me that I wasn’t going to be sleeping with her, but let me in anyway, I would have gone inside in a heartbeat. I didn’t even care that there was a list of things for me to do today.”
“Not too long,” Nick said, and I nodded.
“That was the only reason why I stayed out with her as late as I did – then tried to see if she would let me come inside with her,” I said.
“Or inside of her, depending on how lucky you got,” he replied with a wink, and I laughed.
“Good play on words, I’ll give you that,” I said. “I just have to say, I’m blown away with how last night went. I thought I would be going out with both of them, and I wound up with one of the best dates I’ve gone on in a long time.”
“I’m happy for you,” Nick said. “I’ve been wondering if the day would ever come when you would find someone to settle down with. Or just go out with, I don’t even care if you fucking settle down.”
I laughed.
“I really could say the same thing to you. You’re the one who’s always got some new interest before I even realize you lost interest in the last one.”
“I like to explore. It’s nice to know what your options are, you know?” he asked.
“I don’t think being a man whore and knowing what your options are, are quite the same thing,” I warned. “I kind of think there’s a big difference, actually.”
“Oh, come on, I’m not a man whore. I just like to use what assets I have to get the ladies. And I don’t know how I could possibly decide at this age which is the right one for me for the rest of my life. Damn. Like, really. How the hell is anyone supposed to figure that out before they’re like fifty?” he asked.
“I’m not saying you have to get married. I’m just saying that you’re just as unsettled in your life as I am in mine. I might not go out on many dates, but I don’t think you’re any closer to meeting the right one than I am with your method of dating, either,” I said.
He nodded. At least he knew he had issues with things, and he wasn’t going to argue with me over it. Then again, I was in a good enough mood after how the night before had gone, I wasn’t going to be brought down by anything. Nick didn’t make a habit of tearing me down anyway. The fact that we were best friends let us have that kind of relationship.
But, I still preferred to let my mind dwell on Harper and the night that we’d had together than thinking about how this could go wrong. I wanted to ask her out again, and I decided to do that sooner rather than later. I didn’t know how much time she had to go out on dates, or if she had other suitors in her life, either.
The fact that her mother had been the one to bring us together didn’t give me anything to go on with her, and all I knew right now was what I had been able to learn from her the night before. And I didn’t learn as much about her as I would have liked.
She didn’t tell me whether she was seeing anyone else, or if she was looking for something in her life right now. Knowing that her mother had been through the health issues that she had told me that Gwen would be likely to try to take matters into her own hands if she wanted grandkids.
I never asked Harper where she saw herself in ten years, or how things were going for her in the dating world. I just wanted to focus on the time we had together and what she liked to do in life. Now, as I had nothing but time ahead of me, I wanted to know if I was the only one in the running for being her suitor.
I knew it wasn’t healthy to think that the only way you could have a chance with someone was if there weren’t any other options around, but still. I had always been so focused on my work that I hadn’t thought about what life would be like if I were to settle down with someone.
Harper, however, fit the bill of the kind of person I would want to be with if I did find someone to settle down with. She was funny, attractive, outgoing, and I found that I just felt drawn to her.
I had to call her later today. I didn’t know yet what to talk about, but I would find something, even if I just asked her how her day was going. I had to show her early on that I was interested in this, and I wasn’t going to let it go by the wayside because I didn’t put in the effort to show her that I cared.
I could have spent the entire shift talking to Nick about what I liked about Harper, but I had to get to my rounds.
Mrs. Elliot was the patient I had first that morning, and I was glad. She hadn’t wanted to have surgery, but it was really the only way to get rid of the last bout of cancer she’d dealt with. I had done the surgery myself, and I was confident we had every last bit out of her body.
