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In her heart, she knew it was only a matter of time before they did.
That was of little consolation to the ache in her chest when she whispered, “I should probably get going.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I should, too. I’m on call tonight.”
Pulling the telescopic handle on her suitcase, he took the bag from her and picked up his duffle and walked out of the room, then dropped them by the bench at the door.
“Let’s say goodbye to everyone.”
They found Whitney and Steven in the kitchen, along with a crying Yvette and a frazzled Hope who was trying to console her friend.
Dakota cocked her head in an unspoken question.
“James just left,” Hope explained.
Yvette wiped her eyes while she attempted to laugh. “I didn’t think it would be this hard to say goodbye.”
Dakota felt Aiden’s stare but refused to look at him; instead, she patted Yvette’s biceps. “You’ll be together again before you know it.”
“You really think so?”
“Of course. The Universe has your back.”
Dakota didn’t know if she was offering that to Yvette, Aiden, or herself.
Maybe all three,
She didn’t add, “If it’s for your higher good,” because that would be a shitty thing to say to the woman who was grieving the absence of her new love.
They thanked Steven and Whitney, then said their goodbyes to the group. Aiden walked her to her SUV and stowed her luggage in the back. As he pulled her into a final embrace, she felt the tears sting her eyes.
“I had the best weekend I’ve had in a really, really long time,” he murmured against her hair.
“Me, too.”
He pulled away and planted a soft kiss on her lips before opening her car door for her.
She got in, but before closing the door, he bent down to kiss her chastely one more time, then reluctantly pulled away.
“I’ll see you soon, Sunshine.” With a wink, he added, “The Universe has my back.” He closed her door, tapped her hood, and walked away, just as her tears began to fall.
Crying all the way back to Boston, she reminded herself she was simply a conduit for him to open up for a relationship. It wouldn’t be with her. As the tears continued to fall, she could only imagine how upset she’d be if they’d been in a relationship and broke up—which would be inevitable. And that was exactly why if they saw each other again, they’d just have to keep it casual.
No problem.
But even as she thought it, she knew it would definitely be a problem.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dakota
“We’re almost sold out,” Whitney’s voice echoed off the cabinets in Dakota’s kitchen. She had her friend on speaker phone as she peeled and prepped potatoes for dinner with Chloe, Todd, and Asher.
“That’s great news!”
“After word got out that Boston General bought a table, Ranier Pharma purchased one, and it just snowballed from there.”
Dakota laughed as she scraped the diced potatoes from the cutting board into the pot of boiling water on the stove. “Ah, the FOMO effect.”
