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“Of course.”
She gestured at my plate and lapsed into silence (other than her Darth Vader impression). Cooling off wouldn’t improve this dinner, that was for sure. After another urging, I finally started in on my food.
“You don’t actually have to stay and watch me eat,” I said after a few bites.
“You’re not going to pay me?” She pretended to pout.
The idea landed wrong with me.
Because I didn’t want to pay her to spend time with me. I looked forward to seeing her because it seemed like she wanted to be here. Not because I was now a job duty or a medical oddity or a novel experience to gawk at.
But because she cared about me. Not my money, not my family, not my name—just me.
Was that really why she was here?
She couldn’t have put on the breathing apparatus for funsies. I glanced at her suit between bites. “I’d suggest you could slip into something more comfortable,” I said, “but you beat me to the punch.”
“Yeah, no,” she admitted. “This is claustrophobic, hot, gross, and this is the biggest oxygen tank we have.”
I craned my neck as if to peer at her back where the apparatus would be, hidden inside her suit.
Cassie smirked. “Yes, that’s what that is. I’m not just suddenly developing acute kyphosis.”
I raised an eyebrow, and she filled in the blank. “Medical term for a hunchback.”
“Oh, I thought you were cosplaying anAmong Uscrewman.”
“No, not until Halloween.”
Did I dare take that to mean she was here because she wanted to be?
I finished off the first piece of fried chicken, the green beans and the juice before I ventured again. “I’m sure you’re off the clock.”
“Yeah,” she acknowledged, her tone light.
“You don’t have to do that.”
She avoided my gaze. “I didn’t like the idea of you here alone all night.”
Maybe so, but we both knew she couldn’t stay that long. “What is this, a slumber party?”
“No, but I can make sure you have a nightlight.”
I let the conversation go again while I finished my second piece of chicken. “You don’t have to,” I finally said, wiping my fingers on the paper napkins.
Her eyes found mine. Even in the shadows cast inside her hazmat suit, I could see their unique golden brown shade. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“It’s okay. I’m used to it.” That did not come off quite as casually as I’d hoped, but I didn’t want her to stay because she thought I was pitiful. I was not pitiful, and if she stayed, it should be because she wanted to.
“Sounds lonely.”
That was the last thing I wanted her to think. “Oh, I’m not lonely, definitely not. I mean, what do you think I do every night?” The joke died in the air. “Work,” I finally added, my tone light and false. “And work out.”
“I can tell.”
Her eyes dropped to my chest, and I recalled the first time I was in short-sleeved scrubs in front of her, how her gaze lingered on my arms. That was better—left my impeccable façade intact. It was more than a little gratifying, too, but before I could flirt or tease her, she asked, “Are you sure I can’t call someone to let them know you’re here?”
“The only person who needs to know is my PA, but I don’t have his number memorized.” He was also the only person outside this room who cared, and I’d never even met the man in person. Without access to my phone or email, I had no way of finding him again, either. “If you can get access to my phone, I could use Luke’s contact information.”
