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“My roommates work for guys like you,” she said. “I live in Reboot.”
My eyebrows arched. Reboot was one of the top condo options in downtown Pleasure Valley. It was a multipurpose building, complete with office spaces and shopping on the bottom floors. I’d love to live there, but it was tough to get in. She’d said she had roommates, so that might explain it. But even split, the rent had to be pricey.
“Guys like me?” I asked.
“Guys who promise to automate mundane tasks so people like me can concentrate on what’s important,” she said. “Next thing we know, we’re being laid off due to restructuring.”
She rolled her eyes and resumed eating, like what she’d said wasn’t bothering her. Like she wasn’t talking about her very livelihood.
“You do more than just greet people and check them in, though,” I said. “You pull files, handle billing, that sort of thing, I’m sure. There’s more to being a medical receptionist than checking in patients.”
“I do what I can legally, but I’m not certified for billing and coding.” She took a deep breath. “Dr. Maloney has said she’ll pay for my classes, and I can even do a lot of it online. I just—”
I mulled that over as I enjoyed the smooth buttery flavor of the bite of roll I’d just taken. She wasn’t lazy or irresponsible. I could tell that by looking at her. If she wasn’t interested in furthering her education, there was a good reason for it.
“I have serious test anxiety,” she said, turning to look at me. “There. I said it out loud. I can study for days, weeks even. But when I get that pen and piece of paper in front of me on the desk, I freeze up. Online is worse since it’s usually timed. I know it’s to keep people from cheating, but I just can’t operate under that kind of pressure.”
“Have you thought about talking to someone?” I asked.
“You mean mentioning it to the people I work with every day who are experts on dealing with something like this?” She laughed. “They could even prescribe medication, I’m sure. I’ve never told anyone. Not even my roommates.”
But she was telling me. It should make me all nervous, having her confide in me like this. I usually ran at the first hint a woman might want me for anything more than fun.
Now I got it. I understood for the first time in my life why men gave up their single lives for a woman.
“I can help you,” I said.
What was I talking about? I knew nothing about test anxiety, and I’d been out of college more than a decade. Sometimes I thought about returning to school for my masters, but the idea of going through all that again turned me off immediately.
“You can?” Taylor’s eyes were wide as she stared at me. “You would?”
She’d just taken the last bite of her roll, again reminding me that I’d neglected mine. It was probably cold by now. I didn’t care. This was more important.
“How do you feel about Christmas parties?” he asked.
Her eyes were still wide as she looked at me again. Yeah, the question surprised me as much as her. I’d dreaded tonight for weeks. The thought of having her by my side suddenly had me looking forward to it.
“Ultra Bright Technologies is having a Christmas party,” I said. “The owner’s a good friend of mine.”
“Harley Baxter’s dad is a good friend of yours?” she asked.
Harley Baxter? Oh yeah, that was the woman who had shown up at the restaurant when I was having lunch with Reed last week.
“We went to college together,” I said.
“His daughter’s one of my closest friends.”
Crap, this woman was young. She was the same age as Reed’s daughter. Not that I had anything against dating women in their early twenties. I wasn’t all that picky when it came to the women I dated. If they were hot, had somewhat of a brain, and were into me, I could work with it.
Taylor wasn’t those women, though. No way could I just sleep with her and forget her. I wasn’t even sure I could not sleep with her and forget her. That was an unfamiliar feeling for me these days.
“Then you’ll know someone at the party,” I said. “What do you say?”
I was surprisingly invested in her response. If she said no, tonight would be miserable. I’d spend the entire time thinking about how she wasn’t by my side. If she said yes, I’d spend the rest of the afternoon trying to focus on work and forgetting I had a date with the most intriguing woman I’d ever seen. A woman with tempting curves and beautiful green eyes that I could get lost in for days.
“I’d love to,” she said. “What time do you want me to meet you there?”
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