“I was wondering if you’d mind very much if I came up early.”
“Early?”
“Yeah, like in the afternoon. Would that be okay?”
“That would be great.” My belly suddenly warms. “I’d love that.” I wish he would’ve said tonight.
“You’re sure? I don’t want to wear out my welcome or anything.”
Like that could ever happen! “No I’m positive. And the invitation is still open for you to stay here if you’d like. I hate for you to have to pay for a hotel room. And Jenna doesn’t mind.”
“I was going to ask you that. If it’s okay with you both, then I’ll take you up on your offer.”
“That’ll be fine. Great actually.” Oh my god. He’s going to spend the night here! I end up squeezing the phone so hard; it pops out of my hand and drops to the floor, lost in those lusty thoughts. I have to scramble to pick it up. “What’s that?”
“So is lunch time too early, like say one?”
“Not at all. That’s perfect. Oh, and thanks for my Sasquatch. I’ll sleep with it tonight.” I laugh.
“I never thought I’d be jealous of a stuffed animal.”
“Strange things happen in life, Drew.”
“They certainly do. So tell me how your week’s been.”
“Crazy. What about yours? I don’t know much about what a doctor does.”
“I spend a lot of time at the clinic seeing patients. Then I have hospital hours and rounds. It was a good week. But I want to know about you. What do you like to do in your spare time?”
I laugh. Hard. “When I get any, I run. That’s pretty much my go to. I like to squeeze a run in whenever I can, although I don’t do it as much as I’d like. It’s weird, but it helps me think. If I ever get writer’s block, a run usually breaks me out of it.”
“I knew we’d have something in common. I love to run, too.”
“Yeah, I remember you mentioning running that night at dinner. You lift weights, too.”
“Do you?”
“No, sadly.”
“Do I sense your face scrunching up?”
How in the hell did he know that? “You got me.”
“Why not weights?”
“I hate to count.”
“Cate, that makes no sense. You’re majoring in accounting.”
As soon as he says it, we both crack up. “I can see it now. Cate Forbes, the accountant who hates to count. Want me to make you a sign? It could say, ‘Cate Forbes, CPA. I Hate Counting’!”
“That really is bad, isn’t it? I’m going to suck.”
Suddenly, we’re both quiet, but then his voice comes to me and he says, “Uh, I could say something to that comment, but I think I’ll refrain.”
Again, I get those warm shivers and goosebumps erupt all over my skin. “Hmmm. I’m not sure what to say now.”
“Then let me do the talking. Can I just say I’m really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow?”
“So am I.”
“I’d better go. A text just came through from the hospital.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. And be safe driving.”
“Always. Have a nice evening, Cate.”
I stand there, cradling my phone.
“If you could only see the smile on your face,” Jenna says, interrupting my thoughts. “My girl Cate, I do believe you have it bad for that man.”
Do I? I’m not sure because I have no comparators. I can’t count dickwad. He never evoked deep feelings, other than humiliation. There have been others that I’ve dated, but none of them even stick out as memorable. It sounds like I’m a loser, now that I think of it, but it’s only that no one ever captured my attention. Not until Drew.
“He certainly has my attention, I’ll give him that much.”
“Will you give him more? I’ve never seen you interested enough to be concerned about your girlie bits. In all honesty, Cate, I wondered a time or two if you batted for the other team.”
“What?” Oh my god! I can’t believe she said that.
“Don’t get mad about it. But damn, you get hit on all the time, but never take anyone up on it.”
She does have a valid point. “I don’t because none of them interested me. Well, there was dickwad.”
“Yeah, and I thought after him, since that was such a disaster, that maybe he pushed you to the other side.”
I can’t believe Jenna thought that. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
She picks up a chunk of her hair and twirls it. “I figured you were trying to work it all out.”
“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m a man fan. Until I met Drew, I never ran across anyone that fired me up. Maybe I’m too picky.” That’s what I’ve always thought anyway.
She shoots me a sly smile. “Well, Drew has certainly stoked the fires enough for you to buff Louise up.”
“Okay, no more Louise talk. That’s something only for me to know.”
“You like him a lot, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I had more fun on that date than I’ve ever had with anyone.”
“Including me?” She winks.
“Different kind of fun, Jenna.”