Page 49 of Doctor Enemy

“What?” Cara leans forward, hooking one of the scrunchies around my wrist with the tip of her pointer finger and tugging. “Why the hell would you turn him down?”

“Because I don’t want to just be another name on his wall,” I say.

For a moment, Jackson looks torn. He’s clearly trying to figure out how involved in this he wants to get. In the end, his loyalty to his friendship with Kurt wins out. “He doesn’t normally ask people out for a date,” he points out.

My cheeks grow even hotter. I blurt out, “And he’s a lot older than I am. Olivia says that’s really weird.”

Jackson laughs. I don’t think that I’ve ever heard him do that before. The corners of his eyes crease up at the edges. “Is that why you told him no?”

My shoulders bounce in a shrug. Cara snickers, too.

I demand, “Why is that so funny?” Parroting Olivia, I say, “There’s like an eighteen-year difference between us. That’s a lot. He’s practically—”

“Old enough to be your father?” Giggles Cara.

“You know, my wife is about your age,” says Jackson.

My eyes go wide. “God, I wasn’t trying to offend you! I didn’t mean anything by that.”

I’m still trying to figure out how to backpedal on my comment when Jackson waves a hand at me. “The point I was making is just that… It doesn’t really matter, does it? Not if you’re happy together. If you want my opinion, Kurt seems to be genuinely interested in you. I haven’t seen him act this way over a woman before. Ever.”

My heart skips a beat. “Really?”

“Yes,” says Jackson.

Cara adds, “If you want to know my opinion on things, Olivia is just kind of a prude. That’s why she got all twisted up over how old he was. That—” She grins, hopping off of the counter. “Or she’s got a thing for an older guy herself, and she just doesn’t know how to deal with it. Then you come along, and she gets to use you as an excuse for her own inaction.”

“Maybe,” I say, still feeling a little doubtful.

“Either way, it doesn’t matter,” Jackson says. “Because Olivia isn’t the one that Kurt asked out. You are. And that means the only one whose opinion should be taken into account here isyours.”

Chapter seventeen

Kurt

Myroundsareroutine.

A bandage change in one room. A pre-surgery checkup in another.

There’s nothing overtly pressing at the moment, which is both a relief and an irritation.

No one likes the risky cases that can turn south fast, but this whole mundanity means that there’s also nothing around to help distract me from my relationship troubles.

Can they even be called relationship troubles?

Lori’s been back at work for three days now and has had pretty much nothing to say to me. It should make me furious. Or it should make me write her off. But instead, I’ve found myself just unable to stop thinking about her.

It wasn’t a fling. It wasn’t a one-night stand.

At least, not to me.

It’s frustrating. Women, I’m good at. Flirting, I’m a fucking pro. Dating? Yeah, not my strong suit.

Maybe that’s why, when I step into the doctors’ lounge at three in the afternoon and spot her sitting in front of the TV, I just can’t help but change course and head over to her.

“Lori.” I brace a hand on the back of the couch, a smile on my face. “Is the Food Network all that you watch?”

She tilts her head back to look at me. “I mean, I’ve got to havesomethingaround that reminds me there’srealfood out there.”

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