Page 32 of Devoted

Still slightly dazed and confused, I decide to keep the game going. Brushing my hair from my face, I fake pretension as if Brooks didn’t just make me forget my own name for a second. “Well, then. If that’s all you needed, Dr. Bennet, I’d better be going.”

“Have dinner with me,” he blurts, before standing tall and matching the confidence in his words.

“Dinner?”

“Yes. A proper date. I promised you that.”

“You did?”

“Uh… I think I did?” He contemplates as I giggle behind my hand. “Well, even if I didn’t, I want to take you out. Please.”

“Okay. When?”

“Well, I know we both have Thursday off. Are you free?”

“Are you stalking my schedule now?” My hands find my hips as I shoot him a flirtatious glare.

“No. I’d like to think of it as research.”

I bite my lip while I shake my head at him. “You’re good, Dr. Bennet.”

“Yeah? Then you’ll go?”

I tip my head back and forth, looking up at the ceiling as if I’m thinking about my answer when I knew what my response would be before he ever asked me. “Yeah, I guess. I mean… I have nothing else to do.”

His lips spread wide and reveal that lethal smile framed by day-old scruff. “Well, thanks for the pity then.”

“No problem.”

“I’ll text you tomorrow and let you know details and stuff, alright?” He closes the distance between us again and tips my chin up to look at him.

“Sounds good.” With a soft press of his lips, he releases me and then guides me to the door.

“I’ll go out first, just in case anyone’s out there.” I laugh, loving how seriously he’s taking this. I don’t feel like he’s hiding me in the slightest, as if he were ashamed. But I appreciate his desire for discretion as we navigate this blossoming relationship.

“Okay. Have a good rest of your shift,” I offer before he opens the door and slips out, leaving me smiling from ear to ear and hot and bothered, desperate to touch him more in just a few days.

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