Page 96 of If We Never Met

"And I'll keep your mom company," Micah said.

They cleared the plates from the table, making several trips in and out of the kitchen before she started to rinse and load the dishwasher. "I can take care of this," she told Dante, "if you want to hang with my mom and your brother."

"No. I want to hang with you." He slid his arms around her waist, nuzzling her neck until she turned her face to catch a hot kiss. "Nice," he murmured.

"It is nice, but I need to finish the dishes."

"Am I distracting you?"

"You know you are."

"Maybe I should do the dishes for you. Win you over. Your mom seems to think that men doing household tasks is just the ticket for that."

"I wouldn't take advice from my mother. She's been single most of my life, and her choices in men have never been the best. I don't think Mark will be an exception."

"She really is taken with him."

"He's definitely her favorite topic of conversation." She paused. "When I was talking to Micah, he mentioned that you're seeing Grayson tomorrow. I didn't realize it was that soon."

"It was supposed to be Thursday, but he had to change it, because he has to be back in Denver that day."

"Are you worried about it?"

"There's nothing I can do, so whatever it is, it is."

"That's very Zen-like."

He made a face at her. "I'm not feeling Zen, but I can't predict what the diagnosis will be, so I just have to wait."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's not a problem. I'm hoping for the best, but we'll see. I've only been in rehab for a week, so it may be too early for a definitive answer. If there has been good progress, that will be something I can work from."

"Does it feel like you've made progress?"

"It does, but whether or not I can throw a ninety-mile-an-hour fastball is another story."

"I hope you get good news."

"Thanks. So, I'll see you tomorrow night?"

She grimaced. "I forgot I'm having Hannah and all the bridesmaids to the shop after closing tomorrow. I'm doing final fittings and then we're going to get dinner. I could possibly meet you later. Unless you want to wait and see what Grayson says…"

"No. Whatever he says about my shoulder has nothing to do with us. You can come by as late as you want. I'll be at the inn. And I'll be very prepared this time, so if you can spend the night…"

"I can do that." She smiled and leaned into another long, sexy kiss that made her wish it was already tomorrow.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dante hadan MRI in the morning, followed by his normal rehab session, with a quick break for lunch and then an afternoon workout. It was close to four when he went to meet with his surgeon, Dr. Grayson Cole. Grayson was tall, with dark hair and blue eyes. He wore a white physician's coat over tan slacks and a light-blue shirt. They shook hands, and then Grayson asked him to sit on the exam table.

"How's it going?" Grayson asked.

"That's what I'm here to find out. I assume you spoke to the therapists." He had no time or energy for small talk. He was feeling too tense for that.

"I have spoken to your therapists. I also have the results of your MRI, but before we get into all that, I want to do an examination, so I can make my own assessments."

"I'm ready." He didn't like the fact that Grayson didn't want to give him the results of the MRI. He tried not to make anything of it. Worrying wouldn't change anything.

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