Page 38 of My Heart Before You

He was just being friendly.

Something deep in the center of her chest whisperedliar, but she ignored it.

Right now, she had to get off the floor and get back to work. She leaned her head back against the wall and scrubbed her face with her hands. Then she pulled the tie from her hair and carefully rebraided each strand, trying to ignore the sensation of her hair brushing against the same spot Colin had touched. Unable to keep her awareness from her neck, she let out a frustrated breath, tossed her hair out, and braided it over her other shoulder.

She could do this. She could dismiss this feeling.

She’d already been through so much; what was a little more cognitive dissonance?

?Chapter 16?

The murmur of conversation and upbeat jazz filled his ears as he opened the front door to his friends’ house. Kate had unabashedly lured him out into the freezing mid-January temperatures with an invitation for good food, drink, and company. Admittedly, he was a willing attendee of her winter dinner party since their “family dinners” had dropped off over the holidays. A lightness radiated through his body as he stepped through the threshold, and the delicious scent of beef, butter, and cooked vegetables reached his nose.

Colin left his heavy wool coat on the large portable clothing rack placed in the entry, straightened the cuffs of his dinner jacket, and made his way to the living room. He ordered a cocktail from the small bar temporarily set near the French doors. While the college-aged man in a black silk vest and bowtie stirred and garnished his Negroni, his gaze drifted to the backyard. The light spilling from the house reflected off the snow, illuminating a trio of snowmen lining the back fence. It seemed his friends were really enjoying Owen’s first winter.

Mingling with the other attendees, he chatted with people he knew and met those he didn’t; the guest list seemed like an even split of people from his work and from Kate’s. It wasn’t until their hostess stood before them in her lace, long-sleeved navy sheath dress announcing it was time for dinner that he noticed the attendees were mostly couples.

The muscles in his forearms twitched, thinking that his friend might have gone back on his word not to set him up. Once everyone was gathered at the table, however, he saw his coworker, Karen, sitting at one end and his name card resting on a gold charger at the other end of the table. A quiet breath left his lungs. Karen held up her glass in a salute of solidarity from her chair, and a smile broke from his lips, raising his glass to his fellow surgeon.

The dinner was an amazing journey for his taste buds, especially since he’d only been eating frozen dinners or hospital cafeteria food since he’d been here for Thanksgiving. The conversation only slightly outshined the food, bringing with it laughter and camaraderie he’d been missing almost as much as good flavor. After lingering over dessert and coffee, the guests started to rise and give their thanks to their hosts.

“Amazing dinner.” He leaned in to give Kate a hug before heading to collect his large winter coat.

“Thank you. I hope the other two will be as successful as this one.”

“Other two?”

“We’re going to host one every month of winter.” Kate opened the hall closet and grabbed her wallet from her purse. “Can you stay for a bit? The bar staff is finishing packing up, and I just have to pay the babysitter. It would be nice to catch up. I feel like I haven’t talked to you since the Christmas party.”

Though that was precisely the amount of time it’d been since he’d seen Kate, he didn’t mention it. “Of course.”

He and Max helped the bar company put their boxes into their van, while a teenage girl walked past them to her car just down the street. Returning to the living room, he laid his heavy coat over the back of a wingback chair before sitting. Max relaxed on the eggshell white couch opposite him.

“What restaurant did you cater from?” He leaned farther into the incredibly comfortable chair. Maybe he should let Kate’s friend decorate his condo; it’d be worth it alone if she could find him a chair just like this one.

“L’eau. I took Kate there for our anniversary.”

“It was really good, even catered. I’d imagined it's even better in person.”

“Oh, it is.” Kate flopped next to her husband, newly changed into yoga pants and a fluffy, oversized sweater. “I’m so glad tonight went well. I’ve had the idea of winter dinner parties brewing in my head for years, but finally decided to act on it. You’ll find that you lose contact with people you don’t see at work over the winter season because everyone just stays inside their own homes.”

“We all turn into little heat loving hermits, it’s true,” Max agreed, loosening his tie.

“I’m not going to lie. This is more snow than I’ve seen in my whole life, and we are only a month in. I can’t imagine it being on the ground through March.”

“Sometimes April.” She tucked her bare feet under her.

“You’re kidding.”

“Unfortunately no, my friend. I’m sure you’ve got some snow gear, but when you have another day off, you probably should buy some more. And good boots if you are going to keep walking to work every day.” Max snickered as if Colin was a mad man.

“I live a block from the hospital, of course I’m going to walk.”

His friend muttered under his breath. “We’ll see.”

“Cold sinks in fast, Colin.” Kate’s face took on a worried parental look. “Just don’t make the trek in your scrubs. Wear winter gear or snow clothes and change when you get to the OR.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.” They were, after all, veteran New Englanders, and this was his first real winter. “Thanks for the advice.”

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