Page 47 of Offside Attraction

He stared at the screen for another thirty seconds, and when she didn’t text back, Jordan dropped his phone into his pocket and stalked to the washroom.

Chapter

Fourteen

Rhonda

Rhonda adjusted her stance,heels digging slightly into the bland carpet. Her presentation on Reviact was polished, her tone upbeat, but her mind was elsewhere. Most notably on the full novel of text messages between her friends and Jordan.

“And that brings us to the latest clinical trials.” She clicked to the next slide. “We’re seeing a 35% reduction in relapse rates over six months. That’s significant for patients who . . . ”

Somehow she kept talking as her phone vibrated against the podium. Rhonda’s heart jumped. She hadn’t intentionally set it where she could see it.Or had she?Her pulse picked up speed when she saw the text was from “J.”

She prattled on, worried that she’d fully dissociated as her eyes flicked down to the screen. She swiped up.

J

My sister started on Reviact this week

Her chest tightened and she sucked in a breath. Before anyone noticed, she finished her sentence and scanned the room. “Questions so far?”

As the doctors stared at the screen, taking in the chart on her slide, she typed a quick reply.

I’m glad to hear it. Keep me updated

The room settled into silence again as she fielded a question about dosage adjustments. Her phone buzzed once more. Another glance.

J

Working on Mallory

She breathed a sigh of relief. After what happened between them, and especially after her friends had hounded him for hours the night before, she hadn’t worked up the courage to ask him about that favour.

Honestly, she’d been a little pissed that he wouldn’t just leave the chat alone. If he stopped responding, Anne and Tina would lose interest. Rhonda’s finger hovered over the heart reaction, but she settled on a thumbs-up, then tucked her phone away into the pocket of her dress slacks.

The rest of the week blurred into a series of meetings, small talk, and networking over coffee and catered lunches. On Thursday, Rhonda grabbed dinner at the hotel bar. Brunch that morning had been fantastic, and hunger didn’t hit her until seven o’clock.

She set her fork on her plate and waited for the bartender to notice she was finished. Reid found her first.

“Back for more, eh?”

“Always.” She smiled.

“You staying for the weekend?”

Rhonda shook her head. “Nope, heading home tomorrow,” Rhonda replied, leaning back in her chair and giving the server a wry grin. “Thought I’d soak up one last night of Edmonton’s finest hotel bar cuisine, though.”

Reid chuckled, leaning on the edge of the bar with a grin that asked, “Are you still in a serious relationship with work?” He wasn’tnotcharming. “Well you know, this is the spot for anyone with an evolved palate and a passion for sticky menus.”

“Stop it. You’ll ruin the mystique,” she deadpanned, pointing her fork at him. “How else am I supposed to pretend I’m an heiress with Daddy’s card?”

He leaned in. “Is that the game we’re playing tonight?” His smile widened. “If you want to do some damage, I happen to know the chocolate lava cake is worth its weight in gold.” He straightened and took a step back. “I could deliver it personally.”

She tilted her head, pretending to mull it over. Yes. The answer was yes. She could lick chocolate lava off Reid’s obviously toned chest and forget all about text chains and Jordan’s shoulders.Damn it, she should not have thought about Jordan’s shoulders.She wanted to be thinking about this guy—Reid, standing right in front of her. Rhonda turned to him, narrowing her eyes, willing herself to think about unbuttoning his shirt or running her hands through his tousled hair.

She bit back a groan of frustration. Nothing. All she could think about were Jordan’s scrubs and his flexing forearms as he prepared an IV. This was Anne and Tina’s fault. His initial had flashed in front of her face consistently enough to full on incept her.

She gave Reid an apologetic grin. “I think I’ll have to get it to go. The ol’ ball and chain.”

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