Page 19 of Fool Me Once

When his laughing stops, he holds his hand out. “I’m Daniel.”

Shaking his hand, I raise an eyebrow. “What’s your last name, Daniel?” I ask, proud of myself for conversing with someone right now.

“Hawthorne,” he says, the corner of his lips turning up.

“I knew it.” I bob my head up and down, dropping my hand from his. “I knew you’d have some cool, crazy last name.”

“To keep up with Derek Shepperd, I’d have to, right?” he says, oozing so much confidence.

I almost feel bad he’s wasting any one-liners on me because—let’s be real—the real McDreamy could walk in here, and I’d still have to pass.

I mean, if McSteamy came in … all bets might be off though.

“I suppose so.” I laugh.

A few seconds pass, and once the laughter between us dies down, I’m ready to get the hell out of here. A sudden pull in my gut tells me I shouldn’t be here tonight. That I shouldn’t be talking to this random man.

As far as a lot of family and friends know … I’m still getting married in a few weeks.

Just as I’m about to tell him I have to make a phone call, clip my toenails, or do anything else to avoid talking more because we had a nice moment—which is over now—I feel a presence next to me. The most annoying thing is that I don’t have to look to know it’s Smith.

“Dr. Dan,” Smith’s voice drawls. “How’s it going? Long time, no see.”

“That’s a good thing, Sawyer.” Daniel smiles, holding his hand out and shaking Smith’s. “Means you’re not showing up in the emergency room to see me.”

Not wanting to give him the full satisfaction of looking at him, I peer at Smith from the corner of my eye to find him half cringing, half grinning as he releases Daniel’s hand.

“Shit, I feel like you just jinxed it, Doc,” he says smoothly before turning his body slightly toward mine, causing my eyes to snap back to the doctor in front of me. “Hey, Gem. Nice job pulling the surprise off for my sister.”

Of course he can’t just leave me alone.

Even though we’re about to be living together in less than twenty-four hours, he still can’t give me one last Smith-free night.

“Thank you,” I say as politely as I can muster up before giving the doctor a curt nod. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get a drink.”

“Of course. You know what? I’ll actually—” Daniel is cut off mid-sentence by none other than Smith fucking Sawyer.

“I’ll join you. I wanted to talk to you anyway,” Smith says. “Enjoy your night, Doc.”

Daniel looks between the two of us, confused, before sighing and walking away. I spin to face Smith, lifting my brows.

“Really?” I utter. “You’re cockblocking me?”

“Who, me?” He points to his chest. “Nah, Firefly. Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Rolling my eyes, I walk past him and head toward the bar. Finding an empty seat wedged between two people, I gratefully take it.

Smith steps between my stool and the guy to my right, and his voice is deep as two words roll from his lips. “Ryder, move.”

The dude looks at him, perplexed and annoyed, but when he sees me, I don’t miss the way the corner of his lips turn up. Leisurely, he slides off the stool and saunters away, leaving nothing for Smith to do besides sit directly next to me.

As he shifts around to get comfortable, the scent of his deodorant hits my nostrils. If I didn’t know him better, I would think it was cologne. But the thing about Smith Sawyer is, he hates cologne. Lucky for him, his deodorant smells good enough alone.

“There are four empty stools at the other end of the bar, Firefly. Yet you chose to sit in a spot where you thought you could get away from me.”

“Yet here you are,” I mutter, holding my hand up to the bartender when she’s about to walk by.

“What can I get you, sweetie?” she says, leaning forward on the bar.

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