Page 27 of A Discovery: Love and Other Things

Dr. James Fucking Campbell.

He was the picture of casualness as he leaned back in his chair. The dark button-down that he wore fit him like a glove, highlighting his broad chest and thick arms. Those deep lines that I’d believed had been permanently etched onto his forehead at birth were gone. Instead, he donned a careless smile, the kind that a person wore when they were with someone they genuinely enjoyed—the kind that I had never had the privilege of witnessing.

He wasn’t alone, either. A woman with long, dark hair, smooth like her perfect fair skin and glossy like onyx, sat across from him. The delicate fingers of her right hand propped her chin up, displaying her firecracker-red nails as she seemed fixated on his every word. Even though their table was at the far end of the T-shaped room, the blueness of her eyes glimmered across the distance to taunt me.

She seemed older than Dr. Campbell, maybe by ten years or so, but looked like one of those famous socialites you would see inVoguewho held lavish balls only open to the elite.

“What ishedoing here?” I huffed out, turning back to Felipe.

Felipe lifted his beer glass in Dr. Campbell’s direction before taking a swig. “Looks like he’s on a hot date.”

Blood bubbled under my skin. This wasn’t part of the plan. Dr. Campbell was only supposed to think Felipe and I were getting closer, not have a front-row view of our night out, let alone enjoy a romantic night out of his own with the prettiest woman in town! This was even more embarrassing than his rejection post-window-humping!Ugh!

I glanced back at him again. Maybe he wouldn’t notice us. I mean, he was tucked away in the corner with his eyes glued to the gorgeous creature in front of him. He wouldn’t have to pass by us to leave the pub. At least I could preserve a bit of my dignity.

I turned around just in time for the waitress to check on us.

My hand went to my still nearly full glass, and I tipped the entire contents down my throat in four large gulps. Felipe and the waitress gaped at me as I slammed my empty glass down onto the table. “I’ll take another.”

***

Three beers and lots of undercover spying later, I was teetering on the wire between tipsy anddownright drunkity drunk.

I tried to focus on the words that were spilling out of Felipe’s mouth, something about stealing his dad’s car...or uncle’s car...or neighbor’s car...someone’scar.It was probably a funny story, but all I could think about were the two love birds behind me.

Just a week ago, Dr. James Campbell, archaeologist extraordinaire, had been two seconds away from fucking me against a window for the entire town to see, and here he was on a date with a goddamn model. I bet he hadn’t even given me a second thought when he picked her up tonight. She’d probably wrapped her legs around his hips to greet him as soon as she opened the door. She seemed like the type...like a daddy longlegs ready to sink her fangs into him.

And now, they were all cozy together, talking as if they were reciting the entire Merriam-Webster dictionary, when Dr. Campbell had always seemed like he was conserving his word count with me. What did Miss Pretty Face have that I didn’t that made him so interested? There was no way she could have looks to killanda winning personality. God just didn’t work that way. You got one or the other. It was against the law of the land to have both!

Who was I kidding, getting jealous over a woman this mature? I was a student whose life involved eating pasta shaped like farm animals out of a can while pulling all-nighters just to learn half as much as Dr. Campbell knew. He fit better with a woman like her.

“Kitty?”

I swung back around rather clumsily to find Felipe—a rather blurry version of Felipe that wouldn’t stop swaying—staring expectantly at me with the waitress at his side.

“Huh?” I croaked.

His forehead creased. “I asked if you wanted to order anything else before I paid the check.”

My teeth were on full display in as earnest of a smile as I could muster. “Oh...no, thank you.”

I felt horrible that I’d ignored Felipe for most of dinner. He had been so kind to take me out and pay for my meal even when it wasn’t meant to be a date.

“Are you okay, Kitty? You seem a little...distracted.” His concern made me feel even worse.

I waved him off. “I’m fine. I think the beers went to my head, is all.” I hadn’t drunk like this in a while, and I was already a lightweight with alcohol. The beers were definitely clouding my judgment, and testing my bladder. “I do need to use the restroom before we head out.”

“Sure.” Felipe stood up as I left the table, like a true gentleman. Guilt gnawed at my conscience as I walked in the opposite direction of Dr. Campbell’s table to the bathrooms.

My bladder was much happier after I drained it, though. Too bad it wasn’t the only thing that was drained. A deeply frustrated woman stared back at me in the mirror over the sink. This wasn’t me, the type of person to blatantly ignore a friend or to obsess over a guy who clearly didn’t want me. I needed to get a hold of myself.

I turned the faucet on and worked the crystal-blue hand soap into a silky lather between my palms. After rinsing them off, I reached for a paper towel and held it under the stream of water.

Moving my mass of untamable hair from my neck, I pressed the cloth to my skin. The cool water revived me, bringing me back to my senses.

One step at a time, Kitty.

First thing’s first. I was going to walk out there and apologize to Felipe for my inattention. It was the least I could do after ruining the perfect night out that he had planned for us.

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