Page 45 of The Confidentiality Clause
“You’re so cute it makes me sick with jealousy.”
“You won’t be for long.” She grins. “Dr. Cohen is going to fix you right up.”
I giggle. “I hope so. He texts me every day. Today, he sent me a photo of the sunrise on his run and said it reminded him of my smile.”
“Ohhh, he’s good.”
I nod. “And he told me his schedule for the whole week so I wouldn’t have to wonder why he wasn’t responding right away.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “He almost sounds too perfect.”
“Are you ladies talking about me while I’m gone?” Shaw comes up behind us. “I heard the word perfect.”
He wraps an arm around Sutton, the other holding on to the handle of her blue suitcase. Based on the size, it looks like she’s going to be here for a month instead of a couple of days. That’s Sutton though. She likes to be overprepared. It’s come in handy on several trips we’ve been on together, so I try not to tease her too much about it. I’m worried one day I’ll forget my hairbrush and she won’t let me borrow hers out of spite.
“We’re talking about Ariel’s new boyfriend,” Sutton says.
“Oh, the doctor. He seemed nice. Except for the whole dressing up his dogs thing.”
I sigh. “Can we please move on from that? And he’s not my boyfriend, we haven’t even been on a date yet.”
“Do you think he’ll ask you to help him pick out their costumes each day?” Shaw asks, ignoring my request. “If he did, what would you choose?”
I shoot him a glare. “You sound just like Br–” I cut myself off, then recover. “Brittany. A girl from my work.”
Sutton tilts her head to the side. “I know about Bethanne, but you’ve never mentioned a Brittany.”
I pull out a shovel and start digging the hole I’m in even deeper.
“She’s new, but super sweet. We connected right away since she’s trying to find her future husband too.”
We all start walking toward the exit. Shaw lets go of Sutton in order to lug his duffel bag and her suitcase across the airport.
“So does that mean you think Cohen is husband material?” Sutton links her arm in mine as we walk.
“I don’t know. On paper, he’s got everything right, but so have other guys in the past.”
“You need that spark. I get it.” Sutton glances over at Shaw, who winks at her.
My mind flashes to Brock holding me while one of my favorite love songs played in the background.Ugh. He’s been in my head enough lately. I should have stayed away today. We could have used the space. But when I saw a video online of this secretary pranking her boss by dancing on his desk, I couldn’t resist trying it out on Brock. Plus, I read that dancing is good for reducing stress. It was the perfect plan–until we got too close.
“I don’t know about a spark,” I say as we step into the parking garage. “I’d settle for someone reliable.”
Sutton wrinkles her nose. “Settle? My best friend isn’t going tosettlefor anything or anyone.”
“If I want a date to the gala, I might have to,” I say, even though I know I have Brock as an option. The more time we spend together, the more dangerous that idea seems. My best bet is to find a guy willing to fudge the date we met by a couple of days. Hopefully Cohen’s moral standards aren’t too far above fibbing.
“We can find you a fake boyfriend for that. I bet one of the guys on the team would do it. Wouldn’t they, Shaw?”
He shrugs. “If it didn’t happen on a game night, probably.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want that. I’d rather deal with Houston’s thinly veiled insults than fake date a stranger.”
“You could always ask Brock,” Shaw suggests. “He’s not a stranger.”
My throat goes dry. I don’t say anything.
Sutton laughs. “Yeah, I’m sure the guy who can’t bother to call us back would carve out time in his schedule for a fake date. Plus, Brock and Ariel rival us in how much they get on each other’s nerves.”
