Page 76 of Falling into Place
Carly:Ok, but you can’t touch me in the parking lot, either
Brooks:fine
After that, Brooks was even more antsy to get out of this damned department meeting. When it finally adjourned, Brooks and James stood to follow the flood of white coats filing out of the room.
“You gonna bring this woman tomorrow night?” James asked.
Brooks frowned. “Tomorrow?”
James gave him a look like,Come on.“The Humane Society gala? Dr. Lim’s—you know, our chief—big annual fundraiser? I know you bought a ticket, because I talked you into it and made you swear you’d come with me. Then walked you to his assistant’s office to watch you buy it.”
“Shit, I forgot all about that,” Brooks said. The whole Bachelor thing and recent hyperfixation on Carly had really thrown his schedule off. “That was back when we’d both have been going stag and would have each other to get drunk with. You’re probably bringing Aly now, aren’t you?”
James grinned. “I am. And you can bring your mystery lady.”
“Nope. Too soon.” And too public.
James’ phone buzzed. “Gotta take this.” He started walking backward with the phone in his hand. “Whether you bring a date ornot, I’d better see you there tomorrow. The chief will notice if you’re gone, and no one wants that kind of attention from their boss.”
Carly was, in fact, wearing a turtleneck, and he couldn’t help but laugh at the glower she aimed at him as she exited the building and walked toward his car.
“You still look hot,” he said when she was close enough.
“I should,” she said. “I’m sweating like a glass of iced tea in July.”
“I thought that might be the case,” he said, and held out his hand. “So I got you cold brew.”
The wrinkle between her brows smoothed out as she took the cup. She tipped it to her lips for a long sip and sighed. “Mmm. Thank you.”
“Anytime.” He leaned his hips against his Audi. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and together with the black fabric wrapped around her neck, her dangly gold earrings stood out even more. What was it about those that drove him so wild? “How’s your day?”
“Dragging,” she said, and set the cup on the hood. “Now that the end is near and I only have a few days left, typing numbers into a spreadsheet is even more boring than before.”
“Wait,” he said. “What do you mean? Did you quit?”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, I haven’t told you yet! I guess I got a little distracted last night,” she started, and the way her cheeks turned pink was adorable. “I got the promotion at Mode. They were so happy with how theLiveOKCcollaboration turned out, they offered me a full-time position. So now I literally get to do fashion all day, every day.”
Her eyes were so bright, her smile so big, and his heart so full for her, he acted on impulse. He lurched forward and wrapped her in his arms, lifting her feet off the ground. “Oh my God, Carly, that’s amazing. You deserve it. Congratulations.”
Even though her arms wrapped around his shoulders, she didn’t relax against him, and he remembered he’d promised not to touch her. He went to put her down. “Sorry.”
But when her feet touched down and he thought she’d step back, she stayed up on her toes and tightened her hold. “Just one more second,” she whispered. She lingered there in his arms for another long moment, her face buried along his collarbone. He pecked her quickly on her hair—he couldn’t help it—and gently moved away. Not another soul was around, so they were fine. Still, he wasn’t supposed to do that.
She kept her eyes down, but he saw the corners of her mouth lifted in a smile. She took two more steps back, and lifted her gaze in admonishment. “Stay there or I’m going back inside.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How’s yours? Day, I mean?”
“Not too bad. No issues with patients and my buddy James was working, too. We got to catch up a little.”
“Did you meet him at the hospital?”
“Sort of, we did residency together. He went into cardiology so we weren’t in the exact same program after that, but we still crossed paths quite a bit. It’s hard to make friends, working as much as we did, but since James was in the same boat, it was just easy with him.”
“Ah yes, the trauma bond is real.” She tipped her head, squinting at him. “Didn’t you keep in touch with any of your high school friends? You were always surrounded by people. Whenever I saw a crowd, I’d think, ‘Brooks Martin must be in there somewhere.’”
She grinned at him when she said it, beautiful and happy, and he wondered for the hundredth time how he’d ever overlooked this girl back then. His seventeen-year-old ego definitely wouldn’t have needed words like that, though. And he’d meant what he said that night on their practice date, that he wouldn’t have been good for her as a teenager.
