Page 39 of Her Braun
He even folded his far leg over the near one to make it impossible for her to crawl over him to freedom.
The doctor, dressed in a suit coat that was likely a size too small, held out his hand. “Hello there.”
Smiling, or at least she thought she was, she grasped the tips of his fingers in a shake and pulled her hand away before he could get a better hold on her. “Hello.”
He looked at his empty hand and back at her face for a moment before he realized that he’d gotten all he was going to get in the way of a handshake.
Kay had a vague hope that he’d get the picture and move on.
Right.
Ha Ha.
The world was laughing at her in her head, and she wondered who she had ticked off to get hit with this kind of karma. She wasn’t all that much of a superstitious person, but she didn’t break any mirrors, nor did she walk under ladders.
Maybe it was something she’d done in a past life or something. What did they say in that Indigo Girls song?
“So, I see that you’re single.”
Kay stared at him, wide-eyed and stunned. “What?”
He gestured at her hand. “No ring.”
“What does that have to do with the price of eggs?” she wondered aloud.
“Eggs?” He shook his head. “I’m not an OB/GYN. But I do know how all of that stuff works down there.”
His gaze was more of a leer, and she knew she really needed a drink before she socked him in the eye.
He continued on. “I mean, you could be engaged, but then I would see a lighter skin ring around your finger. That wouldn’t mean that it’s a deal breaker though.” He leaned in and almost touched his shoulder to hers. “I mean, I’m not from Chicago. Are you?”
Someone stopped on the other side of the table and cleared their throat. Kay looked up and saw a waiter with a harried but pleasant expression on his face. “Good evening, folks. Sorry for the wait but wow, it’s busy in here. May I get you two some drinks?”
Kay sat up and stared at the waiter like he’d come down from heaven on a cloud. “Yes! Thank you.”
As the waiter started to explain the exclusive craft cocktails available at Vol. 39, the doctor beside her cut him off. “The lady will have a Cosmo, and I’ll have another Scotch.” He waggled the glass back and forth as if the gesture itself would refill the glass.
The waiter’s smile looked pained, but her captor didn’t seem to notice… or even care to notice.
“Hop to! Come on!” He even tossed his credit card on the man’s tray with a larger-than-life wink.
The waiter tried to interject and looked at Kay.
She shrugged in surrender.
She had no interest in making the waiter suffer the other doctor’s wrath and really, a Cosmo would be fine. It wasn’t her drink of choice, but at that point ANY drink would hit the spot.
As the waiter disappeared, the oblivious doctor started in again.
“You haven’t asked my name,” his grin was beaming, “so I’m guessing that you know me from the awards ceremony at the last conference.”
“Uh,” she weighed her options and came up empty, “actually, I wasn’t at the last conference, my coworker Doctor Ash-”
“Well, it’s perfectly fine,” he simpered, “I can just introduce myself to you, privately.”
Oh god, no.
He leaned his arm against the high back of the banquette bench and lowered his voice to a raspy almost-whisper. “I’m Doctor Macmillan. Doctor McMichael Macmillan.”
