Page 40 of Wicked Grumpy Heart Doc

The beautiful lawyer’s response of “I want it all,” was exactly what Dakota had wanted to hear.

“So go get it.”

“I’m so glad you came this weekend,” Whitney blurted out as she wrapped her arms around Dakota’s shoulders.

“Me, too.” An image of a naked Aiden, asleep in her bed, flashed into her head, and she smiled, repeating, “Me, too.”

Whitney said she needed to get something from her bag, and Dakota made her way back to the sand.

When she appeared at the beach without Aiden, it was only natural that his friends ask where he was.

Her reply of, “He’s taking a nap,” was met with the knowing smiles she’d been expecting, but she hadn’t expected James to pipe in about Aiden working late the night before. Or why.

That got the group talking about what a great cardiologist he was, and Steven declared, “I’m saying this to all of you—if I’m ever in cardiac arrest, you better call Aiden, or there will be hell to pay.”

There was a consensus among the rest of the Boston General group that Aiden was who they wanted working on their heart, should the need ever arise.

“And he’s actually nice to his patients,” James added with a laugh.

“I think I’d pay money to see that,” Hope replied.

“He wasn’t always this grumpy, but his ex-wife did a number on him,” Steven said, then quickly glanced at Dakota as if maybe he shouldn’t have said that in front of her.

She felt the need to defend him. “I don’t think he’s been the least bit grumpy today.”

Zach grinned. “Yeah, thanks to you.”

“Oh, I doubt that.”

Steve shook his head. “No, trust me. The minute he saw you, it was like his mood instantly lightened.”

“So, we hope you’re planning on sticking around a while,” Zach said with a smirk before taking a pull of beer.

Dakota simply smiled. There was no way she could answer that truthfully, especially since they all had a pretty good idea about what the two of them had been doing.

Admitting this was just a weekend fling, wouldn’t paint her in the best light. And she respected Whitney too much to put her in an awkward position of having her new boyfriend’s friends think poorly about the person she’d invited.

Besides, Dakota got the impression Aiden didn’t like anybody knowing his business. Although she couldn’t be responsible for his friends knowing about the two of them, since he hadn’t exactly tried to be discreet.

He could figure out how to explain why they weren’t still seeing each other after this weekend.

“Is anyone hungry?” Steven asked and was met with a chorus of “Me!” and “I am!”

“Steaks all right?”

The group agreed, and Steve and Whitney disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Hope to start the next round of gossip.

“I think she’s going to be my sister-in-law.”

Zach agreed. “Yeah, I think you’re right. We’ve been best friends since our freshman year in college, and I’ve never seen him so gaga over a woman. Not that I blame him—she’s great.”

That prompted his Barbie-doll date to gasp in offense.

It didn’t faze Zach in the least. With an unapologetic shrug, he said, “It’s true. She’s freaking brilliant, not to mention gorgeous. If I would’ve thought I had a shot with her, I’d have asked her out years ago.”

For all his bravado, Dakota sensed Zach was hurting—probably even more than Aiden. He just masked it differently.

Hope turned to Dakota. “What do you think? You’re Whitney’s friend. Is she as great as she seems?”

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