Page 15 of Only This Once
“Ooh, this sounds promising. How grateful are you?” She pulled back, smiling at him again. “Are we talking lifetime slave or what?”
He wondered what expression she would show if he wholeheartedly agreed. “I—”
“Jesse?”
He froze at the woman’s voice right behind him. She shifted to his elbow, and he saw the drunk colleague from the other night. He was pretty sure her name had been Tricia. “Oh, hey,” he said, clearing his throat to remove the slight squeak.
She smiled. “Hey! I didn’t expect to see anyone here in scrubs. Did you come from work?”
Jesse thought that was too obvious to answer and didn’t want to encourage her to stay. Ants already crawled along his arms. “I came to meet up with a friend.” He nodded toward Julia.
Julia gave her a finger wave, and Tricia rolled her eyes, turning her shoulder slightly and making the ants skitter up to his neck when she leaned down toward him, her hand landing on the back of his chair near his shoulder. “You’re new, so a bit of advice? Julia Caldwell is not someone you want to associate with.”
“I’m sitting right here,” Julia said, sipping at her drink. “And didn’t I also drive you home the other night? That’s some gratitude.”
“I didn’t ask you to!” she snapped. “You butted in when Jesse had already volunteered to be the DD. I wasn’t even that drunk.” Her hand shifted, burning his shoulder when it landed there. “I just wanted to get to know you better.”
He swallowed down the constriction in his throat. “Oh, um…”
“Not that drunk?” Julia cut in, earning his gratitude since he’d had no other words to say. “I had to drag you stumbling from mycar to the door. I guess this means you don’t remember a word I said on the drive, either?”
Tricia blew out a breath and rolled her eyes. “Like I need a lecture from someone like you.” Her voice lowered into a mock whisper. “You know what she did, right?”
Jesse’s shoulder twitched. He wanted her to stop touching him. “Um, look—”
“I mean, everyone was talking about it, though I guess that was before you came. Still, you must have heard the rumors. Well, not rumors since it’s all true.” Tricia wore a floral perfume that burned his nose. Words pounded in his head. He wanted to tell her to stop talking, to not touch him, but his lips couldn’t push the words out. It was the party all over again.
He hadn’t changed at all.
Tricia’s hand was suddenly no longer on his shoulder. Julia had grabbed it, and she loomed over the other woman now, getting into her space and making Tricia back away from him.
“Go bother someone else,” Julia said, glaring. “In case you missed it, we were in the middle of something here.”
Tricia jerked free from her hold. She looked at Jesse. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said before heading toward the door.
Julia sighed as she settled into her seat. “What a piece of work.”
Jesse swallowed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for her. She was the one causing a problem.” Julia ignored the nearby patrons looking their way.
He rolled his shoulder, and her eyes slid to it. She opened her mouth, then closed it and frowned down at her drink.
“I should have been the one to say something,” he mumbled, heat gathering below his ribs in a tight ball.
“That’s not your style, and that’s okay, but…” She stared at his shoulder again before looking away and reaching for her drink.“Never mind. People should get a clue. You were obviously not interested.”
He flushed. Was he really that obvious?
Her drink reached the dregs, and she shook the ice left inside. “What she said.” She didn’t meet his eyes. “You probably have questions.”
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Jesse offered.
She shrugged. “It’s not a secret.” Her eyes shifted around the crowded café. “Maybe not here, though. Want to take your coffee to go?”
His hand closed around his cup, but he hesitated. “You really don’t owe me an explanation.”
“You should hear it from me. Come on.”
