Page 43 of Ten Day Affair
I grab my phone off the bed and hit call.
"Can't get enough of me?"
“He invited me to dinner. At his house...”
She sucks in a breath. “Shut up.”
“I ran into him at the hospital after surgery. It caught me off guard, and I said yes before I could think better of it.”
“That was the only logical response. I'm proud of you.”
“And then immediately regretted it.”
“No regrets.”
“I just, I don’t know. Are you sure I should be throwing caution to the wind like this? I don't think rationally when I'm around him.”
“He’s here for a finite amount of time, nerd. You’re single. He’s hot. And you’ve already seen each other naked. This is not a high-risk scenario. Hot sex can just be hot sex.”
“Then why is it making me into a crazy person?”
"That's not him. You've always been crazy."
I sigh. “This is a bad idea.”
Arden lowers her voice. “Just go. Eat, drink, and enjoy him. And if it leads to more, well, I won’t be mad at a midnight play-by-play.”
I laugh, but the nerves still tingle under my skin. I thank her and hang up.
Inside, the navy dress waits on my bed.
I stare at it for a few seconds, then pull the towel from my hair and start getting ready.
It’s not a date.
It’s a damn problem.
TEN
Cole
The steak and pasta are done. Bread’s warming in the oven. The table’s set. It's nothing fancy, just two plates, a bottle of wine, and a small vase with a clipped gardenia I debated tossing twice.
I check the time. 7:59. She's always fashionably late, she said, so I still have some time.
I run a hand through my hair and catch myself in the reflection in the glass door. My shirt’s rolled at the sleeves, open at the collar. Relaxed, but not careless.
The knock comes at eight on the dot. Shit. She's on time.
I take a breath, then open the door.
She’s standing there in a navy dress, barefoot on the mat, sandals dangling from her fingers.
“I figured heels were too much,” she says, smiling like she’s already halfway inside.
“They’d just slow you down if you needed to make a quick escape,” I say, stepping aside.
She walks in. “Is that garlic bread? It smells amazing in here.”
