Page 32 of Mountain Freedom
“Ohhh,” Allison whispered. “Someone has a crush on you.”
I just laughed and gave my order to the girl at the counter. “And whatever she wants,” I said, gesturing to Allison.
The girl hesitated. “I think I can only give you yours for free.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “But I’m paying for hers.”
“You don’t have to do that, Jackson,” Allison protested.
I shook my head, feeling annoyed that Luna had comped mine but not Allison’s. I’d rather it have been the other way around or not get comped at all. Luna had always been nice, but her behavior tonight confused me. “I get to eat for free more often than you’d think, and sometimes I’d rather pass it on to someone else.”
Allison hesitated. “Okay. If you’re sure. But I’m getting yours next time.”
“Not necessary.” I passed my card to the girl checking us out. “Order whatever you want,” I said, turning back to Allison. “I just saw my favorite table open up, and I’m going to grab it before someone else does.”
Allison laughed. “Okay. Be there in a sec.”
Chapter Thirteen
Allison
I gavethe girl my order and retrieved Jackson’s card, then went in search of him. He was seated at a corner table in one of the front rooms.
“So why is this your favorite table?” I asked as I dropped into the chair across from him.
“Because,” he said, lifting his hand to point at the wall behind him with his thumb. “I’ve got a wall at my back. I can see the side entrance from this window”—he pointed at the window to his right—“and when someone walks in the front, this wall pretty much hides me from their view. I can see them, but not vice versa. It’s a great tactical position.”
I stared at him for a second before bursting into laughter. “Wow. That’s definitely a cop answer. I thought it would be something like how it has the most comfortable chairs, or the best lighting, or how you always get lucky if you take a date to this table.”
Jackson winked. “I don’t need a special table to get lucky.”
“I bet you don’t. In fact,” I said, raising my eyebrows, “I’m pretty sure you could get lucky just by walking upstairs right now.” I laughed to let him know I was teasing, even though truthfully I was feeling an odd jealousy.
Odd because I had never felt any kind of jealousy when fellow residents would flirt with Mike. Jackson and I weren’t romantically involved, I definitely didn’t have the right to feel this way. But it had started the moment Luna had staked her claim on him, and this conversation was making it ten times worse.
Jackson had the decency to blush. “Just so you know, Luna and I have never—”
I interrupted him. “You don’t owe me any explanations. We’re friends, right? What you do is your business.” Even if it was making me feel something I had no right to feel.
“Right,” Jackson said, clearly uncomfortable as well. “But still. Luna and I have always just been friends. Completely platonic.”
“So no girlfriend then? I mean, clearly. That was a stupid question,” I stammered. “If you had a girlfriend, you wouldn’t be out with me. Plus, you already told me you don’t do relationships.” I felt mortified. Why was I suddenly acting so awkward? I needed to shake this off.
“No, no girlfriend,” Jackson said slowly. “What about you? Do you have someone back in Memphis?”
I bit my lip. “No. Not anymore.”
“What happened?”
I took a deep breath. “Well. We haven’t exactly talked about why I ended up here, but here’s the short version. I was up for a position with the hospital system where I did my residency. Only, the department chief expected me to sleep with him in order to get the job.”
“What?” Jackson’s jaw dropped.
“Yeah. Obviously, I refused. Then I made the mistake of threatening him with HR.” I sighed. “It was stupid. I should have known he had way too much power for that. He threatened to destroy my reputation and make me unhireable in Memphis.” I shook my head, still feeling the disbelief of how it had all worked out. “My boyfriend at the time—Mike—actually told me I should have just done it. He apparently knew what was going to happen at the interview and didn’t even warn me.”
Jackson blinked like he was having trouble comprehending my words. “I’m sorry, did you say your boyfriend actually wanted you to sleep with a superior to get a job?”
I nodded. “Yeah, he did. Turns out, the reason I only saw Mike once every couple of weeks was because he was also dating the daughter of a different department chief. I had no idea until that day.”
