Page 6 of Blind Date with a #Doctor
I don’t even hesitate. “Yes, Carter, I am.” And I mean it.
For the first time in a long time, I’m not thinking about work or deadlines or the ex who nearly ruined dating for me entirely. I’m just here in the moment with him.
Eventually, reality creeps back in. We both have work tomorrow. I want to leave while the night is still warm and full of promise. I want to give him a reason to want more.
We’ve made it back to my car. He stands behind me as I try to find my keys in my purse.
He clears his throat. “Do you mind if I get your number?”
I hand him my phone, so he can put his number in. He types it in, saves it under BBDE,and hands it back.
“BBDE? What does that mean?”
“Best blind date ever,” he laughs.
“You’re ridiculous,” I say while fighting a smile.
“Thank you for showing up,” he says.
Again, that little pull in my chest, the one I wasn’t expecting, the one I’m trying really hard not to name happens.
“Thanks for not being a serial killer,” I joke, and he laughs.
“Anytime.”
We say goodnight. And I get in my car and sit there for a second before starting the engine.
The key hovers in the ignition, but I just sit here, hands in my lap, staring out at the soft glow of the restaurant windows.
Carter’s walking to his car. I know I should drive away, I should pull out of this parking spot, go home, wash my face, and chalk this up as a weird but enjoyable footnote in the ongoing chaos of my life.
But I don’t. I want to stay in this moment just a little longer. In this soft, glowing bubble where Carter smiles at me like I was the only person in the room and laughs at my terrible date stories. He didn’t seem the least bit bored or distracted or like he was already calculating how to make a clean exit.
If I had even half the sense I pretend to have, I’d be talking myself down from this ledge. But instead, I’m sitting here, replaying every accidental brush of his hand against mine. The way our knees kept knocking under the table, and the way his gaze lingered a second too long on my lips when I laughed, and the way I did not hate any of it.
glance down at my phone, already lit up with a text from Kendra.
Kendra: ARE YOU DEAD???
I smirk.
Me: Nope.
Me: Still alive.
Another buzz.
Kendra: And???
What even is there to say? That I just accidentally had the best date I’ve been on in years? That the man I’ve barely spoken to before today managed to make me forget every single reason I built a wall around myself? That there’s a part of me already counting down the minutes until I hear from him again?
Me: It was… unexpected.
Which feels like the understatement of the century. I type and delete half a dozen versions ofI think I might like him, but none of them seem quite right. It feels too soon to admit that, even to myself. So instead, I drop my phone back into my purse, grip the steering wheel, and tell myself to get it together. It was one date. One very good, very surprising, very unexpectedly spark-filled date.
Chapter Four
Carter
