Page 28 of Hearts on the Table
“I don’t like to bring it up too often. Nepotism isn’t a great look.”
“You were the best resident in the program. No one can argue that you belong here.”
I pressed my palm a little harder to my sternum, trying to trap the warmth that flooded there at his words. “Well, thank you for saying that. And for, uh, listening to my little sob story. And for taking me…”
Now that I’d purged the whole sordid tale from my soul, I became aware of our surroundings for the first time. The crack in the painted cinder block wall continued for a few feet before it ran behind a row of gardening tools on a hanging rack. A mountain bike leaned next to a door. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied some workout equipment on the other side of the garage.
My mouth dropped open. “Dr. Reese. Are we at yourhouseright now?” I glanced around the garage again, letting the surprise crowd out the sad cobwebs sticking around my chest cavity.
“Please call me Sam. I can take you home, if you want. This was just close and…private.” He cleared his throat. “You seemed like you needed to get away from people for a while. I can take you home,” he repeated himself.
A warm rush of an entirely different sort flooded my veins at the thought of being somewhere private withSam. It felt kind of illicit and giddy, nice on the tail end of the grief that was weighing me down. Besides, if I returned to my apartment now, I was afraid the sadness tsunami would crash over me again.
I also remembered the energy—that buzz from his session at the conference—and how much I’d wanted to spend more time with him; not reliving my past trauma.
I rolled my lips between my teeth, studying him and trying to will the last shreds of sad out of my system. If Katie and Nate were moving to Chicago, that was future Lainey’s problem. After the gala last night, I had wasted too much time emotionally spiraling about them, and I had no intention of dedicating any more of my time to them today.
“You’re just going to dump me at home? In my fragile state? It’s not very ‘white knight’ of you. The least you could do is ask me up, Dr. Reese.” His brow furrowed when I used his last name, like it got under his skin. I discovered in that exact moment that I liked getting under his skin.
“White knight?”
“Oh, yeah. Saving me from an awkward conversation with Katie. Listening to my sob story. The ride.” I smiled as I ticked all his good deeds of the day off on my fingers, hoping the ring of smudged mascara probably sitting under my eyes didn’t ruin my flirty tone. “You’ve come this far, doc. Take it home.”
Those little indentations at the corner of his mouth deepened, and I knew I had him.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
???
He looked over his shoulder at me, hesitation radiating from every line of his body. It shouldn’t have been adorable.
“I’m just now realizing I haven’t cleaned up in here recently.”
I didn’t bother hiding the grin that lit my face. No matter how quiet or contemplative he was, Reese…Sam, was always solid. He had the sort of slow and thoughtful demeanor that made him seem sure of everything, never second-guessing himself. Witnessing this little bout of self-conscious hesitation on my account was a thrill.
“Well, now I have to see.” I ducked under his arm before he could stop me. The move brushed me against his side. I made the mistake of looking back at him as I stepped into a dark hallway. Something equally dark and hot flashed across his face.
My lips parted on a gasp when he pulled me suddenly against his chest. His eyes traced my cupid’s bow before he blinked, nodding down at my feet. A discarded gym bag and a pair of sneakers lay heaped in a pile inside the door, right where I’d nearly stepped.
“Nice save,” I whispered. His hand curved around my hip. We were just inches from each other in the dim doorway.Private, he’d said. “Is the rest of your place this dangerous?”
“Hope not.” His fingers slid across the fabric of my dress, like they had to be convinced to let go. I caught my breath when he turned to lead me up a few steps into his living room. Despite his concern, it wasn’t a disaster. There were a few odds and ends scattered around. A Kindle rested on the table. A t-shirt draped across the back of a chair.
But he didn’t have to worry about any of that. The other side of the room beckoned me through an open kitchen with a small breakfast table. And beyond…
“Holy crap.” I stumbled towards the sliding glass doors.
“Holy crap? That’s practically an F-bomb coming from you.”
“It’s…you have…Holy crap.” He slid the door open so I could step out onto the covered porch. Sam possessed that mythical urban dream:outdoor space. Like many houses in Chicago, the back held a private garden area away from the street. But Reese’s little garden area was extra special. The porch held a massive picnic table and grill, surrounded by gorgeously blooming flower beds. A little gate opened into a courtyard roughly the size of a tennis court. Sunlight reflected off the bright green grass. For Chicago standards, it was ginormous.
Sam muttered something about drinks and disappeared behind the sliding door. I took the opportunity to gape. Townhomes like Sam’s surrounded the courtyard. I counted eight little gardens in all. Eight little porches and gates, all overlooking their own miniature park.
“This is amazing.” I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. True, I hadn’t exactly noticed any of the houses’ exteriors, but I also didn’t know anything like this existed within a few minutes’ drive from the hospital.
“Mostly my mother’s doing.”
Sam set a bag of chips and two glasses of water on the table before rummaging in a mini fridge next to the grill.
