“Daisy slept in my room most of the night.”
“Did she?” Riley tried to make it sound as if it wasn’t a big deal that her dog had stayed in Cassie’s room. If Riley had been at home the dog would’ve been wherever she was. They both knew it.
“I’m not sure at what point she abandoned me,” Cassie mused. “I’m guessing whatever time you came home.”
Glancing down at the fluffy white dog, eyeing them in the hope they’d share some of their breakfast, Riley shrugged. “She met me at the door when I came in—” at the crack of dawn “—and she wanted to go outside. She crawled into bed with me after that.”
“Had Sam not had to be up early for work we’d have stuck around at the party, just so I could keep an eye on you and Dr. Brothers.”
Her friend waggled her brows suggestively.
“I was enjoying the fireworks exploding between the two of you.”
Ugh. Could they not just go back to talking about Daisy?
Reality had hit. Although Riley had been oblivious to everyone except Justin when they’d been talking, laughing, dancing, no doubt their friends and coworkers had seen them...had taken note of the fact they’d left together.
Double ugh.
“Was it him who gave you a lift home?”
“No.” A creepy I-know-what-you’ve-been-doing taxi driver had brought her home.
“Too bad,” Cassie mused. “You seemed lost in conversation with him when you waved me off and said you’d find your own ride.”
Staring into her coffee mug, Riley shrugged. “He’s easy to talk to.”
Easy to do a lot of things with. Things she regretted, yet wasn’t sure she’d have passed up, given the choice of a redo.
“Mmm-hmm?” Cassie teased. “Talk to.”
Knowing they were destined to have this conversation at some point, Cassie scooped Daisy into her lap, threaded her fingers into the dog’s soft white fur to rub her neck, then met her friend’s curious gaze.
“You two could have started an inferno with those sparks flying.”
An inferno was a pretty apt description of what they had started. Images of the n
ight were definitely burned into her mind.
“I drank a little more than I should have,” Riley admitted, searching for the words to appease her friend.
Sitting her coffee mug on the table, Cassie leaned forward. “You left with him, didn’t you?”
Riley grimaced. “Do we have to have this conversation before I’ve finished my first cup of coffee?”
Cassie clasped her hands together and made a gleeful noise. “Which means you did!”
Riley’s face instantly heated. Cassie was her best friend, knew all the details of her wedding gone awry. She understood when Riley said she wasn’t interested in going back down that road.
“We all make mistakes,” she admitted, thinking hers were typically super-sized.
“No!” Cassie gasped, her bottom lip going into a disappointed pout. “Dr. Brothers wasn’t any good?”
“He was—phenomenal—good.” She couldn’t bring herself to say otherwise. “Just...” she stroked Daisy’s fur “...I shouldn’t have had sex with a coworker.”
“There’s no hospital rule about dating coworkers.” Cassie dismissed her comment with a wave of her hand. “I’d know, since I’m dating a really hot emergency room nurse.”
There was that.