“Okay, Rose,” he said, interrupting my inner dialogue and daydream. Damn him! We were almost happy living in the trees. It was obvious he had something on his mind.
“Is there a conversation I’m having with you that I don’t know about?” I asked in a hushed tone.
“Yes, Rose, there is.” I was graced with another smile—oh, God, a dimple—then, “I’ll see you around.”
“Well...who are you?”
He looked back at me with a confidence I’d only seen a few men carry, namely my father. “I’m the man that’s going to marry you.”
I snorted, quite unattractively, as my reply. Then he caught my gaze again, imploring me to believe him.
“I’m the man that you are going to marry.” I couldn’t stop myself. My jaw dropped. I didn’t even know this crazy man’s name and we were getting married? The sincerity in his face, the look in his eyes, was serious.
“Okay...so what’s your name, husband to be?”
“Grant.” Hmph, I preferred Tarzan.
“Can’t wait, G
rant. When’s the big day?”
He ran his hand through his beautiful hair, gave me one more thorough once over then winked before walking away.
Well, that wasn’t weird. No, not at all.
As I walked towards safety, I rubbed my upper arms, trying desperately to shake off the spell I’d just been put under. What a lunatic. What a totally...lickable lunatic.
Still slightly dazed from the oddest conversation I’d ever had, I felt my stomach growl and decided to forgo my apartment to join my roommate, Jennifer, at The Bistro. The Bistro was a local dive and a campus favorite. When I spotted Jen, I took a seat in the chair next to her. Her long copper hair was tied into a perfect, sleek ponytail and her glasses rested on the tip of her nose. As far as bookworms went, I thought I was in competition for being the biggest...until I met Jen. She was my only close girlfriend at school. We’d hit it off right away our first day of med school four years ago. She reminded me of my sister with her bold personality and confident demeanor. Although we didn’t see eye to eye on most things, we had a fantastic friendship. She was more a fly by the seat of her pants girl while I remained—to her—annoyingly disciplined. I would miss her terribly when we parted ways after graduation. She would be moving to California to marry her long-time beau, Alex, and I would be staying in Texas, hopefully starting my residency with McGuire.
“I met the man that’s going to marry me today. He told me so,” I said, interrupting her reading as I forked a bite of my salad.
“Really,” she replied with amusement, her eyes not leaving the pages. “Is he hot?”
“Hotter than hell, and I’ve never seen him before today. There is no way he’s a student.”
“Trolling weirdo, huh?” she said, her nose still in her book.
“Must be. But I will tell you right now, he seemed serious. It was the first time in a long time I wanted to do something extracurricular.”
“Uh, Rose,” Jennifer said, putting her book down to eye me.
“Sweet Jesus, he had long dark hair, but not greasy or gross, and not too long, either.... Ew, I’d hate that. His eyes—dear God—and that mouth...I could spend hours on the anatomy of that mouth. His fucking arms—”
“Rose!” Jen, who was now laughing, gave me a nod.
“He’s behind me, isn’t he?”
“I’m not a piece of meat, you know.” I heard him chuckle and felt my stomach revolt against me. I turned to find him smiling at me, again. I took in a long breath at the sight of him but swiftly recovered.
“Well, that’s twice in one day, future husband. I’m honored. Can I help you?”
“Not yet.” I felt my cheeks heat, but was never one to shy away, especially from fun. I sensed the renewed electricity race through me from our earlier meeting, until Ms. Perfect hair approached us. I was instantly jealous. Why? I had no idea.
Well...he was my future husband.
I could tell my presence was beginning to annoy her when she eyed me with disdain, grabbed Grant’s arm, and then walked away with him possessively. They were both lunatics and deserved each other.
“Okay, if that was him, I don’t care if he is batshit crazy. I would fornicate with him and have rabid babies.” I watched Jen’s reaction and felt justified for entertaining Grant on his looks alone.