And of course, handsome as hell.
“That's because the last two patients were all me. I'm just doing your job for you,” I teased, hitting save on the last patient file. “And you only beat me by a little.”
He grinned and I suddenly thought of my dream. Heat flushed into my cheeks as I quickly turned to press the power button on my computer.
“What are you up to tonight?” he asked, his voice light.
I shrugged. “I'm going to go home and eat a can of soup and see if there are any new episodes of The Orville.”
“It's a repeat. The new season starts in December,” he told me.
“Damn. I hate summer TV.” I heard my computer power down behind me. The office was quiet except for the hum of the air conditioner. We were all alone. I pushed dirty thoughts out of my head before they could fully form.“What are you up to?”
“I am not on call tonight, so I was going to go to Betty's Diner and getting a burger and a beer.” He shifted his weight slightly, but kept the nonchalant lean on the door frame. “I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining me.”
“Me?” I squeaked, not quite believing this was real. I half expected to wake up again just like last night.
“Yes, you,” he replied with a grin.
“I'd love to.” My heart fluttered and those dirty thoughts rose up yet again. Maybe we could have a couple of drinks and go back to my place, he could come inside... and I realized that I needed to slow down. “I mean, I don't want to intrude on your night and I know we're co-workers and-”
“If it makes you feel better, I asked Donna to come too,” he interrupted. “She can't come because she doesn't want to leave two teenage boys home alone, and I can't say I blame her.”
Heat filled my cheeks and I wished the air conditioning was just a little bit stronger. Or that the summer sky was just a little bit darker so that it wasn't quite so obvious. This wasn't a date. Obviously. This was a coworker thing. I was getting way too ahead of myself.
I blamed the dream.
“I would definitely prefer a Betty's Diner burger to my sad can of soup,” I replied. “Thank you for inviting me.”
He chuckled and I wondered if he suspected why I was blushing so hard. I really hoped he didn't know that I had a monster sized crush on him. That I had since high school, really, but working with him was just making it grow again.
“I'll meet you there,” he said, pushing himself off the door frame. He flashed me a grin. “Last one there buys drinks.”
“You're on.” I grinned and grabbed my purse. Not that I thought my ancient car would win any kind of race, but I knew a secret route that would get me there first.
We managed to walk civilly out of the office. Dr. Matthews pulled out a set of keys and locked up after us. We both walked like adults to our vehicles, which is when I realized that Dr. Matthews' didn't drive his truck today.
“You drive a motorcycle?” My jaw dropped open as I stared at the chrome and black leather. It looked fast.
“I ride a motorcycle,” he corrected, putting on his helmet. “How did you not know this?”
“I knew you rode one in high school, but it wasn't like this.” I motioned to the beautiful bike in front of me. “I thought you drove a truck now.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes. But I like the bike better. Especially in the summer.” He flashed me a grin before lowering the visor on his helmet. “You better get in your car if you hope to beat me.”
I narrowed my eyes at him for a second before sprinting to my car. The locks chirped as I threw open the drivers' side door and mashed the key into the ignition.
Dr. Matthews revved the engine on his bike and peeled out of the parking lot. I slammed my car into reverse and followed behind him as quickly as I could. It was okay that he was ahead of me. He didn't need to know my shortcut.
I made a hard right on Elm while he continued down Main Street. I had this race in the bag. There was no way he knew about the new alley between Ash and Locust. They'd finished it two days ahead of schedule, so no one knew it was a route yet. I was already imagining the look on his face when he pulled into the diner's lot and found me waiting for him.
I turned into the alley and went as fast as I dared through the narrow space. I was going to win this race and get the most expensive drink on the menu. Which really just meant that there would be extra rum. There were no super fancy or expensive drinks at Betty's.
I turned into the parking lot to find Dr. Matthews leaning on his bike next to an empty parking space for me. He even had his helmet off. Somehow he had beaten me. I pulled into the spot and turned off my car.
“How did you beat me?” I asked, slamming my door shut.
“You took the new alley on Ash,” he replied. “I took the alley on Cipher.”