I grinned and speared a bite with my fork. It was perfect. Flaky and soft with a smoky flavor from the grill. “This is fantastic. Thank you.”
We sat at his kitchen table as I wolfed down probably clo
se to a third of his delicious salmon. I didn't eat all of it, but it was close. Combined with the whiskey, I finally started to relax.
Still, every time I thought I heard a car outside, I froze.
“Do we have a game plan?” I asked after jumping at the air conditioner starting for the third time. “Is this how it's always going to be?”
“No. I talked to Katie yesterday. We're going to have a nasty breakup when she gets back from filming her cooking thing.” He grinned. “We plan on making it very public. She's tired of it, too.”
I nodded, feeling like that was a long way away. There were so many ways we could get caught now.
“I promise, Hannah. It's not going to be like this forever,” he continued. “I don't like all the sneaking around either. I want to be able to take you out to dinner and kiss you on the street.”
I liked the idea of that. I could see us walking hand in hand down main street. It was a pretty picture.
“You promise?” I asked, feeling like I was asking Santa Claus for a pony. It seemed like something that couldn't come true.
“Promise. We can come up with something about the boss/work thing. Dr. Taggert married his medical assistant, so I don't think he has much of a leg to stand on,” Jacob told me. “As long as we do this properly and there's no damage to the image of the clinic, he won't care.”
I sighed. I had that impossible feeling again.
“Come to the couch with me,” he said, his voice going low and full of honey. I looked up to see a sexy grin on his face. “Maybe I can convince you there.”
“Uh huh.” I crossed my arms and gave him a fake frown. “Or maybe you're just trying to distract me.”
His grin widened and his eyes glimmered with desire. “I guess you'll just need to come find out then.”
“I guess I will.” I grinned, made sure the door was locked and the shutters drawn, and went to the couch for him to convince me.
Chapter 18
The next three weeks flew by. I started keeping a quiet count of the days until Katie returned from filming. She kept progressing in her baking competition, so the date kept getting pushed further and further back.
I tried not to let it get to me, but it was hard. I wanted to be able to go out to dinner with Jacob without having to invite Donna every time. I wanted to start on us really being a couple. Right now, it things felt more like a really long, really awesome, one night stand. I didn't like living a lie, even if it wasn't really a lie.
“Any plans this evening, Donna?” Dr. Matthews asked as we tidied up the clinic and prepared to shut down for the evening.
“We have baseball tonight,” Donna replied. “I'll be glad when the season is over. Going out to those fields in this heat is brutal. What about you, Hannah?”
“Just heading home. I have a really yummy recipe for a grilled chicken salad that I'm trying tonight. I got all the ingredients at the farmers market this morning.” In code, that meant: My place. Tonight. I'm making dinner.
“That sounds delicious,” Dr. Matthews commented. Code: I'm coming.
“I'll be sure to give you the recipe,” I told him. Code: Oh, you will be.
“I'd appreciate that.” The code on that was pretty self explanatory.
“How is Karina's daughter doing?” Donna asked.
“Great. You'd never even know she had surgery. She's all spunk and is so proud of her new scar,” I said with a laugh. “She has decided she's going to be a surgeon when she grows up now so she can do this surgery all the time.”
Both Donna and Jacob laughed.
We finished up our evening tasks and all headed out to the parking lot. I got in my car, Donna got in her truck, and Jacob got on his motorcycle. He looked so damn sexy it was hard not to drool. The man looked good in leather and on a bike.
We each went down the road until it split and we had to turn. Donna went left, I went right, Jacob went straight.