"Well, I just...I came by..." I stammered, suddenly realizing that I didn't have a prepared excuse because I wasn't expecting to have needed one.
"You're here because you wanted to see Alex again," Liz said bluntly. "It's cool, Cam. She wanted to see you, too."
"Liz!" Alex gasped and then blushed a deep shade of red. "You're not supposed to say that!"
"Why not?" Liz shrugged looking back and forth between Alex and I. "It's true, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is," I admitted, deciding it was better to tell the truth now that I'd been caught. "I wanted to come see you again and not have to rush off to another call."
"I'm glad." Alex smiled at me before shooting Liz a semi-dirty look. "I wanted to see you, too."
"All right, now that we've gotten that established, are the two of you going to agree to go have dinner together?" Liz asked, looking at her phone before looking back up at the two of us. "I've got a date at seven, so I need to get going, kids."
"Would you like to go to dinner with me, Alex?" I asked, feeling self-conscious about being put on the spot to do what I'd come here to do.
"I'd...yes, I'd like that." Alex nodded. Her face was still tinged with a light shade of pink from the blush that was slowly fading. She looked up at me with a slight frown, saying, "But I'm not really dressed for a date."
"No problem, we can go somewhere casual," I suggested. "Maybe somewhere close to the hospital so that you don't feel out of place?"
"I'm going to leave the two of you to negotiate this on your own," Liz said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and turned toward the street.
"Do you want a ride?' I called as she trudged through the snow.
"Nah, I'm good, I've got a cab coming," she called as she waved. As she reached the street, a cab pulled up, and we watched as Liz climbed in. I felt a little nervous now that our buffer was gone.
"Are you hungry?" I asked as I looked down at the pretty young woman in front of me.
"Honestly, I'm starving," she said. "We didn't get much of a lunch break today because the ER was so busy."
"Then how about we go get a couple of big, juicy burgers and some beer to help rectify that?" I asked as I turned and gestured toward where my truck was parked. "I'm over on the side street."
"That sounds like a great plan." Alex nodded as she turned and started walking in the direction I'd pointed to.
Halfway down the walk, her foot hit a patch of ice and she slipped. I quickly reached out and wrapped an arm around her to keep her from falling.
"Oh!" she gasped as I held her tightly for a few seconds longer than absolutely necessary before setting her back on her feet. She turned and looked up at me. "Thank you, Cam. I guess it's a little more slippery than I thought it would be tonight."
"No problem." I smiled as I held out my arm so she could hold on to it. "That's what your friendly neighborhood firefighter is here for."
Alex laughed out loud as she gripped my arm and walked a little more cautiously. At the truck, I unlocked the door and helped her up into the cab before hopping up into the driver's seat.
"This is a really nice truck. It's so modern," she said, looking at the dashboard, which had the appearance of the control panel for a small aircraft. "These things must cost a fortune!"
"It's all in the financing." I laughed as I sidestepped the issue of money for now. It wasn't that I wanted to hide the fact that I had money, it was more that before I'd learned to be careful about who I let into my life; I'd been burned and had emerged wiser in the way I allowed women to know things about me. Now, when I went out on dates, I tried to give the impression that I was a normal guy rather than trying to impress my dates with how much money I could spend on them.
"I guess it would have to be, wouldn't it?" She nodded as she ran her hands across the smooth leather seats and then let out a little laugh as she realized the seats were warming up. "Oh my, now that's nice! I wish they had this feature on the buses!"
"If they did, no one would ever get off of them," I observed as I backed out of the parking space and headed toward my favorite downtown pub. "Is O'Neil's on Wells okay with you?"
"I've never been there," she said. "Do they have good burgers?"
"The best in the city!" I said as I headed down Van Buren. "Do you live downtown?"
"I have an apartment near campus." She nodded. "It's small and a little cramped, but it's convenient for school and work. Do you live downtown?"
"I have a house over on the West Side," I said, not wanting to be too specific. "Just me and my dog."
"Oh, what kind of dog do you have?" she asked as she squirmed a little in her seat. The movement of her hips made me very aware of the fact that it had been a long time since I'd seen, let alone felt, a woman moving like that, and the blood began to flow from my brain.