JULES
I tookthat Friday and Monday off from the clinic and returned to the office Tuesday morning, more confused than ever. I’d spent the past few days agonizing over Josh, but I still didn’t know what to do about us. The more I thought it, the more my head hurt, so it was nice to settle into the mindless rhythm of work again. At least it took my mind off my utter mess of a personal life.
Luckily, there’d been an influx of new cases while I was out, and they kept me busy well into the afternoon until the bells over the front door chimed.
We were closed for lunch, so it had to be a staff member…or a volunteer.
My heart jumped in my throat when I turned and saw Josh walk in, still wearing his scrubs and sneakers from the hospital.
Everyone else was eating out or in the kitchen, so it was just the two of us.
“Hi.” Somehow, the word made it past the parched desert of my throat.
“Hi.” Josh stopped next to my desk, his eyes drifting to the bandaged cut on my forehead. A visible swallow worked its way down his throat. “How’s the cut?”
“Better. I’ll survive.” I mustered a smile. “Shouldn’t you be resting right now?”
Now that he was closer, I could see the faint purple smudges beneath his eyes and the lines of exhaustion bracketing his mouth.
“I should. But I wanted to see you.”
A swarm of butterflies soared through my stomach and left a trail of tingles in their wake. “Oh.”
Oh? God, I sounded like an idiot, but I’d lost all ability to function properly.
Josh’s lips curved with a faint hint of bitterness. He’d kept his promise to give me space to think, but the air between us hummed with so many unspoken words I was drowning in them.
Frustration welled in my stomach. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I let go and get back together with him the way I wanted? I wasn’t upset about his hurtful words. I understood why he lashed out the way he had, but something held me back.
Josh opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else, but after a beat, he closed it and walked to his desk. We worked in tense silence until my phone rang and interrupted my pitiful attempt to focus on the clinic’s latest case.
Surprise coasted through me when I checked the caller ID and saw who was calling. We’d exchanged numbers at Bridget’s wedding, but I hadn’t expected to actually hear from him again.
“Hi, Asher,” I said after I picked up.
The sound of Josh typing fell silent.
“Hey, Jules.” Asher Donovan’s smooth drawl flowed over the line. “Sorry for calling out of nowhere, but I’ll be in town tomorrow for a last-minute trip and wanted to see if you’re free for drinks. I’d love to catch up.”
“I…” Asher was gorgeous, charming, and a world-famous athlete. I should be all over his invitation, especially considering how much I’d enjoyed our brief bonding over a certain British royal’s drunken shenanigans at Bridget’s wedding.
But in that moment, I wasn’t thinking about drinks with the man People magazine deemed The Most Eligible Bachelor in Sports. Instead, I was trying my damn hardest not to look at the man sitting less than ten feet away.
The heat from Josh’s stare seared into my skin and distracted me so much I wasn’t even starstruck by the fact I was on the phone with the Asher Donovan.
The universe really was throwing everything at me at once, good and bad.
“It’s not a date,” Asher added. “Just two friends hanging out. And…okay, you’re the only person I know in the city. But I’d hang out with you regardless.”
“Good to know.” I laughed. “But tomorrow…” Honestly, all I wanted was to sleep my nights away like I’d had the past week, but maybe going out would do me some good. It’d make me feel more human and less like a sad shell trudging through the motions of life. “Okay. Let’s do it. The Bronze Gear at six? It’s a bar downtown.”
The heat consuming my left side erupted into an inferno. Despite the frigid air conditioning and my flimsy silk blouse, sweat trickled between my breasts, and it took every ounce of willpower not to sneak a peek at Josh.
“Perfect,” Asher said. “I’ll be in disguise. Baseball cap, blue shirt.”
“Does that actually work?” I doubted a mere baseball cap could disguise him. His face wasn’t one people forgot.
“You’d be surprised. People see what they expect to see, and no one expects to see me hanging out at a D.C. bar on a Wednesday night. See you soon, Jules.”
“See you.”
When I hung up, the silence was so oppressive I swore I could hear the rush of my blood through my veins.
“Asher Donovan?” Josh’s casual question was at odds with his tight voice.
“Yes. He’ll be in town and wants to grab drinks.”
More silence.
Why was it so freaking hot in here? I lifted my hair off my shoulders and finally glanced to my left. Josh’s jaw clenched so tight I was surprised it didn’t crack.
My heart skipped a beat. “It’s not a date,” I added softly.
I didn’t know why I felt the need to clarify that. Josh and I weren’t dating anymore, and my meetup with Asher was platonic. Still, a frisson of guilt snaked through me at his granite expression.
“Maybe you don’t think it’s a date.” A grim smile touched Josh’s mouth before he turned back to his computer. “But trust me, Jules. Any man would be an idiot to let you go if there was even a chance with you.”
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