patients now that the funds can’t keep up with me. So, we’ve got to get more.”
I usually had ideas about everything, but right now, I was drawing a blank. “I’ve got to be honest, Dex. I don’t even know where to get started.” How did I schedule these interviews? Who did I contact?
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Talk to Emerson. She handles all of that for Derek, so she can give you some good pointers. She’d be happy to help.”
Oh, right. He was an author…and a famous rocket scientist. “Great. I’ll reach out to her so we can get on that ASAP.”
“Great.” He took another drink of his beer as he looked at me. “Got plans tonight?”
I shook my head. “Just gonna order sushi and watch TV.”
He nodded in approval. “Not a bad plan.”
“What about you?”
“Just gonna sit on the couch and work. I should hit the gym, but I’ve just got too much shit to do.”
He seemed to work as much as I did now. “You want me to grab you some dinner?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I know today is grocery day, and I’m still working off all those pies I ate….
“If it makes you feel any better, you can’t tell.” At all. The guy was just as ripped as always.
“Maybe you can’t tell from the outside, but I can definitely feel it at the gym. When I stop working out for more than two days, I’m so out of shape, it’s ridiculous. A two-hundred-pound bench feels like a thousand pounds, and the treadmill is torture.”
Yeah, I didn’t work out at all. Like, ever.
“What about you?”
“What about me?” I asked.
“Your fitness routine. Do you just run or…?”
“You think I work out?” I asked incredulously. “Well, that’s very flattering, but no. Not my thing.”
“Really?” he asked in surprise. “So, you just look like that naturally?” He looked me up and down as he took another drink.
I was pretty certain he just complimented my figure, and I did my best not to let my cheeks redden and reflect the way I felt about it. “I guess.”
“Don’t tell anyone that,” he said with a chuckle. “People will despise you.”
No one had ever asked me about my workout routine, so I was safe. “Then I’ll get out of your hair. Have a good night.” I’d barely had a couple sips of the beer before I had to pour it out in the sink and head to the door. It would be easy just to invite myself on to the couch and linger, but I tried to make sure I never overstepped my boundaries with him. Yes, we were friends, but he was still my boss, and Cleo told me it was important to respect his private space as much as possible. Home was a sanctuary to people, the one place where they should be able to be inaccessible. If he wanted to talk at the office, that was one thing, but I couldn’t get chummy on his couch.
He walked me to the door. “I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
“Sure thing. I’ll have your breakfast and schedule on your desk at the hospital, and then I’ll see you later before you’re done for the day.” On his surgery days, I didn’t see him much. I used to purposely meet him before surgeries to ease his anxiety, but now that he felt comfortable, he didn’t really need my support anymore.
“Alright. Goodnight, Sicily.”
“Goodnight.” My look lingered longer than it should have before I forced myself to step out of his apartment without looking back. I walked down the hallway, heels tapping against the carpeted hallway. When I reached the elevator, I heard his door close.
I turned back around, wondering if he’d been staring at me that entire time.
I took a trip out to New Jersey, where Derek’s facility was. I met Emerson in her office, which was full of pictures of them together everywhere, their kids, and a couple with Derek and his rockets, candid photos of him in the control room at a launch, a collage of his career.
The pictures told me that she not only loved him, but she was also so proud of him.
Reminded me of the way I felt about Dex.
“Thanks so much for giving me some help,” I said as I sat in the chair facing her desk. “When Dex asked me to do this, I realized I have absolutely no idea where to start.” I hadn’t worked with Cleo long enough to learn any pointers from her either.
“No problem