her shell.”
The hoops banged into my cheeks as I reacted to her. “I can’t with you.” I glanced in the mirror again. “Time check?”
“Ten minutes.”
The words had barely left her mouth when my phone chimed from the bed.
Emily lifted my cell and said, “Scratch that. He’s downstairs.” Our eyes met. “It looks like he drove, and that’s why he’s not coming up—there’s no parking outside.”
“Shit, I don’t feel like I’m ready.”
“Oh, stop. If you twirl in front of that mirror one more time, you’re going to make yourself dizzy.” She handed me my phone along with my purse and the lightweight jacket that she’d grabbed from my chair.
“Where would he be driving us to?” I inquired as she walked me to the door. “It’s the city; we take public transportation everywhere.”
“Not the adrenaline junkie who carries a thousand dollars in his wallet everywhere he goes.” We kissed cheeks. “Now, listen, if you have sex in the front seat, watch your head; something tells me he has a sports car, and those can be really low.”
“We both know that’s not happening tonight.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Have fun, babe.”
I heard the door shut behind me as I made my way to the elevator, taking it down to the lobby, instantly spotting his fancy car double-parked along the curb.
The windows were too tinted to see in, but his handsome face took me hostage the minute I climbed inside. “Hi.” The same was true once I sat down and got a whiff of his cologne, a scent that was woodsy and citrusy.
His eyes didn’t leave mine, devouring me in a way that I felt inside my chest. “You look gorgeous, Whitney.”
Every time he said my name, it felt like he was whispering the syllables against my skin.
I hardly knew anything about this man, but since the moment he had come into my life, something felt different. Like we had spun together in a windy storm, fast-forwarding several months, where the breeze finally spit us out.
“Come here.” His hand reached through the air and landed on my cheek, his body leaning forward to kiss the other side of me. “Coconut,” he whispered before pulling away. “Are you ready to go?”
I nodded, my senses overpowered as he shifted into gear. I kept my gaze on him, wandering over his sports jacket, button-down, and jeans, the shiny black shoes that were on his feet. Not only was he extremely good-looking, but he also knew how to dress.
“Are we going somewhere in Boston?” I asked, observing the way he navigated traffic, learning he had no patience for it.
He downshifted as he approached a red light, and I felt the moment his eyes were on me again. He said nothing for a few seconds and then, “I enjoy surprising you.”
“You know, inside the hospital, I’m rarely shocked. I’ve seen everything. But you managed to do that the other day.”
“I have no intention of stopping.”
The smile grew across my face, a strong wave of heat right behind it.
“Especially when I see how much you enjoy it,” he added.
The light turned green, and his focus returned to the windshield.
“Would it be silly if I told you I’m already having fun?”
He reached across the seat, grazing the side of my face before resting his fingers on top of mine. “Get comfortable. We have a little bit of a drive ahead of us.”
“We’re leaving the city?”
He left me to shift and didn’t return, weirdly making me miss him. “I know how hard this must be, seeing the aftermath at the hospital every day, and I thought you could use a little break.”
He was right; it was as emotionally painful as what some of my patients were going through physically, and I just wanted to heal them all. But I couldn’t allow myself to feel guilty over this tiny escape.
I also couldn’t shake the feeling that he was starting to know me very well.
Twenty-One
Caleb moved his fork across the table, holding his other hand beneath it in case anything fell, and said, “Try this.”
I leaned into the edge of the wood, getting as close to him as I could, and opened my mouth. “Oh my God,” I groaned the moment the savory lamb touched my tongue, the flavor slowly unraveling.
“Bon appétit,” the chef said from the cooking station that had been set up next to us. “Let my staff know if we can get you anything.”
Caleb and I thanked him, and suddenly, we were alone in the dining room of the restaurant