“I may not cook, but I can make you moan from my coffee.”
“You can,” I stated, slipping onto a stool at the bar and savoring my cup of joe.
“Hi, I’m Wren.” I squealed like a schoolgirl later upon meeting Ryan Strauss.
I made a small attempt at schooling my face until Ryan said, “Danny’s Birdie, nice to meet you.”
I couldn’t help taking a quick look at Daniel, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s true,” Daniel admitted. “I told him all about you.”
“Imagine my surprise, Mister Never Serious About Anyone gets a single dose of pain meds and he’s spouting off about this chick from way back when—”
“I never used the word chick,” Daniel interrupted Ryan as we stood outside his trailer.
“This is my story. I’m allowed to take some liberties, and I also want to thank the beautiful doctor.” Ryan cast his baby blues on me, and had I not been so smitten with Daniel, I might have melted. But right now I only radiated excitement.
“No thanks are needed. Seems you took care to make it worth the hospital and my department’s time.”
He ran a tanned hand through his dirty blond hair and I snuck a peek at Daniel, whose eyes were firmly planted on me. Was he jealous? My gorgeous golfing Scot?
When Daniel slipped his hand through mine, I knew he wanted to make sure I was his—giving his fingers a quick squeeze, I let him know.
“And for keeping my secret. I mean, if a man doesn’t have a vice or two, what kind of man is he? As for me, I love the thrill of backcountry skiing, water-skiing taking a quick second.”
“Do you golf? That may be the safer alternative. And with Danny over here, you could pick up some skills.”
“I do, but mostly to do business. The course is my office,” he answered and then turned to Daniel. “You said she had wit and an ego, but you didn’t mention her snark.”
Daniel started to laugh.
“Hey,” I said, my gaze ping-ponging between the two.
“A good kind of snark. How many women come onto set and take me on? None. Speaking of, come on. I’ll show you my trailer and then the set.”
Ryan bent to fit inside the door of his trailer, and I put him at about six foot two. His smile was as bright as on the big screen, and his warm personality definitely shone all around him.
“Wow!” I couldn’t help my wonder building inside the trailer. It was seriously fit with everything. Noting a small gourmet kitchen, I couldn’t resist asking, “Do you cook?”
“No way. I have someone who comes in and cooks what my trainer prescribes.”
Tying my hair at the nape of my neck, I shook my head. “You Hollywooders live a good life.”
“We sure do,” Ryan said with a wink. “Come on, meet my costars.”
Which was how I ended up spending the afternoon sitting in Jennifer’s trailer. You know,theJennifer. Apparently, she’d recently twisted her ankle and wanted to show me, and one thing led to another, and we were fast friends, trading collagen and protein shake stories, of which I didn’t have many. But I guessed this was how she related to my being a doctor…
“Sella is going to be so jealous,” I later told Daniel.
“That you got to spend time with me? Heck yeah.”
As usual, an enormous smile spread across my face. “Of my new bestie, Jennifer.”
“Are you going to rub it in?”
He held me close in the kitchen. We’d opted for sushi takeout and a Jennifer movie for my last night. I had to head back early in the morning; I was on call the day after.
“Never, but she will drag every last detail out of me.”
