She smiled. “I do. It’s an interest of mine.” Then, leaning forward, she said, “Enough about me. I told you a story earlier,one I don’t usually tell people. It’syourturn. Tell me something good.”
Luke considered. He had plenty of options, because he didn’t usually tell personal stories to anyone. He could tell her about the patient he’d saved when no one else could, because he’d managed to patch a torn carotid in thirty seconds flat. He could tell her about the time he’d won a fishing competition as a child — though he’d been the only entrant in his category, so he’d been a shoe-in. He could tell her about all the double shifts he worked and all the granola bars he ate for dinner.
He could tell her about the night more than five years ago when Jenna had died. He could tell her about what had come after.
No. He couldn’t tell her that.
“When I first moved to Portland, I almost went to Portland, Maine instead of Portland, Oregon,” Luke said. Bella giggled.
“Perfect. Tell me more.”
“Well, I got an offer from Willamette Hospital, and I saw it was in Portland. I just assumed it was in Portland, Maine.”
“Terrible,” Bella said, shaking her head. “Portland, Oregon is clearly the better one.”
“Spoken like a true local.” Luke winked.
“And more importantly, why didn’t you check?” she asked.
“My mind was on other things. Anyway, I was moving by car, so I packed everything up and drove almost six hundred miles in the wrong direction before I realized my mistake.”
“What made you realize?” Bella asked.
“I saw a sign for Toledo, Ohio, and remembered that more than one place can have the same name.” Luke chuckled. “It’s a very embarrassing story and one Inevertell people.”
“Thanks for telling me.” Bella took the last bite of her cheesecake and pushed the plate away. She looked thoughtful, and she was smiling. “I like you better now that I know you aren’t perfect. You seemed pretty perfect in your speech.”
“That’s just because I practiced a lot.”
At that moment, the waiter came back to take their plate and empty glasses. “Sorry, folks, but I have to let you know that the bar is closing in about fifteen minutes,” he said.
“Already?” Bella pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it, and her eyes widened. “I can’t believe it’s almost midnight. We’ve been talking for hours.”
Luke couldn’t believe it, either. “Do you need to rush home? Or…” He paused. It wasn’t like him to invite someone he’d just met up to his room, and he didn’t want Bella to think he was pushing her in a certain direction, but he felt a connection with her. And this evening was all about following instincts and seizing the moment. “I actually have a room. Upstairs.”
Bella lifted those soft green eyes to his. Her lips were slightly parted, and her hair was a little less neat than it had been earlier in the evening. Her cheeks were flushed, perhaps from the alcohol, and perhaps from something else. She looked lovely — and uncertain. Luke began to worry. Maybe he’d made her uncomfortable. Maybe it would have been better to leave their evening as just a fun flirtation between strangers and nothing more.
Maybe it was too soon, anyway.
Then, Bella smiled and stood up.
CHAPTER 6
BELLA
Bella looked down at Luke. “Are you coming?”
In an instant, he was on his feet, his movement smooth and effortless. He stood beside her, taller than she was by at least a head, and she smelled his cologne and soap.
“Of course,” he said.
“Just for a nightcap,” she added, though she knew as well as he did that a nightcap wasn’t the reason she’d agreed.
It was completely out of character for Bella to say yes to something like this. She’d never gone up to the room of a man she’d just met before, even just for a nightcap. And she rarely seized the moment, no matter how confidently she’d spoken earlier.
In fact, Bella avoided situations like this as best she could, in normal circumstances. But this wasn’t a normal circumstance. Talking with Luke made her smile, made her laugh, made her think about things in a new way. She wasn’t ready to stop talking to him yet.
And something told Bella that once they said goodbye to each other, that would be it. They weren’t about to start dating — and that was okay. When she dated, she always messed it up, with her independence and her dedication to work. It was better that they shared a short but meaningful time together and then moved on with their lives.
