“Maybe a little more than coincidence?”
“You’re not going to start with that star-crossed-soulmates crap again, are you?” she narrows her eyes.
“I did warn you about my fetish,” I hear myself saying, though I’m not supposed to be flirting with her. And I probably shouldn’t be reaching out to graze my fingers over her wrist, either, but it’s a little too late for that now.
“Hmm,” she hums, taking a step closer and hooking her little finger with mine. “You also told me you didn’t do dirty talk, and we both know how that turned out.”
I look away when I feel my face heat up, and she yanks on my hand.
“So, are you going to ask me to dance or what?” she poses just before we’re interrupted.
“Hey, you two know each other?” Daisy asks when she and Landry approach.
My eyes widen in panic as I drop Claire’s hand and take a step back, but she simply smirks at me before she turns to Daisy and says, “We’ve met before.”
I clear my throat to disguise my relief. The last thing I need right now is my best friend and sister finding out that I’m just a big, fat, adulterous hypocrite. Because …
Actually, now that I think about it, my love life is no one else’s business but my own. I’ve only been so forthright about my celibate lifestyle to set a good example, but that ship has sailed now that the last of my siblings is sacramentally married to my best friend. Or it’s scheduled to leave the harbor before the end of the night, at least.
Besides the blow to my pride when Claire inevitably denies having formed any real attachment to me, there’s no need to worry about my family learning I’m not as perfect or pious as they all think I am. So I’m human; I’m not impervious to temptation. They love me in spite of my other faults, so this shouldn’t be any different. They’ll probably tease me if they ever find out I was moments away from losing my virginity to a stranger after waiting this long, but they’re just as likely to encourage me to make better choices next time.
I’m also a grown man, and I don’t have to answer to anyone but God at the end of the day.
I open my mouth to declare that Claire and I have done morethan meet before or at least imply that we’ve dated, but I’m overcome with another wave of panic and shame at the thought of Daisy and Landry realizing it happened while Claire was still another man’s wife.
“She’s a patient,” I blurt out the half-truth instead. “Not mine, but … she’s seen one of the other specialists.”
Claire turns to glare at me. “HIPAA violation, huh?” she mutters under her breath, my chest tightening once I understand what I’ve just done.
“Oh.” Daisy gives her a sad smile.
“Yeah, small world, I guess,” Claire says quietly, but I see the pain in her eyes. And I hate that I’m the one causing it.
“Did Rowan tell you he’s going to be working in Camellia now?” Daisy continues.
Claire’s head swivels, and my pulse begins drumming in my ears as she stares me down. “He didn’t. I guess he’s just full of secrets tonight.”
Daisy furrows her brow in confusion, but she goes on. “He’s going to start seeing patients at Dr. Simms’s clinic a couple of days per week.”
“Looks like I’ll have the pleasure of running into him more often outside of work,” Claire says dryly, and my stomach turns at her word choice.
“Yeah,” I rasp when I finally find my voice again. I want to say more, to dig myself out of this hole and make sure Claire understands how much I like the idea of seeing her on a regular basis. But I’m a coward, and I’m afraid Landry’s on the verge of calling me out, if the way he’s scrutinizing me is any indication.
“Why are you being so weird, man?” he asks me bluntly, and everyone sighs. Despite my sister’s attempts to install a Landry filter, he still can’t read a room.
He hisses when Daisy elbows him in the ribs. “What? It’s true, I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s hiding something,” he says defensively.
Claire snorts and crosses her arms, daring me to prove Landrywrong, and I know this is the part when I’m supposed to come clean or at least make some charming allusion to a romantic connection between us.
But I open my mouth again, and nothing comes out.
“Maybe we interrupted an important discussion,” Daisy volunteers, breaking the silence, but she’s still studying me closely.
“Were you … shooting your shot? WithClaire?” Landry asks incredulously.
“I guess I should have prepared a better pick-up line,” I finally manage, forcing a smile.
“Funny, you didn’t have any trouble charming the pants off me the last time we met,” Claire retorts, and everyone laughs awkwardly.
