He freakingwinkedat me, after dishing out a first grade come back.
The worst part? My brain froze up, and I couldn’t come up with a hasty reply. So I stepped off the elevator without looking at him again, and luckily I saw Phoebe sitting at the bar, so I made a beeline for her without turning around. I left Dustin in the dust, so to speak.
As I walked away, I ground my teeth but I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of my lips.
I seriously just got‘takes one to know one’d.’
I especially hated that somewhere inside me, even though he was clearly being a dick, I kind of liked it. Even though I felt like I was back in third grade for a moment.
No. Ireallyliked it. And I wished there had been no one in the elevator except us.
CHAPTER 4
DUSTIN
As I heldthe elevator open for Shane and Natalie to step through, my eyes lingered on the sexy brunette in the red dress as she sashayed away from us.
A feeling of bemusement passed over me as I released my grip on the door and walked toward the bar.
Even with her heels, The Doctor couldn’t be a hair over five-foot-four, but our encounter had opened up floodgates of energy for me.
I still wasn’t sure whether or not she was lying about the whole doctor thing, but I knew one thing for sure: I was a lion who’d just caught a whiff of a gazelle. The Doctor—I realized she didn’t even give me her name—was amusing, and she had this sexy aura that pulled me in. I needed more of her.
A familiar voice interrupted my train of thought when I arrived at the giant, U-shaped bar.
“Bustin’ Dustin. My man.”
I smiled as I shook Jake Napleton’s hand.
After a round of drinks, we spotted a few fellow Chicago athletes, basketball players Chandler Spiros and Carter Flynn.
I could tell Natalie—and even Shane, since he was a rookie—were a little shy now that they’d met us.
“I don’t understand,” Shane said. “Do you guys all hang out together?”
Chandler shrugged. “We’re related. Brothers actually. Can’t you tell?”
Shane stared them all down. “I mean you’re all really tall. But I don’t see a really obvious resemblance.”
They all busted out laughing. Carter winked. “We’re messing with you, man.” He paused and raised an overly dramatic eyebrow. “Or are we?”
The bartender served up my second old fashioned, and I looked across the bar island and saw my red dress hottie sitting, chatting away with a friend.
The friend was good-looking, too, but The Doctor was stunning.
Was that cleavage natural? It didn’t look like she was wearing a bra. Whatever she was doing over there was drawing me in like a magnet. I still couldn’t believe it. No one that pretty chose the medical profession, did they?
I explained what I was wondering to Jake, and he laughed.
“You do know we’re at the Cancer Sucks Conference, and there are more doctors per square foot here right now than in a hospital, right?”
“You know what, you’re right. I’m going to go see if it’s actually true.” Drink in hand, I strode around to the other side of the bar.
She didn’t flinch as she saw me coming.
“Hi,” I said, holding my drink on my hip. My heart beat hard, and I realized at that moment, I had no idea what I was about to say to this woman. I was used to my reputation doing most of the work for me when it came to flirting. But that wasn’t going to be enough tonight.
“We got off on the wrong foot,” I said. “Let’s try that again.”
