“Anything. Tell me.”
“I only have that red dress. That was my ammo for the weekend.”
“And it’s overkill.”
“Exactly.”
“Unless you want Old Man Bells staring at your tits all during dinner.”
“Gross.”
“I’ll find you a new dress. Your wardrobe could use a little revamping, I’m guessing we’ll have time this afternoon to go shopping once we touch down in Chicago.”
I pulled out my tablet, connected to wifi, and pulled up the Nordstrom website.
“I think you look great in red. It’s January though, so ... black? Something that goes good with that locket you always wear. I trust your taste more than mine. I’m not exactly a dress aficionado here. I do have one request though.”
“What’s the request?”
She scrolled through the site, and I couldn’t resist whispering in her ear, “Make sure it’s easy to rip off.”
CHAPTER 12
CATARINA
To getready for our dinner late on Sunday night, I took a nice hot shower at Dustin’s place, a brownstone house in Lincoln Park. Chicago was much colder than Washington, D.C., and after the trip to buy my dress I appreciated the hot stream of water a little more than normal.
When I got out of the shower, Dustin was ready to go, wearing a suit, and talking on the phone to someone who seemed to be from his team’s organization. I wasn’t sure if it was his agent or coach.
As I straightened my unruly hair and put on makeup in Dustin’s giant bathroom, I reflected that, in spite of the craziness of the past weekend, I was thoroughly enjoying the escape from the tedium of my day-to-day profession for a little adventure. I had always weirdly enjoyed role-playing in scenarios that were different from my everyday life, and this was crazier than any scenario I could have made up myself. I also didn’t have another shift until Wednesday afternoon since I had been forced to off-load my shifts. I was still trying to process the fact that I would actually not have to leave the country. The hospital didn’t even know yet. And for now, I was enjoying my little impromptu vacation.
I tried to remember the last time I played dress-up like this, and I realized I hadn’t been on a proper date since last summer, half a year ago now.
“Coach Slanch is excited to meet you,” Dustin hung up the phone and was doing his ‘lean on the doorframe’ move again.
“Do I call him ‘Coach Slanch,’ too? He’s not my coach.”
“I think Mr. Slanch will do. And Mr. Bells, for the owner. Then there’s Old Man Bells’s granddaughter, Jackie.”
“Why is she coming?”
Dustin cleared his throat. “She takes an interest in the team’s dealings. She’s heir to the throne, and he’s, you know, ninety-two. Personally, I think he’ll keep going for another twenty years, but that’s just me. Physically he’s in good shape, but there are times when his mind doesn’t seem all there.”
“Okay.” I finished putting the last bit of eyeshadow on and turned to face him. I wore a black dress, pearl earrings, and my locket.
“Damn, Wife.” He took a step toward me and ran his hand through my hair and let it drift down the small of my back. “You look absolutely gorgeous. You’re the full package, aren’t you? Looks and brains.” he smirked.
I bit my lip. “Same for you, El Hubs.”
“I don’t know about the brains part. For me, I mean.”
I smiled, and we hung in the air there for a moment, locked on one another’s eyes. It was all a little surreal. He had a self-deprecating sense of humor, but I wondered what else was behind his brown eyes. Maybe he wasn’t a doctor, but he also didn’t come off like a typical jock, the more I saw behind his curtain.
“You know,” he said. “Our twenty-four hour anniversary is coming up.”
“Good thing we’re going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.”
“I think we can have appetizers here, though.”
