“You never go anywhere, though. I think you’ll enjoy yourself. You can have one drink, unwind a little. Meet some other friends of mine.”
“I have a conference tomorrow. I need to get some sleep.”
“I’m busy tomorrow too, obviously,” Adam says. “I’m only going to stay out for a couple of hours. I think it’s something we need to do sometimes, you know?”
I scratch my chin. I don’t get a lot of leisure time, that’s true, but maybe Adam has a point. I’ve been stressed, and I probablyneed a little time to disconnect from the realities of becoming a surgeon.
“You could meet someone,” Adam says. “Blow off some steam.”
Now thatisreally tempting. Despite my fatigue, I’m starting to feel the effects of my dry spell. It’s not just that I need sex, either, though that would be ideal. I think I might need to touch another human being in a setting that doesn’t involve surgical gloves and a scalpel.
“Fine,” I say. “I’m in.”
“Really?” Adam’s face transforms, lighting up like a Christmas tree. “Awesome! We’re meeting for some apps first, then heading to a place down the street.” Adam is from Texas, and his drawl sounds a bit more pronounced when he’s excited.
“Yeah, you’re right. I need a little more fun in my life, I think. Where’s this place we’re going? After we eat, I mean?”
“It’s a karaoke bar. The best one, I’ve heard.”
I groan. “God, I hate karaoke.”
“Nah, it’s going to be a great time. You’ll see.”
And what the hell? I don’t get to do much for fun. Maybe I’ll even get lucky and meet someone.
Nikki’s Karaoke Bar of Louisville has the sort of dive bar quality common to the part of the city we live in: exposed brick, sticky tile floors, worn pool tables in the corner of the room, a pervasive stale beer smell, and a little raised platform stage backlit by neon lights, where a group of tipsy thirty-something women currently belts out “Baby Got Back,” of course. I almost turn and walk out. This is so not my scene.
Adam urges me on in front of him. Adam’s friends are definitely more boisterous than me. I’m out of place, as though Adam invited his one killjoy friend who blabbers on about gasprices and takes jokes too literally. I paste on a smile. I can be fun, right? Or has residency stolen my ability to do that?
I order myself a gin and tonic and take a seat near the back of the room with Adam and the others. If this doesn’t go well, I’ll have one drink and take a cab back home.
My eyes catch on a woman in a glittery dress by the bar. My gaze travels down.
And oh my fuck. She’s gorgeous. My lips freeze at the edge of my glass. The owner of said dress possesses a pair of gorgeous tan legs, thick, long brunette hair threaded with caramel, and a dip at the front of her outfit highlights some of the most luscious cleavage I’ve ever seen.
Bingo.
I have to talk to this woman. I barely glimpse a hint of her profile, but I stare, transfixed, as she turns my way a little more. I’ve never wanted to see someone’s face so badly.
Time swells, then collapses, as she faces me. An icy cold sensation sweeps over my skin.
My mouth drops open. Damn it. We’re in a large city with hundreds of bars, and the one person I don’t want to see is in this one.
Kendall. Of course it’s her. She’s dominated some of my recent thoughts, and though I’m serious about not hooking up with coworkers, she looks delicious enough to eat, even if she won’t deign to give me the time of day. She’s dressed like she might be attending the Grammys in her sparkly blue dress, but it isn’t ridiculous on her. Her personality is big and loud.
I keep watching as she turns to her friend. Kendall’s tall, and her blonde friend, an athletic-looking woman in a more subdued cotton sundress, is even taller than Kendall, around six feet, if I had to guess. They navigate back to their own table, moving through the crowd like two towering, elegant queens, drawing other eyes as they go.
Adam nudges me. “Earth to Grant.” He follows my gaze toKendall’s table, where she and her friend join another woman with short, blue-tipped hair. “Yeah, I noticed those three when we came in. Pretty girls.”
Pretty seems an understatement, especially for Kendall, but I nod. “The one in the blue dress is the nurse who hates my guts.” I down a swallow of my gin. “So, that’s fun.”
“Ah. Yikes.” Adam grimaces. “Hopefully she doesn’t think you followed her here. It’s going to be awkward if she thinks you’re stalking her.”
“I wasn’t even thinking that, but thanks.”
“You aren’t going to say hi?”
“Nah. Maybe she won’t see me.” My eyes are still fixed on Kendall.
