“But we’re going to keep talking about your job because that’s my comfort place.” She covered her face with her hands for a second.
Fuck, Emily. I see you and I hear you loud and clear.
When her hands dropped, the embarrassment leaving her expression, I went to give myself a refill, and she held out her glass. I added more to hers before I gave myself three fingers’ worth.
I set the bottle down and leaned back into the couch. “Do you know what I find fascinating?” I paused. “That someone like you is single.”
“Someone like me?” She let out a loud laugh. “What does that even mean?”
“You want the truth?”
She sighed. “Please.”
My foot, crossed over the opposite knee, had been pumping the air, but now it stilled. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Her eyes widened. “Ever?”
“Yes. Ever.”
“Wow.” She went quiet. “I didn’t expect that. I ... don’t even know what to say ... and normally I have all the words.” She glanced down at her body. “I mean, I’m not even in clothes. I’m ... in scrubs.”
“Clothes have nothing to do with what I’m looking at, nor would they make me change my mind.” My arm had returned to the back of the couch, and I bent it, holding my cheek with my palm.
“But my hair’s in a ponytail. At this point, I’m positive I don’t have any makeup left on my face—in fact, I was seconds away from getting in the bathtub before Dr. Kaplan’s office called.”
I wish she hadn’t put that vision in my fucking head.
Emily naked, stepping into a tub was something I wanted to see.
“I would much rather see you without makeup on than with. Why? Because masks aren’t for me. I want to see what’s underneath, and I want to see what I’m going to wake up next to.”
She hid her smile as she said, “This is all me. Unmasked.”
“Which brings me back to my previous question: Why are you single?”
She let out a long, loud breath. “It’s not by choice, I can tell you that. I want to date.”
“It’s a bad-timing thing?”
“No, it’s an every-guy-is-so-wrong-for-me kinda thing. It’s frustrating, I’m not going to lie.”
“Fuck.”
She nodded. “So I’ve stopped trying. I don’t do the dating apps, like Hooked, which a bunch of my friends are on. I don’t put myself out there in the sense that I’m trying to attract men. I just let things happen. The same way I did tonight. Except I did return to your condo when I found out I was able to have a drink, so maybe I just contradicted myself—I don’t know.”
“Why did you come back?”
She laughed. “That’s a big ask.”
“Why?”
She set her glass down and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I don’t know how to bullshit, so my answer will be beyond truthful. It won’t only be awkward to say it, but awkward for you to hear it.”
“Try me.”
Her stare intensified the longer she looked at me. “When I saw you that night at the arena, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Ithought then—and I still do—that you’re the hottest man alive. That was why I was a little shell-shocked when the elevator door opened and you were standing there. That’s why I could barely look at you the whole time I was helping Ben. And that’s why I was blown the hell away when you asked me for a drink and completely gutted when I couldn’t have one. But when I got that text from Dr. Kaplan’s office telling me I was clocked out, there was literally no way I was going to let the opportunity pass.”
Fucking Jordan. Not once had he mentioned that Maya’s best friend was this hot. I needed to yell at him for that.
