I reached for the familiar, flower-dotted cover ofThe Wildflower Apartmentout of habit. The flimsy copy felt like an old friend as I flipped through the pages to my favorite part of the story.
It came halfway through the book, right after Lina arrived in Spain following her grandmother’s death and began trying to understand the quiet, unreadable carpenter who lived in the apartment next door.
“I keep telling myself I’m not responsible for trying to decipher another adult human being and all their motivations… and yet here I am, exhausting myself anyway.”
I snorted under my breath.
Yeah. I knew the feeling.
My mind betrayed me and drifted back to the conversation we’d had outside my cabin last night. He’d called me out for my daddy issues while simultaneously calling me adorable.Adorable.And then there was the time he’d used the wordaddictive. Who even said things like that?
And right after that, he’d insisted I call him Jay and that we be friends. But the way he looked at me with those dark blue eyes didn’t feel like he wanted to be just friends. It felt like something else entirely.
Then he’d added that he wasn’t trying to date one of his employees—which should have helped, but somehow only confused me more. Was he really just trying to help me rebuild my confidence in dentistry? He’d said he needed a hygienist and hated that I thought so little of his profession, but why did it feel like so much more than that?
I stuffed my face into a pillow on my bed and groaned.
There were too many reasons to stay away from him. First, he was a dentist. Second, he was my boss now. Crossing that line could blow up my chances of keeping this job, and if I was being honest, I didn’t hate it there yet. If something happened between us, there was no way I could continue working for him. Relationships were messy, and if I was serious about staying in Big Bear and writing my book, I didn’t want to risk any drama that could ruin that.
And third, he was seven years older. He seemed settled, steady, and put-together. I was still floundering. I didn’t really know what I was doing with my life. I’d just disappoint him. I could end up living in Mason’s cabin forever. I had no plan, no direction.
So I would just have to keep repeating those reasons whenever I caught myself feeling anything around him. I wasn’t going to pretend I wasn’t attracted to him—that would be a lie. But something could be beautiful and enticing and also incredibly dangerous.
There were many things in the world that fit that definition.
So I’d just have to open the first page ofHope’s Dictionaryevery morning—mentally—and read my personally crafted definition ofDentistto remind myself why I needed to keep my distance.
Dentist:
noun.
1 A medically trained professional licensed to diagnose, treat, and traumatize Hope Elmswood for the rest of her natural life.
2 A human person who, despite having objectively attractive features, is to be avoided romantically forreasons including (but not limited to): anxiety and job jeopardization.
3 See also:danger,chaos
CHAPTER 19
It was a full schedule on Tuesday morning and my first four patients came and went in a breeze. I was grateful for the busy day because it kept my anxiety from creeping in and made the hours fly by.
When lunchtime rolled around, I headed toward the break room and found Tyler sitting at the small plastic table. He was scrolling on his phone and eating a granola bar.
“Hey,” I said, slipping into the seat beside him before I could talk myself out of it.
Tyler looked up immediately and smiled. He scooted over, giving me more space to scooch in next to him. “Hey. How’s your day been?”
“Good,” I said. “Busy so far.”
“Busy’s good,” he said, nodding. “Makes the hours go faster.”
The silence between us was comfortable, easy even. With Jenn and Erica both out and Macey stuck with a patient, it was just the two of us. No noise. No chaos. Justthe faint hum of the fridge and the soft buzz of the fluorescent lights.
Then Tyler turned toward me, his elbow resting on the table. He’d gotten a haircut a few days ago and looked to be growing out his scruff. It looked good on him, and I couldn’t help but notice how warm his eyes were.
“So, Hope. What do you like to do outside of this place?” He gestured around us. “Because I refuse to believe that teeth are your personality.”
I laughed and felt myself shrug. “Um…I like to read.”
