Goddamn it.
Grabbing my drink, I made my way to the end of the bar, and once I was standing in front of her, I said the only thing that I could think of.“So, you weren’t kidding about this weekend after all,”
Thandie grinned.“If I’m not a full-blown alcoholic by the time your sister is married, it’ll be a goddamn miracle.”
“You’re not lying,” I huffed, sharing in her suffering.
After a few seconds, she asked, “What are you doing here, Beck?”
“Remember that bachelor party I texted you about?”I jerked my head towards The Bachelor Pad room.“Complete with strippers and everything.”
“Then what are you doing out here?”
“I needed some fresh air,” I semi-lied.
Her brows scrunched a bit.“So, either the party is boring as hell or out of control.”
“It’s somewhere in between,” I grinned.“The groom is very dedicated to his bride, so the strippers really are for show only.”
Her face softened immediately.“It’s good to hear that there are still some nice guys out there.”
“They exist.”
Thandie’s brows jumped in surprise.“Are you saying that you’re not one of the nice guys, Dr.McKenna?I don’t believe that.”
I shrugged.“I guess that depends on your definition of nice.”
“You’re an oncologist who saves lives,” she replied pointedly.“I think that’s about as nice as a person can get.Well, unless you’re The Pope.”
“I’ve got news for you, Ms.Ames,” I retorted.“You can be a doctor and still be an asshole.Trust me, I’ve met plenty.”
“But not you,” she said quickly.“You’re one of the good guys, Beck.”
Though the words were complimentary, something in the tone of her voice suggested otherwise.While I was doing my best to keep my dick from getting hard right now, she was friend-zoning me, and all because she thought that I was a nice guy, and a nice guy couldn’t possibly present any challenges, right?
“And what about you?”I asked, ignoring her assessment of my character.“Are you a nice girl, Ms.Ames?”
Her dark brown gaze flashed seductively.“No, Dr.McKenna.I am not.”
“And why’s that?”
“A nice girl wouldn’t have the professional success rate that I do,” she explained proudly.“A nice girl wouldn’t survive one day in criminal court, and neither would a nice guy for that matter.”
“How about outside the courtroom?”
“I don’t wear my personality like a change of clothing, Beck,” she answered.“I’m who I am, no matter where you see me.”
I mulled that over for a bit, and she was right.Every single time that I’d ever run into this woman, she was always the same Thandie Ames as before.I’d never seen her be anything else, and I attributed that to her level of confidence as a successful woman.Thandie wasn’t insecure, so she didn’t need to dumb herself down to fit in.Either people rose to her level of sophistication or not, and either way, she didn’t rearrange herself to fit other people’s molds.
“And what are you doing here?”I finally asked.
“Getting drunk,” she quipped.
I immediately shook my head at her.“You could do that anywhere.In fact, you could do that in the safety of your own home, no risk to anything.”
“You’re my best friend’s older brother, so I’m not sure if I should be sharing my deepest, darkest, dirtiest secrets with you,” she joked.“You might forbid Kelly from hanging out with me.”
That got a smirk out of me.“Well, let’s forget that my sister’s grown and would tell me to go to hell if I ever dared tried such a thing, but I’d still never do that.”
