I narrowed my eyes. “Whatever. He can do that stuff somewhere else. We don’t need to be around it.”
“You’re jealous,” Molly said, watching me as I spun away from the window.
“No. I just think it’s super unprofessional.”
Lexi smirked. “Fine. Then let’s do something about it.”
Chapter Twelve
Erik
I lied to Brie when I pushed her out of my truck. I didn’t have a date, but I did go to my favorite bar downtown and nurse a drink for half an hour before Cassie approached me. She was in the middle of finishing her internal medicine residency at a hospital downtown. She’d explained that most nights she was on call, but she had the night off and fortunately for her, she’d found me at the bar. We’d talked for a little bit then I’d leaned closer, brushing her silky hair off her shoulder.
“Want to head out?”
A smile had slowly overtaken her lips as she nodded. “Let’s go.”
I lead Cassie through the back door of my house and offered her a glass of wine.
“I’d love one,” she said, turning slowly and inspecting my kitchen.
“Red or white?” I asked.
“White please.”
I pulled open my fridge and found a stray bottle rolling around in the bottom drawer. I rarely drank wine and the fact that I actually had a bottle chilled was a happy accident.
“This is a pretty cool place you have here,” she said as I uncorked the bottle of wine. “How long have you lived here?”
“Nearly ten years.”
She nodded and took a seat at the kitchen island. Our gazes landed on the bag of muffins sitting between us. Brie had left them there that morning and I’d already devoured four.
“These look homemade. Do you bake?” Cassie asked with a smile.
I shook my head, reached for the bag, and tossed it into the trash. “Nope.”
She laughed, nervous.
I didn’t bother offering up any more of an explanation as I poured her a generous glass of wine and slid it across the counter. Her blue eyes met mine and she smiled.
“Cheers.”
Before I could bring my glass to my lips, there was a knock on the front door.
Cassie frowned. “Who’s that?”
“Probably Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
She laughed. “This late?”
“They’re relentless this time of year. I swear they have a quota.”
I whipped open the door, surprised to find Rosie standing on the porch, fidgeting and wringing her hands.
“Rosie?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
She swallowed slowly. “Um, do you have an egg we could borrow?”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out if I’d heard her right. “An egg?”
Her eyes darted to the guesthouse and then back to me. “Uh, yeah. An egg.”
“To borrow?”
Her hands squeezed tighter as she nodded.
“Right,” I continued. “An egg.”
I walked back into the kitchen, pulled the full carton out of the fridge, and walked back to hand Rosie the entire thing.
“Thanks,” she said, taking it out of my hand and bolting from the porch.
“Were they hungry?” Cassie asked with a laugh after I closed the door and joined her in the kitchen.
I took a long sip and nodded.
She laughed again. I was happy she didn’t pester me about the intrusion, and even happier to see her glass already in need of a refill.
I opened my mouth to ask her about residency, curious about why she’d chosen the internal medicine route, when another knock sounded from the door.
Her smile faded. She clearly hadn’t expected any disruptions to our night. I held up my finger, dropped my glass back to the counter, and walked back to answer the door.
This time, Molly was standing on the other side, holding her hand to her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, speaking a little more gruffly than I had with Rosie.
“Do you have an Advil?”
I shook my head. “You guys don’t have Advil over there?”
She sighed. “No, and I have a really bad migraine.”
I gripped the door, resisted the urge to call her bluff, and turned for the stairs. Once there, I reached into my medicine cabinet for Advil and pulled out Tylenol as well. When I handed both over to Molly, she peered over my shoulder, trying to get a good look at Cassie.
“Is that it?” I asked, holding the door in my fist and starting to close it on her when she hadn’t budged.
“Oh, right.” She turned and shook the pills overhead. “Thanks!”
I closed and locked the door, walked back into my kitchen, and finished off the rest of my wine with a long gulp.
“Is everything okay?” Cassie asked, peering at me from beneath her long lashes.
I nodded and tried to plaster on a smile. “There’s a group staying in my guesthouse and they’re being extra needy tonight.”
“Oh, like Airbnb?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
I hadn’t told Cassie about my job because I didn’t like all the questions that came with the conversation. It was safer to stick to medicine. Usually doctors could ramble on for hours if you got them started.
“So, tell me what it’s like working downtown. Do you have to work in the ER?”
Her eyes lit up at the question, but she’d hardly opened her mouth to answer when another knock sounded at my door. This time, the knocks were louder and longer than before and I nearly threw my empty wine glass across the room in frustration.