Josie wished she had that level of concentration.
Sara wasn’t impressed. “That sounds annoying to me. I alwaysthought that was the nice thing about being a pediatrician. There aren’t a lot of inflated egos running around my office.”
“It’s not annoying to me.” She sighed a little, indulging in the fantasy of Houston turning those focused blue eyes on her, and placing his skilled hands somewhere between her medial thighs. Or in layman’s terms, on her hot spot.
“I really wish you hadn’t suggested the underwear thing. Now the next time I see Dr. Hayes I’m going to be picturing him naked.” Who knew what she’d drop or fall on with that image in her mind. She’d be lucky if she didn’t impale herself by accident.
Sara grinned. “It’s just jealousy on my part. At least you’re getting The Look. I haven’t had a date in a year.”
Josie gave Sara a look of sympathy. “It’s hell out there, isn’t it? On the dating apps?”
“It’s a horror movie.” Then Sara sat up straight and her eyes went wide. “Ohmigod, ohmigod, Isawit.”
Turning a little in her seat, she said, “What? Saw what?”
“Don’t turn around!” Sara hissed. “Dr. Hayes just walked in.”
Josie froze, half-turned like she was in the middle of a bizarre yoga ritual. “Why not? What’s he doing?”
“He gave you The Look. I saw it.” Flapping her hands back and forth, Sara was acting like she’d just witnessed a UFO sighting. “Whew, the temperature just shot up ten degrees in here.”
Josie felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she pinched her lips as she faced forward again, determined not to look at Dr. Hayes.
“This is crazy.” She pushed her unappealing plain bagel away. “I feel like I’m in the high school cafeteria, not the hospital. I’m fantasizing about this guy and I don’t even know him at all. The only time we talk is when he’s reprimanding me for my latest bout of idiot-itis.”
“Sometimes you just don’t need words.”
Josie pictured Dr. Houston Hayes wearing nothing but a stethoscope.
Sara had no idea how profound her statement was.
I played doctor.
Damn.
Josie sat up straight. That had been a sexual innuendo.
Was Dr. Hayesflirtingwith her?
In a growly, rude, alpha male kind of way?
God, she hoped so.
Chapter Three
Unable to stand the feeling of Dr. Hayes’s eyes burning a hole into the back of her head, Josie fled the cafeteria a minute later.
She brushed bagel crumbs off her shirt and studied the ground as she rushed through the doorway, determined to pretend she didn’t see him sitting by himself at a table in the corner.
In the hall, she said good-bye to Sara, who was on her way back to pediatrics.
“Are we still going shopping tomorrow?”
Sara gave her the thumbs-up as she pushed the UP button for the elevator. “I need your moral support. Bathing suit shopping is the single most traumatizing experience in a woman’s life. I can’t think why I ever thought living next to the beach was a good idea.” She gestured up and down her lean frame. “I always feel about as sexy as a number two pencil in a bathing suit. I’m just as flat as one.”
“Oh, please.” Josie rolled her eyes and laughed at Sara’s exaggeration. Sarawasthin, but since Josie had spent a childhood waiting to get taller, only to never see the day arrive, it was hard for her to dredge up a lot of sympathy. She tended to be round in strategic places like her behind and her chest, the result of beingshort. Or more likely it was related to hating exercise, and loving ice cream.
Whatever the cause, for the most part not meeting the media portrayal of female perfection didn’t bother her. She had no interest in self-inflicted starvation or spending the minimal free time she had in the gym. Plus, she looked damn good in a tight dress with heels.