After the Night (Romance for all Seasons Book 1)

by Sandra Marie

  Her eyes widened. “I’m sure there is. You wanna head over at lunch?”

  “Yes,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound too anxious. No way was he letting her pay for his new phone, but he wasn’t going to let her in on that until they got there.

  “Okay. I’ll meet you in the lobby then.” She sighed and wrinkled her nose, stopping in front of one of the classroom doors. “Well, good luck.”

  “I’ll see you on the other side.”

  They shared a comforting smile, as if they were going into battle, then she disappeared inside the room, and he found his next class. He wasn’t quite sure he was going to survive this week, and not just because of the classes.

  Cassidy pursed her lips together and tried to subtly cover her nose, her eyes tearing up behind her glasses. She caught Jon across the bench seat doing the same, and she wondered if she was failing as badly as he was at trying to look like the Uber car they were in wasn’t possessed by some evil stinky monster. He let out a long breath and pressed the window button repeatedly, as if it would magically start working.

  The smell was going to kill them before they even got to the cell phone store. When she picked Uber, this guy had high ratings, and only one review mentioned a funky odor. Funky was an understatement.

  Her gaze skated over Jon’s wrinkled nose, and a snort rumbled her pinched lips. He tapped her shoulder with his knuckles and gestured her in close.

  “You seen Seinfeld?” he whispered. She shook her head, and he gave the look she donned nearly every time someone admitted to never seeing Captain America: Civil War.

  His head drooped, his hair tickling her arm. “It’s a classic.”

  “My parents used to watch it, I think.”

  He lifted his eyes, the left one twitching a little. “You could probably stream it. Give it a try. Watch the smelly car episode.”

  “I don’t have to watch it in order?”

  He shook his head, leaning back into his spot. Cassidy settled in her seat as well. She hadn’t even noticed she’d gravitated toward him. It had to be because he smelled so much better than whatever died in the car.

  As soon as the guy pulled up alongside the curb, Cassidy flung the door open and leapt out, sucking in a much-needed breath of fresh air. Jon was on the street side, resting his hand on top of the car and breathing as if he’d just run a marathon. They shared an amused grin, and a ray of sunshine shot right through Cassidy, warming her through and through. She wished she could say she memorized Westley’s smile, but since half the night was spent with blurry vision, she couldn’t quite say. But if she could pick a matching smile, she’d pick the doctor’s in a second.

  Jon came around and led the way inside, holding the door open for her. She ducked under his arm, grateful the odor hadn’t latched to him—he still smelled of aftershave and heaven. She hoped her bargain bin body spray had held up against the battle it’d gone through.

  The store was empty, all for a couple of employees who looked about twelve. The girl wore glasses that Cassidy would have to ask where she got them from, and the boy was tall, gangly, and they were both too enthralled with each other to notice anyone else.

  “Guess we just help ourselves,” she said, but Jon was already off, browsing the latest Samsung.

  “Time for an upgrade,” he said as she sidled over. Cassidy tapped the phone with her forefinger, urging him to put it back on its stand.

  “If you want an upgrade, go Apple.”

  “The iPhone?” He crinkled his nose, and she swore that look needed to be engraved in stone somewhere so everyone could see its beauty. “No thanks.”

  “iPhones are better,” she lilted, leaning up against the counter and nodding to the other side of the store. Jon picked up the Samsung again, flicking through the features.

  “It would take me a year just to learn how to use it,” he joked. She liked it when the funny guy came out. She’d always viewed him as too serious and intimidating to hang around, but he was actually more relaxed than she’d given him credit for.

  “Old man,” she teased, loving the way his neck turned red. She shoved off the counter and started browsing all the phone cases. The iPhone had way more options, including an awesome Marvel case. If only it fit her two-year-old phone—which meant it was ancient in the eyes of phone providers.

  “Um… excuse me?” Jon’s voice was a mix of strong and soft, enough that it caused a wave of familiarity to run through Cassidy’s mind. Her brows pinched together as she watched him finally grab the attention of one of the employees, and she studied the way his mouth moved, the way he used his hands, his stance and demeanor… all while trying to wave back the doctor curtain she’d always put in front of him. Could he be Westley? No… he couldn’t be. Doctors don’t hang out with the staff. They certainly don’t make out with them either. Is that against some policy?

  She tried to remember exactly what he’d said before he’d left the office that day. She was sure he wasn’t going to the party, and with his schedule, she hadn’t been surprised. Her suspicions were probably all just hopeful thinking. The man was dang beautiful.

  She blinked out of her head and snatched up a thick case for the Samsung—stubborn man—and pushed it into his chest. “Might need to add this, butterfingers.”

  “Does it have a rearview mirror feature to catch people reading over my shoulder?”

  “Just pay more attention to your surroundings. I know that dating app girl was cute, but you should still be able to see someone standing right next to you.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head as he handed the phone case to the guy who seemed all too eager to get back to flirting with his co-worker. Cassidy bit her lip as soon as Jon’s back was turned to her, hoping she wasn’t stepping over any employee/boss line. It was her MO to speak before thinking, and then worry over all her blathering later.

  But he was teasing her, too, wasn’t he? Her heart thudded hard, and warmth trickled down her spine. Maybe it wasn’t too far-fetched to think of Dr. Bateman being her Westley.

  After waiting forever and a day for the employees to stop flirting and start helping, Jon walked out with a shiny new phone and a case that he refused to let Cassidy pay for.

  “Can I peel it off?” she asked as they strolled back to the hotel. They’d decided that was better than risking another stinky Uber ride.

  “What? That’s the best part!” Jon said, pulling his phone out of reach. He held it high in the air as he lifted the corner of the plastic covering.

  Cassidy jumped for it. “Come on! I came all this way with you.”

  “And I let you off the hook for cracking my old one.”

  “Let me do half,” she pleaded through a laugh. “You peel the first half off, and I’ll get the rest.”

  “The best part is when it comes off completely.”

  She gritted her teeth, and when he brought the phone back down, she dove. He stuck his hand against her forehead and held her an arms’ length away, much to the entertainment of the passersby.

  “I was gonna let you do the plastic around the edges, but forget it.”

  “Liar.”

  He stuck the phone clear from her reach again, high into the air. She batted at him as he arrogantly took the corner and peeled it clean off.

  “So mean,” she playfully pouted. He waved the plastic in her face, and she flicked it to the ground. It took him several tries to get it off the concrete and back into the bag.

  “You’re walking so slow,” she said after a few more minutes. His gait was achingly dragged, especially for his height.

  “Yeah… I thought if I slowed it down, we might get out of the next class.”

  A smile pulled at her lips. “What do you have next?”

  “Penmanship.”

  She snorted. “No really.”

  “Really. Apparently it’s an issue.”

  “Well, having seen some of your claim requests, we’d better pick up the pace. That’s a class you shouldn’t skip out on.”


  His elbow connected with her side, making her miss a step and her heart miss a beat.

  “What do you have next?” he asked.

  “Something not nearly as fun.” She blew out a breath that rumbled her lips. “System shortcuts. I pretty much know them all.”

  “Then work on your drawing,” he said, and that blush she was starting to associate with him started crawling through his neck. “I could use a few more comics.”

  Her eyes drifted to the sidewalk, and warmth spread through her cheeks. She was grateful for her boldness in their first class together… and her boredom. “You got it, Doc.”

  ***

  Cassidy pulled the sleeves down on her sweater, wishing she’d brought a coat or a blanket or a space heater. The room had to be below fifty, and Cassidy couldn’t pay attention even if she wanted to.

  She’d started a few doodles, but her fingers were going straight under her butt for the rest of the class, or in her armpits, or between her thighs. A small laugh floated from her frozen lips at the memory of Shellie stuffing her hands under her giant bosom to warm them up one day when the office power went out. Cassidy looked sourly at her flat chest. Just another thing she couldn’t use it for.

  Would her Westley be okay with her coat rack body? The boob bags definitely gave her a figure, and the wig made her blonde, and the contacts gave the illusion of 20/20 vision—which was obviously a mistake. But weren’t all those makeover movies about becoming the blonde bombshell with no glasses? Maybe that’s why he hadn’t made himself known; he caught one look at her at the office and said, “I’m out!”

  She clucked her tongue, then stopped when she got a dirty look from a girl in the row in front of her. No… she’d much rather think of her Westley as a deeper guy than that. He’d even said at one point that he found her dorkiness attractive. Plucking her contact from her eye was oddly intimate, sharing pizza in his car before she took a head dive into his crotch… He was fun and silly, like her, and she wanted to sit on his lap, watch movies, eat popcorn, makeout during boring parts and push him away during fight scenes. She wanted to make fun of his tattoos, convince him to get more, and buy matching fuzzy socks and eat cake for breakfast together.

  Her fantasies started to warm her up, and she sighed, leaning her elbow on the table. Her comics crinkled under her weight, and instead of a costumed man she usually pictured, a face started to take shape. A smile that lit the world, crows feet around a set of green eyes, a pair of scrubs draped over the arm of the couch…

  She blinked and shot up straight, her chair squeaking a little as she moved back. The class was so boring that no one really seemed to notice her as she battled her daydream. She could not dream about her boss; that was Office No-Nos 101. She would bet on there being a class about it at some point this week. No… Jon could not be Westley… even if a part of her wanted him to be.

  She picked up her pencil and drew the Dread Pirate Roberts, sitting in the backseat, confused as a cartoon Cassidy leapt from the blue car. The blue Nissan Altima to be exact. She remembered the emblem on the steering wheel, and thinking the car looked like her dad’s previous Altima, before he’d traded it in.

  Her pencil stopped mid-stroke, and her grip turned icy. That was it—the car. All she had to do was find the guy who drove the blue Altima. Why did she not think of that before? She’d spent most of her night in the backseat. She would recognize it, she was sure.

  She pulled her phone out and shot a text to Shellie. Operation Find Westley was a go, and she hoped that a break in the other mystery case she was on would soon find its way to her as well.

  Jon rubbed his eyes and sat up in the giant bed, squinting at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 6:29. Still too early to head down to the conference, but at least it was late enough to get up. He’d been coming in and out of sleep all night; at midnight, he woke thinking he’d slept for hours, groaned, and slumped back into the pillow after seeing it’d only been forty-five minutes. At 2:15 he squinted at the clock and wondered if he should read until he dozed off again. At 4:08, he clicked the TV on and watched a very old episode of Match Game.

  He grappled for the menu and looked it over for an opening time for the cafe in the lobby. Oh good; it opened at six-thirty. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and gave his body a good stretch. He almost asked Alexa to read him his messages before he remembered where he was.

  After a good shower and picking out his threads for the day, he whistled his way to the lobby, his stomach leaping for a good meal. No one should ever start the day without bacon, and Jon let his nose guide him toward it.

  The early risers were scattered throughout the little restaurant, most sipping on mugs of their hot beverage of choice and flipping through phones, tablets, or laptops. All except for one table where a pair of familiar faces sat, and as soon as he caught sight of Cassidy’s signature glasses, bacon was the last thing on his mind.

  “Hey, Bateman!” Julie called, locking eyes with him and waving him over. “Join us.”

  Cassidy flicked her gaze over her shoulder, her messy brown hair up in a ponytail and just grazing her bare neck. He gulped, hoping he wasn’t a sweaty, nervous mess as he made his way over to them.

  A smirk lifted her naked lips when he sat down, and she nodded to his torso. “Dressed at seven in the morning? Props, Doc.”

  He shrugged and adjusted his tie. Breakfast in his pajamas hadn’t crossed his mind; this was a professional setting, no? But there Cassidy sat in the cutest set of candy corn pajama bottoms he’d ever seen, with a black tank top that read Are my jammies a bit corny?

  “Maybe I’ll take a page out of your book tomorrow,” he said, reaching for her hem but stopping himself. Tugging at her pajamas probably wasn’t on the business side of things.

  She snorted into her coffee mug. “That’ll be the day.”

  His brows pulled in slightly, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He’d prove her wrong; he had a fun side when he let it out—and it usually found its way naturally when she was around. Did she not remember the party? He’d killed it that night—at least he thought he had.

  He squashed the memory down so it wouldn’t rear its head again over breakfast. She obviously wasn’t dwelling on their night together.

  The waitress came over and grabbed his drink order, and Julie propped her elbows up on the table and tilted her head, her tight, curly black hair bouncing with her movements. “So, you docs in the harassment class this morning, too?”

  Jon choked on his coffee and had a nice long coughing fit. His eyes watered as Cassidy pounded on his upper back a few times.

  “S-sorry?”

  Julie lifted her brow, a wicked gleam in her eye as she flicked her gaze between Jon and Cassidy. “The sexual harassment class. Cass and I are in first thing this morning.”

  Jon grabbed his water and took a swig. “Um… I’m not sure.”

  A cool breeze replaced Cassidy’s touch as she slid her hand away from his back. “Bring a pillow,” she joked. “It’s the worst class of the week.”

  “Nothing can beat out the class on hospital policy we had yesterday,” Jon argued. “The instructor read the manual. Got to page fifty-two before we were let out.”

  “Okay, it might be slightly less boring than that.” Cassidy pulled a leg up onto the chair and rested her chin on her knee, and darn if he didn’t want to see her doing that at his place, this early in the morning, while he made her toast—the only thing he could manage without burning, and even then, there was a 50/50 chance of him breaking the toaster.

  Julie cleared her throat, and he snapped out of his fantasy and ignored the red flames rising through his face. Her head was tilted, her eyes curious, and he purposely leaned away from Cassidy so there was no reason anyone could say he was acting inappropriately.

  “Oh! Real quick…” Cassidy said, lightly tapping his arm. He snapped it away so fast he could see the shock on her face, but didn’t have much time to feel badly about it. “Um… I recov
ered some of the missing checks from Medicaid. Some of the EOBs in the returned mail were a few of your deliveries, so we’re going to try to get them to pay on those.”

  “I’m going to pretend I understood that.” And pretend I don’t still feel your touch on my arm.

  She playfully stuck her tongue out and fixed her glasses. “It just means that you’ll get paid. Fingers crossed.”

  “Yeah, we’re all crossing our fingers for that,” Julie said, her attention now on the plates being brought out. Bacon sizzled from each of them, and it wasn’t lost on him that Cassidy had twice the amount. If it was just the two of them, and they weren’t at a conference for work, he’d definitely be swiping some.

  He took a bite of crispy heaven. “You’re all still getting paychecks, right?” Finances were a mystery to him. The only way he knew it was payday was when his student loans went down.

  “For now,” Julie said, eggs and bitterness soaking her tone. “A while back, before you were brought in, the providers considered letting go a person from every department.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Instead we invited another doctor to join the practice,” Cassidy said, her brown eyes meeting his. “So thanks for saving our jobs for a bit.”

  “Yeah, Cass,” Julie said, pointing the fork at her. “Now save his money so we all don’t get screwed.”

  “Working on it.”

  “Maybe they shouldn’t be spending so much on these things,” Jon added, waving his bacon around at the hotel. “The room I’m in could probably feed everyone for a month.”

  “What?” Julie said, tossing her hands up. “We have to share these teeny tiny rooms.”

  “It’s been torture,” Cassidy teased. “She leaves crap everywhere and wouldn’t let me rent Ant-Man.”

  “That thing will show up on our bill and cost like, twenty bucks.”

  “Borrow my room for a night,” Jon blurted, then quickly added, “I’ll go wander around town, and you can watch Paul Rudd.”

  Luckily Cassidy didn’t think anything of his word vomit. “If you let me borrow your room, you ain’t getting it back.”