Coming For You
Page 9
* * *
I stared at the delivery man standing at my door with over three dozen white roses. The gorgeous bouquet had to be heavy and here I was staring slack jawed at him, blocking his entry into the apartment.
“Ma’am,” the man said again. “Can I set these down somewhere for you?”
“Yes, of course.” I stepped back out of the way. “Over on the bar would be perfect, please.”
He sat them down, took a deep breath, and grabbed the card from his jacket. “Someone has an admirer,” he teased. “It’s been a while since we’ve delivered anything this special.”
“They’re gorgeous,” I said running a finger over one of the delicate petals. He handed me the envelope and winked before walking out the door.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Piper immediately. She picked up on the second ring.
“There’s a massive vase of roses on my bar right now,” I said before she could even say hello.
“Good morning to you too.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m in emergency mode, Piper. Can you be supportive?”
“I’m sorry.” She cleared her throat. “How dare he send you flowers! What an asshole!”
“Better,” I said sighing.
“So who sent you flowers?”
“I’m assuming Zane.”
“You don’t know?” she asked exasperated. “Is there a card?”
“I haven’t read it yet.”
“Open the fucking card, D. Maybe they aren’t from him. Why would he be sending you flowers anyway? You ran out on him last night after—”
“We all know why I left; let’s not bring up the whole thing again.”
“Sorry, but now answer my original question. Why is he sending you flowers this morning?” I bit my lip. Maybe I shouldn’t have called her. “Dillon, what am I missing?”
“He came over last night. We…talked.”
“And by talked you mean?”
I bit my lip. “I guess he’s the new, Travis.”
“Dillon,” she groaned. “Why do you do this to yourself? You deserve better than that. Zane Turner is nothing but a good lay and someone pretty to look at.” She sounded exasperated. “Read the fucking card and see what the asshole has to say.”
I tugged the little card from the envelope; bitching at her while I worked. “I don’t want anything serious. This is just his way of getting back in my good graces.”
“I know you don’t, but I don’t think Zane does either. He might have the power to hurt you more than Travis.”
I was quiet for a minute, fully pissed off that she would go there. “You’re wrong. Nothing will hurt me like he did.” I couldn’t talk to her right now. “I’ll talk to you later.”
I hung up the phone before she could try to convince me to talk through all the things going on in my mind. No matter how many times we talked about my ex, it never fixed anything. It never helped me. The world just seemed a little darker.
The little card seemed heavier in my hand now. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to read it. Fuck Piper and her bringing up my asshole ex. She knew it messed with my head.
Dillon,
Thank you for not kicking my sorry ass out last night and not freaking out when I had to leave. My patient isn’t paralyzed, so it was a good thing.
Signed your not-boyfriend,
Zane
How is it that with just those few words I felt better? Maybe because he’s just as shitty at this relationship thing as I am. One could hope anyway.
I swiped my finger across my phone and started typing out a response to Zane.
I’m glad your patient isn’t paralyzed.
I didn’t expect a response right away, but when he text right back I smiled and tried not to feel giddy. Something about this guy made me happier than I had been in a long time.
Zane: Me too. That would have really put a damper on my night.
Zane: I also see you got your flowers.
Me: I did. They are beautiful. Thank you.
Zane: Were they enough that I can convince you to have dinner with my friends tomorrow night?
Me: Well that escalated quickly.
Me: I thought this was just sex and nights at the Ritz. Meeting your friends wasn’t exactly talked about.
Zane: I’ve met your brother…
Me: What’s your point?
Zane: Never mind.
Me: I have a work thing next week if you want to come.
Zane: Your enthusiasm astounds me.
This was getting out of control. I finally gave up and called him. He answered on the second ring.
“Am I wearing you down?” He asked as soon as he answered.
“Hardly. What’s so great about me that you want your friends to meet me?”
“I thought the sex was good.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“So did I, but I’m not ready to introduce you to my dad or anything.”
He made an exasperated sound. “It’s just dinner, Dillon. We aren’t announcing our engagement. I want to show you off to my best friend Kade, and maybe prove to my brother and his fiancée that I can actually find a woman on my own.”
I sighed. “Fine.”
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you,” he teased.
“Yes, I will go to dinner with you so you can show me off like a piece of arm candy.”
He snorted. “You’ll win them over in no time at all.”
“But only if you’ll go to my thing on Wednesday.”
I crossed my fingers because I really didn’t want to go to that party alone. I had a bad feeling something was going to happen. It was a fluttery feeling you get in the back of your stomach when you’re dreading doing something, but you have to do it anyway.
“Why does this feel like a negotiation?” he asked with suspicion tingeing his voice.
“Because it is,” I answered sweetly. “I’ll be ready by six.”
“Bye Dillon.”
“Bye Dr. Turner.”
“Can you call me Dr. Turner when I’m fucking you blind one night?”
“You are such a—”
Click.
“Dick.”
He really was a dick. But if that was the case, why was I still smiling?
Chapter 12
Zane
I led Dillon to the table, my hand on her lower back, guiding her to where Kade, Savannah and Justin sat waiting for us. All three of them looked a little shell shocked as we approached. I hadn’t told any of them I was bringing her with me. Kade was going to cause problems, I could tell by the shit eating grin on his face after he looked my date up and down.
She did look amazing, but if he didn’t stop I was going to punch him. It’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve felt like kicking someone’s ass for looking at my date. My brother was actually the first to come to his senses. He jumped up and stuck his hand out to introduce himself.
“You must be Dillon. We’ve heard so much about you.”
I grimaced as Dillon turned to look at me with an amused expression.
Way to go asshole.
“This is my brother Justin and his fiancée Savannah.” I nodded to each of them. “This asshole is—”
“Dr. Kade Smith,” he said taking her hand in his and holding on for just a few seconds too long. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
Dillon arched a brow. There’s my girl.
My girl?
I needed a drink.
“It’s nice to meet you all. I wish Zane had told me about you guys since apparently you know all about me.”
And there’s her firing shot.
Savannah laughed. “I like you,” she said to Dillon. “Zane, go get the girl a drink from the bar and take these two bozos with you.”
I scoffed, but instead of clinging to me like any other girl, Dillon said, “Glenlivet please.”
I stared at the girls, but neither of them looked like they were kidding. Why was it when I decided to start dating I picked the most difficult
one?
Kade and Justin trailed behind me as we trekked over to the bar. Both of them were dying to ask me what the hell was going on, but at least they were waiting until we were out of earshot. Justin was the first to break the silence.
“Where did you find her?” he asked in awe. I smacked the back of his head.
“Your fiancée will hear you, dumbass. Don’t make me punch you for Savannah.”
“More importantly, how did you convince her to come here?” Kade interjected. “She’s way too hot for you.”
I glared at Kade. “Behave yourself. I’m warning you now, she’s got a mouth on her, so if you start yanking her chain you might regret it. Dillon might even put Savannah to shame when it comes to speaking her mind. The only other person that could beat them is her best friend, Piper.”
“I need to meet this Piper,” Kade said grinning.
I groaned. “Believe me, you don’t.”
I took the glasses the bartender offered and we slowly made our way back to the girls. They both had huge smiles, like they were sharing secrets that could end up biting me in the ass.
“So Zane,” Dillon said smiling wider. “Tell me about elementary school.”
My head whipped over to Savannah. “I hate you right now. Or I would if I didn’t love you so damn much, but you’re worse than my brother, you know that?”
She just smirked. “Well I couldn’t very well let you get the upper hand, now could I?”
“I feel like I need to see these pictures of you when you had a bowl cut and braces,” Dillon said giggling. I handed her the glass of whiskey and sat down in the chair next to hers.
“I’ve burned them all,” I lied.
“No you didn’t,” Justin chimed in. “Mom would have your balls if you did something like that.”
I glared at my brother. “Can’t you just have my back for once?”
“Nope," he said grinning and pointing over at his fiancée. "She has sex with me on a regular basis. You don’t.”
“Why do you have sex with him on a regular basis?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “He does the kinky things I like and he has a big cock.”
“I bet mine’s bigger,” Kade and I said at the same time.
Dillon’s eyes bounced between everyone, finally landing on Savannah. “I think you just became my new best friend. You look so sweet and innocent, then you open your mouth and the best things ever come out.”
Savannah laughed. “Just wait until I’ve had a few of these,” she said holding up her wine glass. “I drink like a fish and then my almost nonexistent filter goes away. It gets really bad then.”
“Or so, so good,” Dillon said winking.
“So Dillon,” Kade said as he leaned back in his chair. “You’re the one that Dr. Williams caught giving Zane a blow job in his car, huh?”
She smiled sweetly. “I am. And you’re the one that got caught by his boss having a threesome in the on call room right?”
I choked on my whiskey. “What?” I asked in disbelief. “How did I not know about this?”
“Please, please marry her,” Savannah said laughing. “If she can make Kade blush within ten minutes of meeting him, you need to put a ring on it.”
Kade almost spit his drink all over the table, ignoring Savannah, he asked Dillon, “How do you know about that?”
Dillon grinned. “I’m a journalist, remember?”
“Someone give us the entire story please,” Justin said, looking between Kade and Dillon. “We’re all dying here.”
“Fine,” he muttered. “Three days ago I’d had a…weird day. I was working with two of the nurses I’ve been flirting with for months. One of the girls followed me to the on-call room after I saw my last patient for the day. We started fooling around and the other nurse came in. Instead of being pissed, she got….excited and…joined in.”
“Oh this is fucking gold,” I said as I took a drink. Dillon winked and nodded once.
“As I was fucking one, the other girl climbed behind me and started licking a part of my anatomy that we shouldn’t discuss at dinner.” He took a large drink of his scotch. “That’s about the time the Chief of Surgery walked in.”
The girls howled with laughter. I stared at my friend, torn between trying to support him for his threesome in solidarity or laughing at him for getting caught like a fucking idiot.
“So Davis caught you pants down, ass up?” I asked, choking back a laugh. He glared at me and I laughed even harder.
“I fucking hate you guys.” He looked at Dillon. “Fine, you win. I won’t give you shit for dating this asshole anymore. But when you dump him, can you come find me? I need someone like you on my side.”
“How did you not get fired? Chief has no sense of humor, and he probably hasn’t gotten laid since the 70’s,” I asked.
“Fuck if I know. Either he has a thing for me, or he has a thing for threesomes. He basically just told us to put our scrubs back on and get back out on the floor.”
Dillon took a sip of her drink and smirked. “If I give you the rest of the story, will you forgive me for outing you to your friends?” She asked innocently. Kade nodded in agreement, but it was awesome seeing him caught like this. “Chief Davis was caught with his pants down in a very similar situation not too long ago. He’s trying to fly under the radar right now. He doesn’t want people to know that the on-call room is just one big orgy or he just might find himself out of a job.”
“You’re kidding me,” Kade breathed. “How do you know all this?”
Dillon leaned back in her chair. “A journalist never reveals her sources.”
“You just became my new best friend,” he said laughing. “Fuck you Zane, we’re over.”
We all started laughing again. Between busting mine and Kade’s chops, Dillon had ended up with respect from everyone sitting at the table. Savannah was already planning our wedding and she hadn’t even married my brother yet. As the evening progressed, it was casually mentioned that I didn’t have a date for the wedding and Dillon should come with me.
To Niagara Falls.
To a wedding in a month.
So she could meet all my family and friends.
I liked her, but I didn’t know if I was ready for that kind of commitment. That went way beyond the realm of fucking regularly. And from the look of panic on Dillon’s face, she was thinking the same thing. Not that I’m opposed to her meeting my friends, or even my family, but that’s a lot of pressure on both of us. Thank goodness she had the presence of mind to make some non-committal remark about checking her calendar.
The drive back to her apartment was quiet, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I’d enjoyed having her there more than I thought I would, and not because she was able to best Kade. She fit in effortlessly. Savannah loved her, which was a huge selling point in my opinion. But something about the entire evening left me uneasy. Maybe we’d crossed the line from two people who have amazing sex to relationship territory.
* * *
Five days later and I still hadn’t heard from Dillon. Apparently she’d decided that I didn’t need to go to her work thing with her. Honestly it was probably better that way. I’d been dodging Savannah’s calls since that night to see if Dillon was coming with me to the wedding. If we couldn’t handle a simple dinner, I had some serious doubts that we could handle a romantic weekend in Niagara Falls.
I was in the middle of rounds when a text from a random number came through. That wasn’t unusual, but the message was.
Dillon’s going to a birthday party that her ex is going to be at tonight. Don’t make her face that asshole by herself. Show up at the Centennial Ballroom tonight at 9pm. Bring flowers.
Piper.
It had to be. Maybe Jake, but he didn’t strike me as the type to get mixed up in his sister’s business. I glanced down at my watch. It was going to be difficult to finish rounds, do all three surgeries I had scheduled for the day and get there on time, but I could probably make it happen.
Chapter 13
Dillon
I hadn’t ever missed one of Ashlie’s birthday parties, and I wasn’t about to start now just because that asshole ex of mine was supposed to be there tonight. It was possible for me to smile and act civil while I wished I could remove his spleen with my dessert spoon. Maybe I could get a good kidney punch in while no one was looking. The glass of champagne in my hand wasn’t helping with liquid courage, but I sure as hell wouldn’t turn down another.
Piper was circulating the room, coming back to me with all the good gossip. Tonight I just needed to sit this one out. Normally I would be right there with her, but having Travis in the room made me jumpy. The idea of running into him made my skin crawl. I knew at some point he would come over, probably with his little bitch secretary on his arm, and start talking about how we should have lunch soon to catch up.
Over my dead body.
It was bad luck that the second I turned around from another conversation that Travis was standing behind me. From the smirk on his face, he’d probably been waiting to talk to me because he knew it made me uncomfortable.
Asshole.
Maybe I could just avoid him. Don’t make eye contact and maybe he’ll go away.
“Dillon.”
Damn it.
I turned around slowly. “Hey Travis.”
“How are you doing?” he asked, a smug grin on his miserable face.
“Quite well. I’ve been busy with work. And you?”
“Very good actually. Victoria and I just got engaged.” God, why wouldn’t he just go away already? Did he really want to kick me when I was down already? “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”
How in the hell did I even answer that question? Yes, he’s a successful surgeon and his penis is bigger than yours. But I didn’t know if what Zane and I were doing even qualified as dating.