Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I shot him a warning glare.
“Of course he did,” Dunn scoffed. “We do everything together.”
“Not everything,” Carter said lightly.
Dunn scowled, but before he could reply, Carter turned his smile up from stun to kill and shot it directly at the fourth member of our group. “You must be Jenn. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”
“Oh, I…” Jenn fluttered her eyelashes and blushed. “Oh.”
Dunn’s scowl, which was already blacker than the night outside, deepened. “So, Tucker said y’all were colleagues.” He glanced pointedly at our joined hands.
“Oh, we were,” Carter agreed. His smile dimmed not at all. “Roommates too. During all those long, hard nights of residency.” He winked at me. “I’m sure this wild man’s told you all the stories.”
Wild man? I narrowed my eyes at him. All the stories? There were no stories except the ones that involved me working eighty or more hours a week and falling exhausted into bed, and Carter knew it.
Was he trying to make Dunn jealous? What for?
“Dunn,” Jenn demanded. “Would you sit the heck down?”
Dunn shot me a look like I’d betrayed him somehow and turned his back on me. He smiled at Jenn. “Sorry about that.”
“I can’t believe you made us switch tables.” She pouted.
“It was the smoke.” Dunn smacked his chest a couple of times and cleared his throat. “My lungs get weird sometimes, you know?”
I couldn’t help overhearing. “Is your asthma acting up again? You’re carrying your inhaler, right?” I asked a trifle worriedly. “You know you’re always more sensitive at the change of seasons, and it’s been—”
Dunn set his elbow on the table and blocked the side of his face, pointedly ignoring me. “What were you saying, Jenn?”
“Hey, I know it’s cumbersome,” I insisted. “But Dunn, you can’t take chances when—”
“I was saying, I had to call a week in advance to get a spot near the fireplace.” Jenn ignored me also and proved that she could give Dunn’s little niece Myleigh lessons in sulking. “And now I don’t even get to enjoy it.”
“I’m sorry, Jenn,” Dunn said, all patient and calm like he was talking to one of his animals, not acknowledging my presence at all. “But… we only talked about coming here this afternoon, remember?”
I set my teeth. In all the years of our friendship, I couldn’t remember a time when Dunn had ever tried to ignore me before. I’d tried to ignore him plenty—see also: the last few weeks of our lives—but whenever I cast a glance in his direction, he’d always been right there, ready to literally and figuratively embrace me.
Safe to say, I was not a fan of this ignoring business. At all.
Carter tapped the back of my hand with two fingers. “You’re staring,” he mouthed.
Pfft. Of course I was staring. Dunn Johnson was ignoring me. I turned my attention back to his table.
“I planned it as a surprise for you,” Jenn was saying. “To celebrate us officially dating, honey bunch. I just knew you’d want to fight for us!” She beamed.
Dunn’s back stiffened. “Uh. That’s not… You remember what we talked about, right?”
“Of course I do,” she assured him, round-eyed. “Every word. It was the most meaningful discussion of our entire relationship.” She gave him a dreamy smile. “So far, I mean. So, when do you want to tell your mom?”
My jaw dropped. Dunn and Jenn? Officially dating? Telling Cindy Ann?
Since when? Since how?
Hurt and fury churned in my gut. Dunn didn’t even like Jenn, not really. He might like the way she filled out that dress, but he went out of his way to avoid her. Heck, he’d made me sneak out of my own office to avoid her. And now… and now…
“Here you go!” Kelsey arrived with my sangria.
I snatched it out of her hand before she could set it down and sucked back half of it. “Thanks a billion, Kels.”
“Sure. Y’all need a few more minutes?” She smiled between Carter and me.
“Hey, chill out over there, Dr. Wright,” Dunn said grudgingly. He stared at his menu and didn’t turn his head in my direction. “You know red wine takes a minute to hit you, but if you have more than two, you’ll be singing Gloria Gaynor before bed and making love to the porcelain goddess by morning.”
How fucking dare that man know me so well and also be officially dating Jenn Shipley, who was right that minute shooting a satisfied little smile in my direction?
“I’d love another sangria, please, Kelsey,” I sang, showing that my ignoring powers were by far superior. “Make it extra large.”
Carter ran his tongue over the front of his teeth. “Oookay, then. And I think we’re ready to order, since it’ll probably be good to get some food in that stomach. I’ll have the filet, medium, with the baked potato. Tuck?”
“Salmon gremolata, please.”
“And to start, we’ll split the Cobb salad,” Carter decided, handing her our menus. “Thank you.”