揧ou抮e an idiot,?she whispers against my mouth.
揧eah,?I agree. 揑t抯 probably better that you realize that now梛ust get it out of the way. It抣l save us time later on.?
She laughs. 揥hen does your shift end??
揟en a.m. tomorrow. Then I have the next two days off.?
揂nd I have the next three off.?
She glances around, seeming to remember where we are. One of us probably should.
揙kay, I抦 going to go to dinner with my brother because I haven抰 seen him in a year. And you really should棓
揧es.?I jerk a thumb over my shoulder. 揇octor. Patients. Medicine. On it.?
揜ight,?she laughs again. 揧ou抮e probably going to want to sleep when you get home, have something to eat, hang out with the boys . . .?
I fucking love that she thinks of them. That she automatically knows spending time with them is as essential to me as eating and sleeping. People who don抰 have kids don抰 always get that . . . but she does. Such a turn-on.
?. . . so why don抰 you swing by my house in the late afternoon or after dinner??
揘o. I want to take you out. Let抯 go out for dinner. Together.?
Her dark eyes widen.
揕ike . . . a date??
My voice is firm, clear, and completely unambiguous.
揟otally, one hundred percent, a date.?
Violet抯 full, pouty lips stretch slowly into a beaming smile.
揙kay.?
I nod, my tone going a little softer, a little relieved.
揙kay.?
She drifts backward toward her brother, eyes on me. 揟hen I guess I抣l see you tomorrow.?
揧eah, you will.?
揌ave a good shift, Connor.?
揌ave a good visit with your brother.?
Speaking of her brother桰 give him an apologetic look.
揌ey, Darren, listen, I抦 really not usually this much of an asshole. And Darren is a great name, seriously. A classic.?
He chuckles, shaking his head. 揥hatever, dude. It抯 all good.?
And then I抦 heading back inside梖eeling like a new man. Luckier and more on top of the world than I抳e felt in weeks. Maybe in ever.
揧ou two kiss and make up??Nurse Stella grouches. Because she抯 mean and astute梐nd she抯 got the goods on every person in this department, just by looking and listening.
I spin her around, dancing to the song 揃rown Eyed Girl?playing in my head.
揕ife is good, Stella. Life. Is. Good.?
She cackles, shoving me away.
揑抦 glad you think so, cowboy.?Then she presses two charts against my chest. 揥e抳e got a case of shingles in Exam Two and a bowling trophy lodged where the sun don抰 shine in Four.?
But not even oozy pus-filled blisters from the adult reoccurrence of chickenpox or foreign objects in the rectum can bring me down.
揊antastic. Time to cure the sick.?
And I walk down the hall with one arm in the air like Judd Nelson at the end of the goddamn Breakfast Club.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Violet
揙kay梙old up梩his doesn抰 make sense. You need to clarify.?
A dark lock of Connor抯 hair falls dashingly over his forehead and the soft glow of the lamplight overhead makes his eyes a lighter, golden shade of brown.
We抮e at Boccone抯， a hidden-away, unpretentious restaurant I抳e never been to that Connor swore had the best brick oven pizza on whole East Coast. Two slices in and working my way through number three桰 don抰 disagree.
He knocked on my door at 7:30 sharp like we抎 planned, wearing navy jeans that hug his fantastic ass and a light blue, collared button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
And he was holding flowers. Flowers for me.
A gorgeous little bouquet of red roses and lavender. He told me I looked incredible in my short, polka-dot sundress and black wedges with my hair down but pulled back on the sides. And the way his eyes ate me up from head to toe, I couldn抰 not believe him.
Then Connor leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek, all sweet and chivalrous.
It made me want to jump his bones and tear both our clothes off right there in my foyer. Again.
He opened his truck door for me, and gave me a hand up as I climbed in, and the cab had that clean, fresh, just-taken-to-the-car-wash scent.
There hasn抰 been any awkwardness or hesitation that often happens on a first date. It抯 been only fun, simmering excitement條ingering smiles梐nd the easy enjoyment of each other抯 company.
揥hat do you need clarification about??I ask, taking a long drink from my frosty beer mug and licking at the foam on my upper lip.
He gestures to me.
揧ou抮e Violet.?
揅orrect.?
揂nd your sisters are Chrysanthemum and Petunia . . . ?
揅hrissy and Tuni for short,?I say with a nod.
揌ow the hell did your brother end up a Darren??
He抯 chuckling before he finishes the question and the sexy rumble turns my insides to warm Jell-O.
揗y mom loved flowers. Violets, chrysanthemums, petunias were some of her favorites梠bviously.?I pinch my thumb and forefinger together. 揗y brother came this close to being Hyacinth.?
Connor flinches. 揂s the father of a Daniel Brayden Daniels, I feel I抦 qualified to say梖ucking yikes.?
揃ut she decided to spare him the years of inevitable schoolyard torture and went with Darren instead. After her favorite uncle.?
He lifts his beer in a toast.
揧our mother was a smart, kind woman.?
揟o Mom,?I laugh, tapping his mug with mine.
揇o any of your siblings live nearby??he asks before taking another bite of his pizza and chewing seductively. Who knew that eating could be such a raw, carnal act? But the way Connor does it梩he strong set of his mouth and the rhythmic roll of his jaw梚s sinfully hot.
揘ope. Darren抯 been stationed in Germany梙e抯 an intelligence officer, so I don抰 really have any idea what he does because he can抰 talk about it. Chrissy is a pastry chef in a restaurant in Chicago and Tuni is a concierge at the Beverly Wilshire in California.?
揥hat made you move out of Delaware??
Connor doesn抰 ask questions to be polite or fill the silence梙e genuinely wants to know the answers. I can tell by the way he leans toward me, how he watches and listens . . . he wants to know me. And that awareness is liberating. It makes me want to tell him every secret, show him every shadow.
Give him all of me.
揂bout two and a half years ago we ended up all ready to fly the coop at the same time. Darren was about to ship out; the twins had graduated college and culinary school and were set to start their jobs. The house we grew up in was too big for just me梐nd it was my mom抯 house梚t never felt like mine, you know??
Connor nods. 揟hat抯 why I bought a new house with the boys even though we were staying in town. To have a something that was just ours梐 fresh start.?
揈xactly. So, we sold the house, paid off the mortgage, and had enough left over for each of us to make tiny dents in our student loans, and to find someplace new.?
Connor抯 eyes drift over my face.
揂nd you found Lakeside??
揑 did. New Jersey was close but far, different but still kind of the same. There was a full-time ED position at the hospital and when I saw the town, I guess you could say it was . . . love at first sight.?
揕ucky us.?He reaches across the table and covers my hand with his own. He really does have magnificent hands條arge and chiseled, but always warm, always careful and capable. Connor gives my hand a gentle squeeze.
揕ucky me.?
*
It抯 the perfect Jersey June night for a walk梬arm but not humid, breezy but not windy, and a sky that抯 a cloudless black backdrop for a zillion shimmering stars. Connor and I decide to skip dessert and walk down to the Soda Fountain梐n old-timey ice cream parlor several blocks away.