One of the spaghetti straps slid off Carrie’s shoulder, revealing more cleavage than what was already visual through her satin shirt. Going around dressed like that in the fall, it was a wonder the woman hadn’t caught pneumonia.
Carrie had the good graces to look innocently at Katie. Hopefully Wade wouldn't suspect anything. “Poor Fluffy isn’t feeling well and I was worried about her.”
Kind of funny, she didn’t mention her dog earlier when she asked where I worked, Katie thought.
As if Carrie read her mind, she said, “Katie was kind enough to tell me where she worked so I could bring Fluffy in.”
Katie wanted to scream with frustration and call Carrie a liar.
“Thanks, Katie," Wade said. "We always appreciate the referrals. Do you go to school together?” He turned his attention back to Carrie.
Silently, Katie laughed. So, Wade didn’t remember Carrie. That was a good sign. She watched the other woman frown.
“Yes. In fact, you’re our substitute teacher in Anatomy.” The smile reappeared on Carrie’s face as she turned her charm back on.
Wade lifted Fluffy and placed her on the examination table. “Oh, is that so?”
“Yes. Do you think you should take an x-ray? Like I mentioned, I’m kinda concerned she might have cancer.” Tears welled up in Carrie’s eyes as she patted her dog gently.
Katie started to feel guilty for thinking Carrie’s only interest in where she worked was so that she could get closer to their teacher.
“I think I should examine the dog before we do any x-rays. How’s her appetite been lately?” Wade asked.
“A little off. But she’s still eating pretty good.”
“What about her energy level? Is she playing the same?” Wade felt around the dog’s stomach and then listened to the dog's stomach with his stethoscope.
Carrie frowned. “She’s not really sick is she?”
Wade almost laughed. “No. But she is pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” both women chimed.
Carrie said the word again and then laughed. “Wouldn’t you know it. That naughty girl, I guess she couldn’t help herself.”
Carrie leaned closer to Wade and smiled seductively. Katie couldn’t help comparing Fluffy to her owner. Seemed Carrie was having a hard time controlling herself, too. In Katie’s heart, she knew she shouldn’t think that way, but her anger was getting the best of her. All right, I’m jealous, but not jealous enough to throw myself at a man that blatantly.
“I assume you don’t know when she was last in heat?” Wade asked.
“No. You know us girls, it happens pretty regularly. With all the male animal magnetism, we tend to forget about the details." Carrie continued to turn on her charm by batting her lashes and leaning into Wade, while Katie watched in disgust. "I’m so happy it's not cancer. I don’t know how to repay you. Maybe I’ll name a puppy after you.”
“You’ll get my bill,” Wade said dryly. “That’s more than enough.”
A twinge of satisfaction curved the corners of Katie’s mouth in a smile as Carrie’s lip lowered in a pout. She couldn’t help grinning while she showed Carrie to the reception desk.
“Did you say something bad about me to him?” Carrie stormed. “You did, didn’t you?”
“No. I didn’t say a word. He didn’t even recognize you from class.” Katie handed Alice Fluffy’s chart. “Why would I say anything to him anyway? You and I don’t even know each other except for seeing each other in class.”
“Look, if you liked the guy, why didn’t you just tell me earlier when I asked you?” Carrie fumed. “If I’d have known you two had a thing going, I wouldn’t have tried to get in the middle.”
Katie blushed. “We don’t have a thing going. He’s my boss and a friend.”
“It’s obvious the guy's got the hots for you. He kept watching you the whole time I was in there. I think he was a little upset you didn’t save him when I threw myself at him.” Carrie pulled her checkbook out and addressed Alice, “How much do I owe you?”
A bit miffed, Katie slipped away and headed to the back of the clinic. Could Wade have the hots for her, as Carrie so eloquently put it? She wished he did have feelings for her, but the truth was, he was just a nice man who went out of his way to help others.
Deep in thought, she accidentally bumped into him when he came around the corner. The scowl on his face made her jump more than being startled. “I’m sorry.”
“Humph,” was the only response Wade made.
Katie went busily about cleaning up for the day. It was almost time for her to get off work. She watched the minutes tick by as perspiration beaded her brow. Wade’s sideways glances unnerved her to the point she knocked over a cup water on the counter and spilled its contents. At this rate, she wondered if she’d ever finish cleaning up.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Wade crossed his arms and leaned against the table. “I don’t know, what do you think?”
“Are we going to play twenty questions or are you going to tell me if I did something to displease you? Or are you just having a bad day?” Which wasn’t likely. Rarely had she seen him in what could be considered the slightest of bad moods. Although lately, he seemed to be making up for lost time. Maybe he was stressed? It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough to do before taking on a temporary, teaching position.
“You really don’t know, do you?” Wade asked and Katie shook her head. “You broke your promise to me. Remember, the one about not trying to fix me up any more.”
“What?” Katie almost laughed at how absurd that was. However, the stormy look on Wade’s face made her swallow her amusement. “I didn’t try to fix you up. Honest.”
“So, you’re trying to tell me that Carrie just showed up here on accident?”
“Well, no…”
“Go on. I can’t wait to hear this.”
Katie couldn’t wait either, but she wasn’t sure he was going to believe her when she told him. "Carrie stopped me after class and asked me if… well…" Katie wrung her hands together. "She wanted to know if we were seeing each other and I told her you were my boss and well… she wanted to know if I’d fix her up with you and when I told her no, she asked me where I worked and…”
“Slow down,” Wade said. “Okay, now let’s go back to the part where she wanted you to fix me up with her. Is that correct?”
Katie nodded and Wade continued, “And what did you say?”
“I told her I promised you I would never do that again. When she asked me where I worked, I never dreamed she’d show up here." Katie sighed. "I’m sorry, Wade. I was so embarrassed when she did show up and then the way she kept throwing herself at you—I could have crawled under the table and hid.”
“So, you noticed the way she was coming on to me.”
“It was rather obvious. If she hadn’t had a halfway viable reason for being here I would have lost my temper with her.” Katie ran her hand through her hair and frowned.
“You were upset?” Wade asked and smiled.
“Of course I was upset. It was disgusting the way she kept coming on to you.” Blushing, Katie recalled her thoughts of how Carrie and Fluffy had some things in common.
Silently she prayed, Lord, help me. I know I shouldn’t think cruel things of others, but her behavior was deplorable.
Chapter Eight
It had been driving Katie crazy since Wednesday, but she wasn’t about to ask Wade how she did on her test. It wasn’t fair to the other students who had to wait until Monday, so she waited along with them. On Friday, she thought Wade was going to say something to her about it at work. He'd started to say something about class, then said, “Never mind.”
Today, he’d have to tell her, along with everyone else, their grades. Katie walked slowly to class wondering if maybe Wade was trying to let her know she didn’t do as well as she hoped.
She stopped in the hallway outside of class. What if that was what he was going to say? There was no way she coul
d have failed, she knew too many of the answers.
Taking a deep breath, she walked into class and stopped abruptly. Where was Wade? He hadn’t told her anything about Professor Kostner coming back. Katie hurried and took her seat.
Tony leaned over and murmured, “Guess all the girls will have to pay attention to what they're being taught and not to the teacher.”
Katie chuckled. That was one good reason to have Professor Kostner back. Now if she could go back to studying with her old tutor. But could she ever concentrate on her homework and not lose herself in tranquil blue eyes that drew her in like magnets? There were definite drawbacks to being attracted to her boss.
“I’ve graded the tests. Several of you are very lucky that I wasn’t here and Dr. McAlester took things slower,” Professor Kostner said as he passed out the tests. “However, now we’ll have to press forward and make up for lost time.”
Several people moaned, while Katie’s eyes widened. What? Was he implying Wade shouldn’t have given them the extra time to review? The nerve of him, at least Wade took the time to review things with everyone so they understood better.
Katie held her breath when the teacher handed her test to her. “You should be happy Dr. McAlester gave you an extra day. By the looks of it—it helped you immeasurably.”
Taking her paper from him, her eyes widened in pleasant surprise. “All right!”
♥ ♥ ♥
With a spring in her step, Katie hurried into work. She put her purse away and went in search of Wade, whom she found in the back sterilizing instruments. He glanced over his shoulder when she walked in. “Hello. How did school go today?”
Earlier, she had been a little bit disappointed to not see Wade at school, but over-all, she was glad to have Professor Kostner back. At least she would have less competition in the romance department. She didn’t care how many of the other women in the class went goo-goo eyed over the professor as long as the professor wasn’t Wade.
“School was fine. Aren’t you going to ask me how I did on my test?”
Wade laughed. “No.”
“Well, fine.” Katie turned her back towards him, and began cleaning off the examination table. She heard Wade laugh again before she felt his gentle touch on her arm as he turned her back around to face him.
“How did you do on your test?” A faint smile played about his lips as he gazed into her eyes.
As tempting as it was to not tell him, she forced herself to answer for fear if she didn’t, she’d melt in his arms and make as much a spectacle of herself as Carrie had the other day.
Katie licked her lips as she stared at his, then forced herself to look him in the eyes. “I only got one wrong, but it was a two-part question.”
“That’s great,” Wade said and hugged her. She felt so good in his arms he drew her even closer to him for a moment before holding her at arm's length, not wanting to let her go. “I guess studying with Tony paid off.”
“Well… I didn’t exactly study with Tony, except for the day you went out with Laura.”
“You didn’t study with Tony last week?”
“No. I didn’t feel comfortable studying with him, so I studied alone.”
Wade pulled her back into his embrace. She didn’t study with Tony was all he could think about. For some reason, it meant more than anything. “I’m so proud of you. You did it on your own.”
Katie looked like an innocent kitten. Wade couldn’t help kissing her lightly on the lips. He breathed a deep breath and smiled into stunned eyes as he licked his lips. “Strawberry.”
“Hmm? Oh, yes,” Katie said, pushing slightly away from him yet unable to take her eyes off of his. “It’s my lip balm.”
Wade laughed. “I figured that. What do you say to going out to dinner tonight? I can come by around six-thirty and pick you up?”
All Katie could do was nod.
“Good. I’ll see you then.” Wade smiled and went back to work.
Katie stood mesmerized for a moment, not sure if she was dreaming. Wade kissed her, and he asked her out. Merrily she went back to work, not the least bit frazzled by the steady stream of customers who came in. It was quarter after five by the time she left the clinic. She knew she was going to have to hurry if she was going to shower and get dressed up for her date.
A date. Even the thought of it made her bubble over. It had been so long since she’d been out with anyone. She couldn’t even remember who it was with. Since she moved to Boone County, Wade had been the only one she’d gone out to eat with, but that was just as friends, even if he had paid for their meals every time. This time was different, and Katie knew it would be a turning point in their relationship.
♥ ♥ ♥
Wade stood on Katie’s porch, and rang her doorbell. It was a few moments before she answered. Only she wasn’t dressed at all like Wade had expected. Before him stood a beautiful raven bombshell with her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. Tiny, curled wisps draped down on either side of her face. Her black dress clung perfectly to a well-shaped figure and his gaze continued down to admire long, tanned legs as he opened the screen door. “You look lovely.”
It only took a moment for Katie to give Wade the once-over. He was wearing faded jeans with a dark blue polo.
When Wade looked up, he noticed her eyes were brimming with tears. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I’m a bit over-dressed. I’ll be back in a moment,” Katie said and turned to hurry from the room.
“Katie, wait.” She ignored him and hurried to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Wade ran his hand through his hair, walked over to the couch, and sat down. What was Katie expecting? Did she think they were going to a nice restaurant to celebrate? And here he was insensitive enough not to think of it ahead of time. Moaning, he leaned his arms on his thighs and rested his head in his hands.
When he heard the sound of a door opening he stood and waited for her to come into the room so he could beg her forgiveness.
“Okay, I’m ready now,” Katie announced.
Everything Wade had intended to say slipped his mind. Katie still wore her hair pulled back, but he wasn’t sure he knew the woman before him. The woman standing before him wore a dazzling smile, a blouse that clung in all the right places, and jeans he wouldn’t have thought anyone could breathe in.
“Huh? Yes, shall we go?” He moved to hold the door open for her, ignoring the pain as his shin scraped the coffee table.
“Thank you.”
They were seated in his truck, driving down the road, before he thought to ask her where she might want to go. “Did you have any place in mind that you wanted to eat at?”
Giving her a sideways glance, he could have kicked himself. Yeah, she had to have had some place in mind. After all, she was dressed up. “What I mean is… Did you want to go somewhere besides the diner?”
“Wherever you want to go is fine with me. If you like the diner we can eat there. It doesn’t matter.” Now, Katie silently added in her thoughts.
Wade always took his dates to a fancy restaurant. She wasn’t giving up hope on him yet. Maybe he could eventually think of her romantically. Silently, she hoped it would be soon. Otherwise, she didn’t know what she would do.
“I like going to the diner,” Wade said, and chanced a glance in her direction. He couldn’t tell how she was feeling, but the smell of her perfume was intoxicating. “The diner is the first place we went out to celebrate when you came to work for me and it’s always been kind of special since then.”
Did he say it was special because they went there? Maybe she had a chance with him after all. “Have you taken anyone else to eat there?” Katie held her breath while she waited for his reply.
“Yes.”
The air escaped from her lungs in a heavy sigh as her shoulder slumped in defeat.
“But he wasn’t nearly as pleasant to look at as you are.” Wade smiled too soon. Before he had a chance to glance at Katie, he felt the slap against his a
rm.
“Thanks a lot.” Katie laughed.
“What? I was trying to be nice. What’d I say?”
Katie didn’t answer him, but laughed again.
When they arrived at the diner, Wade was the perfect gentleman and opened her door. Katie couldn’t resist the urge to take hold of his arm. She didn’t dare look at him for fear she’d lose her nerve. “Why don’t we sit next to each other tonight?”
“Um, sure.” Wade was still at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure if he could handle sitting so close to her, but didn’t have time to think about it. His head was still whirling from the effect of her delicate hands clinging to him. It was something he could get used to. Although, he suspected he could spend his life pleasantly distracted by her presence. Smiling to himself, he convinced himself it would be well worth the distraction.
“Do you know what you want?”
Wade looked at Katie. Her brown eyes with golden flecks hypnotized him. What did he want? He knew exactly what he wanted, but this wasn’t the place to pursue it. Excitedly he hurried and picked up his menu. In his haste, he knocked over his water glass.
“Oh, great.” Wade sighed in frustration as he began mopping up the mess with their napkins.
“It was a good thing I wasn’t sitting across the table or I’d have gotten wet.”
Not saying a word, Wade continued to clean up the mess. If she had been sitting across the table, he probably wouldn’t have spilled his drink. Right now, he couldn’t help wondering how he was going to get through dinner without any more mishaps. He felt like a schoolboy with his first crush.
By the time the dessert Katie ordered came, he felt pretty good about having survived dinner without any more embarrassments.
“Mm. This pie is good. Do you want a bite?”
Wade watched as Katie pieced off another bite with her fork and offered him a taste of her pecan pie. If only he hadn’t looked at her lips instead of the pie. She moistened them with the tip of her tongue. Clamping down on the fork, he retrieved his bite and turned briskly away before he ended up kissing her instead.
“Waitress,” he called as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. “Check please.”
Seasons of the Heart Page 6