by Max Monroe
“Oh, really?”
Will nodded with concerned eyes. “I think it’s important that nurse Load-y gets a personal day every once in a while.”
“Can you never use that nickname again?”
He shrugged. “That depends.”
I raised an eyebrow as I waited for his demands.
“If you ditch work with me for the day, then yeah, I’ll never use it again.”
“Am I hearing you right?” I asked with a smirk. “My boss is asking me to leave work early, even though he knows my paycheck will pay me for a full day’s work.”
No hooky for this chick without pay. Come on, Mel, I chastised. You’re turning yourself into a prostitute. Still…a day off was a day off.
“Yep.”
“Count me in,” I agreed and then added, “But I get to choose what we do.” If I was in control, there was a guarantee we were going out to enjoy the sun and the city. I didn’t know if his choice would be the same.
But he calmed my irrational fears without much effort at all when he agreed instantly. “Deal.”
I guess dating the boss wasn’t such a bad thing after all…
“Okay…what’s the plan?” I asked on a whisper. “The old bait and switch? Shell game? A good old flimflam?”
“You have no idea what any of those really mean do you?”
“No, but I know it sounded good.”
He grinned in amusement. “Oh, yeah, it sounded like skipping out of work is old hat. Like you’ve done it a million times. Maybe I should be concerned?” he asked in pretend shock. “Have you done this before? Jesus!” he exclaimed. “Have you done this while working here?”
“Shut up.” I slapped his shoulder playfully. “Get to the point, Dr. Cummings. How are we going to blow this popsicle stand?”
“Okay,” he said and moved in closer. “We’re going to get our shit, and then…we’re going to walk straight out the front door.”
I leaned back and looked at him with a furrowed brow. “That sounds like a shitty fucking plan. Everyone will see us.”
“Indeed. But you’re lucky enough to be with a forward thinker. Some might call me brilliant, even.”
I scoffed, but he just smiled.
“Everyone thinks we’re leaving for an important meeting with a pharmaceutical rep.”
I laughed. “You’re such a tease.”
“You have no idea, Ms. Marco.” He waggled his brows. “Wanna meet me in exam room six to find out how much of a tease I can be?”
I shook my head on a laugh.
“Another time?”
“Maybe if you’re a very, very good boy and follow all of my rules today…”
“Are you playing coy with me?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged and fluttered my eyelashes dramatically. “Is it working?”
A sexy smile consumed his mouth. “Maybe. Will you keep doing it?”
“Only if we actually leave work for the day instead of just talking about leaving work for the day.”
“Let’s hit it,” he said and moved toward the doorway. “Meet me at reception in five.”
I grinned. “You got it, Doc.”
Two hours later and Will and I had managed to eat two hot dogs, a slice of pizza, a cupcake from a mom-and-pop bakery, and walked about a million blocks toward the East Village.
Instead of hearing Marlene grumble about her bunions, I got to breathe in the warm, fresh air of a New York spring day. Blue skies and the rays of the sun peeking out between the buildings had replaced hearing Melissa pop her gum one thousand times while filing her nails behind the reception desk.
And instead of watching patients trying to give my boyfriend their numbers via vag-mail, I was strolling hand in hand with him, people watching and chatting about the most random but hilarious things.
Granted, he was my boyfriend in disguise—a baseball hat pulled low and sunglasses covering the perfect blue of his eyes, but he was my Will all the same when it came to personality. He’d also changed out of his professional garb and into a pair of dark jeans and a plain white T-shirt, but when I’d teased him about all of it, he’d had a succinctly genuine explanation. Apparently, wildly popular attention from the show had spread beyond the office and had been following him around in the form of paparazzi as well.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. I never traveled to or from work with him, even though I spent most nights at his apartment, so I hadn’t seen it. I was always running twenty minutes behind his schedule. Well, everyone’s schedule, actually.
As sorry for him as I felt, it did make me feel a little better about the fact that we weren’t taking daily strolls through Central Park.
But as Will leaned forward and touched his lips to the line of my jaw, a chuckle still clinging to his tongue, one thing was clear. Playing hooky from work was everything it was hyped up to be.
Will’s phone chimed inside of his pocket, and he pulled it out to read a text message. “Hold on,” he said, and our leisurely walk through the city came to a halt. “It’s my sister.”
We sat down on a bench beside an old, Victorian-style church, and Will held his phone in his lap while he typed a quick response. No less than a minute later, his phone chimed again.
“Jesus,” he muttered and moved the phone so that I could read the messages.
Georgia: William. I need your help. Is it normal to have contractions at 6 months pregnant?
Will: Is everything okay? Seriously, Gigi, if you’re having contractions, you need to call your OB now.
Georgia: I’m not. But I knew that would get you to respond.
“My sister is a huge pain in my ass sometimes,” he said and typed out a response.
Will: Wow. That’s low. Even for you.
But Georgia didn’t waste any time, firing back within seconds.
Georgia: Like you should talk. When we were kids, you told everyone at school Mom sent me to Masturbation Camp for the summer.
My eyebrows pulled together in curiosity. “Masturbation Camp?”
He grinned and nodded. “My mother, the sex therapist, was all about setting a foundation of healthy sexual habits and open minds when we were kids.”
“Wow.” I couldn’t hold back my urge to laugh.
“Yeah,” he agreed on a soft chuckle as he typed out a response on his phone. “I’m pretty sure my sister is still dealing with PTSD from those summer camp memories.”
Will: That was like a million years ago. And Mom DID send you to Masturbation Camp. I was merely telling the truth.
Georgia: It wasn’t Masturbation Camp!
Will: It was called Camp Love Yourself, Gigi. I can connect the dots.
Camp Love Yourself? Holy Moses in Crocs. And here I thought Jazzercise Janet took the cake on crazy mothers. No wonder our moms were friends. They went together like two nuts in a shell.
His phone chimed again, but he still never hesitated to move it away from my view, seemingly relaxed and content with letting me read the conversation between him and sister.
Georgia: Ugh. You’re annoying.
Will: I love you too, sis. Mind telling Kline I’m in for Poker Night next week? You’re the best. Bye.
Georgia: DON’T IGNORE ME, WILLIAM.
Will: What do you need, Gigi?
Georgia: Have lunch with me and Julia? She misses her uncle.
“Goddammit, she knows my weaknesses,” he muttered and tapped out an answer.
I couldn’t blame him. I’d seen pictures of Will’s niece on his desk, and I was certain no one on the planet could resist her dimples or pretty blue eyes. That little lady was bound to break some hearts when she grew up.
Will: Tell Julia I’ll be there. Name the time and place.
Georgia: Noon at that Italian restaurant on Broadway.
Will: Okay. See ya then.
Georgia: Oh man. Julia just told me she’s busy Monday. She won’t be able to make it.
Will: Julia is two, Gigi.
Georgia: Shoot… And her
e I already made the reservation. Looks like you’re locked in or else we’ll lose the table. That restaurant is notorious for not letting you order until the entire party is there.
“I should’ve known,” he said on a sigh. “In person, my sister is the world’s worst liar, but through text messages, she could mastermind a plot to take over the universe.”
Will: Entire party? How many fucking people are going?
Georgia: Just me, Cassie, Winnie, and now, you. A reunion of sorts. I’m so glad it worked out! See you tomorrow at noon!
Will: You’re evil.
Georgia: :) Love you. Bye!
“I love my sister dearly, but sometimes she meddles worse than our mother.” Will shook his head as he slid his phone back into his pocket. “Do you think it’s too late to hire a decoy to go for me?”
“A Dr. Obscene look-alike?” I teased and he groaned.
“Jesus, I hope that doesn’t exist.” His eyes met mine, and a pleading expression covered his face.
“No,” I protested before he even said the words. “I’m not going to lunch with your sister for you.”
“Not for me,” he corrected. “With me.” His expression morphed into something that resembled a word that was more than like, and it nearly melted me into a puddle of swoon on the pavement. “I want you to know all of the important people in my life, and more than that, I want them to know you, too. Just think about it, okay?”
Considering Will had to meet my crazy parents before our first date even got started, it made sense for me to go to lunch with his sister.
And more than that, I did want to meet her. I wanted to know the people in his life.
I wanted to be a constant in his life and him in mine.
Sure, I didn’t know where we were headed exactly, and I was still finding my own way after a long relationship, but when I looked toward my future, I found myself picturing Will there, with me.
“Okay,” I agreed on a whisper, and he leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to my lips before sitting back on the bench with his arm around my shoulder.
“Now, what shall we do for the rest of the day, Load-y?”
I smacked him hard on the shoulder and he winced, but that discomfort only stayed put for a blink of an eye before it was replaced by pure amusement.
“You promised that nickname would be banished from your vocabulary.”
He shrugged. “Minor amnesia from Mrs. Linwood.”
“Amnesia moment, my ass. She hit you weeks ago,” I muttered and he laughed.
“Banished nicknames aside…what’s our next stop, Mel?”
“Umm…” I looked around the little neighborhood that made up the East Village and knew instantly once my eyes locked on a place that always brought back some of my fondest memories.
It was an area of the city I didn’t get to explore often, but it had one of my favorite little antique shops nestled inside of its neighborhood. Obscura Antiques and Oddities, a store full of vintage items that were about as far out as my parents. You could literally shop there every weekend for a year and not leave without finding something seriously strange and intriguing.
“Follow me!” I exclaimed and hopped off the bench to my feet.
“Where are we going?” Will asked as I locked my hand around his wrist and tugged him off the bench and toward the crosswalk that led to eclectic heaven.
“It’s a surprise.” I grinned and glanced over my shoulder as I navigated us across the street and down the sidewalk until we were standing in front of the shop. Its sign hung like a beacon of allure on the space that was once used as a funeral home.
“Obscura Antiques and Oddities?” Will read with a question in a voice.
“Have you ever been here?”
He shook his head with a soft smirk. “I can honestly say that I haven’t.”
“Get ready to be amazed,” I said, shoving him inside playfully. The bell rung proudly as the door swung open with a creak.
I glanced around the store with a nostalgic smile etched across my lips. God, it looked exactly like it had fifteen years ago. Not a single thing had changed. It was as if it was my very own time capsule of good memories that had stayed preserved just for me.
Will put his hands to his hips and quietly scanned the shop, his eyes roaming across each nook and cranny. “An antique shop?”
“The best antique shop,” I corrected. “My grandmother used to bring me here every Sunday when I was a kid. And she always had one rule. We couldn’t leave without bringing one thing home.”
God, just the smell of the store—dust mixed with wood mixed with that universal scent of old books—brought back good memories. Some of the best memories I still had of my grandma.
“I like that rule,” Will said and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I think we should keep it.”
I grinned against his mouth. “I think we should, too.”
He leaned back and stared into my eyes with a challenging smirk lighting up his face. “But let’s up the ante on it.”
I quirked a brow. “How exactly are we going to do that?”
“Whoever gets the best find gets to choose where and what we eat for dinner tonight.”
Considering dinner with Will always ended in sexy times with Will, it was a no-brainer. Count me motherfucking in.
“I’ve never been one to back away from a challenge,” I said with a determined hand to my hip.
“Me either.” Will leaned in close, his lips just brushing mine.
Without hesitation, I left him standing near the entrance and moved toward the back of the store, where I knew the weirdest items were located. I was a woman on a mission, and I didn’t let his occasional comments of “Oh! I think this is it!” or “Man, I’ve got so many good things, I don’t even know how to choose!” deter me.
His mind games wouldn’t work on me.
And if I was being honest, I really fucking wanted Chinese tonight. Ever since I had to watch Marlene stuff her face full of Chicken Lo Mein last week, I’d been craving egg rolls like a son of a bitch.
“How’s it going, Mel?” Will called from the front of the shop.
“Just fine,” I replied and grinned to myself as I rummaged through a stack of obscure medical magazines from the fifties. These weren’t it, but I was getting close. I could feel it.
“Don’t be too sad when you lose,” he added, and I could literally hear the smile in his voice.
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Will.”
The man didn’t know what was coming. My childhood years scouring antique shops with my grandmother had gotten me ready for this moment. And dammit, I would be victorious…with a mouthful of egg rolls.
And then, like God himself had opened the gates of champion’s heaven, I spotted my winning item inside of a wooden box lying on the floor near the stairs that led up to the shop’s storage space.
There they sat, like the golden ticket for Chinese takeout, Russian flight goggles.
Let the winning commence!
“Get ready to feel like a loser!” I shouted victoriously and looked toward the front of the shop, but Will was nowhere to be found.
Where in the hell did he go?
Not even a minute later, my phone chirped inside my pocket with a text message, and I immediately pulled it out to read.
Will: Meet me outside. But I should warn you, prepare yourself for defeat.
Me: Did you already pay for it?
Will: No. I stole it.
He didn’t give me any time to respond before firing off another text.
Will: Kidding. Of course, I fucking paid for it. Lol. Get your item and bring that cute little ass outside. I’m ready to taste victory.
Me: You’re minutes away from having to eat those words.
It was on like Donkey Kong, and I was at the register and checking out in two minutes flat.
“Do you want a bag?” the clerk asked me, and I shook my head.
“No thanks,” I said, and without any explanation, I took t
he Russian flight goggles from his hands and slid them securely over my eyes.
“Groovy,” he said with a smirk.
“Definitely groovy,” I agreed and strolled out of the shop entrance with a confident pep in my step.
But the instant my goggle-covered eyes met Will, standing proudly on the sidewalk without a care in the world, I stopped in my tracks.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
He stood like a caped Adonis in the middle of the pavement. No, seriously, he had a cape. A goddamn black, floor-length cape adorned with skulls and crossbones and an inverted white stitch on the seams.
“Nice goggles,” he said with a proud smile.
Jesus with a juice box, it was the coolest fucking cape I’d ever seen in my life, and I didn’t know how I’d missed that trophy of vintage inside the shop.
“Cool cape,” I muttered petulantly as I walked toward him, my stupid Russian flight goggles starting to feel like a cheap pair of sunglasses.
Seriously? How did I miss that cape?
The instant my body was within reaching distance of his arms, he pulled me toward him and cocooned me beneath the cape and against his chest. “It’s okay, Mel,” he whispered into my ear. “You don’t even have to say that I’m the winner.”
“Shut up.”
“But,” he continued on a whisper. “Since I’m a stickler for rules, you need to know that I’ll be eating your little cunt for dinner.”
I pressed my face into his chest and grinned.
Yeah, fuck that cape. I’d take Will’s face between my legs.
He might’ve snagged the coolest cape in the history of capes, but I was definitely the winner of the day.
Who needed egg rolls?