by Ashlee Price
"Sure you're fine with your drink?" Dustin asks as he stands beside me. "That doesn't look like it has any alcohol in it."
"It doesn't," I confirm as I take a sip.
"You have work tomorrow?"
"No," I answer before thinking twice. Too late, I realize I should have said I do so he doesn't think I'm free.
Stupid, Marian.
"So you just don't drink?"
"This is a drink." I give the ice cubes in my glass a gentle shake. "What are you doing here?"
"Brenda invited me."
"You know Dr. Waverly?"
"Yeah. She and I were engaged once."
My eyebrows crease. "You were?"
"Just kidding."
I frown.
"For a moment there, you sounded jealous."
"I sounded surprised. That's all."
"Brenda's father and mine knew each other," he says. "That's all."
Which means he's rich. Why am I not surprised?
"Like I said, I wasn't jealous," I tell him.
"What? Did you think I'm here because I'm stalking you?"
"No," I lie.
"Do you want me to chase after you?"
I narrow my gaze at him. "Why on earth would I want that?"
Dustin moves closer to me as he leans over the balustrade. Our shoulders touch and I tense.
"Because you're still thinking about that kiss," he whispers.
Thank goodness I'm not in the process of drinking my Shirley Temple or I would be choking now. As it is, I simply swallow the lump in my throat as I fight off a blush.
"Am not."
"Are too."
I look at him. "Am I the only one who finds you a pompous ass?"
Dustin grins as he shrugs. "It's fine. I don't mind as long as you admit that you find me hot, too."
I shake my head in disbelief.
"By the way, you look stunning tonight."
I look down at my lavender blouse and my faded jeans. I came here straight from work, so I'm not wearing anything special, much less stunning.
I snort. "Save your breath."
"For what? Kissing you?"
In spite of myself, I blush. God, will he just stop flirting with me already? There's got to be a limit to how much a man can flirt with a woman.
I bury my lips in my drink as I try to think of how I can escape from this situation, because yes, I have to escape. Suddenly, I see a silhouette moving down below.
I lean over and squint. A petite woman with... wide hips?
Oh, there's only one woman I know with that kind of figure.
What I don't know is why she's sneaking off into the gardens like some thief. And damn, I want to know.
I hand Dustin my drink. "Can you excuse me for just a second?"
I walk off without waiting for him to answer, then glance over my shoulder.
"Oh, don't you even think about putting anything in that," I warn him.
He gives me a look of disappointment.
I keep walking, heading down the stairs that lead from the balcony to the garden. I follow the stone path that winds around some trees and hedges, careful not to make any noise. Good thing I'm wearing my sneakers instead of heels. When I hear voices in the distance, I slow down.
Dr. Hansen's voice. No doubt about it. And another. A young man's, one I'm pretty sure I've heard before.
Whose is it?
Then I round the corner and see them in the gazebo - Dr. Hansen and Kelly's intern, Ned. Talking. And kissing.
I quickly hide behind a tree, pressing my back against the bark as I try to still my racing heart.
What are they doing? She's an attending, a married attending, and he's an intern who I heard is engaged.
And what am I doing? Why on earth did I have to follow Dr. Hansen? Why couldn't I just have suppressed my curiosity?
"I didn't think you were the nosy type." Dustin's voice makes me jump.
I place my hand over my heart before it leaps out of my chest and glare at him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I followed you." He glances past me. "Looks like you discovered something interesting. And naughty." His eyes narrow. "Really naughty."
"Hush," I reprimand him.
I don't want to imagine it.
"Why? There's nothing wrong with that. Even doctors get to have fun, right?"
I say nothing.
"Why do you look so shocked? And scared? Like you stumbled across a crime scene or..."
He stops. I just stand still and try to breathe.
"Wait. Is that Dr. Hansen?"
My eyes grow wide.
"It is Dr. Hansen, isn't it?" Dustin says. "That's why you look like you've committed a crime. That's why you're so scared you might get caught."
I stay silent.
"See. I told you she has dirty secrets."
"Just shut up."
I try to hit his arm, but he steps back. A twig snaps beneath his shoe.
Shit.
I hold my breath in the silence that ensues. When I hear footsteps, I start to panic.
Now what? If Dr. Hansen finds out I've been spying on her, she'll hate me even more. She'll -
In the next moment, Dustin grabs my arm, pulls me down onto a nearby bench, grabs the back of my head and kisses me.
I freeze. My eyes remain wide open as my brain tries to make sense of what's going on. When it can't, I lift my hands to push Dustin away, but then I see Dr. Hansen and Ned from the corner of my eye. I squeeze them both shut and clutch the front of Dustin's shirt as I kiss him back. I pray that this will work.
It seems to, because even though I feel prying eyes for a moment, that feeling soon vanishes. I hear footsteps on the stone path fading away. Then nothing but the leaves rustling as the breeze blows.
I pull away and place my hand over my chest as I catch my breath.
Dustin touches my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I shrug his hand off. "At least, I will be once my heart has slowed down."
He grins. "So my kiss has your heart racing again, huh?"
I glare at him. "It wasn't the kiss. It was..."
"Almost getting caught by your boss," he finishes my sentence. "Your skanky boss."
I shake my head. "I can't believe she was kissing an intern. I thought she was... cold."
"Like I said, dirty secrets."
"And I can't believe I was spying on her."
"Well, she won't know you were spying on her," Dustin says. "Thanks to me."
I frown. "Thanks to you? You're the reason I almost got caught!"
"You're the one who decided to snoop around," he points out.
And as much as I hate to admit it, it's a good point. I was the one who made a mistake in the first place, and if Dustin hadn't followed me here and pulled me into a kiss when he did, I would have ended up in a lot of trouble.
"Fine." I sigh. "Thank you."
"Come on. You can do better than a grudging word of thanks."
I narrow my eyes at him. "If you think I'm going to kiss you again, you can drop it, because I'm not going to."
He glances around. "Actually, I was thinking of something else. Something more."
I blush at the weight of his words and at the realization that we're alone now. It's just him and me.
I swallow. "I'm not having sex with you just to thank you, Dustin Montgomery."
"Oh, I wasn't thinking of that," he says nonchalantly. "But I can't blame you for thinking of it. There's something exciting about the idea of having sex outdoors, isn't there?"
My jaw clenches. Why, the...
"Not that I don't want to," Dustin adds. "I just..."
"Then what the hell do you want as your reward?" I ask him angrily. "Just go on and say it."
He grins. "A date."
My eyebrows go up. "A date?"
Chapter Six
Dustin
I park my BMW in front of the cafe across from Marian's apartment building like she asked. As I roll
the window down, the aroma of cinnamon buns and freshly brewed coffee drifts into the vehicle. I've already had a hearty breakfast at my apartment, though, so I'm all set. All I need is for Marian to show up.
A few minutes after I send her a message, she does. Auburn strands peek out of the Blue Devils cap on her head. The rest of her hair is draped over her shoulder in a ponytail. She's wearing an unbuttoned denim jacket, a shade lighter than her jeans, over a white top with thin, black stripes and a round neckline that wraps closely around her throat. A gold pendant shaped like a four-leaf clover hangs from a gold chain to rest between her breasts.
Simple and casual, just like I told her.
When our eyes meet, she gives a slight smile. I open the door to the passenger seat and she slips in with a greeting.
"Hi."
"Hi," I return her greeting as I take a closer look at her.
She may be dressed simply, but there's no denying her clothes fit her just right, or that her blue cap brings out the red in her hair and the copper in her eyes. Plus - and especially after she puts her seatbelt on - the curves of her breasts really stand out.
"You look - "
Marian lifts a finger in warning as she glances at me. "Don't."
My eyebrows crease. "Don't what?"
"Don't try to charm me."
I grin. "Darling, I never try."
"And don't call me darling."
"Fine. I was just going to say - "
"Don't pay me a compliment."
I chuckle. She sure is on her guard today. Well, this is going to be fun.
"Do you always make such ridiculous rules on your first date?"
"No," Marian answers. "Just for you."
I place my hand over my chest. "I'm honored."
"And this isn't a first date," she corrects me. "It's going to be our only date."
"Fine." I nod as I tap my fingers on the wheel. "But I was just going to say that you and I seem to have the same thing in mind today."
She gives me a confused look. "What?"
I point to her jacket and to mine, which are both denim.
Slowly, she nods. "Oh."
Now she gets it. And the frown on her face lets me know she doesn't like it.
"You can take that off if you like," I suggest.
She grabs the edges of her jacket and considers it for a moment but only pulls it tighter around herself.
"No. I'm fine."
"Or you can go back to your apartment and change your jacket." I glance at the building across the street.
"No." Marian shakes her head. "You said casual so I'm wearing casual. You're wearing a denim jacket too. So what? It doesn't make us a couple or anything."
I say nothing because she sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than me.
"And it doesn't mean we have anything in common," she adds.
"Apart from the fact that we find each other hot," I tell her.
"I don't..."
I raise my eyebrows and grin.
She sighs as she crosses her arms over her chest. "Just drive."
"Okay." I shift gears.
"By the way, where are we going?" she asks curiously. "An amusement park?"
I snort. "No. I'm taking you somewhere more fun. And I mean adult fun."
Worry flickers in her copper eyes.
"Not that kind of fun," I tell her.
She lets out a breath of relief. "So, are you going to give me any clues?"
"Just that I made sure it's the perfect place for our one and only date."
Marian frowns. "Do you know what a clue means?"
"Do you know what a surprise means?" I ask her as I give her a wide grin. "If not, you're about to find out."
~
The moment I veer the car onto a private dirt road, Marian sits up. She leans toward the window with wide eyes, taking in the scenery of the trees and meadows. After a few minutes of seeing just trees and meadows, though, her bored expression returns. When we finally reach the old wooden house, she gets out of the car with a frown.
"A farm?" she asks me as she glances around.
"Yup," I answer. "I believe that's what you call acres of land where you grow plants."
She narrows her eyes at me.
"What?" I ask as I walk towards her. "You don't think it's a great place for a first date?"
Marian shrugs. "I just... didn't expect it... for any date."
"Well, surprises tend to be unexpected."
Again with the narrowed gaze.
I sigh. "You don't like it?"
"Just tell me we're not planting, harvesting or doing any kind of hard work," Marian answers.
"Wow." I cross my arms over my chest. "I never pegged you for a lazy person."
"Oh, shut up," she scolds me. "I work hard, more than hard, six days a week. I prefer not to do it on my only day off."
Now she's pissed.
I pat her shoulder. "Don't worry. This is a date, remember? Not a field trip. We're not doing any work."
Unless sex counts as work. Then I'm up for it.
Marian looks at me. "So what are we doing?"
"What? Do you think farms are only for farming?"
She doesn't answer.
I grin. "You'd be surprised what kinds of things you can do at a farm, especially this farm." I offer her my hand. "Come on. I'll show you."
~
"Paintball?" Marian stares at the coveralls I've just handed her.
"Yeah." I put on mine. "You know, you try to shoot your opponent with balls filled with paint instead of - "
"I know what paintball is," she cuts me off.
"Good." I shrug off my jacket. "Then I suggest you put the gear on, unless you want your clothes to be covered in paint."
"That's the thing," she says. "I don't want a single drop of paint on any part of me."
"Then put on the coveralls, the boots and the helmet," I tell her. "Oh. And try to dodge."
Marian shakes her head. "This is stupid."
"Oh, I'm sorry." I zip up my coveralls. "Do people not do stupid things on their first date?"
"Yes, but..."
"Do you have a rule against playing paintball on a first date?"
"I'd like to make one now."
"Because?"
"Because this is..." She looks at the coveralls in her hands with lightly veiled disgust. "Messy."
"Not if you put on the gear."
"And hard work," she adds.
My eyebrows crease. "What part of this is work?"
"Well, it feels like work because it feels like I have to put on scrubs."
"But you won't be cutting anyone. You'll just be shooting. With paintballs. There's no life to save here. No risk of harm or death. No consequences when you make mistakes other than getting hit by a ball of paint."
"And no point," Marian says. "What's the point of all this?"
I hand her a helmet. "The point, Dr. Carver, is for you and me to have fun. That's what people do on dates, I believe - do stupid things and have fun."
Her eyebrows furrow. "I think, Mr. Montgomery, that you and I have different perceptions of what makes a date."
"Oh, don't worry, we can kiss and make out later."
She blushes. "I didn't mean..."
"Let's just have fun, okay?" I pat her arm. "It's just a simple, harmless, pointless, fun game."
Marian sighs.
"Unless you want to make it something more," I say.
That catches her attention. "What do you mean?"
"We can have stakes," I tell her. "The winner can get a reward. That way, we can turn this game into a competition, make it exciting, which can be better than just fun."
Her eyes narrow. "A competition?"
I shrug. "You seem to be craving some pressure."
"I..."
"And this way, there will be something in it for you, and even for me."
She pauses. "A reward?"
"If I win, you'll have to do something for me."
"Whic
h is?" she asks curiously.
I know what she's thinking, but I'm pretty sure I can make that happen even if I don't win.
"You have to clean my shoes. I think I stepped on something on the way here."
It's a lie, but Marian doesn't know that so she pouts.
"If I lose, I'll do whatever you ask."
"Even if it means cutting this date short and driving me home?"
My eyebrows furrow. "Wow. This date is that bad?"
She sighs. "I didn't say that."
I step forward. "Dr. Carver, did you or did you not agree to go on this date with me?"
"I did," Marian answers. "But only because I owe you."
"Right."
I knew that, of course, but I guess I was hoping she'd forget about it.
"So you'd do anything to pay a debt?"
She shrugs. "Just about. I don't like owing anyone."
That I can understand.
"Fine," I give in. "If you win, I'll drive you home after we have lunch. The food happens to be great here."
"Okay." She nods.
"If you win," I repeat with a grin as I put on my helmet. "Which I'm pretty sure you won't. Not against me."
For a moment, Marian just looks at me. Then she puts her game face on, the best face I've seen on her all day.
She also puts on her coveralls. "We'll see about that."
~
Marian tried.
I have to say she tried, but in the end I still beat her. Soundly. She whined at first. She sulked. Then she realized my shoes were clean and she felt relieved. After a full meal, she cheered up. And now, as we take a walk through the cellar where the barrels and bottles of wine made from the grapes growing above are kept, it seems like she's forgotten about her defeat entirely.
"I still can't believe I lost," she says suddenly.
Okay. I take it back. She hasn't forgotten it.
"Come on." I stand in front of her. "Do you still wish you had gone home, even though we're here in a wine cellar right now?"
"You mean in a stuffy wine cellar?" She fans herself with the front of her shirt.
I frown.
"Sorry," she says as she puts her hand down. "I know I've been complaining a lot. You must think I'm such a lousy date."
"No." I shake my head. "You're lazy. You don't like getting your hands dirty even though you get elbow-deep in guts almost every day."
Marian chuckles.
"You're kind of bad at paintball."
She opens her mouth to protest but I don't let her.
"You hate losing. And you eat a lot, even though I don't know where you stuff it."