CHAPTER 5
Jannie
“There you are!”
Jannie pivoted to see a smiling woman rushing toward her, her arms outstretched. “Katie!”
Jannie hugged her friend. Katie Livingston had been her roommate, her study buddy, and her partner in pulling all kinds of pranks in the dorms at UF.
After college, Katie moved back to Arizona, much to Jannie’s disappointment, but they kept in touch through regular FaceTime calls and texts, and there was nothing Katie didn’t know about her.
“How are you?” Her friend held her at arm’s length. “You look gorgeous.”
Jannie gave her a half-smile. “Sure, I do.”
“You do! You look tiny!”
“What every pregnant woman wants to hear. You’re so sweet.”
“I’m also honest. You know I’d never bullshit you.” Katie tugged on Jannie’s hand. “Let’s go sit somewhere. Then you can tell me everything.”
“You already know everything!”
They found seats in a corner of the room. Jannie settled into a plush armchair, eyeing the pile of empty glasses, crumpled napkins, and dirty plates on the round table in front of them.
Katie gave her the stink eye. “Leave it.”
Jannie laughed. “You sound like me when I’m giving my dog commands.”
“He listens. So should you.”
Jannie forced herself to look away. If this were the Lark, the servers would have whisked away the mess by now.
“So, tell me everything.”
Jannie shrugged. “I can’t think of anything I haven’t already shared. Well … except …”
“Except?”
“I went to my room this afternoon and found Blake staying in the one right next to it.”
Katie’s eyes grew round. “What?”
Jannie grimaced. “Yeah.”
“How?”
“He changed my reservation and booked one for himself.”
“Asshole,” Katie muttered. “Please tell me you didn’t have sex with him again.”
“I didn’t have sex with him again.”
Katie brightened. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Yes! Progress!”
“He had escorts booked for later.”
Katie blinked rapidly. “Excuse me? Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m not. Although he did say his friends booked them.”
“Do you believe that?”
Jannie shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what I believe anymore. I’ve decided it’s time to put an end to it. I need to move on because he won’t.”
“You know best.”
“You approve because you’ve been pushing for this.”
Katie’s gaze moved across the room, where it remained as she spoke. “I approve because I want to see you happy. Not hung up on someone who uses you to get off every couple of months.”
Jannie bristled. “I used him, too.” Unconsciously, she caressed her belly.
Katie’s eyes narrowed. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“No.” She had been careful but still ended up a card-carrying member of the Condom Failure Club.
Katie licked her lips, her eyes still fixed on something behind Jannie. “Yeah, you used him, too. But you can’t tell me you didn’t hope he’d stick around every time he showed up on your doorstep with a hard-on.”
Jannie grimaced. She couldn’t deny it, so she said nothing.
Katie leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Don’t look now, but there’s a hot guy looking this way, and I think I’m about to spontaneously combust.”
“Oh?” Jannie turned her head.
“I said, don’t look!” Katie hissed.
Nick.
He had returned from the men’s room and was now standing at the bar, accepting a lowball from the bartender. Capturing her gaze, he held it, as surely as if he’d trapped her face between his hands. One corner of his mouth tipped up, and he nodded slightly.
Her heart skipped, and heat descended Jannie’s spine to wrap around her middle, settling deep inside her like flowing, molten lava.
Good Lord, her visceral reaction to this man. All it took was a half-smile, and she was done.
Across from her, Katie fixed her with a stare of her own. “Oh.”
To her dismay, Jannie felt a flush creep up her neck and warm her cheeks. “Oh, what?”
“Oh, I’ve never seen you flustered like that.” Katie leaned closer, mischief gleaming in her warm brown eyes. “You know him.”
A statement, not a question.
“I do.” Jannie tore her gaze away from Nick’s and shifted in her seat.
“Wait, that is your plus-one?”
Jannie nodded.
“You’re fidgeting? What the hell, Jannie? What is that guy to you?”
“A friend.”
Katie scoffed. “There was nothing friendly in the look that passed between you two. Spill. Right now. All of it.”
As succinctly as she could, Jannie updated her friend on the details. When she finished, Katie leaned back, a delighted smile spreading across her face. “This reads like the beginning of a steamy romance novel.”
“What the heck are you talking about?”
“Frog guy from high school undergoes a stunning metamorphosis, emerging as totally lickable prince.”
Nervous laughter escaped Jannie’s lips. “Lickable prince?”
“Hell, yeah. I’d like to lick every inch of that tall hunk of a man. And take my sweet time doing it too.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I wonder if his dick matches the rest of him.”
Jannie’s teeth clenched.
Katie’s eyes widened, and she held up her palms in surrender. “Wow, OK, then! If he’s off limits, I’ll restrain myself.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s all there on your face. What are you going to do about him?”
What indeed. “No idea. He invited me to dinner.”
“A good start. Where is he taking you?”
“Upstairs.”
Katie smirked.
“The rooftop restaurant at the Lark,” Jannie clarified.
Katie fixed her with a sarcastic look, tongue firmly in cheek. “Uh-huh. You gonna have him for dessert?”
Jannie wanted to roll her eyes. “Stop making this more than it is. I just brought him along to avoid questions about Blake.”
“And to reconnect.”
“Of course.”
“Uh-huh. For what it’s worth, that man is devouring you with his eyes. If I were in your place, I’d do something about it.”
Jannie tilted her head. “You’ll never stop, will you?”
“Wanting to see my bestie happy? Never!” Again, her gaze drifted over Jannie’s shoulder. “He’s heading out.”
“Probably going to the terrace. He doesn’t like crowds.”
“Doesn’t like crowds, but he’s here?”
There had to be over a hundred people at this function.
Jannie shrugged. “I asked him to come with me.”
“I’ll bet he wants to come with you.”
“Stop.”
“OK, OK.” Still smiling, Katie took a sip of her wine. “You can’t blame me for being happy to see you finally turn over a new leaf. Blake never deserved you.”
“How’s life treating you?” Jannie asked, eager to shift the focus away from herself.
The corners of Katie’s mouth turned down. “Do you want the sugarcoated version, or the raw, unfiltered one?”
Jannie grinned. “I thought you always went raw.”
“Is there a more pleasurable way?”
Jannie giggled. Everyone who knew Katie was aware of her dislike for condoms. “Really, how are you doing?”
“I’m drowning.”
Jannie frowned. “Explain.”
“I’m going to tell you something. If I’d known back then what I know now, about how things are when you actually practice, I would have gone and done something else.
” Her gaze roamed around the room, where doctors were gathered in clusters, deep in conversation.
“All that work, all the torture and stress of internship and residency, only to end up miserable. I go to work and fantasize about missing my exit and driving until I reach some alternate reality. Or meeting some non-doctor guy who’s loaded, so I can quit the day after we’re married.
It’s almost to the point where I think I need antidepressants. ”
Jannie’s heart squeezed. She could relate.
“Is that brother of yours still single?” Katie asked.
“Which one? Adam is married, and I’m pretty sure Ian is next.”
“I’ll take Erik, then.”
“Way too young for you.”
“An age gap doesn’t bother me. And bonus, we can be sisters!”
Jannie frowned. “Seriously, Kate, are you that unhappy?”
“Aren’t you?” Katie caught Jannie’s gaze and held it.
Jannie looked away, knowing how easy it was for her friend to read her. The truth was, Jannie felt the same way and had for some time now, but she hadn’t even admitted it to herself.
Katie leaned forward. “Be honest. When you went into this thinking you could heal the world, did you imagine that the daily grind would be so … soul-sucking?”
Jannie didn’t reply. Katie was pressing on a sore that Jannie tried daily to ignore—one she tried to push down deep, where she wouldn’t feel it.
“If I had your money, babe, I’d get out of medicine so fast, there’d be smoke left in my wake.”
Jannie placed a soothing hand on her friend’s arm. “It’s not that simple.”
“Don’t I know it.” Katie smiled bitterly. “But I can dream, can’t I?”
“It doesn’t have to be a dream. If anyone can find a path to happiness, it’s you.” Jannie gave her friend what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “Come on, let’s mingle. Dr. Shanahan just walked in, and I haven’t seen her in over a year.”
·
She knew he was behind her solely by the scent of his cologne.
Jannie took in the aromatic, spicy green scent mixed with a touch of wood and made a note to find out the name of the fragrance Nick used. She was highly sensitive to scent, and this was one she had never encountered before. Whatever it was, it smelled unusual and expensive.
“Enjoying yourself?”
She accepted a glass of ginger ale, thanked the bartender, and turned.
Nick held a lowball, half filled with one large ice cube and a reddish liquid.
“I am.” Jannie held up her ginger ale and sighed. “Although I sorely miss a good cocktail. What is that? I want to drink vicariously through you.”
“A Boulevardier.”
He said it with a French accent, making her remember how good he’d been in that class.
“Never heard of that one. What’s in it?”
“Bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth. It’s a close cousin to the Negroni.”
“Which everyone orders these days.”
He smiled. “You know that when the thundering herd headed one way, I ran in the opposite direction.” He took a sip and gestured with the glass. “I would offer you a taste, but …”
“Yeah. I know.” She sighed. “My grandmother smoked and had cocktails throughout her pregnancy, and my dad came out just fine.”