12. Dr. Beckett
Dr. Beckett
I’m hungry, which is why I’m still in my truck twenty minutes later.
I’m contemplating swallowing my pride, returning to Billy’s, and ordering another burger.
I don’t want to see my idiot friends, though.
Finally, I give up and am about to head back in, when Brooke comes out. She’s carrying a to-go bag.
I shake my head and watch as she crosses the packed-dirt parking lot before climbing into June’s old Buick. She puts the car in reverse and starts to creep out of the parking spot when a terrible noise accosts my ears.
Grinding, screeching, scraping.
She slams on the brakes and climbs out of the car, where she crouches down and inspects under the car.
Call it curiosity, chivalry, or the Sunday school lessons about helping someone when they need it come home to roost, or the less altruistic experience of attraction, but I get out of my truck to see what’s wrong.
“Brooke?” I ask as I crouch down next to her. She’s murmuring something under her breath as one of her hands yanks at her hair.
Her eyes snap to mine.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Tears well in the corner of her eyes. I reach out a hand to touch her shoulder. I startle when she leans into my touch.
She points under the car. “The gas tank fell out.”
I look under the car, and there, on the ground, is the gas tank.
“That’s not driveable,” I say, stating the obvious.
She looks up at me, her blue eyes swimming with tears, and heaves a sob. “I don’t know what to do. Usually, I’d call Matt. Or someone. But I can’t do that here. I don’t really know anyone.”
I swear I don’t tell my arm to tighten around her shoulder, but it does of its own accord. “You know me.” I smile down at her. “I’ve been told I’m good in a crisis.”
The ghost of a smile flits across her face. “Are you making a joke, Dr. Beckett Whistler?”
I shrug. “Did you meet anyone while you were in Billy’s?” I ask, knowing full well Ben saw our interaction and immediately had questions that I didn’t stick around to answer.
Her eyes narrow, forcing a tear out of the corner. She swipes at it with the back of her hand. “I met your friends.”
I grimace. “Yes, well, Logan is a rafting guide, but Ben is a mechanic. He usually sticks to motorcycles, but I can convince him.”
“What on earth is a motorcycle mechanic going to do about that ?” She gestures to the gas tank.
“I have no idea, but Ben will know what to do.”
She stands, and I follow. My hand slips off her shoulder, and I’m sad to lose contact with her.
“I guess we better go see what he says.”
“Nah. I’ll drive you home, and he can come look at it when he’s ready.”
“Really? But won’t he need the key?”
I pull out my phone and fire off a quick text to Ben telling him what happened and that I’m leaving with Brooke.
“You can just leave the key on the windshield.”
Brooke arches her eyebrow as one eye widens and the other narrows. The pure skepticism on her face is amusing, if also a bit insulting.
“No one’s going to steal it, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Oh. I guess not.”
“Good,” I say as she deposits the key onto the windshield. “I suspect June wants a hot burger, not a cold one.”
“I don’t think it will be hot when we get back, but it might be warm.” Brooke offers a small smile.
She reaches into June’s car and extracts the burger bag, then she opens the bag, and the smell of crispy fries hits my nose. She pulls out a handful and holds it out to me, a little smile ticking at the corners of her mouth. “Seems like fair payment for the ride.”
Is Brooke Bastion flirting with me ?
“Thanks,” I say, popping a handful into my mouth and ignoring the way nerve endings misfire as I touch her hand.
“I thought you’d eat healthy as a doctor,” she says as we reach the truck.
I open her door for her. “I usually do, but hospitals aren’t exactly known for their healthy food. And sometimes a burger at Billy’s sounds good.”
She starts to buckle in, and my eyes linger on the gentle slope of her neck and shoulder as she twists to click the belt into place. I shake my head to clear whatever is happening here. I need to drive her home, not ogle her. Especially since who knows what June will get up to if left unattended.
I climb into the driver’s seat just as I spy Ben and Logan walking out of Billy’s together. I do not want to deal with them—not their looks, not their side eyes, not their comments about Brooke and about how I mess everything up because I don’t try.
It’s not one of my finer moments, but I throw the truck into drive and peel out of the parking lot.
I sense Brooke peering over at me with some confusion. After being calm and gentle and flirting, I’m suddenly driving like a bat out of the netherworld.
Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything as I white-knuckle the eight-minute drive home.
I pull into the driveway between June’s and my house.
“Thanks, Dr. Beckett,” Brooke says as she unbuckles and prepares to hop out.
I put my hand on her arm to stop her. “It’s just Beck. Really.”
My eyes search hers. She tucks a strand of pink hair behind her ear, and I want to wind it around my finger.
She bites her lower lip.
“Thanks, Beck,” she says quietly. Her eyes stay locked on mine, and I don’t let go of her arm.
I tug her toward me. She doesn’t resist.
Her tongue flicks over her lips, and her eyes narrow as she looks deeply into mine. It’s awkward, pulling her closer over the gear shift, but my arms circle her shoulders, and I inhale the scent of her shampoo.
Her hands circle my neck, pressing her palms into the junction of my neck and back.
“Brooke,” I whisper, oddly affected by her. “Please go on a date with me. Not because June said so, but because I like you.”
She pulls back a little before she leans up and kisses my cheek. “Ok.”
I blink, and before I can catch her and pull her in for a proper kiss, she bolts from the truck.
I sit there, confused, as she dashes up the driveway and into June’s house.
I asked Brooke on a date, she kissed my cheek, and suddenly a huge elephant lands on my chest.
Addie is coming home . What have I done ?