“Hi.”
“Hi.” Tessa smiled politely at the man standing before her. She held on to the hem of her dress and tried to pull it farther down her legs as discreetly as possible, but his eyes suddenly diverted there, following her actions. She was mortified. If she had known she would run into a coworker, especially her new boss, while wearing the dress, she would have never allowed Kerry to convince her to do so. Especially after their first encounter at the hospital, she couldn’t imagine what he must think of her seeing her dressed like this.
“You look beautiful.”
She caught herself before her jaw became unhinged and dropped to the floor. She was also happy for the less-than-luminous lights and the music that hid the red tint creeping into her cheeks and the loud thumping in her chest.
“Thank you,” she replied above the music. “You look nice, too,” she returned the compliment, taking in his pullover turtleneck sweater that clung to his broad chest and shoulders and highlighted how toned his upper half was. The dark ankle-length denim pants and loafers completed his look.
She hadn’t realized that they had been staring at each other without words until she felt a presence beside her. She turned her head, breaking whatever invisible cord had held their gazes in place, to see Kerry standing beside her.
“Hi. I’m Kerry. Tessa’s sister.” Kerry held her hand out to Justin, and he graciously took it.
“Justin.” He shook her hand with an orbit white smile on his face.
“Tessa’s new boss,” Kerry spoke as if a light bulb had just gone off in her head. She looked over at her sister with a knowing smile, and Tessa cringed internally. “It’s strange that she hasn’t said much about you even though she is usually forthcoming with information about the changes at the hospital,” she spoke in a tone that solicited an explanation from either party.
Justin chuckled, and even over the sound of the now soft, crooning music coming through the speakers, it sounded like a bubbling stream.
“Maybe that’s because our first time meeting and working together, I sent her out of the ER.” He grinned.
Kerry’s eyes flitted from Justin to Tessa, and a suggestive grin graced her lips, her eyes twinkling with mischief. She focused on the man before them once more and opened her mouth to speak, but Tessa beat her to the punch.
“It was lovely seeing you, Dr. Myers, but we have to go now,” she spoke with urgency, tugging at Kerry’s arm.
“It was indeed.” Justin smiled and gave a slight bow of his head as Tessa tried to brush past him with her sister, who was reluctant to move. They eventually made it to the door where the others stood, waiting.
“Who was that man?” Kirsten asked the moment they stepped into the chilly night air.
“That was Tessa’s new boss, the new head of trauma.” Kerry grinned. “He’s cute,” Kerry added.
“And definitely seemed to be interested in you,” Cora also chimed with a wag of her brow.
Tessa audibly groaned and slapped her hand over her face as she realized that they were ganging up on her. “He’s not interested in me. We aren’t even friends. As a matter of fact, we’re barely even amicable to each other,” she pointed out.
“Oh really?” Kerry smirked. “What I witnessed back there could have definitely fooled me. You were blushing really hard when he complimented you.”
“I was not blushing!” Tessa gave out in alarmed indignation. “He just caught me by surprise, is all.” She sighed softly. “Besides, I am not interested in him because I’m not looking to date anyone. Furthermore, he’s a colleague. We work together.”
“So are you saying that you wouldn’t give him a chance only because you work with him?” Kerry acted obtuse.
Tessa threw her hands up. “Can we be done with this conversation? I’m tired and would like to be in my bed soon.” With that, she walked in the direction of the car, effectively ending the conversation.
“We’re sorry if we came off as badgering you, Tessa. It wasn’t our intention,” Cora apologized as she walked up to her.
“Sorry, Tessa,” the others spoke in unison.
“It’s fine.” She smiled reassuringly. She knew their concern about her non-dating life came from a place of love. With most of them being in new, developing relationships, it was only natural that they would want her to be in one of her own as they usually did everything together. She had to admit to herself, too, that Justin had looked really handsome back at the club, but just as she did so, a wave of guilt washed over her as her thoughts went to her dead husband.
She breathed a sigh of relief when the car pulled into her driveway. Her feet were killing her from being in the delicate heels all night, and she could feel a headache coming on.
“Bye, Tessa. I’ll call you when I get home.” Cora smiled.
“Me too,” Kerry jumped in, waving at her sister as the car slowly backed out of the driveway. She turned and opened her door when they were no longer visible. With a sigh, she kicked off her heels and padded down the hallway toward the kitchen. Removing a glass from the cupboard, she placed it under the tap and filled it with water before drinking the contents. Sighing with satisfaction, she replaced the class and made her way upstairs to prepare for bed.
She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillows.
“Did you have fun tonight?”
