Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
I snorted and took a sip of wine before responding. “He was good at a lot of ball. Yes.”
“Ew.”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” I said with a laugh. “Although…”
“He was good at his job,” he pointed out. “Even West Wilde said he was a good doctor, and West has impossible standards.”
An amused voice behind me said, “Well, this is awkward.”
I turned to see West Wilde with a grin on his face. “Do you disagree?” I asked, clapping him on the shoulder as West nodded a greeting to Dan.
I glanced at the attractive man, suddenly realizing one of the reasons I’d been so quick to think the worst of Xavier. “He’s a doctor.”
West’s easy grin faded. “Dan knows I’m a doctor. I treat his kids.”
I shook my head. “No, I mean… never mind.”
Dan laughed. “We were talking about setups. Maybe you can convince him to let me set him up with my brother-in-law. And speaking of my wife, I need to get home.”
West’s eyes lit up with sinister delight. I held up a hand. “No.”
Dan laughed and signaled to the bartender for his tab and gave up his stool for West. Once Dan was gone, I asked West how his daughter was.
His entire face lit up. “She’s amazing. I didn’t want to leave her tonight, but Doc and Grandpa conned me into going out for a little while. Pippa’s teething, so I haven’t been getting much sleep. Honestly, I’d rather be home napping, but they’re right. I needed to be around adults for a little while.”
“And how’s Nico?” I asked, knowing full well that West had fallen hard and fast for Pippa’s uncle, despite the contentious nature of their custody fight.
Suddenly, the mask of pleasant socializing slipped, and I saw the exhaustion and devastation underneath. “He’s, ah… he went back to California.” He cleared his throat. “So I wouldn’t know how he is.”
I already knew Nico had left. Everyone in town did. But I patted him on the shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”
His forehead crinkled in confusion. “Talk about what? There’s nothing to talk about. His business is in San Francisco. His life is there. Friends, and ah… whatever else.” He shrugged. “It’s settled.”
“Have dinner with me?” I offered softly.
He nodded, and the two of us found a comfortable booth. We ordered more drinks and food before catching up on easy topics like his grandparents and siblings, Pippa’s milestones, the happy outcome of a child welfare case we’d both worked on, and happenings around town.
“You and I should date,” he said after another round of drinks.
I blinked up at him in shock, but before I could figure out a polite way to say no, thanks, he held up his hand. “I don’t mean like that. Actually dating. I mean, we could just tell people we were dating. Get everyone off our backs.”
He grinned at me and leaned over the table to grab my hand and bat his eyelashes. “C’mon. I’m a catch. Ask anyone.”
“You’re a cocky ass,” I said with a laugh. “And we both know this town would be even more in our business if we were supposedly together.”
Before I could pull my hand out of his, movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked over and saw Xavier Rhodes staring at me from the tavern’s entrance.
He looked amazing, all dark-eyed and moody. His hair was a little messy, like he’d been caught in an unexpected wind or tugged at it at the end of a hard day. Our eyes stayed locked for a long beat before his flicked to West, down to our joined hands, and back to me. His jaw clenched before he looked away.
I yanked my hand away and opened my mouth to say something before realizing how stupid that was. He was too far away to hear anything I’d have to say, and what was my plan?
I’m not with him, I promise!
The very idea of needing to say something like that to him was preposterous. We weren’t dating.
“Oh, ho,” West said, following my line of sight. “What have we here. Xavier Rhodes? Well, well. Honovi Baptiste, you dark horse.” He reached for my hand again and laid his on top. Clearly, he was trying to needle his ex.
Xavier’s gaze returned to our table and dropped to the joined hands again. His eyes narrowed, and my heart thumped in response.
Did Xavier care that another man was touching me?
I sucked in a breath, pulled my hand out again, and waved him over. Xavier’s eyes shot up in surprise, but he reluctantly informed the host and moved over to our table.
“Be nice,” I growled under my breath at West. “We’re working together on a case.”
My skin prickled with awareness, and my stomach flipped over when Xavier reached the table. “Uh, hi. Er. Um. Xavier, this is Dr. West Wilde. West, Dr. Xavier Rhodes.”