Placing the bottle on the coffee table, I sit back down and take another sip. As the delicious crisp flavor of the pinot grigio hits my tongue, I decide to throw caution to the wind–a common trend when it comes to this man—and reach out to him. Adding his number to my phone, I stare at it before I whisper, “What the hell.” And then I text him.
AVERY - Hi, Flynn. It’s Avery. If the offer still stands, I’d love to have dinner with you.
That leaves the ball in his court and if he decides to ghost me, then I won’t be too upset. Who am I kidding? I’ll be gutted if he doesn’t reply, but to my delight my phone beeps with a text a few minutes later. As I reach forward to pick it up, my heart rate accelerates with nerves. When I see his name on the screen, I grin like the Cheshire cat. Taking another sip of wine, I settle into the couch, unlock my phone, and read his reply.
FLYNN: Hey, gorgeous. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d hear from you. I thought I was going to have to resort to talking to your sister to get your number. Thanks for saving me from that. How about Friday night? I’ll pick you up at 8.
I smile at his reply.
AVERY: Friday sounds great. I’ll meet you there.
* * *
FLYNN: It’s the gentlemanly thing to pick up his date.
* * *
AVERY: This isn’t the olden days. I’ll meet you there, just tell me where.
* * *
FLYNN: Let’s meet at my place and we can go from there.
FLYNN: You remember where that is, don’t you?
Smart-ass, I think to myself as I type my reply.
AVERY: Yes. See you Friday at 8.
Placing my phone on the couch next to me, I shuffle back into the cushion and find myself smiling and then I sit up straight when it hits me. Holy shit, I’m going on a date with Dr. Kelly.
13
Flynn
I’ve just finished my crazy, hectic, super-surprising extra shift and I’m exhausted. Grabbing my phone, I check for a message but there’s no new messages. I’m not surprised, really. As I watched Avery leave the hospital earlier, it felt like it would be the last time I ever saw her. Honestly, I’m not holding out any hope of her texting me. After changing out of my scrubs, I grab my things and head to my car. As I’m climbing in, a text comes through, and much to my surprise and delight, it’s from Avery. She DID text me, seems I was wrong in regards to her. Sitting in my car, I open her message with a goofy grin on my face and read. Normally I’d leave it and check/reply once I got home but knowing it’s from her, I can’t help myself.
Inwardly I do a little jig as I read her reply—yep, I’m acting like teenage girl who has scored a date with the quarterback to the homecoming dance. Quickly I text back my dinner offer, and much to my delight, she replies immediately. She’s either playing coy, or safe, not giving me her address but from what I know about her, she’ll be playing it safe. She accepts my offer to meet at my place and with our date locked in for Friday, I throw my phone in the center console and head home.
I’m stopped at a red light and my mind drifts back to our night together. Her panting and screaming my name. The glazed-over look in her eyes when she comes. Man, I really hope we recreate and add to those memories on Friday. The honking of a car horn behind me snaps me back to the present. Looking up, I see the light is still green and I press my foot down on the accelerator and continue my drive home.
On the drive, my mind runs a million miles an hour with what we can do on Friday…and what I hope happens AFTER our dinner date. Whatever happens, I’m not going to let her slip through my fingers this time. I know I sound like a sap, but for the first time ever; I’m intrigued by a woman. I want to get to know Avery Evans. I want her in my life. I need to woo her and the wooing will start this coming Friday.
The week dragged by ever so slowly but finally, it’s Friday. And just like the rest of the week, my shift passes by at a slow snail’s pace. It’s the slowest of slow days in the ER, and normally I’m all for a quiet shift but not today. I wanted today to fly by so I could get to tonight AND then I want for evening to go slow. What the fuck is happening to me? I’m A. Going on a date and B. I’m fucking excited for said date. Never in my thirty-three years have I ever been excited for a date; actually, I don’t think I’ve ever been on a date date. Meeting in a bar to fuck isn’t a date, it’s a booty call with class. This is new territory for me. Do I get her flowers? Chocolates? A teddy bear? I don’t know what to do and suddenly I’m nervous as all hell. What is this woman doing to me?
My shift is finally over and I hightail it out of the hospital. I brush off Preston when he asks about heading out for a drink. He eyes my suspiciously and I know that the next time I see him, he’s going to grill me…but all going well, I’ll have details to spill about a girlfriend. What the fuck? Where did that thought come from. Settle down, cowboy. Let’s have our date before I start picking out china patterns. Thinking of that, my mind drifts to Avery in a white dress, standing before me on a beach. Her hair blowing in the wind. Shaking my head, I snap those crazy thoughts from my mind, pushing them deep down, and I head for home.
Stepping into my penthouse, I look around, and for the first time since moving in, it feels amiss. This place really needs a woman's touch and I think Avery is the woman to do that. Maybe after ravishing her all night long, I can ask her opinion in the morning…as long as she doesn’t duck out on me again. That thought frightens the fuck out of me.
Avery Evans is invading my thoughts and changing my outlook on life. She’s an enigma and I cannot wait for our date tonight to get to know her more.
14
Avery
It’s date day and I’m not as nervous as I thought I would be. When I arrived home from school, I did the full on girly thing preparing for tonight’s date. I took an extra long shower where I washed my hair, shaved my legs and nether region, and exfoliated my body with a green tea and jasmine bodywash. When I climbed out, I dried myself and then lathered my body from head to toe in moisturizer and slipped into a sexy purple lingerie set. Pouring myself a glass of wine, I blow-dried and straightened my hair. Then I stood staring at my clothes, trying to decide on what to wear. When my eyes land on the perfect dress, I grin. It’s deep plum in color, matching my lingerie—fate—and hugs my curves in all the right places. The sweetheart neckline shows off a hint of cleavage, but if I bend over, you can see my satin bra. The hem sits just above my knee and on my feet are my matte black Louboutin heels—a treat to myself when I graduated college and landed my job at Westside Elementary. Whenever I wear them, I feel confident and sexy and I need all the confidence boosting I can get, because Flynn is so far out of my league it isn’t funny, but for some reason, he wants lil’ old me.