Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 164828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
And we’re eating lasagne together.
Nerves dance around in my stomach. A few moments later, Nathan sits down with a tray of our lasagne and drinks.
“Thank you.” I smile as I take mine from him.
He takes a bite of his food. “So, what are you doing here?” He nods in approval at the first mouthful of lasagne. “This is good.”
“Hmm, it is, isn’t it?” I begin to chew. “Nursing… hoping to get into paediatrics. ” I point to him with my fork. “And you?”
He swallows his food and wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Medicine.”
I stare at him as my brain misfires. “You’re… a doctor?”
“Resident at this point, but yes. Why?” He smiles as he sips his drink from the bottle, as if he already knows what I’m going to say.
“You’re too good-looking to be a doctor.” I scoff. “Tell me the truth. Are you a handyman or something?”
He chuckles and holds his hands in the air. “You got me; I actually clean the toilets.”
“You moved all the way from New York to clean the toilets?” I roll my eyes as I act unimpressed.
“You’re very hard to please, Eliza.”
I smile as I cut into my lasagne. “I’m simply saying that I would never have picked you out to be a doctor, that’s all.”
“What would you think I would be?”
He holds out his two hands so I can look at him and my eyes roam over his perfect physique.
Stripper.
I push my wayward thoughts to the side. “Umm… I don’t know. Like a tradesman or something?”
His mischievous eyes hold mine. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“You should be,” I tease. “Don’t do it again.”
He smiles as he focuses back on his food. “You’re cute, I like you.”
“I’m very likeable.” I bat my eyelashes in an over-exaggerated way.
“So, you really don’t know anybody in town?”
“Nope.” I sigh.
“Me, too. We should hang out.”
I bite my lip to try and act casual. “Yeah, that’d be fun.” I take a bite of my lasagne. “Just don’t fall in love with me or anything,” I say sarcastically.
“No chance of that,” he replies casually as he takes a mouth full of food. “You’re the wrong sex for me.”
What?
I snort in surprise. My Coke goes down the wrong pipe, and I choke in a spectacular fashion. “Are you kidding me?” I cough as I slap my chest. “You’re gay?”
He laughs out loud. “Why is that so shocking to you?”
This man is the epitome of masculinity. “Because…” I pause as I try to articulate myself. “You give off a very different vibe from other gay guys I’ve known.”
He smiles, clearly amused, and he rests his chin on his hand as he watches me.
I end up smiling too because this is just my crappy luck. “I had plans for us, Nathan,” I tease as I rearrange the napkin on my lap.
“I know: lunch, tomorrow.”
“No, actually, that wasn’t it.” I go back to cutting my lasagne. “It was dinner tonight to celebrate our first day together, but you probably have a Grindr date or something and won’t be able to fit me into your schedule.”
“Eliza…”
“Yeah?” I sigh, thoroughly distracted. He waits for my attention, and I drag my eyes up to meet his, he gives me a soft smile.
“Is that your way of asking me to dinner as a friend?”
“Maybe.” I smile.
“I’d love to.”
1
Ten years later
Eliza
The elevator doors open, and I stride out into the grand foyer of the top floor of Nathan’s building. “Hello.” I smile at the two receptionists.
“Hi,” replies Maria.
“Oh, Eliza, hi. You must have a sixth sense, I was just thinking about you,” the blonde receptionist says, looking me up and down. “Wow, you look lovely today.”
I dust my skirt as I look down at myself. I’m wearing a fitted black pencil skirt and a cream silk blouse, along with high heels and sheer black stockings. My long, dark hair is in a ponytail. “Thanks. I have a job interview this afternoon with Dr. Morgan, the cosmetic surgeon. I’m making Nathan come with me.”
She frowns. “I thought you were happy nursing at the hospital.”
“I am, and I will always go back to that at some stage, but I just feel like I need a change at the moment. Besides, I’m not leaving the industry completely. It’s still in the medical field, just in a swanky office instead of the hospital.”
“Civilian.” Maria smiles as she looks me up and down. “Well, you look fabulous, and maybe you can get me a discounted facelift.”
I giggle. “I have to get the job first.”
“Have you got time to quickly go through Nathan’s schedule with me?”
“Yes, of course.”
I walk around to behind her desk so I can see the calendar on her computer.
She begins to click through the days, “So you have a charity dinner on Wednesday night. Do you want me to book a car ride home?”