The Two-Night One-Night Stand Read Free

proper introduction anyway. “I was beginning to think you weren’t gonna show.” Hazel eyes behind a pair of dark-rimmed glasses lock on to mine, searching. I wait for him to say something, he doesn’t, so I keep talking. “Blind dates, yikes, right?” I make a strained face for emphasis; his stare stays expressionless. “I know your sister told me, but my mind is blank. What do you do in real life for a living?”
    He turns his head toward the guys he had been standing with, and his hand runs uneasily through his tousled brown hair. “In real life?” He turns back to face me. “I don’t understand.”
    “In real life, like obviously you’re not a doctor, that’s just your costume.” I swipe a hand down over my slutty attire and laugh. “Just like I’m not a real nurse. So, what do you do?”
    “I-I,” he stammers and again glances back at his friends. “No, I’m not a doctor.”
    Oh, God. This is bad. He doesn’t want to be here. Either that or he can already tell in this thirty-second interaction that I’m not his type. My stomach drops with a tinge of disappointment. I’m gonna let him off the hook and then I’m gonna kill Jayne.
    “Listen, Nick, it’s okay if you’re not interested. You have no obligation to stay here. Your sister just thought we’d hit it off and she’s my friend and she kind of pressed the issue so I said yes. She probably did the same thing to you. Fix ups are the worst, I totally get it. We can just tell her we tried, it was fun, but not a match.” I reach down and tug at the zipper of my costume, trying desperately to yank it up for some coverage. I feel like an ass. I knew I wasn’t ready to jump back into the dating world, although if I was ready, this guy would have certainly been fun to jump on… I mean with.
    “Can you excuse me for two seconds?” He hitches his thumb toward his friends. “I just need to talk to, um , someone real quick.” He stands from the table, straightening up to at least six foot two. “Don’t leave. Stay here. I just, I”—more stammers—“I’ll be right back.”
    My buzz mellows as I watch him walk away. First he keeps me waiting and now he’s already walking away, and I have no idea if he is really going to come back or not. What should I do? Salvage the last shred of my dignity and make a quick exit, or wait here at the slight chance he means it when he says he’ll be right back?
    He peeks back over his shoulder and runs a nervous hand through his thick hair again. A grin that makes my heart do a tumble tugs at the corners of his full, sexy lips. And I know my answer.
    Dignity, it’s gonna be a long night.
     
     
     

     
    PATRICK AND KENT stand eagerly at the bar, waiting to hear what I have to say.
    “She thinks I’m someone else. Some guy named Nick,” I inform them. “She thinks I’m a blind date set up by her friend.”
    “Why does she think you’re him?” Patrick asks.
    “I’m gathering from what she said that he’s supposed to be dressed up as a doctor. She saw my scrubs and must have assumed I was him.”
    Kent chuckles. “Well, it looks like he didn’t show up. His loss is your gain.”
    “No, I can’t do that. I gotta tell her I’m not the guy she’s been waiting for.” I glance back at the table. Do I really have to tell her? The girl is gorgeous. Her bubbly voice is intoxicating and the soft curves of her body are enough to make me want to legally change my name to Nick.
    Patrick nudges me and nods. I follow his eyes across the bar to a short guy in a white lab coat with an old-fashioned reflector strapped around his head. “Free breast exams!” he bellows to the crowd around him. Without permission, he reaches out and squeezes the breast of a nearby witch.
    She playfully swats him away with her broom but her face shows her genuine disgust at what he’s just done. “Cut it out, Nick,” she squeals.
    “You think that’s the right guy?” Patrick raises his brows.
    The real guy is an