Thatch: You can serve me your pussy for breakfast, every morning, for the next month, if you change your mind.
Well, shit. That was a hard offer to decline.
Me: Fine.
Thatch: In the words of Richard Gere, I would have paid four.
Suddenly, I was Julia Roberts in a bath of bubbles on the set of Pretty Woman. We really were visual entertainment spirit animals. Sure, I was the hooker in this scenario, but if Julia Roberts could play the part of one, I could too.
Me: I would have stayed for two.
Fifteen minutes later, I walked through the doors of the Starline Diner, glancing around the joint for Georgia and Will. Old-time chrome diamond plates and records lined the walls, and the red pleather on the seats of each booth looked like it was made of glitter.
"Over here, Cass!" My best friend waved to me from a table in the back corner when my eyes didn't immediately find them.
I walked the aisle lined with booths in their direction, careful to keep my eyes away from any patrons I didn't know personally. The tempo of my heart suggested I might still be in danger of attacking an innocent bystander.
When it was safe to look up at the only table I cared about, I found a woman I had never met before sitting beside Georgia's brother, Will.
"Hey, William," I greeted with a knowing smirk before glancing back toward his extremely attractive female companion. Generally, I tried to avoid associating my opinions in any way with conventional society, but in this instance, I could really see what the fuss was about-blond hair, blue eyes, and from what I could tell, one hell of a body underneath her silky blouse and form-fitting pencil skirt. This woman was the epitome of stunning.
"She's not my girlfriend," Will responded without even waiting for me to ask, and I smirked.
Will stood up and gestured between us as if we couldn't follow who he was talking about. "Cassie, this is Winnie, my friend and boss. Winnie, this is Cassie."
Since I was making a first impression and all, I chose to forgo ribbing him too hard about it.
We exchanged friendly greetings, and Winnie added, "I hope you don't mind that I'm crashing your lunch," as I sat down across from her.
I waved her off. "Don't be crazy. A friend of Will's is a friend of mine."
"Honestly," Georgia chimed in, "anyone who can put up with my brother wins my friendship right off the bat."
Winnie grinned, and Will just laughed it off with ease.
"So, what's it like to be Will's boss?" I asked, more than curious to know all the dirty ER hospital gossip. I knew Will had said she wasn't his girlfriend, but he hadn't said he wasn't fucking her. Trust me, I knew from plenty of fun experience they were not mutually exclusive.
"Is it as terrible as I think it would be?" Georgia asked as a follow-up.
Winnie laughed. "Will's actually one of my favorite residents."
Georgia's expression fell. "Well, that's disappointing. I was hoping you'd have some awful things to say about him."
Not to worry, Wheorgie. I'll get to the bottom of this rabbit hole.
"Okay, I've got questions." I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the table.
"Here we go," Will muttered.
"Tell me the truth. Do doctors and nurses really fuck around with each other like on Grey's Anatomy?"
"Oh, yeah!" Georgia's eyes lit up. "Tell us everything the hospital doesn't advertise … Well, unless it involves you two hooking up. Don't tell me any of that."
My pout was instinctual, and Georgia laughed. "He's my brother!"
"Cover your ears, then," I retorted.
Will sighed. "We've never hooked up, Gigi. We're just friends."
"Yeah, Will and I are about as platonic as two people can get," Winnie agreed. "Unless McDreamy walks in, I probably won't ever fuck one of my coworkers."
Will half smirked, half grimaced like he couldn't say the same.
Winnie noticed. "Oh, my God. Who are you fucking at work? How do I miss all the good stuff?"
"I'm gonna guess it's because you're too busy working or taking care of your daughter. And it's fucked, past tense. No office romance currently."
"You have a daughter?" I asked, more intrigued by kids lately than I had ever been in my life. It was a little disturbing, but instead of panicking, I went with it.
"I have a six-year-old." Her eyes brightened and lips crested into a loving smile. "Her name is Lexi, and she's my whole entire world."
"Winnie here is like the superwoman of single moms," Will interjected. "She runs the ED, works eighty-hour weeks, and somehow manages to raise an awesome kid."
"You're totally kissing my ass right now. And no, I will not take you off call next weekend."
Will shrugged. "It was worth a shot."
She laughed. "But he's right. I'm pretty much awesome at everything besides having a life outside of my daughter and work."
Winnie girl was spunky. I liked her already. "I'm demanding that you hang out with us more often."
"Yes," Georgia agreed. "Like actual nights out. Minus Will, of course."
Winnie smiled. "Let me work on getting a new job where my schedule isn't so demanding, and I will definitely take you up on that. I can't tell you the last time I actually went out for a drink."
"You know," Georgia continued, "the Mavericks are looking for a new team physician."
Her eyes perked up. "Really?"
"I don't know all the details of the position, but I know it would be less demanding than your current eighty-hour workweeks. Especially in the off-season. I could email you more info if you'd like."
"Less work and football players? Color me interested." She reached into her purse, pulled out a business card, and slid it across the table.
I glanced over Georgia's shoulder and caught sight of the name printed in black. "Winnie Winslow," I read it aloud. "Hell, that's one badass name."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I'm a bit of a badass bitch."
Yeah, I was definitely going to be friends with this chick.
Feeling that any gossip about her brother and the blonde had been settled, Georgia's prying eyes came to me.
"And what about you?"
"What about me?" I challenged.
"You are just like your boyfriend!" she accused with a laugh, and as much as I tried to stop it, I started to blush.
"Boyfriend?" Will asked. "What boyfriend?"
My skin started to tingle, and my voice locked up.
"Look at you," Georgia prodded. "You'd think you'd be able to talk about it. You should be able to talk about a relationship where you're living with the guy, for fuck's sake."
"Wait a second? Living with the guy? When did this happen?" Will asked rapid fire, while Winnie looked on with interest.
"It's Thatch," Georgia announced.
"Holy fuck. Why didn't he say anything either?"
My eyebrows pulled together. "It's relatively new."
"You're living together," Will insisted with a laugh.
"I'm aware, thank you very much. I moved in as a prank."
"Nuh-uh-uh," Georgia said. "Don't give me that. When you move in as a prank, you move out. You don't fuck like rabbits and make moony eyes at one another and talk about picking up stuff for each other from the store."
I wonder how hard it would be to wring Georgia's neck.
"I like him, okay?" I admitted in a rush. "He's funny and fun, and goddamn, he's got a cock that won't quit."
"Oh, Jesus," Will cried.
"I like him already," Winnie put in with an encouraging smile.
"Right?" I blubbered in a rush. "The stupid asshole makes it nearly impossible to not like him. It's not my fault."
Georgia's smile was practically nuclear. "So … what's that mean? What's going on with you two?"
I shrugged.
"Have you tried talking to him about what's actually going on?" she pushed, and Will groaned. She turned cold eyes in his direction and snapped. "You, shut it. This is girl time, and you'll deal with it."
He shut up and Winnie laughed. "I'm gonna start talking to you like that at work. You obeyed more quickly than usual."
He groaned again and sank his head into his hands.
Georgia turned back to me, but I was happy to use the distraction to my advantage. "Just drop it for now, okay? Let me worry about Thatcher's boner, and you just concentrate on Big Dick." I smiled to take some of the sting out and hoped she'd understand.
I knew I needed to talk to Thatch about where we were. But I couldn't help but worry about the chance that, for once, for the first time in all the years I'd been dating, I was the one who was sure we were-an item, an us, all the things I wanted in my life for a long time and maybe forever-and he was the one thinking we weren't.
"Wake up, honey," I cooed in Cassie's ear.
Phil snorted awake and started rooting at my hand.
"Look out, Phil. I'm trying to wake up your mom, and you know that's not gonna be easy."