That Summer With Me - Julie Prestsater Page 0,2

like a little kid.

“You stopped by at five o’clock in the morning to interrogate me about a date?” She was crazy.

“I was on my way home.” Millie wagged her brows at him with a smile that said everything and nothing at the same time.

He could turn the tables and question her about her night out, but he’d stopped doing that years ago. It was the same old, same old with her. She had a short attention span when it came to men. She got bored easily and moved from one shiny new toy to the next, oftentimes without any regard to anyone’s feelings. Yet, she always said she was upfront about her personality and her intentions. She didn’t do relationships. Never had. Never would.

Neither did he. There was a time when he thought he had found the one. When that crashed and burned, he turned to something that never let him down—school. More school. And then his work. He didn’t have time for feelings. He didn’t have time for dating. He barely had time for a one-night stand a few times a year, but that didn’t stop Millie from playing matchmaker any chance she got. She had tried to set him up with someone from her grandma’s church, a woman from the bakery, and her favorite barista in between his condo and hers.

And that was just last week.

“So?” she pried.

“So…” he said. “Nothing.”

When she let out a loud sigh, he cut her off before he got scolded like a five-year-old. “Listen, Mill, I love that coffee shop, and I love their coffee even more. I can’t go out with Sandy. I’ll never be able to show my face there again.”

“And why not? She’s cute.”

“Yeah, she is. But it’s not going to work out, and then I’m going to be forced to find a new place.”

“It could work out.”

“No. It can’t.”

She stood and headed to the pantry for a refill. Must have been some night.

“You’re impossible,” she told him.

“I am?” he said, amused. “You’re a total pain in my ass. Why do you care so much if I date?”

“I don’t care if you date, Jay,” she said with a chuckle. “I care if you get laid.”

He had to hold back spitting out a mouthful of coffee. “Excuse me.” He wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

“Look,” she said. “You’re out there saving lives on the daily, working your ass off, and you have been since we were kids. It’s about time you have some fun.” She thrusted her hips back and forth. “It will do your brain some good. Maybe spark some ideas and help you find a cure for cancer. You have the lives of so many people in your hands, Jay. It’s only fair you relieve the tension, so you can really focus.”

“I had no idea the fate of the world rested on my ability to orgasm, Amelia Grace.” He leaned toward her and covered her hand with his. “But not to worry. I don’t need a woman to handle that for me.” He then proceeded to swipe his hand up and down her arm with a low chuckle. “I can take care of that all on my own.”

Millie pretended to vomit, complete with sound effects. “Get your jack-off hand away from me.”

Jordan would have loved to continue the conversation, but he was saved the embarrassment when his phone started to ring.

“Hang on a minute,” he told her when he glanced down at the screen. “Hey, Jace.”

“How’s it going, Doc?” Jace Crawford asked. “It’s been too long.”

“No kidding. Exchanging emails and quick text messages isn’t the same as hanging with you and Joy or hitting the cafeteria for lunch,” he told his friend and old colleague. “I’m even busier now than I was before.”

“I told you to stay in Seattle,” Jace told him. “With the new schedule, it’s been easier to have family time. We could have gone fishing this weekend.”

“Yeah,” Jordan nodded. “I do miss those trips. I’ll eventually have better hours… once I figure out what I’m doing.”

They both laughed. They both knew full well Jordan already knew what he was doing. He was just too type A, in all bold and capital letters, to take any time off for himself. He worked long and hard to ensure his patients had the best care and even longer and harder on his research for clinical trials. He had faith in himself and his colleagues that one day they would find a cure. They had to.

“So, what’s