The Ex by Freida McFadden(53)

I didn’t plan it. I was walking by the practice, where I’ve escorted Nonna once before, and I was seized with the urge to see Dean. It isn’t until I get to the front desk, where a blond girl ten years younger than me and far prettier is manning a computer that I entirely lose my nerve.

“I’m sorry,” she says to me. “We’re closing for the day.”

“Oh, I’m not…” I clear my throat. My cheeks feel suddenly warm. “I’m not a patient. I just… but if you’re closed…”

I glance behind me at the vacant waiting area. It’s clearly been the end of a long day, judging by the way every chair in the room is slightly askew and magazines litter the seats. Still, the room gives off a sterile air that I appreciate in a cardiology practice.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Miss Loren.”

I jerk my head up and see Dean standing at the door to the back. He’s wearing a white dress shirt paired with a dark blue tie, and he looks so freaking handsome, my knees feel weak. I cinch my coat tighter around my waist. “Hello, Dr. Pourakis.”

He takes a few steps toward me, his dark eyes trained on my face. He isn’t quite smiling, but he doesn’t seem upset either. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

The attractive secretary is staring at us, waiting to see what I’ll say. The whole room has gotten very quiet all of a sudden.

“My grandmother forgot her glasses,” I blurt out.

He raises an eyebrow.

“I mean, at her appointment yesterday,” I say. Even though Nonna’s glasses are almost certainly perched on her nose as we speak. “We’ve been looking for them and she thinks she left them behind.”

“I see.” Dean looks at the blonde. “Taylor, did you find any glasses yesterday?”

So Taylor lugs out a paper box she’s got under the desk that apparently serves as their Lost and Found. There’s quite a lot in there, including a scarf, an assortment of non-matching gloves, a bracelet, a hearing aide, and five pairs of glasses. After all this, I’m tempted to claim one of them as Nonna’s, but I would feel bad if someone came here to retrieve their glasses and couldn’t because I took them.

“Do you want to take a look in the examining rooms?” Dean asks me.

Oh God, I don’t want to prolong this charade any further. But if I don’t look, he’ll know this was all a big farce. So I force a smile and nod gratefully, and follow Dean to the back.

He takes me into his first examining room, where he says he spends most of his time. It’s bright and clean, and smells vaguely of his aftershave. I crouch down near the examining table to search for the missing glasses while Dean watches me.

“Did Nonna really lose her glasses?” he says.

I straighten up, glad my skin tone prevents red from showing up on my cheeks. “What? You think I’m making this whole thing up?”

“A little. Yeah.”

How dare he? Even though he’s absolutely right. “So why would I come here and search for glasses that don’t exist?”

“Maybe you’re nuts.” He grins crookedly and that dimple makes an appearance. “Or maybe you couldn’t stop thinking about me and wanted to see me again.”

“Please,” I snort.

“You know,” he says, “I’m free tonight…”

My heart gives a little leap. “You are?”

That warrants a full-on grin. “Oh, so you are interested…”

I shrug. “Well, I don’t have anything to do, so…”

“Actually…” He snaps his fingers. “I do have plans tonight.”

I glare at him. He did that on purpose. I can tell by the way he’s grinning at me. “Well, whatever.”

“Would you like to come with me?”

I narrow my eyes. “To do what?”

“Dancing lessons.”

Say… what?

“My little sister is getting married in a few months,” he explains. “And I’ve been informed my dancing skills leave something to be desired. So Phoebe has been kind enough to purchase a ballroom dancing lesson for me and threaten me with what will happen if I fail to show up.”

I laugh. “You let your baby sister boss you around?”

“Hey, it’s her big day. I don’t want to ruin it with my inferior dancing skills.” He straightens out his tie. “So what you do say? You in?”

“Will they let me join at the last minute?”

“Sure. Why not?”

I hesitate.

“Come on,” he says. “You don’t want all this time you spent pretending to search for Nonna’s glasses to be for nothing, do you?”

He has got a very good point.

_____



An hour later, Dean and I are at a dance studio in midtown. He had to sweet talk them into letting me join in—apparently, they already had a professional partner lined up for Dean. But after he slides a couple of bills across the table to them, they seem happy enough to let me participate.

“You’re very smooth,” I murmur to Dean as we join the other couples on the dance floor. A giant mirror lines the far wall, so we can observe how terribly we’re dancing.

“You may not be saying that after you see me dance.”