Not Pretending Anymore(10)

“You mean like Dr. Benton?”

Daisy grimaced. “Especially Dr. Benton . God, that man makes me so nervous. He walks into a room and I start to freeze up.”

“I’ll tell you a little secret about him that might help.”

“What?”

I leaned in. “Smile a lot. It freaks him out.”

She chuckled. “Are you serious?”

“Yup. Anything he asks you, just respond wearing a giant smile. It’s like it disarms him or something. I have a theory that he barks at everyone so they won’t be able to smile, because smiles are kryptonite to him.”

“Wow. Okay. I’ll try it. That’s really great to know. What else you got?”

“Have you met Dr. Arlington?”

“Yeah. He’s pretty grumpy, too.”

“He’ll try to dump his interns on you and take off for hours if you let him.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. “He did that to me the other day. Told me to show them the ropes. I had no idea what to do with four interns. They’ve been at General longer than I have. They would’ve been better off showing me the ropes.”

“Yup. So next time he attempts to leave you with them, you say ‘Actually, I need to go see Edith in the nursing office .’”

“Even if I don’t need to go see her?”

I nodded. “Yup. He’s terrified of Edith.”

“He is? But she’s so tiny and sweet.”

I pointed at Daisy. “Until you piss her off. Then she’s pretty damn scary. Even the threat of Edith will scare Dr. Arlington. She once laid into him for dumping his interns, and now if you just mention her name, he backs off.”

She laughed, probably assuming I was exaggerating, but I wasn’t. We worked with a real cast of characters. Patrick, the bartender, walked over and delivered our drinks. While we sipped, the two of us looked around at the group. Tonight was a nice turnout.

Daisy lifted her chin and pointed to where Will was talking to an anesthesiologist at the far end of the bar. “What about Dr. Daniels? What’s his story?”

“Will’s one of the good ones. He’s pretty nice to everyone. You won’t have any problems with him.”

She bit her bottom lip. “I meant what’s his story . Is he…single?”

Oh. Ugh. Shit. “Umm… I’m not sure. He’s off and on with someone. Are you…interested?”

Daisy sipped her drink with a coy smile. “He’s really good-looking.”

Yeah, he is . I shrugged. And of course, just then, he had to walk over to us.

He kissed my cheek. “Hey, Molly. I didn’t see you come in.”

Daisy straightened her posture.

“I just got here,” I said.

He nodded and turned his attention to the woman next to me. “It’s Daisy, right?”

She lit up with a megawatt smile. “It is. It’s nice to see you, Dr. Daniels.”

“Please, call me Will.”

“Alright, Will. You know, the other day I happened to notice you getting into your car in the parking lot. You have a Northwestern alum sticker. Is that where you went?”

“It is.”

“Me too.” She made a fist and pumped it into the air. “Go Wildcats.”

“Oh yeah? I’m a huge fan. I still keep season tickets.”

Daisy pouted. “I’m so jealous. I couldn’t afford them this year. I was a cheerleader for four years, and I miss the excitement of game days.”

Ugh.

Will sipped his beer. “You’ll have to come along for a game then sometime.”

Her pout curved to a smile. “I’d love that.”

Double ugh .

Little Miss New Girl just got herself invited to a day alone with Will in thirty seconds, right in front of me. I really sucked at flirting.

The two of them slipped into a conversation about some new quarterback for the upcoming football season, and I was left attempting to smile at appropriate times while feeling like my heart was being ripped out. Normally, I wasn’t one to take out my cell phone when I was with people, but when it buzzed in my pocket, I decided to make an exception.

I was surprised to find Declan’s name on my screen.



Declan: How’s it going? Are you playing hard to get?



I sighed and typed back.



Molly: Apparently easy to get is more Will’s style. A woman basically just made a date with him right in front of me.



The dots on my phone jumped around for a minute, then stopped, then started up again. Eventually, my phone rang in my hand. Declan’s named flashed with an incoming call.

Excusing myself from the conversation I really wasn’t part of anymore, I stepped away from the bar to answer.

“Hey.”

“I thought this might warrant an actual conversation. What happened?”

I shook my head. “A new PA basically just told me she has the hots for Will, and when he walked over to say hello, she got herself invited to a football game within thirty seconds.”

“Okay. Are they still talking?”

I glanced back at the bar to find Daisy flipping her hair and giggling. Frowning, I said, “Yes.”

“What are you wearing?”