Her Forever Hero (Unexpected Heroes #3)(18)

Turning, she threw them a flirtatious smile. “Do you know how many of my lunches have been interrupted? I grab what I can and fill my pockets for later most of the time,” she said before reaching the register. Cam had only one item on his tray—a tempting chocolate muffin.

“She’s an intern still. She doesn’t want to miss a thing,” Spence said, moving much more slowly than his wife.

“She’s also married to the boss,” Cam pointed out.

“And she would never, ever use that advantage. I think being married to me makes her feel she has more to prove.”

“The competitive world of medicine,” Cam said, sighing, feigning the deepest compassion.

“Oh, like it was any different for you in law school,” Spence said as they paid for their lunches and went to join Sage.

“Fine. We’re both competitive.”

“We’re going to have a small party tomorrow night. Bring the corn and some whiskey,” Spence told him, changing the subject.

“Is Grace invited?” Cam asked before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Yep.”

“I’m in.”

He stayed for another half hour before Spence was called to the ER. Cam had only one day to think of another approach for dealing with Grace. He wanted to help her with the case—and get the girl.





“I don’t care about your salad. Yes, you’re a genius at making things that don’t actually need to be cooked. I want to hear about the kiss that left you weak in the knees,” Sage said into the phone.

“How in the world do you know about that?” Grace gasped as she looked around for hidden cameras in her apartment. She wouldn’t be surprised to find them there, what with everything else that had been happening lately.

“I know things, especially things that happen in my hospital,” Sage told her. “And don’t think I wasn’t fooled by the fact that you weren’t answering your phone last night.”

“He kissed me . . . again . . . and then I ran like a chicken from a fox.”

“Uh-uh, little girl. I want details. You’ve been so closed up when it comes to Cam, and that’s breaking every code in the best friends’ rule book. I want details—now!”

“What do you want to hear? That his warm lips on mine left me tingling, or that I berated myself all the way home for my self-betrayal? Or how about the fact that I slept horribly last night because that one little kiss raised my body temperature to about a hundred and ten degrees, and I tossed and turned all night?”

“Why don’t you just admit that you aren’t over this man? That you’ll never be over him? Then you can quit suffering and enjoy him to the fullest, or at least he can fill certain parts of your body to the fullest . . .” Sage chuckled.

“You find yourself so amusing, Sage. Look, you know what it was like for me after we broke up. And you know the type of relationships I was in after him. Cam has grown so much more . . . controlling, so demanding. He’s not the sweet teenage boy I fell in love with once upon a time,” Grace said.

“Of course he’s not a silly teenage boy. He’s a man who knows how to please a woman, and his sights are all set on you.”

“I don’t want his sights set on me. I want him to leave me alone.”

“You might be able to lie to a lot of people, Grace, but I’m not one of them—poor saps who think you’re a woman of the world, tough and independent. Yes, you are amazing, and strong, but you love him, have always loved him, and all you’re doing is prolonging the inevitable by fighting against him and yourself.”

“Why, again, are we best friends?” Grace asked with a furrowed brow.

“Because I will always tell you how it is, whether it’s what you want to hear or not,” Sage replied.

“Ugh. That’s not your greatest quality. Your job is to drown yourself in misery with me anytime I need a friend to bash men; it’s not to tell me I’m in love with the one man I shouldn’t be in love with. There are things I can’t tell you—that I won’t tell you—right now about Cam. I don’t want you to hate him. I just . . . I just don’t think I can do this again. Wanting him and knowing he’s not right for me are two different matters.”

“Number one, I wouldn’t be your true friend if I said only what you wanted to hear. Only those who want to please you tell you a bunch of crap. A true friend tells you what you need to hear. And number two, you know this will kill me not knowing what you can’t tell me, but because I do love you, I will be patient and wait it out.”

“I do love you, even if you are a royal pain in the ass. Hey, remember what Shakespeare said? ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.’ You know, we could just shoot all the men in the world and live together happily ever after.”

“Trust me, I’ve thought about that,” Sage said, “but I just can’t give up the sex. Now that I’ve discovered it, it’s too damn hot to ever let go of.”

“Fine, you hussy, be that way. But that’s not what I called you about.”

“So speak to me. You know I’ll be honest, Grace.”

“It’s strange, really. I think I’m getting Alzheimer’s or something.” Grace looked around her apartment, trying to see whether anything seemed out of place. Was she just paranoid, or did she have something to be afraid of?