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“Hi, Raven,” I returned. “How are you?”
“Amazing! How about you? I haven’t seen you in a few days. I was about to send out a search party.” She quirked a teasing brow at me.
“Just have been busy and running around at work, but I definitely can’t complain.” Or at least, I refused to.
“But you have to be so exhausted after being on your feet at that clinic all day. And dealing with blood. Yick.” She recoiled at that, her pretty face contorting in disgust.
I laughed with a soft shake of my head. “It’s not so bad. It goes by fast. And we don’t get a whole lot of bleeders, but when we do, it makes things interesting.”
I waggled my brows like I was one of those who thrived in the chaos.
Not so much.
Thank God there was an actual urgent care just down the street from us, but every once in a while, someone came in with a bad cut that needed stitches. Since Dr. Reynolds had done those sorts of emergencies for years before the urgent care had opened, he still insisted on continuing to offer that type of care to his patients.
“I would literally pass out and die.” Raven waved a hand in front of her face like she needed fresh air.
“Literally?” With a grin, I cocked my head at her.
Cracking up, she smacked her hand against the wooden countertop. “Okay, fine, maybe not die, but definitely the pass out part.”
There was no stopping the way my smile spread. She was really adorable. Gorgeous in a way that could be intimidating if you let it, but there was something so kind that radiated from her that I doubted anyone would ever feel anything other than safe in her space.
An exaggerated gasp suddenly left her, and she lifted a finger. “Wait. I’m actually really glad you came in because I wanted to give this to you, and I totally forgot to get your number the last time you were here.”
She pulled a flyer from a stack she had beside the register. “There is a big festival to raise money for the animal shelter coming up, because hello, thepuppers.”
Her voice turned to anawwbefore she continued on in a torrentof words. “So, pretty much all the small businesses are getting together to throw this big party. There’s going to be a band and dancing and food, and it’s going to be a total blast, so you absolutely have to come.”
Her hands flew all over the place as she described the event. “I’m going to have a small booth, but I plan on having a little fun of my own, and I’ve been wanting to invite you to get a drink or something, so this would be the perfect opportunity for us to get together.”
I glanced at the little flyer she’d passed to me before I looked back up at the eagerness in her expression.
Anxiety skittered through my body.
“Oh, I’m not sure that’s a?—”
“You can’t say no! You just moved to town, and you need to get to know people. I seriously can’t stand it that you’re up there by yourself all the time.”
She cupped a hand around her mouth, whispering the last while she pointed to the ceiling with the other like she was trying to keep it a secret that I lived by myself.
“I’m not alone all the time,” I weakly argued.
That time, she was the one cocking her head. “Really?”
“Well, maybe I like to be alone,” I amended.
“Really?” She challenged again before she dug her phone from her back pocket and tapped into it. “Here, give me your number so we can make plans.”
“I—”
“Come on, Charleigh, it will be fun. I mean, unless you don’t like me?” She feigned a pout and a whine, and I blew out an exasperated sigh before I muttered, “Fine.”
I rattled off my number, and she squealed. “This is going to be amazing.”
Then her eyes narrowed as she studied me from over the top of the counter. “What’s your type?”
Confusion wound around me. I couldn’t keep up with her. “Um…?”
