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I lift my glass and hold it up. “To your new position at my clinic,” I say.
She bites her lip as if something’s wrong, but she clinks her glass against mine. “To the future.”
We both take a drink, and she sighs in contentment. “This would probably set me back a day’s pay, but it sure is good.”
“I’m glad.”
My treacherous eyes pause on places they shouldn’t, not as her boss. The skin revealed by the wide neckline, her delicate collarbone, the fit of her dress. I endeavor to instead study the deep color of the wine in my glass.
When I look up, Ensley is watching me. “Do you think things will ever change for you?”
I have no idea what she means. “In what way?”
“The one-night stands. You said that’s all you do. It sounds dumb to me. Why just one? Is it riskier to go out with them three times? Isn’t there a point at which you can say,Uh-oh, I’m falling for her fatal charms. Maybe I should quit before it’s too late?”
“Well, when you put it that way—”
“In fact, this entire thing seems ludicrous. It’s as if you have no control over yourself.” She uses a deep tone as if she’s speaking for me. “I’m dating this woman. I see her a lot, therefore I can never call my male friends again.” She taps her finger on the table. “From what I’ve seen so far, you don’t evenhaveany male friends. Your work schedule is absolutely insane. Who are you giving up relationshipsfor?”
She has me there. It’s been eight years since undergrad, and five since veterinary school. All the friends I played football with, or were my roommates, or even met at sports bars or billiards, have moved on.
I’m pretty much the lone bachelor in my circles.
Who am I doing it for?
The tiny thread of a notion that maybe it was because of her tries to wind its way into my thoughts, but I brusquely shove it aside.
“It’s the principle of the matter—” I begin, but she cuts me off again.
“It’s the cult of Drew Daniels, who shalt forsake all good women in the name of a bachelorhood life that no longer even exists.”
Anger simmers forth. Who the hell is she to question my choices at this dinner she forced me to ask her on?
I harden my expression to show she’s in the danger zone. But she holds my gaze and gives me a hard look right back. “I’m going to challenge you,” she says.
“This better not be one of your positivity shticks.”
Her eyes sparkle with mischief. “You’re taking me on three dates. Not just one. Three. To break the spell. You can see that it changes nothing. You’ll still go to work every day like you always did. You’ll have the same conversations, watch the same TV programs. There will be only one addition to your life.”
“What is that?”
She glances to the left and the right to make sure no one’s coming, then leans forward. A good amount of cleavage pushes above the table, but I refuse to focus on it.
“We’ll finish what we started. We can do it on every date, if you want. Or only once. But there will be three dates. You commit to three.”
Something quivers deep inside me at the very idea. And I never quiver. “And if I don’t?”
“I quit working for you. My job is over as of right now. You’re back where you started.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I’m totally daring. I’m daring you to three dates with me in the next seven days, with benefits if we mutually choose.”
Alarm bells ring in my head. I shouldn’t do this. Not with her. Especially not with her. This is no time to test the rules that have kept me careful all these years. “This is completely unprofessional.”
“So is hiring the chick you finger-banged at a wedding.”
When I almost snort my wine, she shrugs, swirling her glass.
