Mister Romance by Amelia Simone (the reading list .txt) 📕

Jimmy: Maybe she’s a hugger?

Chase: I don’t think so. I tried to salvage it by joking via text afterward. I think I did okay. She said I give good hugs.

Jimmy: I think you’re in. But next time, maybe ask first? Permission is always best.

Chase: Noted. You’d think after writing romance so long, I’d actually be able to interact with women with some modicum of talent.

Jimmy: Nah, you’re just as challenged as the rest of us.

Chase: *snort* Tell me the last time you struck out by putting your foot in it?

Jimmy: I didn’t say I was like the rest of us.

Chase: Of course. I invited her over for dinner, so hopefully she still comes.

Jimmy: What are you making? Maybe you can entice her with food porn?

Chase: Use one of my better talents to cover the awkward. I like it. Suggestions?

Jimmy: Make sure you have something fabulous for dessert. Make her mouth water. Give her something to look forward to if she sticks it out to the end of dinner.

Chase: Noted.

Buoyed by Jimmy’s advice, I focused on writing the rest of the evening. My fingers tap-danced along the keyboard as I kept time with the rhythm of the story playing in my head. Each keystroke brought Tamra’s enthusiasm for her career to life in my heroine. Her insights into nursing helped round out my hospital scenes. She spoke with such passion about her job, if I could infuse an ounce of that emotion in my main character, it’d be a story readers could live in, over and over.

Chapter 12 - Tamra

Chase’s message on hugging was weird. But the nice kind of weird. Pleasantly awkward, but not alarming. He smelled like soap and coffee, and he didn’t hug too tight or make it more intimate than necessary. Honestly, it was the most action I’d had in forever. That didn’t stop me from thinking about his hug as I hurried into the hospital. His tall body near mine. The warm scent of cinnamon and coffee. It hadn’t been a date. Just coffee and friendly conversation, but our meeting bubbled with the possibility of something more. Chase’s laser focus on my work stories had been a warm balm to the mild indifference from my family. His interest washed every moment together in a brighter filter.

Were we friends who could ask for favors? It still felt too soon, but maybe dinner together would make me braver. Chase was roughly my age, and as the only presumably single man I’d met in recent memory, he might be an option for my brother’s wedding. Granted, I hadn’t confirmed he was single, but he’d mentioned wanting to get together again. Would he follow through? Or would he find me as forgettable as others had? Making it to the second date wasn’t exactly my strong suit.

When I arrived in a flurry on our floor for my shift, Gina was already getting her report from Tressa and Melanie. She raised an eyebrow and looked between me and the station clock. “You’re later than usual. Everything okay?”

I nodded, reluctant to explain in front of an audience. “Yes. Sorry, I had an appointment before work that ran longer than anticipated.”

Gina’s eyes sparked, but she held back any questions in front of the other nurses, and talk turned to our current patients and their status. After Melanie and Tressa had clocked out and left for the night, Gina turned her laser gaze on me.

“Appointment, hmm? Everything okay?” she asked. Her red hair stuck up in a spiky halo around her head, and with her worried expression she looked like a motherly hedgehog.

I smiled reassuringly. “I’m fine. I just met up with an author friend to help with a research project before work.”

“That sounds fun. What type of research?”

Wryly I said, “Nursing, of course. What else would I talk about? My secret life as a black-market arms dealer?”

She snorted. “I’m sure you have hidden depths, lady. Don’t sell yourself short. Maybe they’re not illegal activity depths, but they’re there. Which author did you meet? Anyone I would have read?” She leaned up against the counter at our station, but I wasn’t fooled by her casual stance.

“We’ve talked about Virginia Rothman before, right? I think I’ve recommended a few titles to you.”

Gina gasped. “Virginia Rothman? How cool. I love her books.” She tilted her head. “Pardon me while I fangirl. What was she like?”

“Not exactly as advertised,” I said. It wasn’t my story to tell, but I had his tacit approval and I figured Chase’s secret was safe with Gina.

“How so?” she inquired.

I took a deep breath. Blunt was best with Gina.

“Mostly the penis and pronouns. Virginia is distinctly male and named Chase.”

Her double take was worth the crude delivery. “So, Virginia’s a man, huh? I didn’t see that one coming.”

“Me neither,” I said fervently.

“Other than the male part, how was it?” she asked.

“Oddly good. The male part was okay too, just unexpected.”

“Hmm ... the male part was good, huh? Tell me more. Is he young? Older? Attractive?” she asked.

She thought she was being sly, stacking her questions one on top of the other to hide the one she really wanted answered. Gina didn’t do subtle.

“He’s somewhere around my age. Maybe plus or minus five years? It’s hard to tell. He’s got dark blond hair and blue eyes.”

“You missed the most important detail,” Gina chided.

“What’s that?” I asked innocently.

“Is he attractive?” she asked again.

I nodded but didn’t say more.

“Stop playing coy. What does he look like?” she pressed.

“Kind of like that lawyer from Suits.”

“Which one? Aren’t they all lawyers on that show?”

I nodded, feeling sheepish. “Like Harvey Specter, but with more stubble.” I laughed, thinking about Chase’s unkempt hair. “And maybe more disheveled too.”

“Oooh. And single?” she asked.

“No idea,” I admitted. I held back that he’d mentioned a follow-up dinner. I didn’t need to give Gina ideas.

She scowled at me. “These are things you should know. Was he wearing a ring?” she asked.

“Nope, not that I saw.”

“Hmm ... well didn’t you say you