Evan

I slide my phone back into the front pocket of my pants. Why the fuck is there no trace of the Chloe Jones I’ve been fucking? I searched for more than ten minutes and I came up with nothing.

There are a lot of women named Chloe Jones. A lot. When I narrowed my search to those who lived in New York State, I still couldn’t find her.

Not one of the images online for women with that name matches the woman I met outside the hotel. She’s an enigma.

Her brother popped up on dozens of sites. He’s a retired professional poker player. Naturally, not one of the articles I read about him mentioned his family.

“What’s with you?” Jordan rounds the corner and approaches me. “You look like you’re ready to bite someone’s head off.”

I’m disappointed, not pissed.

“You look like you’re waiting for a flood.” I gesture toward his pants. “Have you grown an inch or two since you had those hemmed? Nice socks, by the way.”

He looks down at where a good three inches of his pale pink socks are on display between his shoes and the bottom hem of his black pants.

“My tailor made a mistake.” He tries to tug down on the fabric covering his thigh. “He gave me a good deal so I thought, what the hell, who will notice?”

I shake my head. “Did you pop in to see Mrs. Walton?”

“I did.” He moves closer to me when an orderly passes us pushing an empty gurney. “I concur with your diagnosis.”

I pat him on the shoulder. “That’s all I need to hear. I’ll stop in to her room to discuss treatment options.”

I start to move past him but he stalls me with a hand to my forearm. “You didn’t need to play third wheel at lunch the other day. Kylie and I would have been just fine on our own.”

He would have been, Kylie not so much.

She was nice to him; nicer than I thought she’d be but she cut the lunch short when she got a text message.

It stung Jordan. I could see it in his face and when he asked her to dinner in front of me, I cringed.

She didn’t decline or accept. Instead, she said she’d get back to him.

It was an act of kindness that has spiralled out of control.

Jordan keeps hitting me up to ask Kylie when she’ll have an answer to his dinner invitation. I keep telling him to wait it out because patience is a virtue.

It’s not. It’s generally a waste of time.

“Has she said anything about me?” he asks expectantly. “I mean, it’s been days, Evan. She must have said something by now.”

“Ask her yourself.” I gesture behind him. “Kylie’s headed our way and this is your chance. Talk to her.”

He spins around to look down the corridor. Kylie is strutting toward us like the former model she is. She tosses us both a wave and a smile.

“Kylie.” Jordan approaches her with quick, uneven steps. “You look beautiful today.”

“Jordan.” She looks him over before she locks eyes with me. “Evan.”

“I was wondering…” Jordan starts before he stops to pull in a deep breath. “I’m just wondering if you’ve given any thought to having dinner with me one night when we can both escape this place.”

She lets out a little laugh as she pushes her long dark hair back over her shoulder. “Is this dinner with just you, Jordan, or both of you? Are we talking about a twosome or a threesome?”

I almost throw up in my mouth at the mental image of Jordan without clothes.

“Evan isn’t part of this.” Jordan squares his shoulders. “I’d like to take you to Nova for dinner one night. Just you and me.”

I should step away before she crushes every one of his dreams under her red stiletto, but I don’t. I’m all for watching the crash and burn. I take my thrills where I can get them.

“In that case, I’d love to have dinner with you, Jordan.”

Well, fuck.

Miracles do happen every single day in this hospital.

***

When I asked the hostess to sit me at a corner table in The Hot Oven Pizzeria she gave me a wink. That might have had to do with the fact that I told her I was meeting a beautiful woman for a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese.

I hope to hell that Chloe doesn’t make a liar.

My gaze falls to my phone. I got here early and that was on purpose. I had the day off but that didn’t stop me from going to the hospital to do unofficial rounds. That resulted with a little one-on-one time with my boss.

He wanted to know why I’m not seeing more patients at our luxurious office uptown. I wanted to know why his wife always squeezes her tits whenever I make eye contact with her.

Obviously, I didn’t ask my question because… rent, food, subway fare.

I’m doing fine with the set up I have going on at the hospital. I see patients in the office twice a month. The rest of the time, I’m where I need to be and that’s a few steps away from an operating room.

I glance at the door again. It’s five after six and Chloe isn’t in sight.

I can wait it out. I have faith that she’ll show because I see the way she looks at me.

She might not have admitted it yesterday, but she was happy to see me in that café. I was happy to see her too.

I look over at a table next to me. It’s a couple, years younger than I am. They’re obviously on a first or second date. Their movements are awkward and their loud conversation is stunted.

It’s not a match made in heaven but most in this town aren’t.

“Evan, I’m here. I came.”

I look up and smile. Chloe’s standing next to the table, dressed in jeans and an oversized red sweater. Her coat is draped over her arm. The wide smile on her face tells me she’s glad to see me.

She has no idea how glad I am to see her.