Robert tapped a pen against his desk as he looked at the remnants of the numbers that Brooke had written on his hand. He couldn’t believe she wanted to go to dinner with him. Sure, they’d sort of hit it off last fall, but he’d just thought she was having a little fun. Everyone is friendly and happy at weddings.

They’d run into each other a few times and while she’d been flirty, he hadn’t realized asking her out was an option. He thought she’d been seeing someone else. Her dinner invitation had shocked the shit out of him. He’d probably looked like a big dopey goldfish with his mouth hanging open like that. Then she’d caught him staring at her ass. Not his finest moment.

He couldn’t help it. She had the finest ass he’d ever seen and her scrubs hadn’t detracted from its fineness one bit. He smiled as he started working on some purchasing orders for pet food. They needed to restock some of their bestselling brands.

The moment Robert had laid eyes on Brooke, he’d wanted her, but she was so out of his league it wasn’t funny. Long and lithe with rich brown skin and dark eyes, Beyoncé had nothing on Brooke, Robert thought as he finished one order and began the next.

He made a typo when he imagined kissing her full lips and how she’d feel in his arms. Groaning, he stopped working and picked up his cellphone. Should he call her now or later? Text her?

A knock on his open door made him jerk. Dr. Kate Stanford, owner of the Claws and Paws Animal Clinic came in and shut the door. Her dark eyes gleamed as she sat down in a chair. “So, did you call her yet?”

Earlier that morning, Robert had told her what had happened with Brooke. “No, I didn’t.”

“How come?”

“Just nervous, I guess. I really like Brooke. I mean really like her, but I just don’t know if I’m the guy for her,” Robert replied. “I put people to sleep.”

Kate shook her head. “When are you going to believe me about what a great guy you are? When you and I first met, I thought you were super good-looking. You don’t put me to sleep.”

He shot her a sarcastic look. “Kate, I’ve had two women dump me in the past year because they found someone more exciting than me.”

“They’re idiots if they can’t see what a fantastic guy you are,” Kate said.

Robert hated his insecurity, but he couldn’t help it. With his previous relationship ‘baggage’, his attempts at commitment never ended well, so it was hard to believe that someone as fantastic as Brooke would want to be with someone like him. He reminded himself she didn’t know about his past. As usual pain ripped through him as the terrible memories came flooding back.

“Robbie, you’ll never know if you don’t try. Brooke has wanted to go out with you for a while,” Kate informed him.

Robert pushed away the pain. “She has?”

“Yeah. Emily told me,” Kate said.

“Wow. I had no idea.” Robert glanced at his phone.

Kate stood up. “I think Brooke has excellent taste in men. Call her.”

He sighed as she left his office and picked up his phone. “Come on, Robert. Grow a pair. If she didn’t want you to call, she wouldn’t have given you her number.” He smiled, remembering the way she’d teased him, and hit the call button before he chickened out.

* * *

Brooke strode angrily into her office and barely avoided slamming the door shut. Closing it, she flopped down in her chair and fumed at Dr. Danforth, the bane of her existence. She wanted to boot him in the ass and send him sailing out of her life.

When her cellphone rang, she saw that it was an unfamiliar number and figured it was a telemarketer. Fed up, she answered it, intending to give them a piece of her mind. “Look, I don’t know what you’re selling, but I don’t want it. Take me off your list and do not call me again. Got it?”

“Uh, Brooke?”

She bolted up in her chair as she recognized the voice. “Robert?”

“Yeah. You told me to call you, so I am.”

Brooke felt like an ass as she put a hand to her forehead. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry. I thought you were another telemarketer.”

He chuckled. “It’s okay. I hate them, too. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks for not being mad,” she said. “I’ll put your number in my phone so I don’t make that mistake again.”

“No sweat. You okay? You sounded pretty pissed.”

Brooke sighed and flopped back in her chair. “The one doctor here is such a pain in the ass. He doesn’t finish charts before he goes home half the time, which holds up insurance claims.”

“That sucks. Sorry about that. Is he an older guy?” Robert asked.

“Yeah. Close to seventy, I guess.”

Robert asked, “Is your charting system new?”

“Just installed six months ago,” she said. “Why?”

“Some people his age aren’t good at learning new software programs. Maybe he’s not finishing charts because he doesn’t understand the program, but doesn’t want to admit it,” Robert replied. “He might just need a little more training on it.”

Brooke thought about the way Dr. Danforth peck-typed. “You might be right. He doesn’t have any trouble with emailing and stuff, but he’s so slow about charts.”

“Do you have a manual for the program?” Robert asked. “If you do, you could make a flowchart that shows how to navigate the system and put it by the computers. We use visual aids here all the time.”

“A flowchart?” Brooke rubbed her forehead. “I’m a nurse, Robert, not a secretary. I don’t know anything about making flowcharts.”

His warm laugh made her smile. “Tell you what, why don’t I take your mind off this? Have dinner with me Friday night?”

That made her perk up. “Dinner Friday?”

“Yeah. Seven-thirty?”

Brooke wanted to twirl around her office in triumph. Instead she settled for doing a silent little chair dance. “That would be perfect,” she said calmly while inside she was singing.

“Great. I’ll see you then. Don’t forget that manual, okay?” Robert asked.

Brook appreciated his thoughtfulness. “I won’t. See you Friday night, Superman.”

She heard him groan right before she hung up and laughed. Her mood much improved after Robert’s call, Brooke went back to work.

* * *

Going through his suits a couple of nights later, Robert was dismayed by the selection in his closet. It had been several years since he’d bought a new one. He wanted to impress the hell out of Brooke, but there was nothing impressive about any of his suits. Pulling out a gray one, he looked at it and showed it to Corky, his rescue dog.

“What do you think?”

The big mutt of no determinate breed lay on Robert’s bed. Corky cocked his head and then put a paw over his eyes.

Robert frowned at him. “It’s not that bad. Is it?”

Corky whined and rolled over.

“Has to be bad if even your dog doesn’t like it,” Robert muttered.

His pet skunk, Sketch, clambered onto the bed and curled up next to Corky. The two were best friends and almost inseparable. All of Robert’s menagerie were rescues of one sort of another. Besides Corky and Sketch, he had a Thoroughbred mare, a big mule, two goats, one of which only had three legs, and three cats.

“Okay, I need a suit, but what kind, what kind…?” His text message alert went off. Seeing that it was Tyler, he ran to the living room. On Wednesday nights, he and several of his new friends played NexGen Militia, a badass online apocalyptic military game. Tyler, an A-type personality, even when it came to games, hated it when any of them were late getting online.

Robert already had the game ready, so he hopped on the couch, put on his headset and adjusted his mic. “I’m here.”

“Hey, Robert,” Tyler said in his ear. “Ric?”

“Here.”

“Chase?”

Heavy breathing was followed by, “Holy shit,” in a Texan accent. “Rub it harder, baby.”

Robert’s eyebrows rose and Tyler said, “For fuck’s sake, Chase. Are you and Anna really doing that when she’s about to have twins?”

Chase’s wife, Anna giggled into her headset. “No. Chase has a Charlie horse in his foot.”

Chase said, “Ty, I’ll have you know that I have not pestered Mama Bear for sexual favors because of her advanced state of pregnancy.”

Robert cracked up. “No, it’s usually the other way around, from what I understand.”

Anna laughed. “I can’t help it. I know a lot of women don’t want sex when they get this far along, but I’m just the opposite.”

Ric broke in. “Okay, can we cut the sex talk? Our opponents will be coming on here in a few.”

Robert decided to play instigator. “Aw, Ric. Have a heart. That’s probably as close as some of those guys ever get to sex.” Then he realized that he sort of fit into that category lately. It had been over two months since he’d gotten laid. Sad.

Chase and Tyler laughed.

Inspiration hit Robert. “Ty, I need advice on a suit. All of mine suck and I don’t know what kind to buy.”

Anna said, “Right up your alley, GQ.”

“Brown hair, brown eyes,” Tyler mused. “Black glasses.”

Robert moved his player around on the screen. “Do glasses matter when you’re buying a suit?”

“Everything matters,” Tyler replied. “Eye color, height, you name it.”

“Eye color?” Robert asked. “Really?”

Chase moved his Ninja-like fighter over to Robert’s big orange, flak jacket wearing Cyclops monster and pointed his sword at him. “Son, you’re about to get schooled on buying a suit. Listen up.”

“Okay, Robert,” Tyler said. “I have black hair and gray eyes. Would a tan or brown suit look good on me?”

Robert shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess so.”

Chase made his player hit Robert just as Tyler said, “I look like shit in brown. My eye color clashes with it. It’s black, gray, and light blue for me.”

Robert whacked Chase back. “So, what kind of suit should I wear?”

“When do you need it?” Tyler asked as his blond-haired Black Ops guy kicked Chase.

“Rotten fucker,” Chase growled.

Anna got in on the mock fight and shot Ric’s kickass female warrior.

Robert grinned when Chase started making his player dance. “It’s for Friday night when I take Brooke out.”

Suddenly there was silence in the headsets.

Finally, Chase said, “Say what now?”

Robert was glad that they couldn’t see him blush. “I’m having dinner with Brooke on Friday night and I want to look good.”

“I already knew,” Ric gloated.

Tyler’s guy smacked Ric’s girl player. “Shut up!”

Ric retaliated with a flurry of kicks. “I’m married to his best friend, remember, jerky?”

“I’m really happy for you, Robert,” Anna said. “I knew, too.”

Robert almost groaned. “I feel like I’m in an episode of Friends, where everyone knows everyone else’s business.”

“Yeah, but we gather around playing a video game instead of on a couch in a coffee shop,” Chase said.

Tyler said, “I knew, too. I’m married to Brooke’s best friend.”

Chase said, “Apparently, I’m clueless here. No one told me.”

“I just figured that Anna had told you,” Tyler said.

“Guys!” Robert broke in. “Can we concentrate on the suit before the other team comes on?”

Tyler said, “You’re about Chase’s size, so borrow his blue Armani suit with the blue and red striped tie. Then we’ll go shopping on Sunday and get you a couple of appropriate suits. Chase, make sure that suit is cleaned and ready to go.”

Robert was pleased he’d saved last year’s bonus. Tyler’s choice in suits was likely to be expensive. Perhaps he’d make do with one.

Chase’s character danced around some more. “Roger dodger. All my suits are ready to go since I hardly wear them.”

“Yeah. I know,” Tyler responded.

Robert chuckled at Tyler’s unhappy tone. He and Chase were at opposite ends of the spectrum both in personality and dressing style. Tyler hardly ever went to work in casual clothes, while Chase mostly wore jeans and T-shirts. In the summer, he wore shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops.

“Oh, and Robert, real quick; make sure you’re properly groomed,” Chase said.

“Properly groomed? Of course, I’m going to shower and shave,” Robert said. “And I got my hair cut today.”

Chase said, “What about your boys? Are they—ow!”

“I apologize for my husband,” Anna said. “He sometimes forgets that some things really are sacred and private.”

Although he was a little embarrassed, Robert would’ve liked to hear what Chase had been about to say. However, there was no more time to discuss it because their opponents showed up.

As he played that night, Robert decided to soak up as much advice as he could get from the other men. The three business partners had all been playboys before meeting their wives and had major skills in seducing women.

Robert needed some of those skills if he was going to hold Brooke’s interest. He wanted there to be more than one dinner, so Robert decided that it was time for him to get schooled in more than buying a suit.