Playing Doctor

Chapter Ten

Not sure I heard correctly, I stared at it. Finally I had to ask. "Do you mean you're offering me the job?"

"Sure thing. You'll be great here. You'll fit in perfectly."

My smile grew slowly as his words sank in, and I grabbed hold of his hand before he withdrew it, and the offer. "When do I start?"

"Come back tomorrow at nine and we'll get you trained. You'll work nine to five Monday through Friday. Unless I have holes in the schedule I need to fill."

Monday through Friday, nine to five. How perfectly normal. "Thank you, Walter."

"You can fill out the paperwork tomorrow," he said, tipping his chair back again as I got up.

"That's fine. Thank you again."

"Uh-huh."

I walked out of the office but I remembered a question, so I turned around, expecting to see Walter still smiling at me. But it wasn't my face he was grinning at. "Walter?"

The chair clattered down onto all four legs. His expression went sheepish even as his baby face flushed a deep crimson. "Uh. Yeah?"

Was he staring at my behind? I frowned, not sure whether I should be outraged at the harassment or flattered by the attention. "Is there a dress code or rules I should know about?"

"Oh. Yeah." He shook his head like he needed to snap out of a daze. Then he reached to his left and tossed something black at me. "There's a dress code."

I caught it against my chest. Shaking it out, I saw it was a tee shirt with Play Me on the front. "This is it?"

"Yeah. You can wear whatever pants you want. Jeans are okay too."

I didn't own a pair of jeans, but I'd rectify the problem right away. "Thank you."

"No prob. See you tomorrow." He ducked his head and shuffled a few things around.

Letting him pretend he was working, I strode out of the store. I felt good. I felt like I needed to celebrate. I'd accomplished the first step in being normal.

The problem: I didn't know how to celebrate.

Frowning, I marched toward Mena's house. Most people would call someone they cared for to share the news. I didn't have anyone. I supposed I could have called Mena, but she wasn't entirely supportive of my decision to join the labor force.

What I needed were some average friends. Or at least one good, average friend. A best friend. Mena and I were closer than we used to be, but we were far from best friends. Besides, she had Matt. And Rio.

I sighed. I'd never had a best friend. At least not since Jenny Miller when I was six, and we'd been reluctant friends thrown together by circumstance. The circumstances: we were both cast out from the other kids for being weird. I was too smart and Jenny was often called the next Mozart. After that, I was too busy being Doogie Howser. And in the lab I'd intimidated the other women. I used to feel the barrier between us, but I could never figure out how to eradicate it.

"I'll have to add that to my list." Finding a best friend shouldn't be too difficult. Maybe it might even be one of the people at work.

Work. I grinned and turned onto a side street. Right into a body. A hard body that smelled soapy clean, suspiciously like...

I looked up into extraordinary emerald eyes. And I scowled. "What is your problem? Don't you ever watch where you're going?"

Gray grinned. "I could say the same for you."