“You don’t have to lecture me. You may be the lawyer in the family, but I’m the one with all the brains,” Spence said.
“Ha! I think you bribed your way through medical school.”
“Well . . . Okay, let’s be serious,” Spence said, all traces of amusement gone. “It’s time we talk about who has the better looks.”
It took a moment for Cam to realize his brother was still kidding around. “Seriously, how did you get through medical school?”
“My good looks, of course. It’s how I got the girl, too. Anytime you need any pointers, just come see your big brother.”
“You’re a pain in the ass, Spence. I should go see Jackson. At least he’ll say something worth hearing.”
“Ouch. You’re wounding my pride,” Spence replied.
“Yeah, if that were possible, I’d see monkeys taking over the hospital, too. And now you’ve kept me here BS-ing with you for so long that I’m sure Grace is miles away. I’d intended to chase her back down.”
“Since she’s gone, you can join me for some mouthwatering cafeteria food. I’m starving.”
“You look like you’re starving. Or not. Have you . . . put on a few pounds since getting married?” Cam mocked as the two began walking down the hallway.
“My wife keeps me well fed,” Spence said with a laugh. “Okay, maybe the cook keeps me fed. Neither Sage nor I have time to mess around in the kitchen. But I’m still hotter than ever.” With that, he lifted the top of his scrubs partway up and slapped his solid abs.
“Humble, too,” Cam said with a roll of the eyes.
“When you got it, you got it,” Spence said. “And boy, do I got it.”
“Your humility is one of my favorite things about you, big bro.” Just when he finished speaking, Sage ran up and squeezed between them as they walked down the hallway, linking each of her arms in one of theirs.
“Mmm, I don’t know why you didn’t run away with me, woman. You smell good enough to eat,” Cam said, and he leaned in and kissed her cheek.
“I smell like urine and blood, but you can try to charm me all you want,” she told him with a smile. “And I would have certainly chased after you, since you’re so much younger and more suave than your brother. Sadly, though, your heart is already taken,” she sighed.
“Ha! My heart will remain intact forever.”
“You can’t have something that you’ve already given away,” she told him with a sassy shake of her hips, then she pulled away from the men and snatched up a tray.
“Dang, woman, you in a hurry?” Cam asked while Sage loaded her tray up, leaving them in the dust.
Turning, she threw them a flirtatious smile. “Do you know how many of my lunches have been interrupted? I grab what I can and fill my pockets for later most of the time,” she said before reaching the register. Cam had only one item on his tray—a tempting chocolate muffin.
“She’s an intern still. She doesn’t want to miss a thing,” Spence said, moving much more slowly than his wife.
“She’s also married to the boss,” Cam pointed out.
“And she would never, ever use that advantage. I think being married to me makes her feel she has more to prove.”
“The competitive world of medicine,” Cam said, sighing, feigning the deepest compassion.
“Oh, like it was any different for you in law school,” Spence said as they paid for their lunches and went to join Sage.
“Fine. We’re both competitive.”
“We’re going to have a small party tomorrow night. Bring the corn and some whiskey,” Spence told him, changing the subject.
“Is Grace invited?” Cam asked before taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Yep.”
“I’m in.”
He stayed for another half hour before Spence was called to the ER. Cam had only one day to think of another approach for dealing with Grace. He wanted to help her with the case—and get the girl.
“I don’t care about your salad. Yes, you’re a genius at making things that don’t actually need to be cooked. I want to hear about the kiss that left you weak in the knees,” Sage said into the phone.
“How in the world do you know about that?” Grace gasped as she looked around for hidden cameras in her apartment. She wouldn’t be surprised to find them there, what with everything else that had been happening lately.
“I know things, especially things that happen in my hospital,” Sage told her. “And don’t think I wasn’t fooled by the fact that you weren’t answering your phone last night.”
“He kissed me . . . again . . . and then I ran like a chicken from a fox.”
“Uh-uh, little girl. I want details. You’ve been so closed up when it comes to Cam, and that’s breaking every code in the best friends’ rule book. I want details—now!”
“What do you want to hear? That his warm lips on mine left me tingling, or that I berated myself all the way home for my self-betrayal? Or how about the fact that I slept horribly last night because that one little kiss raised my body temperature to about a hundred and ten degrees, and I tossed and turned all night?”
“Why don’t you just admit that you aren’t over this man? That you’ll never be over him? Then you can quit suffering and enjoy him to the fullest, or at least he can fill certain parts of your body to the fullest . . .” Sage chuckled.
“You find yourself so amusing, Sage. Look, you know what it was like for me after we broke up. And you know the type of relationships I was in after him. Cam has grown so much more . . . controlling, so demanding. He’s not the sweet teenage boy I fell in love with once upon a time,” Grace said.