6
He smiled gently as she jogged out the door to meet him. This was becoming routine, him picking her up from work. It was just until she saved up enough to get her own car, she pleaded, but they both enjoyed the time together. They'd talk about their day or just sing to the radio. Her voice was still as vibrant as he remembered. He kicked himself off the side of the truck. "Ready to go?"
He waited for her to catch her breath. "I tried to call you but you'd already left. I have to stay late tonight to help with inventory. I'm sorry you made the trip out here for nothin'. I'll try to sneak you some of that peach pie you like so much."
"It's all right. When are you gonna be done? I'll pick you up then."
"Oh, you don't have to do that. Rick's already offered to give me a ride."
The name sounded alarm bells in his head. "Rick?"
"Yea. Well, Dr. Williams, but we work together so he said it's okay for me to call him that. He's one of the people who's been so nice to me. You remember, I've been telling you about him." Of course, when she was telling him about the helpful Dr. Williams, Beau had always imagined a kindly old doctor. When she turned back to the glass windows and waved, however, a young man who looked about his age waved back.
"Isn't that the guy from rookie night?"
"Yea! I told him you'd recognize him. He's such a big fan of yours, it'll make his day. Well, those syringe boxes won't count themselves. I'll see you in a few hours."
He stayed until she disappeared from sight. The way the good doctor looked at her left a knot in his stomach. He wasn't quite certain that he wasn't the one the doc was a fan of.
Three days. He avoided her for three days and it seemed that finally, she would not be ignored. "I have the best news in the world, Beau Hutton. You are about to get down on your knees and thank me."
"Oh yea?"
"I've found the perfect girl for you." Her dimpled smile was frozen. One of her pageant smiles.
Did she have brown hair and big brown eyes?
She was on the floor, reading a magazine when he came back not thirty minutes after he was supposed to meet up with her friend. He dropped his keys on the kitchen table and took off his jacket. "You're home early. How was the date-"
His lips smashed into hers and his hand pulled her in even closer as it nested in her hair. There was only an inch between them when he pulled away and his eyes roamed over her face. Before she could even ask what had gotten into him, he lifted her into the air, wrapped her legs around his waist, and made his way into what, by now, felt like their bedroom.
He was probably an asshole, but it only took him five minutes with the other girl for him to realize she wasn't what he wanted at all.