Page 31 of One Last Rodeo

Our server slides up to our seats and offers another drink. I order it before my brain can stop my mouth. I shouldn’t, but what’s another whiskey at this point? I need something to mess with, and my current straw’s been chewed to bits.

“I’ve had a lot of thoughts about you, Doctor Alba,” he repeats like he wants to be sure I heard him the first time.

“Remember, you can call me Catalina. We're not working.”

His eyes narrow. “Red’s a pretty color on you.” His gaze drops to my chest and then back up to my eyes. “I like that shirt,Catalina.”

I swear I can feel myself turning the shade of it hearing him use my name. “I don’t do well with compliments.”

“Why?”

“Because my parents didn’t give many to me as a kid.”Holy vulnerable!

“Well, I intend on changing that.”

His gaze doesn’t waver. It pins me. Holds me. And just like that, the air between us shifts—sharpens into something I absolutelyshould not be feeling for one of my former patients and a guy I’m going to need to work with for the next several weeks.

“And why hockey?” he asks softly.

“Your first crush might’ve been on Jessica Alba, but mine was a professional hockey player for the Manhattan Mayhem.”

Jensen throws his head back and laughs. “I see.”

“One of his teeth flew out during a game I was watching with my dad, and I no longer had the crush.”

“But that didn’t stop you from loving hockey?”

I shake my head. “It didn’t. There were other players for me to crush on.”

His grin is all mischief as he gives a wide, toothy smile. “I’ve got all mine still. Perfectly straight, too.”

I’ve noticed.

The server returns with my drink. I take a sip I shouldn’t enjoy but absolutely do. “Good to know.”

His smile grows even bigger. “Why’d you stay in California for so long if you didn’t want to?”

“Work. My parents.”

He nods slowly. “Where would you want to live permanently?”

“I don’t know. That’s part of why this series is working out for me. I’m enjoying traveling and seeing different places. This is my first time in Colorado. Maybe one of these cities will stick…”

He nods again, thoughtful this time. “And your ex? Why’d you stay with him for so long?”

I take a much bigger swallow of my drink with that question. “Not something I want to talk about tonight.”

His eyes narrow a little. “Well, I like that I now know five things no one else knows. Though I’m guessing your ex knows you regret staying with him.”

Heat prickles up my neck. He does. And I’m glad he knows.

“Tell me five things that no one knows about you,” I say.

He settles back in his chair, like he’s been waiting for me to ask. “I like talking to you.”

“You’ve already said that.”

“Let me finish,” he says, lips curving. “That was my warm-up and number one.”