Page 41 of One Last Rodeo

She shrugs with a grin. “We have an early flight, and we were just eating breakfast. We're flying down to Louisiana for a pitch.”

Of course they are. They work together in sales and marketing for the Marshall family business, which means they travel together constantly.

“Breakfast on each other’s laps?” I ask, making a face. I’ll never understand it. How two fully grown adults voluntarily sit on top of each other like they’re sharing a single oxygen supply. It’s too much. Give me my personal space back, please.

“So, back to how this all happened,” she prompts, trying to get me to talk.

“We had a couple drinks, he offered for me to come back to his room, and I said yes,” I explain, waving a hand like it was the simplest transaction in the world.

Dani’s mouth opens and closes but no words come out.

“That’s all it was. I left when he finished.”

“Did you finish?”

I wince. My sister and I are close butnottalk-about-orgasms close. This feels like we’ve crossed into a forbidden zone neither of us is emotionally prepared for. Maybe if I hadn't immediately moved away for school as soon as I was eighteen, we would have had talks like this but something about the whole situation feels unnatural.

“Yes.”

“I’m happy for you,” she says, a little too gently.

I laugh. “Don’t be. It was a one-time thing. It won’t happen again.”

“Maybe it should happen again.”

I roll my eyes. “It won’t. Don't tell Isla.”

I'm not sure why I add that last part. Maybe because I'll always feel like their big sister, afraid of letting them see me uncertain and out of control. It's a one-night stand. I know it could be worse. But still.

Dani huffs. "Isla has had plenty of one-night stands, but okay."

Yep. Wish I didn't know that about my twenty-five-year-old sister.

“So, what’s next for you?” she asks.

“I’m about to head down to the hotel lobby to catch the shuttle to the airport.”

“God, that’s early for you. Where are you flying next?”

“Los Angeles. Our last ride before the break.”

She nods, then narrows her eyes. “That is not what I meant. I was asking what’s next for your new love life?”

I let out a snort. “Nothing. Actually… the team photographer, June, created a dating profile for me last night.”

Dani’s eyes widen. “And you allowed her to do that?”

I sit on the edge of the bed, smoothing the bright red dress pants I tugged on a few minutes ago and adjusting my cream blouse with my Doctor Alba badge clipped neatly on the pocket. I look put together, but I don't feel it.

Another day of red. Another day of wearing what I want—colors, softness, personality—instead of the suffocating black scrubs I lived in for years in the OR. Another day of trying to figure out who I am outside of the operating room and outside of my old life. At least now I feel like I'm moving in the right direction.

“Yes,” I say. “June’s… persistent.”

Dani laughs knowingly. “I’m excited for you. So, this cowboy you slept with... it was Jensen Grant, wasn’t it?”

My head snaps up. “Why would you assume that?”

She grins like she’s been waiting for this moment her whole life. “Oh my God! I’m telling Regan. We knew he’d be the one to catch your eye if you just let your guard down a little. Hayes saidno way, but we were totally right!”