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“That’s correct.” I’ve taken out women I knew for less than ten minutes, so half an hour is pretty long for me.

She frowns again, and her confusion deepens. “I don’t get it. Why would you ask me?”

“Because you’d like it.” Not just dinner, but everything else I have to offer.

“You don’t know me well enough to say that I’d like it oryou.” She bites down on her lip. “I honestly don’t know why you’d ask me. Besides, there’s nowhere to go really. If you’re familiar with the renovation plans, you surely know that everything within a mile is closed.”

My smile turns into a grin. She hasn’t said no yet.

To be more precise, she’s absolutely not adverse to the idea, and she doesn’t seem to know about the “don’t fuck other patients” rule either.

“Is that the only thing you’re concerned about? That I won’t find a suitable place to take you out?”

“No.” She leans back and flips a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I’ve got another one for you. How about: my boyfriend’s waiting for me at home.”

She’s playing the boyfriend card. Haven’t heard this one in a while.

“A boyfriend I really love and never want to hurt,” she adds, her eyes challenging me. “I appreciate the offer, though. I’m sure you mean well, but really, no, thanks, I can’t.”

My lips twitch. She eyes me with mistrust. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m just playing with you,” I say. “Even if I wanted to, we couldn’t date. There are way too many rules here. Dating a fellow addict breaks a couple of them.”

She frowns as she processes my words. “Rules?”

“You didn’t know?” My smile widens at her alarmed expression.

“No one mentioned anything to me.”

“You got a folder, right?” I gesture with my hands to outline the size of it. “Big, brown. Probably weighs more than a stack of magazines.”

“Like that one?” She points her finger to the box she must have dropped near the door.

“Exactly. Pretty much like that one. Now, do yourself a favor, roomie, and have a look inside. Better yet, skip all the info and orientation leaflets and get straight to the book. Turn to page ninety and read the second paragraph, which mentions no dating among a few other things.”

She stares at me for a few moments, her eyes narrowed. “Why did you ask me out if you knew that it’s against the rules?”

“I wanted to see your reaction.”

“Right. You did that.” She bites down on her lip. She looks kind of cute when she does it. Her teeth are white and perfect, but not in that fake veneers kind of way. It makes me want to suck her lower lip into my mouth to get a first taste of her. To feel her teeth on my skin. Press her hips against mine so she can feel that I’m getting hard for her.

“Are you sure you’re not a nun?” I ask.

“Do Ilooklike a nun?” Her frown is back in place.

“Maybe.”

I don’t know why I keep wanting to wind her up, but it sure works.

“Well, I am most certainly not.” Her eyebrows rise an inch as she tilts her head. Her posture is rigid. I wonder what it would take to get her to relax. “You know you’ve asked me twice already? One more time and it’ll make you sound kind of creepy.”

I shrug my shoulders. “It was just a question. Someone told me something about a nun joining us.” That’s a little lie, one I want her to believe.

“Well, it’s not me.”

“Clearly,” I say. “So, if you’re not a nun, what is it that you do when you’re not in rehab?

There is a short pause before she replies, “I’m a nurse.”