Page 45 of Off Plan

“Hey!” I cut in, more annoyed than I had any reason to be. “Shut your mouth. The doctor’sstraight,Rafe.” Or at least he claimed he was, I thought bitterly. I leaned my chair back to balance on two legs and studied the ragged edges of my nails.

“Weeeeeell,” Beale told Rafe slowly, darting a look at me. “I may have driven Mase to and from work the last couple days and asked him to look at my shoulder again. Just to follow up?” He grinned. “And he maybe asked me more about crystals and how they worked…”

I remembered the hunk of selenite on the nightstand next door, right next to the bed where Loafers slept every night, and fought to keep my breathing even.

Rafe cackled. “And you blinked your big eyes at him…”

Beale ducked his head and bit his lip. “Maaaaybe.”

I brought my chair forward with athump. “Guys. He’s off-limits. Jesus.”

“And did you have him show you how to do the stretches again?” Rafe asked, wiggling his eyebrows and annoying me. “Did he have to put his big, strong hands on you to do it?”

Beale grinned innocently. “You know how bad my memory is, Rafe.”

“The doctor isstraight,” I said, waving a hand between Rafe and Beale. “Hello?Straight. As in, not remotely attracted to a yahoo like you.”

Beale blinked at me in astonishment. “So what?”

“So what? So he’s not crawling into bed with you, that’s what. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

“He’s pretty and he’s funny. I like talking to him.” Beale shrugged. “Plus, he smells good.”

“But it won’tgoanywhere,” I said a little more forcefully than necessary, since the last thing I needed after stewing over Mason for days and nights on end was a reminder of how good he smelled. Like salt water and something fancy—

“Not every flirtation has to go somewhere.” Rafe sipped his coffee contemplatively. “Beale’s acquiring fodder for his spank bank, since I’m pretty sure his personal kink is Really Nice Guys—”

“Hey!” Beale blushed crimson. “Fuck off!”

“—and the straight doctor’s probably oblivious. No harm, no foul.”

“But he’sstraight,”I said for the seventy-seventh time, like a song stuck on repeat. I didn’t want to think too closely about why Loafers being in Beale’s spank bank pissed me off.

“You seem more concerned about that than Mase is,” Beale said, eyeing me closely. “If he’s cool, who cares?”

“I do! I care! Have you forgotten what happened last time I had aharmless flirtationwith astraightguy?”

Beale and Rafe fell silent for a moment. They exchanged a look.

“That was different,” Rafe said, his voice and his eyes gone hard. “That wasn’t harmless, and Thad Chambers knew he wasn’t straight.”

“Thad’s wife would beg to differ.” I folded my arms over my chest. “Besides, smart money says Beale’s ‘cute and caring’ doctor’ll be gone by the end of the month. He’s got an escape clause in his contract, you know. He’s out of here as soon as he gets another job.”

“I know. All the more reason to enjoy him while he’s around,” Beale said with a little smile. “Besides, his aura’spink.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to know what that means.”

“I do,” Rafe countered.

“It means Mason is open to new experiences.”

Rafe’s jaw dropped. “Your aura-reading is like… gaydar?”

“No, dumbass!Jesus. Mason asked that, too, when I told him!”

I rubbed my jaw.I’d just bet he did.

“It just means, maybe Mason’ll surprise us,” Beale said. “Maybe he’ll decide to stay. I mean, we didn’t think you’d last either, Fenn, but here you are!”