Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Can feel it slipping.
This is real. This is happening.
Impact coming. Can’t stop it.
I brace. Muscles locked. Shoulders tense.
Hold on. Just hold on.
Flashes. The crunch of metal. Shattering glass. The scream of something breaking—inside or outside, I can’t tell. Body jolting. Air forced from my lungs.
Is this it?
Julia! Julia!
My mind screams a thousand things, but only one thing really matters.
Julia!
Chapter Five
Angie
My lips are stinging.
A good sting.
I’ve been kissed before.
Not as much as Sage, but I’ve had my share.
But this…
Jason’s not a college guy.
He’s a man.
A full-fledged doctor.
And he’s my anatomy professor.
Tabitha waves to me. “Angie, come here. Eli, Ralph, and I are going to get lunch. You should join us.”
I swallow. Lunch. Right. After thinking about cutting up dead bodies.
I’m supposed to eat now?
I nod, trying to find a smile for Tabitha. She’s oblivious, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm, as if nothing has changed.
But everything has changed.
“Sure,” I manage to croak out. “Lunch sounds great.”
Great? My stomach churns at the thought of food.
Is this what it feels like to be in love? Or is this just horror at the realization that I’ve kissed a man who spends his days elbow-deep in cadavers? Who’s also the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on?
We make our way to the cafeteria. The smell of stale coffee and fried food hits me like a punch to the gut. Yeah. Not helping my nausea.
God, I need time alone.
Eli suggests we get a table first while Tabitha and Ralph get in line for food. We settle for one in the corner of the room, away from the buzzing crowd and the harsh cafeteria lights. I sink into the cold metal chair.
Eli is saying something about some new surgical technique he read about, but his voice fades into the background as my mind wanders back to Jason. His cool demeanor in the lab, his respect for the dead who gave their bodies to science, the way his eyes softened when he looked at me.
Tabitha returns, thrusting a tray of food onto the table. “Go ahead and get your lunch, Angie.”
“I’m not hungry,” I say as I look at the sandwich on her tray. It’s a little wilted.
“You have to eat, Angie.” She narrows her gaze to me but then turns to Ralph. “Oh! I haven’t introduced you two yet. Ralph. Angie.”
I look up at Ralph, getting my first real look at him. He’s nice-looking enough, with dark hair, a strong jawline, and brown eyes. He’s a little older than the rest of us—the slight silver at his temples and laugh lines around his eyes give him away. I’d peg him for mid-thirties. He might even be older than Jason.
But he wouldn’t be the first person to start medical school in his thirties. Lots of people decide to shift careers around that point in their lives.
“Nice to meet you,” I eke out, offering Ralph my hand.
He eyes my hand a moment before taking it and limply shaking it. “Likewise.”
Ralph doesn’t appear to be a man of many words. At least it seems that way at first, until he starts talking about an article on forensic pathology he read, which I couldn’t care less about. I’m here, but I’m not here. My body is present, but my mind is miles away.
With Jason. Jason’s lips. His obvious arousal as he pressed into me.
I look around the cafeteria absentmindedly. Students, professors, some nurses and doctors from the adjoining hospital…
Everyone else’s life goes on as if I didn’t just kiss my professor.
Then I see him.
Jason.
He’s sitting alone at a table in the corner with his laptop open. When did he get here? How long was I wandering in bliss from his kiss before Tabitha grabbed me for lunch?
Jason takes a bite out of an apple and then shifts his gaze.
Our eyes meet.
An electric jolt runs through me, and everything else blurs. He raises his eyebrows and smiles. Not a big, flashy grin, but a small, private one. Just for me.
My heart stutters. I forget to breathe. Warmth floods my cheeks.
I rise. “I guess I’ll get some food.”
“Take this.” Eli shoves his salad at me. “It’s got arugula in it. Can’t stand the stuff.”
Oddly, Eli’s offering looks appealing enough to distract me. I start shoveling it into my mouth, not tasting it.
“Angie? Did you hear me?” Eli’s voice.
He said something?
“No,” I say quickly. “I mean, sorry. What was that again?”
Ralph raises an eyebrow. “You okay?”
I nod quickly. “Yeah. Just… I guess my mind wandered off. Anatomy class affected me a little more than I anticipated.”
Ralph narrows his eyes at me. “I’m sure.”
Not getting a great vibe from Ralph. But maybe it’s the age difference.
I look over at Eli. “What were you saying?”
He pastes a weird smile on his face. “Study group tonight. Pizza. The four of us.”
Study group?
I study alone.
I glance toward Jason.
The thought of being alone at home with my thoughts doesn’t seem so appealing. I won’t get any studying done if my head is wrapped around Dr. Jason Lansing.