event was sophisticated. “The institute holds the ball every year. The band is supposed to be excellent and I hear the food’s worth putting on a tux and tie—but it’s no fun to go alone. Which is why you should take pity on me and be my date.”
Jennifer brushed a strand of blond hair from her temple and fought the temptation to accept. The diner was located only a few blocks from the institute and many of its customers worked at the medical center. The women employees had been buzzing about the Founder’s Ball for weeks, discussing gowns, shoes, jewelry and hairstyles.
Enticing as it was to think about donning a glamorous dress to go dancing with Chance, however, she knew she couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t.” She slipped the card onto the table next to his hand, taking care not to let her fingers touch his. She’d made that mistake once and the shock of awareness that hit her when she’d brushed against him had rocked her. “Thank you for asking me, though.”
“Don’t thank me.” His deep voice was almost a growl, although his dark eyes were rueful. “Just say yes.”
She shook her head. “I told you. I never date customers.”
He leaned back against the padded vinyl leather and tipped his head to the side, eyes narrowing consideringly over her. “What if I wasn’t a customer?”
The question startled Jennifer and she laughed. “Too late. You’re already a customer.”
“So you don’t date ex-customers, either?”
She shook her head.
“Damn.”
“I have to get back to work,” she told him, smiling as he tipped his mug at her in salute before she turned and walked away.
“What’s up with Dr. Hunk?” Yolanda asked the moment Jennifer joined her behind the long counter.
“I think he worked late last night,” Jennifer responded, walking past her to the big coffee urn. She checked the levels and found one nearly empty so she measured ground coffee into a fresh paper filter.
“Is that all?” Yolanda joined Jennifer and leaned forward to peer into her face, her dark eyes assessing. “It looked like he was asking you out again.”
“He did,” Jennifer admitted.
“I hope you said yes this time.”
“Of course not. You know I won’t go out with a customer,” Jennifer reminded her. She’d made up the rule on the spur-of-the-moment the first week she’d worked at the diner. To her surprise, the man who’d asked her out seemed to accept it with regret but little argument. She’d used the excuse several times since with the same results and no one had ever tempted her to change her mind—until Chance.
Yolanda rolled her eyes. “That’s such a crock, Jennifer. You could make an exception.” She glanced over her shoulder at the booth where Chance sat and sighed loudly. “Goodness knows, I certainly would for Dr. D.”
Jennifer laughed. “Don’t you think your husband might object?”
“Hmm. Good point.” Yolanda’s dimples formed as she grinned, her eyes flashing mischievously.
“Exactly,” Jennifer said with emphasis. She tossed the used filter with its damp coffee grounds into the trash bin and slipped the new one into the big coffeemaker. “You’d have to say no, too, but for different reasons. The charming Dr. Demetrios will just have to find another Cinderella to take to the ball.”
“To the ball?” Yolanda repeated, intrigued. “Do you mean, literally to a ball?”
“Actually, yes. He asked me to go to the Armstrong Fertility Institute Founder’s Ball with him.”
“What?” Yolanda’s shriek drew the attention of the diners at the long counter behind them. She glanced at them, waved a hand to tell them to return to their bacon and eggs and focused on Jennifer. “Spill, girlfriend,” she hissed. “I want details.”
“That’s all I’ve got,” Jennifer protested. “He asked me to be his date for the Founder’s Ball and I turned him down.”
“I can’t believe you refused a chance to go to that shindig. It’s one of Boston’s biggest parties!”
A third waitress joined them to collect a full coffeepot. Yolanda caught her sleeve. “Shirley, you’re not going to believe this.”
The red-haired woman paused, tucking her order pad into her pocket and eyeing Yolanda with interest. “What?”
“Dr. Demetrios asked Jennifer to go to the Founder’s Ball with him—and she turned him down!”
Shirley’s eyes widened. “Jennifer, you can’t say no! There’s no way Yolanda and I will ever get an invitation so you have to go, then come back and tell us all about it.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “I can’t go out with Dr. Demetrios, Shirley. If I did, no one would ever again accept my I-don’t-date-customers rule,” Jennifer protested.
“Not if they don’t know—so swear Dr. D to secrecy and make him promise not to tell anyone,” Yolanda said promptly. “He’s been trying to get you to go out with him for months—he’ll swear not to tell anyone you broke your rule.”
“Even if I wanted to go, I couldn’t,” Jennifer continued, trying a different argument. “The affair is black tie. I have nothing to wear—no dress, no shoes, no jewelry. It’s not as if I can go in my best jeans.”
Shirley dismissed the problem with a wave of her hand. “My best friend from high school is half owner of a high-end consignment shop. She can get you whatever you might need and it won’t cost you a thing. She owes me a favor. I’ll ask her to let us take everything home for the weekend and I’ll return them on Monday morning before the shop opens. I’m sure she’ll let us.”
A fourth waitress joined them in time to hear Shirley’s comments and her lively face lit with curiosity. “Who’s getting a designer dress and jewelry?”
“Jennifer—Dr. D asked her to go to the Founder’s Ball with him.”
“No way!” Linda’s eyes widened with surprise and delight. “Yeah, Jennifer! You’re going, of course,” she said with absolute conviction.
“I can’t—you know I never date customers,” Jennifer replied.
“Huh,” Yolanda snorted. “You don’t date. Period. I don’t think you’ve gone out with anyone but the three of us since you started working here.”
“That’s true,” Shirley conceded and nodded with firm agreement. “You’ve got to expand your horizons, Jennifer. Not that we don’t love having you join us for outings after work and weekends, but honey—” she laid a hand on Jennifer’s forearm and leaned closer, fixing her with a solemn gaze “—you seriously need to go out with a man.”
“And get to know him—in the biblical sense,” Linda added.
“I’m not hooking up with a guy for sex,” Jennifer
