know me well.”
I tried not to. Only she didn’t say that thought out loud.
“Well, that’s what friends are for. Though I’m surprised you don’t have many friends who are residents.”
“I do, but they’re not in my specialty and some have moved away.”
“Oh, really? I never see them around.”
Sam shrugged. “They’re all busy with their own lives. I live with several of them in Brooklyn. I see them when I head back to my flat.”
“I’m surprised you leave the hospital. I swear you live here.”
“I could say the same for you, except I have seen your apartment.” Then he frowned. “Sorry, Mindy. I didn’t mean…”
Heat flushed her cheeks at the reminder that he’d been to her place. Slept in her bed…well, not exactly slept in her bed.
“I’ve been busy here. Consults, surgeries. I can’t really set my own hours, like I did in my private practice.”
Sam nodded. “When are you off next?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Me too.” Sam stood. “As a thank-you for helping me in the simulation lab I’d like to take you on a little tourist jaunt of New York City.”
“A jaunt?” She asked. “Why?”
“You say that like I’m offering you a big bowl of the plague or something.”
“I don’t do jaunts,” Mindy said.
“Oh, come on. Who doesn’t do jaunts?”
“Me.” Mindy chuckled.
“Well, you’re going to go on one tomorrow,” Sam said with finality.
“Fine. So where will this jaunt take us?”
“Have you seen all the touristy sights yet?”
“No. I haven’t had time.”
“Then it’s settled. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at nine a.m. sharp and we’ll see all the sights of New York City.”
“What? It’s the middle of winter. It’s cold out there.”
Sam chuckled and headed toward the lab door. “I won’t take no for an answer. You can dress in layers to fend off the cold, like any good New Yorker would do. Besides, it’s time to get you got acclimatized to the cold weather if you aim to remain in New York.”
Mindy scowled. “What if I don’t come downstairs at nine a.m.?”
“Then you’ll leave me standing in the cold in front of your apartment, shouting your name.”
Mindy gasped. “You wouldn’t do that.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, wouldn’t I?”
“I wouldn’t hear you high up in my penthouse.”
“I don’t care. I’ll still do it.”
“Fine,” Mindy agreed grudgingly. “I’ll dress in layers, but you’d better take me to all the really famous landmarks. Not the landmarks a native New Yorker thinks are famous. Like some weird house or building that was in some obscure movie in the eighties.”
He laughed. “Agreed. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
Mindy’s heart skipped a beat as he left the simulation lab, whistling something. What had she just done? This was not keeping her distance. This was the opposite.
She tried to tell herself that they were just friends. That this outing would be innocent. Nothing had to happen. Nothing needed to be said. They were just friends.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
I HOPE HE’S not down there, shouting.
Mindy was running late, though only by about five minutes. Still, she darted from the elevator and past the doorman out onto the street. She was terrified that Sam was going to make good on his promise and begin to shout her name.
When she rushed outside he was standing in front of her building, his hands deep in a black peacoat, looking up toward the sky. Then he looked at her and grinned, that cocky, devilish smile that made her weak in the knees.
“I thought you’d be out here, screaming my name,” Mindy said as she walked over to him.
“Well, I was contemplating it but I remembered that your place is a penthouse and that’s a bloody tall building.”
Mindy chuckled. “It’s the best.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You really think so? I prefer the brownstone myself. That’s why I live in one.”
“I thought you lived in an apartment with a bunch of other residents?”
“Aye, but the flats are in a brownstone. It’s kind of just a bedroom really. Though one of my roommates moved in with her boyfriend recently.”
“You live with girls. Why does that not surprise me?” she teased.
“There is one other man in the house.”
“Sure, sure.”
“There is. I don’t know why you don’t believe me. What have I got to hide?”
“A harem.”
Sam snorted. “Oh, aye, a harem of surgical residents.”
Mindy rolled her eyes and then laughed. “So, what do you have planned for us today since you were so insistent that I spend my day off touring New York City in the freezing cold temperatures.”
“This isn’t cold.”
“It is when you’re from California.”
“Aye, well. Yes, I guess so.”
“How do the Scots keep warm? Especially when wearing kilts?”
Sam groaned. “I’m not wearing a kilt. Why are you bringing up kilts now?”
“Because you’re making fun of the fact that I’m from California and I hate the cold.”
“I had porridge this morning.”
Mindy wrinkled his nose. “Ugh.”
“It keeps you warm. It’s hearty.”
“No,
