Operation Date Escape

anything to do with this date until she shows up for it.” He looked to his friend. “Are you going to tell Nanci about it?”
    “Not if you don’t want me to.”
    Cole hesitated, mulling it over. “I suppose the more help I have in pulling this off, the better. Do you think Nanci will keep it under wraps?”
    “Are you kidding me? She wants to see you and Kelsie together almost as much as the ‘cake lady’ does. She won’t say a nything.”
    Cole crossed the room and retrieved the business card Melinda Collins had given him from the top drawer of his desk. “I’ll give Kelsie’s mother a call as soon as I grab a shower.”
    “That’s where I’m heading now. Then I’m going to raid the kitchen. A man’s got to keep up his strength with a woman like Nanci in his life.” Joe turned and set off down the hall toward the showers, whistling as he went.
    Joe never whistled. Was it possible the revolving door of his friend’s love life had finally stopped spinning? Between the two of them and the crazy females they were trying to win over, this was going to be a very interesting picnic.
    * * *
    Kelsie walked her patient to the reception area desk and handed Heather who ran the front office her patient’s chart. “We’ll see Mrs. Pierce in six months. Is my next patient here?”
    Heather shook her head.
    Kelsie glanced toward the clock on the wall. A no-show. Just what she didn’t need today. She needed to keep busy. Needed to forget about Cole and her phone call with him the night before. She vaguely remembered breaking up with him. Or had she only dreamt that? And some of the things she’d said...
    Turning, she walked back to her room to be alone with her troubled thoughts. She could only imagine what Cole must think of her now.
    She crossed the room to prepare it for her next patient, wishing she hadn’t let her stubbornness push her into out-drinking Nanci for a change. The throbbing in her head was a constant reminder of her stupidity.
    “So did you do it?”
    Kelsie jumped, startled from her thoughts. She turned to find Nanci standing in the open doorway, holding her ‘I HATE MONDAYS’ Garfield coffee mug. “Maybe I should be asking you that question. You’re the one who’s nearly an hour late for work this morning.”
    “Hey, I called Dr. Andy to let him know I was running late. Since his first patient cancelled, he said he’d cover for me with Mrs. Wilhelm.”
    Kelsie gathered up the cleaning instruments she’d used on her last patient and carried them out to the sink to clean them before placing them in the sterilizer. “Late night, huh?”
    “Stop trying to change the subject,” Nanci scolded. “Did you call Cole last night, or not?”
    “I said I would.”
    “But did you?”
    She flashed her friend an irritated frown. “I did.”
    “Good,” she said as she sipped at her coffee.
    “I think,” she added with a sigh as she washed her hands.
    “You think?”
    Grabbing a paper towel, she turned from the sink. “I’m hoping my call to Cole didn’t really happen. That it was some alcohol induced imagining.”
    “Why?” her friend asked, her eyes alight with curiosity. “What happened?”
    “I think I offered him my body.”
    Nanci choked on the swallow of coffee she’d just taken. She lowered her cup, her eyes wide. “You what?”
    “I only remember bits and pieces of the conversation I had with him, but I remember suggesting to Cole that we have a sex only relationship.”
    “Oh my God,” her friend gasped as she moved further into the room, lowering her voice. “That is so not like you.”
    “Tell me about it.”
    “How did Cole respond?”
    “He turned me down. At least I think he did.”
    “There goes that word again! What do you mean you think ?”
    “ Last night’s a bit vague to me.”
    “Gee, I wonder why?” her friend murmured with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “At least, you still made it to work today. That’s dedication.”
    “That’s stupidity,” Kelsie said with a sigh as she sa nk down onto her chair. “I woke up this morning with the cordless wedged between my face and pillow.” She lifted her hair and turned to show Nanci the still fading imprint the phone had left on her cheek. “That should have been a sign to stay home.”
    Nanci’s hand flew to her mouth as she fought to muffle her laughter. “That’s too funny.”
    “Doctor Andy thought so, too.” Releasing the handful of hair she’d lifted away from her face, she