Full Package by Lauren Blakely Read Free Book Online Page B

Republic. “Obviously, the suffering that we witnessed.”
    â€œOf course,” she says, her tone serious. “That must have been so hard.”
    â€œIt was. But on a more personal level, since I think that’s what you’re asking, I would say it was missing friends,” I say with a sigh. “I missed Max, even though he’s a pain, and Wyatt, too. I missed talking to friends who aren’t in medicine. Just chatting about something other than work or doctor stuff.”
    â€œYou’re a social person,” she says, her voice soft.
    I nod. “Always have been. I loved your emails, though,” I say, remembering how Josie kept in touch with me. She consistently sent me updates, more than anyone else. “I’d get excited just seeing your name in my Gmail inbox.”
    She smiles widely. “Really?”
    I nod. “Yeah. It was an amazing experience being there, but I did miss home, and getting your notes was like receiving a little piece of New York every time you wrote. Like the time you told me about the woman who ordered a cake for herself from her dogs. How when she picked it up, she said, ‘My dogs ordered me a cake.’”
    Josie laughs. “She was adorable. She was a writer. She’d just hit a bestseller list, and she said her dogs wanted to congratulate her with a cake.”
    â€œWhat a lovable nut. And you totally went along with it.”
    Josie juts up a shoulder. “Of course. I said, ‘Satchel and Lulu are so very proud of you. Here’s the chocolate layer cake they ordered just for you.’”
    â€œYou probably made her day. Hell, that story alone made mine. What didn’t help was the picture you sent along of the cake, you temptress,” I say, narrowing my eyes.
    â€œYou missed my cake. So sweet.”
    A smile tugs at my lips. A wistful one. “I missed you, too.”
    â€œYou did?” she asks, her voice softer than usual, less teasing.
    â€œOf course. You’re one of my best friends.”
    â€œRight. Totally. Same here.” She clears her throat. “Did you make new friends in Africa?”
    â€œDefinitely. I became friends with some of the other doctors and nurses.”
    â€œNurses?” A tightness threads through her voice. I haven’t heard that tone before. For a flicker of a second it sounds almost like jealousy. But that’s ridiculous. We’ve been friends for too long for things to change between us.
    â€œA group of us became close. Camila, this hip nurse from Spain with crazy tattoos down her arms, was awesome.”
    â€œA Spanish nurse? Covered in ink?” she asks, like this is the most difficult concept, or the most annoying.
    â€œYes. She was a riot. Always telling funny stories about the guys back home. And a doctor from England, George. And another doc from New Zealand. His name was Dominic, and he had the perfect deadpan sense of humor. That was our crew.”
    â€œDid anyone have a vein fetish like you?”
    I wiggle my eyebrows. “They would have if a specimen such as yourself had been around to provide doctor porn,” I say, and grab her arm again, running my finger along her vein as if I’m mesmerized.
    For a brief second, her breath catches. The soft, barely-there hair on her arm stands on end. A strange sensation runs down my spine, as if I’m floating.
    Which makes no sense, so I shove the idea away.
    I look away from her arm and meet her green eyes. There’s something different in them. Something I haven’t seen before. I don’t know what it is. I can’t name it.
    â€œI’ve been using your hairbrush,” I blurt out. I’m not entirely sure why I’m confessing right now, but here, with those wide eyes staring into mine, I can’t help myself.
    Her mouth lifts. “I know.”
    â€œYou don’t mind?”
    She leans forward and runs a hand through my hair. That strange feeling? It