Brad carefully disentangled his arm from her grasp. “Dr. Dickson, I hope I haven’t misled you in any way. This is not a date.”
She shrunk away. “I know. I’m just excited about seeing the game. I didn’t mean to offend you.” She offered him a trembling smile.
He groaned inwardly. “I’m not offended. But I have a girlfriend, and I want to make sure this stays on a ‘friends’ basis.”
“You have a girlfriend? I thought...”
Brad caught the surprise in her tone. “You thought what?”
“I... I thought you said something about breaking up with her. I’m almost sure you said something about it.”
His jaw tightened. “I never said anything about breaking up.”
“So you’re... you’re still with her?”
“Yes, I’m still with Grace. And what business is it of yours?” The words came out with more force than intended, and he saw her cringe. She blinked rapidly as if fighting tears. “I’m sorry. If you’re upset with me, we don’t have to stay for the game. We can end the date now, and you don’t owe me anything.”
Brad breathed out slowly, trying to control his temper. “No, it’s fine. But we were very clear when we made this date... I mean, when we made this arrangement we were only going together as colleagues. You told me you wanted me to go with you so some other guy would back off. Was that a lie?”
“No, but I thought when things changed between you and that Grace girl—”
“Who told you things had changed between us? I never said anything of the sort.”
“Uhmm, I don’t know. I guess it was maybe Dr. Branson who told me you two had had a fight. And then I just assumed...”
“Josh told you that?” Brad felt his blood boiling. He’d been feeling bad about his prickly attitude with his roommate, but not now. Josh had no business airing his private business with anyone, especially not Kara Dickson.
“Oh please don’t be upset with him! Dr. Branson is my attending. If you say anything to him, he’ll take it out on me and put me on the worst schedule.”
“Dr. Branson is a professional, and he would never do that.”
“Please! Oh please don’t tell him! Maybe I was wrong—maybe someone else told me.”
“Actually no one else knew about it.” Brad felt like all of his muscles were wound up tight, ready to break.
“So you did have a fight, then?”
“No! Well, yes, but we’re still together.”
“But you can’t blame me for hoping. I know I’d never stand a chance if the two of you were still together, but I thought maybe—” Good grief. Was she actually batting her eyelashes?
“Kara, I was very clear this was not a romantic relationship. Look, let’s just forget this and enjoy the game.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and the Yankees will win.”
“What, you don’t expect them to win?” Brad squinted. “I thought you told me you loved baseball?”
“I do. I love baseball.” Her expression was as fervent as her voice. “I love the Yankees. And the Mets, too.”
“Well, don’t say that too loud around here. Most Yankees fans hate the Mets.”
“Who do you like?” Kara asked.
“I like the Yankees and the Giants and the Knicks. I’d like to get really good seats to see the Knicks play sometime.”
“Maybe I could get some tickets, and we could go together. I really like the Knicks, too.”
Brad couldn’t help but feel he was being played. Grace’s enthusiasm about sports was one of her most unusual and attractive traits in his eyes. He found it difficult to believe Kara Dickson was being honest with him, but he knew a way to find out.