Open Heart One Shots (Choices)

Reckless Love

Summary: What if Ethan decided to attend the interns' housewarming party?

What was he doing here?

Ethan Ramsey watched the numbers change on the elevator screen and wondered if it was too late to turn back. He could only imagine what kind of party the interns were hosting.

He'd been to enough ragers during college and med school to know the answer. Surgeons chugging kegs. Loud music making conversation impossible. Tequila shots.

That last one, at least, wasn't too bad, he mused, scratching the scruffy beard he hadn't had time to trim. He might prefer whiskey and wine as he grew older, but he still enjoyed the occasional tequila with its smoothness and sharp bite at the end.

What am I trying to prove? More importantly, to whom?

Ethan knew the answer, even if he wasn't quite ready to admit it.

The truth was, he felt guilty for rejecting Cassie Valentine's well-intentioned invitation. He couldn't get the image of her crestfallen face—or the disappointed way she'd said, "Understood, Dr. Ramsey"—out of his head.

He'd felt like a heel all day. He'd gone home determined to put the incident behind him, but once there, the quiet he usually savored felt oppressive.

Before he realized it, he was changing into a casual shirt, jeans, and a leather jacket—then checking his wallet to make sure his CharlieCard for the T was there. (Parking was always an issue in this neighborhood.)

As the doors slid open and Cassie stepped into view, he knew being here was reckless, and that it was too late to turn back.

If he thought Cassie had looked 'different' in the cropped green top that first time at Donahue's, then today she was a siren, an otherworldly temptation.

The red top shimmered every time she moved, clinging in all the right places as she talked animatedly with a party guest. Paired with black jeans that hugged her curves and that easy confidence she wore so well, she looked effortlessly glamorous. Dangerous, even. And it was definitely going to be a problem.

He shouldn't be here, Ethan told himself again, uncharacteristically indecisive as nerves had him running a hand through his hair.

Before he could make his escape, Cassie looked up and caught him staring. Her lips curved into a slow smile—just a touch sultry, at least to his lust-addled brain.

The elevator doors behind him slid shut, and he supposed that was as good a sign as any that he wasn't going anywhere.

"You came!" she said, sauntering toward him.

"What a way to state the obvious, Valentine," Ethan said in a deadpan tone, slipping into the mask he often wore at work—the one that kept people from guessing what he was really thinking or feeling.

She laughed, unoffended by his words or tone. "What I meant to say was, 'I'm glad you could come, Dr. Ramsey.'"

Her cheeks were flushed, and he could smell the alcohol on her breath. Ethan wondered if she was slightly tipsy.

She glanced around to see if anyone was nearby and lowered her voice. "In the interest of transparency, you should know you'll cause quite a stir if you walk inside now. The drinks have been flowing for a while, and most interns have moved on to the complaining about their rankings in the fellowship competition portion of the evening."

"That's why I was in the hallway. Just couldn't take it anymore," Cassie added as Ethan groaned.

Coming here was definitely a mistake. The last thing he wanted after the week he'd had was to field questions from interns about their scores or suffer through hollow praise meant to curry favor.