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“Oh, so you’re dominant, too?” I questioned.
“Hardly,” he chuckled. “However, I plan to spoil the shit out of you and kick off our relationship in a way that’ll make you never want to look at another man again.”
“I never said I would,” I played back.
“Doesn’t matter,” he responded. “I’m the type of guy who doesn’t take his woman for granted, leaving her vulnerable to predators who would steal her from me. Starting now, and as long as you’ll have me, I plan to ensure your eyes stay on me and no one else.”
“I think I need to get back to work,” I said, leaning up to give him a quick kiss on his lips. “So, you go do your thing, and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“I do love you,” he said, becoming serious again. “I want you to know that.”
“Thank you,” I said, “and I love you too.”
He cradled my face and kissed my nose, “I’ll see you tomorrow, gorgeous. Have a good rest of your shift.”
With that, John and I parted ways, and though it was a bizarre conversation for us, I was glad it happened. I knew our relationship would only improve if we got our heads straight, communicated, and took things slowly.
One thing I was sure of was that I didn’t need his parents’ approval to make this relationship real, and deep down, I hoped he didn’t either.
Chapter Thirty-One
John
“Okay, Mrs. Lofstrom,” I said, turning away from my patient and ending my final exam for the day by peeling off my latex gloves and dropping them into the wastebasket. “I’ll send everything off, and I’ll see you next year for your next annual exam.” I offered a kind and professional smile, then turned to leave the exam room.
Ping!
I glanced down to see Dr. Mitchell from the cardiac lab had texted. Instead of immediately checking to see what he wanted, I finished the last of my work before I allowed my mind to free itself up, ready to enjoy the rest of the evening with Mickie.
After yesterday’s strange emotional moment, I wanted to somehow redeem myself with this woman. It wasn’t like me to feel a loss of control in my life, but something about Mark’s bizarre behavior had me tripping about my situation. In that moment of weakness, I came howling up to the hospital, disrupting Mick’s night at work, and railed on and on about my fears of the unknown—not exactly comforting behavior coming from the person who is constantly reassuring her that everything is going to be okay.
I’d hardly slept last night, pondering the situation and what had gotten into me. Ultimately, I think Mick was right. We were moving at lightspeed in this relationship, and it was setting off alarms for us right and left.
It was to be expected, right? We’d blasted off too fast with our emotions. I could only compare it to a runaway train relationship that would eventually meet its endpoint if we didn’t get control and direct it onto a safer route. It was all trial and error for both of us, but neither one of us liked errors.
I wasn’t so much afraid of getting hurt as I was terrified of losing my grip on the life that I’d carved out for myself. The way I’d been behaving lately, embracing this new and foreign emotion of love, was silly and childish. Even though I didn’t live on the stiff and structured side of life, I didn’t live on the foolish side, either, which meant that I needed to grow up and start taking things more seriously regarding where I wanted to be with Mick and keep my target set on that.
I would not get blindsided again, especially concerning my parents and their guaranteed disapproval of Mickie. I knew they would rather eat glass than accept some random woman, with no societal class, who I worked with in California. The fight they would put up in protest of me being in a relationship with someone who wasn’t a socialite would be nearly unbearable. And I wasn’t going to head down that road of surprise either. What I needed to focus on was me and what I wanted. And I wanted Mick. That was the end of that.
I signed off on charts, handed them to the receptionist, and headed to my office to return Jake’s call. He and I were friendly outside of work, but honestly, the time I spent with Mickie was the most I’d ever spent with anyone here.
I didn’t have a tight group of friends in California, and when I thought about it, it was mainly due to the circles I was raised in. In New York, being around the ultra-wealthy all my life, it was deemed ridiculous if you had friendships for, well, the sake of just having a friend. In my family, everyone we befriended was strategic or just a long-standing relationship. My childhood best friend was the great-grandson of my grandfather’s attorney, so basically, everyone in our circle was carefully chosen. I’d given up bringing home new friends because the average rich kid from Manhattan wasn’t prepared to face the invasive background checks that my parents’ security detail put them through. And if a bunch of prep-school rich kids were put off by it, imagine what a blue-collar person would think.
Needless to say, I stopped putting myself out there a long time ago, but at this point in my life, I regretted not forming a tighter bond with Jake and Collin and their crazy-fun group of friends. I could probably use their guidance on this relationship I was trying to navigate.
I guess it was never too late to extend myself, though. Jake was cool enough that if I wanted to grab a burger and talk about anything, including chick problems, he’d do so happily if it meant he got to give me a hard time.
Jake was a great guy, and forging a friendship would be effortless, but right now, he had a wife fighting cancer, and I wasn’t about to interfere with that. They needed a solid support group and not a doctor who needed relationship advice trying to befriend them.
“Hey, Jake,” I said, finally planting my ass in my office chair for the first time since seven this morning. “How’s Ashley been feeling?” I questioned since his wife had started chemotherapy last week.
“Her spirits are great, but the chemo has a way of fucking up everything while doing its job.”
“I get that,” I said. I hated that anyone had to go through chemo, but I was so impressed by the courage most people mustered in the face of such a monster. Ashley was no different. Her fighting spirit would make all the difference in her health and recovery. “So, what’s up?”
“Well, Ash wants to have a Christmas party at our house. I know she’s trying to keep a sense of normalcy in her life, but I think we’re at the point of arguing in circles that it’s not a good idea. So, I need her doctor to come in and put her ass on bed rest or some shit.”
I smiled, “Bed rest, huh?”
