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“Dr. O’Leary?” the voice calls for me and I know it by the distant and cold tone she uses. I’ve heard her on the phone with her ex in the past with the same pitch. It fucking stings.
“Now, when did we become so formal?” I attempt to counteract her coldness with a little humor.
“Let me see.” She taps her temple with her index finger. “Maybe when I asked you questions after our date and you avoided them. Omission itself is a lie.”
She has me there. “You also, if memory serves me right, didn’t really pursue an answer. So, I was going to let this play out organically.”
“Stone.” Her tone doesn’t change. It’s as cold and even as it had been last time. “I’ll tell you what I told Gibson last night. My ex took a lot from me. And with you, I could see a kind man. You were the first person I considered dating because you’re not fake or hiding anything. With you, what I see is what I get—or so I thought.”
“And you think you’re a game to me?” My playful tone subsides.
“Am I? Prove me wrong.”
I take a step forward and when she doesn’t stop me, I continue until my fingers brush hers. “You’re real, and you matter. Hell, I’ve not made my intentions quiet. Everyone, and I mean every nurse and doctor, down to the janitorial service, knows I’ve had a not too secret crush on you. I wanted more than anything to ask you out, but as you were going through a divorce, I was mourning a wife. And more, did I have the right to mourn her when I gave her up willingly? I asked you out, and I didn’t get an answer for a couple days. I ran into Gibson and sparks flew. Now, I like you both, way too much. You were the one who suggested we date other people since we’re so new to the dating scene again. Truth is, I didn’t want to give you both up.”
She sidesteps from one foot to the other. Our fingers keep on brushing at the side when I grab onto hers in order to steady her.
“One of us will get hurt.” Her whisper is like ice, and I explode in pain for this woman who can’t allow one more man to take and take from her.
“Maybe not.” I let it slip and before she can ask specifics, I continue, “Just date Gibson and date me. Nothing has to be figured out today, okay? You may get to know me, to only decide you hate me.” I highly doubt this, but I let my arrogance slide this once.
She examines me quietly, her eyes roaming up and down my body. “Why is it I know you don’t believe your statement for one second?”
“Hey,” I begin, standing straight up because this conversation has taken a turn for the better, “I’ll have you know—a lady or two have hated me in the past.”
She walks a step toward me, not that we’re far from one another but empties most of the space, stopping a couple inches away. I can reach out and grab her and it’s tempting as fuck, but I find some self-restraint, but barely.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, love, it’s so.”
She’s light in the moment, as if every trouble has fallen off of her. In the here and now, she’s simply not a single mum, or divorced to a dickhead. She’s a sexy woman who knows I want her.
“Would you let me take you out, maybe the night after next?” I know she’s out with Gibson tomorrow. And it just so happens, he’s coming over to the house after Jett falls asleep tonight. And I wonder if she realizes I know about their plans tomorrow night.
With a little bit harder stare, as her eyes darken, she knows.
“Hey, I’m an open man. You’ll always know where I stand. Got it? Anyway, believe me, I’m not jealous. As a matter of fact, I’m so not jealous, you can text me after the date and let me know if you let Gibson get to what I believe you Yanks refer to as first base. Or you both can call me together.”
She lets out a snort. “What are you? Sixteen?”
“Oh, love, I can be sixteen in all the ways that matter.”
She understands my innuendo. A grin crawls onto her face.
“Thanks, Stone. And thanks for explaining this—but someone will get hurt in this scenario. You know this, right?” Her shoulders stiffen as they had before.
Why does someone have to get hurt? Of course, I don’t mention this to her. “Let’s cross that bridge when we get there, love, okay?”
I’m not anything if not charming and this has her relaxing yet again.
“You’re not an easy man to say no to, are you?”
This is exactly what I’m banking on. Her acceptance of my crazy idea when I spring it on her—and only when the time is right.
