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“Well, it can cause poor depth perception.” Her gaze travels down to my bruised knees. “Cause trips andfalls…”
“That’s me,” I breathe, reaching out to hold Rex’s hand. He takes it, bringing my palm to his mouth as the doctor watches. “Can you fixit?”
“Yes. Glasses, corrective lenses. We just need to give your eyes the same refractive power.” The doctor stands and picks up a device that looks like spectacles on steroids, twisting two small, black wheels. She walks back over and holds it in front of my eyes. “Look through here. This is how the world will appear throughglasses.”
I take the device in my own hands and immediately turn to Rex, seeing him even more clearly than usual. Oh. Ohwow. When he sees what I’m doing, he coughs and glances away, then back at me. As if waiting for a verdict. “You’re even more handsome now.” I whisper the truth, my loins tightening and wetting the material of my panties. “I love the gray in yourbeard.”
He shifts in his boots, giving another cough. Trying to be casual, but I can see the relief and pleasure he’s trying to hide. “Good thing, cause I ain’t dyeingit.”
The doctor chuckles and takes back the device. “You’ll need to wear glasses or lenses atall times. Surgery is the only way to repair your eyes for good. Without them, you’re still at risk forfalls.”
“Give her both,” Rex says, taking a credit card out of his wallet and handing it to the doctor. “Whatever keeps her from gettinghurt.”
“Perfect. The glasses will be a short wait, but we can get your contact lenses ready to go now.” The doctor sends a smile over her shoulder as she walks toward the exam room door. “Let’s go look at some frames while my colleague gets your lenses from the stockroom.”
“Great.” I slide off the chair into Rex’s waiting arms. “I never would have known. Not withoutyou.”
He frames my jaw in one hand, lowering his head for a slow kiss. “Going to take care of you so damngood.”
“Going to take care of you, too.” I go up on my toes, gasping when his hands slide down and grip my bottom. “Sogood.”
The doctor sticks her head back in through the door, clearing her throat. “I’m, uh…ready for you up front, Mrs.Bates.”
“Oh. Okay.” Blushing to the roots of my hair, I unplaster myself from Rex’s body and we hold hands, walking out of the examination room together. The doctor is whispering to one of her associates when we approach, but stops talking when we arrive at the glass case. She has already laid out several pairs of glasses in a felt-lined box, square frames, more circular, different colors. But I know before trying on any of them, I want the pink frames. They’reperfect.
Rex laughs when I pick them up and I elbow him. Putting them on confirms what I already know. I’ve found myglasses.
I face Rex and cock my hip, catching my breath over the affection he’s showing me. “What do you think, Daddy?” It just slips out. Rex’s easy demeanor stiffens, his smile collapsing. And everyone in the store seems to hear, turning to look at us like bugs under a microscope. “I-Imean—”
“Daddy?” I cringe at the outrage in the doctor’s voice. “I thought she was your wife, sir. You’ve been…I sawyou—”
“Forget the glasses. Just charge me for the goddamn contact lenses,” Rex snaps. “Hand them over so we can get out ofhere.”
“Gladly,” sneers the doctor, sailing toward the back of thestore.
The silence that falls is deafening. All I can hear is my pulse pounding in my head. Not to mention, the crash and burn of my earlier optimism. “Please…” I murmur, moving closer to the safety ofRex.
But he steps back, thrusting his car keys in my hand. “Go wait in thetruck.”
A piece of my heart chips off. “No.”
His jaw is poised to shatter. “Clara.”
It’s a standoff between us, but thankfully the doctor returns, holding out a plastic bag for me to take. Rex signs the receipt and gets his credit card back, allowing us to leave the store, which remains at a total standstill. Before we even climb into the truck, I know I was naïve to think we could work. This willneverwork. Rex might not treat me like I’m the weird girl in private, but in public he’s the same as everyone else. Making me feel odd. Different. He wants us to pretend we’re something else for other people’s sake—but after coming so close to what I’ve always needed, doing that will only hurt. I need Rex to be one hundred percent on board with our unique relationship…or…orwhat?
Rex starts the truck with a vicious twist of his fist and peels out of the parking lot. “What the hell were youthinking?”
“It was an accident,” I say, before squaring my shoulders. “But I’m notsorry.”
The steering wheel groans under his hands. “You shouldbe.”
“Why? Because we offended some strangers?” A shout builds in my throat and I don’t try to calm myself down. “I don’tcare.”
“Icare,” he bites out. “I care about everyone in the goddamn store staring at you like some kind offreak.”
My vision blurs with tears. “That’s howyouwere looking atme.”
Rex does a double take. “The hell I was, girl. I just wanted to get you out of there before one of them men said something and I fractured theirskull.”
