Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
“You knew?” I ask Shae when she finally looks my way.
“Yeah, I knew. I didn’t want to believe it at first. It happened at my first post-op appointment, small little slips about my weight, my biopsy, and bringing up the fact that you’d leave me if I couldn’t have children. She did it in such a way that it wasn’t those exact words, yet it got her point across.”
“Shae, fuck. You should have told me.” I lift her chin to look into her eyes.
“I’m okay. It’s okay.” She shrugs her shoulders. It feels like a knife is twisting my gut.
“Today, they went for the jugular,” Gallo continues. Marissa’s father clears his throat. He’s on the board at the hospital, handles funding and that kind of thing. He also helped his daughter and her friend secure a job within the facility.
“I’d like to apologize before Doctor Gallo finishes what happened. I’d also like to assure you Marissa and Nadine have been handled. Both have been fired. They’re being trespassed at the hospital and will no longer have their medical assistant license, either. If there’s anything else I can do, please don’t hesitate to reach me.” Shae looks up at me, and I can visually see her swallowing what seems like a lump in her throat. Goddamn motherfucker. She didn’t tell me. My woman’s protective side is a mile long, and instead of letting me handle it, she took whatever they doled out her way, until today.
“Thank you.” I nod. Shae repeats the sentiment, and then he’s on his way out the door.
“I think you should tell me what happened at the office.” I turn toward her, so we’re face to face. Gallo hangs back, allowing us this moment.
“Umm, I’d really rather not. I don’t know what you did with Marissa and Nadine in the past.” Shae’s facial expression conveys disgust.
“Never touched her, never looked at her in that kind of way, never even spoke to her like that. Tell me, please.” I soften my tone at the end.
“Thank god. They alluded to a threesome, talked about how good you are in bed, and were hell bent on showing me a video. Which obviously didn’t involve you. I may have also called them cunts while dumping my drink in their faces.” There’s pride at the end of the statement, and I can’t help but smirk.
“There goes the Regina George code word,” Maci says in the distance.
“Damn it, Gallo. You’ve ruined all the fun. Now we can’t get those two back,” Kennedy chimes in.
“Sorry, just trying to save everyone from catching a felony,” Gallo replies, doing us all a favor.
“Kenny, Christ, woman. Don’t you think you’ve been in my handcuffs enough times already?” Trent says. He’s a police officer here in Whispering Oaks and has arrested her before when there was a bust at the strip club she’d been working at.
“And I’ll be in them time and time again.” Those two drift off to the other side of the room.
“Well, damn, there goes slashing her tires like Coralynn suggested,” Maci pipes up.
“Jesus, you women are feral. Remind me never to piss you off,” Jude replies, tossing a piece of candy into his mouth. I notice another tattoo has been added to his leg. He’s going to be completely covered before too long. Shit must be bad. I need to make sure one of us checks on him later this week.
“We’ll have to save a side of revenge for the next person who pisses us off,” Lyric, the least likely to do something like that, says.
“Good luck. I’m out of here.” Gallo shakes his head. The conversations slowly fizzle out.
“Luke.” Shae’s hand slides up my chest, getting my attention.
“Yeah, baby girl.”
“I love you.” My eyes close for a moment, soaking this moment up, and while a part of me is pissed I didn’t say the words first, hearing them is all I need.
“I love you, too, Shae. I love you so goddamn much. I’m sorry, too. Fuck, I should have seen the signs.” Her mouth is right there, so close, more than ready for mine.
“Shut up and kiss me.” Her lips are slightly parted, inviting me in, and everything else fades to black. The noise, the people, and the world around us. All I can think about is kissing her, and that’s exactly what I do. Our lips touch, soft and slow, moving against each other with a quiet urgency. I held back long enough. I need to taste her, any part of her. I pull her closer, my hand pressing into the small of her back, pressing her as close as possible. Our kiss deepens, lighting something up inside my chest. I know what it is. It’s fucking love. The best kind of love a man could ever find, and she’s standing right in front of me.