Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 104657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“Well, you’re comforting. I’m sure you’re an excellent doctor.”
“Thank you,” she says to my mom with a softer tone, as if she doesn’t feel completely deserving of the compliment.
I lean my shoulder against the wall and sip my coffee. If I step around the corner, their conversation will end.
“What do you love most about my son?” Mom asks.
I cover my mouth to hide my cough as I choke on my coffee.
“You assume I love him?” Everleigh says.
“Dear, it’s not an assumption.”
Maybe I should step around the corner before this goes completely off the rails.
“I love how he’s always made me feel like a woman. Not a doctor. Not a genius. It’s like he sees the real me. The version most everyone else misses. We met at a bar. Everything about our week together in California felt normal. His humor matches mine. We love gaming and hiking. He’s caring even when he tries to act unaffected by me. His friends adore him. And he’s handsome. The kind of handsome that makes me blush every time he looks at me.”
“Oh dear,” my mom says with a little tsk. “That’s a lot. I think it’s too much. These Landry men are heartbreakers. Go to Hopkins. Cure cancer or something like that. Fall in love with a sexy man who’s at least five years younger than you.” Mom’s chair creaks, and I know she’s standing, so I step around the corner.
“Morning,” I say, giving my mom a one-arm hug with my coffee in my other hand.
“Good morning, my handsome boy. I’m going to take a shower. Keep our guest entertained. In fact, you two do something fun today. I’ll deal with your father.”
I sit in her chair on the opposite side of the fire table from Everleigh. “I’m not sure you dealt with Dad that well yesterday. I think you need me there.”
“Nonsense,” Mom says before closing the door behind her.
Everleigh drums her nails on the side of her coffee mug. “Good morning.”
I control my grin, keeping things casual and cool. “Morning. How did you sleep?”
She yawns. I’m not sure if it’s planned or just perfect timing. “It was a restless night with an hour or two of sleep between . . . interruptions.”
My grin wins the battle. I was the interruption. It was a lot harder to sleep with Everleigh naked beside me than I remembered. I think just her body heat gave me an erection. And once I had said erection, I selfishly used her to remedy it.
“When you sleep on your back, you snore,” she says.
“I’m surprised in medical school they didn’t teach you a quick remedy for that.”
“Oh? And what would that be, Dr. Landry?”
“If you slowly insert a man’s penis into your mouth, he’ll stop snoring. I think it has a one-hundred-percent success rate.” I shrug. “At least, that’s the most recent data from double-blind sleep studies.”
She channels Dr. Reichart, giving me no reaction, and her self-control gets me almost as aroused as her naked body inches from mine. I know after eavesdropping on her conversation with my mother and not properly acknowledging her confession of love last night, I should proceed with caution. But I can’t help myself.
“I really should be with my dad today,” I say.
She nods several times. “Absolutely.”
“But last night was fun.”
Her eyes widen. “Wow. Is that the best you’ve got? How many times have you said that to a woman?”
“Plenty. But I usually follow it up with something like But I’m not looking for anything complicated right now. So see ya around.” I sip my coffee and then hold it cupped in my hands between my legs.
She pushes out of her chair and steps around the table to straddle my lap, taking my coffee and setting it on the side table. “Does that mean you’re looking for something complicated with me?” She kisses the corner of my mouth, thumbs stroking my cheeks just below my eyes. It’s the most soothing feeling in the world.
“It means . . .” I whisper, kissing the inside of her wrist.
“What?”
I hold her arms, keeping her hands on my face. “No matter what happens, take that job at Hopkins. No matter how many nights we have like last night. No matter what I say to you. No matter what your heart tells you. If my dad dies. If I shatter into a million pieces in the process of grieving him. Even if in my weakest moment, I beg you to stay.” I turn my head and kiss the inside of her other wrist. “Promise me you’ll go.”
Tears shine in her eyes. I’m not trying to be cruel. Just the opposite. It’s because I care about her I want her to let me go. I’m the worst dream. She can do better.
“I shouldn’t have told you about Hopkins.”
On a slow sigh, I pull her hands from my face. “There are probably a lot of things you shouldn’t have done, with regard to me. Don’t let passing up this job be another one. I want more for you.”