The Man: Doctor #2

by E. L. Todd

  It would drive him crazy.

  I walked inside and found Colton, Zach, and Tatum sitting in a booth.

  Tatum whistled as I approached their table. “Damn, you are really rocking that dress.”

  I did a turn in front of the table, like a model on the runway. “The dress is rocking me, actually.”

  Zach shook his head then looked at Colton. “Dude, I can’t believe you’re gay after being married to that.”

  “Actually, that’s how I knew I was gay,” Colton said. “Being married to a perfect ten but still missing something…it was pretty obvious.”

  As time passed, I got more used to the fact that Colton was just my friend and not my former lover. Now I started to see him as my gay best friend, not the man I’d loved and lost. There seemed to be more closure to our relationship than ever before. If he’d made a comment like that months ago, I probably would have excused myself to the bathroom for a good cry. But now…it didn’t bother me at all.

  That was because of Finn. He made me feel like the most desirable woman on the planet, someone who had a lot to offer. He chased away all my fears and self-doubt. He invigorated me with new strength. “I’m gonna get a drink. Anyone want anything?”

  “Ooh…I’ll take another beer.” Colton held up his empty bottle.

  “Alright.” I walked to the bar, grabbed a couple of drinks, and then returned to the booth. We would have to relocate to a standing table when everyone else arrived because there wasn’t enough room for all of us. I was excited for Finn to walk through the door, sexy in his sleeves of ink and hard body, but I dreaded watching every straight woman buy him a drink.

  “Stella just walked in,” Zach said, his eyes narrowing. “But she’s with some other guy…a hot guy.”

  “A hot guy?” Colton turned around. “Where?”

  I saw Stella head to our table in a sparkly dress with heels, her legs so toned, they looked strong as hell. Next to her was a handsome guy with ripped arms and a nice smile. I thought it was strange Stella would bring some other guy to the bar when Zach was there. But then I realized who he was.

  Oh shit.

  “Hey, guys.” Stella patted her hand on her friend’s arm. “I want you guys to meet Tyson. He’s in one of my classes.” Then she turned to me. “Pepper, this is the guy I was telling you about.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. “Uh…nice to meet you.”

  He smiled as his eyes turned affectionate. “Nice to meet you too.” He shook my hand, and judging by the appreciative way he looked at my curves, he liked what he saw. It didn’t make any sense to me why he preferred me to Stella, the supermodel, but he definitely took the bait.

  I shouldn’t have worn this dress.

  “Let’s move to a table,” Stella said. “Way too cramped over here.”

  We grabbed our drinks and made the move, and my heart was racing a million miles a minute. Finn would walk in the door any minute, a temperamental veteran who could kill a man and also save him from the brink of death. He would know I had nothing to do with this, but it would also make the night insufferable. Last time we were together, I’d made it clear that I was his…and only his.

  “I’d like to buy you a drink, but it seems like you’ve got a fresh one. But the next round is on me.” He had tanned skin, muscled arms and a powerful chest, and his smile was even more hypnotic. His attitude was innately friendly, not cold and standoffish like Finn’s. He headed to the bar and left me alone with my friends.

  I immediately rounded on Stella. “What the hell?”

  “What the hell, what?” She feigned innocence, as if she weren’t doing the exact thing I didn’t want her to do. “He’s hot.”

  Colton nodded in agreement. “Super-hot.”

  Zach even agreed. “I’m into the ladies, but yeah, he’s got it going on.”

  “Doesn’t matter how hot he is,” I snapped. “I told you I didn’t want to be set up.”

  “Jesus, calm down.” She raised her hands then lowered them, like she was bringing down the volume. “Why do you have such a problem with this? It’s not like I brought some ugly guy who has ten cats. The guy has a good job, his own apartment, and he’s actually got manners. You think I would introduce you to a weirdo?”

  “Yeah, what is the big deal?” Colton asked. “Why are you getting so upset?”

  “Are you already seeing someone?” Zach asked, figuring out the truth much quicker than the others.

  “No,” I blurted. “I just…wanted to be by myself for a while.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Stella said. “You went from wanting a one-night stand with Jax to swearing off men. What’s that about?”

  “I haven’t sworn off men.” I was deeply addicted to one man in particular, a man I couldn’t get enough of. Whenever we were together, I wanted more of him. And whenever we were apart, I missed him like crazy. I’d found the man I wanted to spend my nights with…but I could never tell them that. “I just—”

  “Then shut up and be charming,” Stella said. “You look hot as hell in that dress, so work it, bitch.”

  “You do look really hot,” Tatum said in agreement. “He didn’t hesitate to check you out when he came to the table.”

  This was officially a nightmare. Finn would arrive, lose his shit, and then he would be talking to a bunch of women at the bar because I wasn’t available. I would have to play nice with this guy while Finn drove me crazy.

  And tonight was supposed to be fun…

  “I’m from Portland.” Tyson drank a beer while he stood beside me, telling me about his relocation to Seattle.

  I was disappointed in his drink choice. He drank beer—not scotch. “And what brings you here?”

  “A job opened up here, and I wanted to take it.”

  “What kind of job?” I pretended to be interested so I wouldn’t seem rude, but my eyes kept glancing at the door, fearing the moment when Finn would walk inside.

  “I’m a physical therapist. There’s this great orthopedics place in town that works with the Seahawks. When they had an opening, I applied. And I’m shocked that I got it. I’ll be working with the players during their recovery.”

  It was an interesting job, but I found it boring. “Wow, that’s cool.” It’s not like he was a retired veteran who had saved countless lives…like Finn.

  At that moment, Finn stepped inside. It was raining outside, so he wore a black leather jacket over his t-shirt. He was already sexy as it was, but paired with a leather jacket, he looked combustive. He glanced around the bar, searching for us and ignoring all the women who immediately focused their gazes on his face. Their lips turned dry, their heart rates picked up, and they imagined their ankles locked around his waist.

  Nope, he was mine.

  He approached the table, his eyes settling on me. He looked me up and down, silently undressing me and fucking me, and then he looked at the man beside me. His eyes brimmed with a promise of war, of bloodshed and death.

  My neck suddenly felt hot with my rapid pulse.

  “Cool jacket,” Zach said. “I’ve never seen you wear anything but t-shirts.”

  Finn didn’t even look at him. “Storm is coming.” He looked at me again, his eyes drilling into my skin with possessiveness, and then he walked to the bar to get himself a drink.

  I finally took a breath when he was gone, feeling safer when there were a few dozen feet between us.

  Tyson didn’t notice anything. He kept talking. “So, you own a lingerie shop? I don’t mean to sound crass, but that’s super-sexy.”

  “Thanks…I get that a lot.”

  He kept talking, and then Finn returned with a glass of scotch. He stood beside me, on the other side of Tyson. His arm gently brushed against mine, like he wanted me to know he was there.

  Tyson’s eyes moved past my frame, noticing the way Finn stood so close to me. “Is this another friend of yours?”

  No, definitely not a friend. “This is Finn.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Tyson
stuck out his hand to shake Finn’s.

  Finn didn’t return the gesture.

  I held my breath as I felt the tension increase, as Finn’s rage filled the air around us.

  God, this was going to end badly.

  Finn finally sucked it up and shook his hand. “You are?”

  “Tyson,” he answered. “Stella kinda set us up on a date.”

  I was grateful he said that so Finn would understand the unfortunate position I was in. Tyson wasn’t just some random guy who bought me a drink. He was directly connected to the group, so I couldn’t just shake him off.

  Finn kept staring at him but didn’t say anything.

  Maybe if Tyson were more intuitive, he would notice all the subtle alarms in the air. Finn was obviously pissed, but Tyson couldn’t pick up on that. He turned back to me. “So tell me more about yourself. I already like everything I’ve heard.”

  I wanted to get rid of this guy, but I had no idea clue how to do it without being rude. Maybe if I hadn’t been involved with Finn, I might actually like this guy and want it to go somewhere, but since I was already sleeping with a man I adored, I wanted to shake him. An idea popped into my head, and it was so convenient that I was grateful for having a gay ex-husband. “Well, I’m divorced.” I imagined Finn was relieved once I preferred that avenue of discussion.

  “Ohh…” Tyson nodded slowly. “That must have been rough.”

  “Yeah, a bit. My husband realized he was gay and left me. Actually, that’s him right there.” I nodded to Colton, who was talking to Tom, with his arm wrapped around his shoulders.

  Tyson glanced at them then turned back to me. “Ohh…that’s interesting.” He clearly didn’t know how to react to that information. It was a lot to take in in a matter of seconds, especially when he could see my ex directly across the table. “Looks like you guys are on good terms.”

  “Yeah, we are.” The tone in our interaction shifted immediately, and it was obvious Tyson didn’t dig me anymore. Being divorced at such a young age was a turnoff, and knowing that I was married to a man who ended up being gay wasn’t attractive either. The news had the desired effect, and he lost interest.

  Mission accomplished.

  “What the hell was that?” At the end of the night when Tyson left, Stella turned on me. “Why would you tell him about Colton so nonchalantly?”

  Finn had remained at the table with the group, even though free drinks were piling up in front of him. The only drink he ever paid for was the first one he’d ordered. The rest were paid for by male and female admirers. He was in a much better mood once Tyson left.

  “Because I didn’t tell Jax about him, and it blew up in my face. I want to be with a guy who doesn’t have a problem with my past, and if he does, I don’t want to waste my time.” It was the perfect answer, but it was also the truth. I loved that Finn couldn’t care less that I’d been married to a man who decided he was gay. He was never threatened by it and never thought less of me for it.

  “That’s fine,” Stella said. “But did you have to drop that piece of information right when you met him? Let him get to know you before you chase him off.”

  “If he were a real man, he wouldn’t care about her past,” Finn chimed in, even though he hadn’t participated in the conversation the entire night. “He wouldn’t care about the men who came before him. He wouldn’t care about her mistakes and regrets. He would see a beautiful woman looking fine in a dress, and that would be all that mattered. Pepper is right for weeding out the losers. And that guy was definitely a loser.”

  Stella pouted her lips. “But he was so hot.”

  “I’ve seen better.” I blurted that out without thinking, picturing Finn’s naked body on top of mine.

  Finn turned his head slightly in my direction.

  “Well, then I’ll never set you up again,” Stella said. “Friends get their friends laid. I was just trying to do right by you.”

  “I know. And I appreciate it. But I’m just not ready right now. Whenever I am, we’ll revisit it.” One day, Finn and I would be over. I had no idea what would happen, but ending up in a white dress simply wasn’t possible. He would break my heart eventually…and then I would want to fling myself at the next guy I saw.

  “Well, hopefully, I’ll be able to find someone hot by then,” Stella said. “They’re hard to find.”

  “She’s right,” Zach said. “We aren’t easy to locate in the wild.” He turned to Stella and winked.

  Now that the nightmare was finally over, I needed another drink. “Excuse me.” I returned to the bar, got the bartender’s attention, and ordered a vodka cranberry—making it a double.

  Finn appeared at my side with his full glass in hand.

  “I had no control over what happened.”

  “I know.” His deep voice was calm and suave as usual. “I made it clear your pussy was mine, and you wouldn’t disobey me.”

  I turned to him, slightly offended by the use of the term “disobey” but also aroused by his ownership. I didn’t want to be with anyone else, and I was glad he didn’t want me to be with anyone else either. I was also touched by his confidence that I would be faithful to him. “I don’t see how this can go on much longer. We can’t keep up the charade for more than a few months. They’ll notice that I never date and you never date. And then my neighbor across the hall is moving out, so Colton will be moving back in soon…”

  “Have you told Colton?”

  “No. But I can’t hide it from him. He’ll realize my neighbor is gone eventually and will wonder why I never told him. It’ll open up his suspicion, and he’ll examine me until he discovers our secret.” There was no way we could keep carrying on this affair. It would bite us in the ass in the end.

  Finn stayed quiet beside me, his eyes drilling into the side of my face.

  The bartender handed me my drink, and I downed half of it in one go. I didn’t want to keep lying to the people in my life. I didn’t want to keep lying to Colton either. He told me all the details of his relationship with Tom, and I felt lonely not telling him about Finn. Colton was the person I used to confide everything to. Now that I didn’t share my life with him…I felt empty. “I think I’m going to tell him.”

  Finn downed his scotch until the glass was empty.

  “I don’t want to keep lying to him. I don’t want to keep sneaking around. I just… It’s not me.”

  He stared straight ahead and looked at nothing in particular. Then he leaned forward, putting his arms on the bar as he bowed his head.

  I waited for him to tell me we should just end this relationship for good. It was better than coming clean to his brother and being honest about our betrayal. Finn probably didn’t want to go down that road, and since he wasn’t looking for anything serious, it wouldn’t make sense for him to put his relationship with Colton at risk. “I should be the one to talk to him.”

  Shocked, I stilled at his words. I stared into my drink before I slowly turned toward him, unable to believe the words that just came out of his mouth.

  He continued to keep his bed bowed before he sighed and righted himself. “You’ve done nothing wrong. You’re a single woman who doesn’t owe him anything. He was the one who lied to you, wasted your time, and broke your heart. I know you’ve forgiven him and you guys are friends…but he has no right to be upset with you. Me, on the other hand, I’m the one in the wrong. I’m the one who crossed the line. I’m the one who was disloyal. I should be the one to tell him.”

  I didn’t want this to ruin their relationship. They’d just become close again, and I didn’t want them to be ripped apart. I wasn’t worth it. “Maybe you should wait until he has his own apartment, that way he can have some space.”

  “Or maybe doing it while he lives with me is better. We’ll be forced to be together, so he can forgive me and let it go.”

  “He’ll be upset…”

  “I know. But he’ll see reason eventually.”

  I couldn’t believe this was happening
. We were really going to come clean. “When are you going to do it?”

  He leaned against the counter and turned toward me, leaning against the counter so he could face me head on. In that black leather jacket, he looked so delicious, so unbelievably sexy. “When the time is right.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” We’d never talked about having a serious relationship. We didn’t talk about marriage and kids. We hadn’t even talked about love. Did it make sense to tell Colton about our relationship when we didn’t know how we felt? If we thought there was a possibility we might feel that way in the future. There was no question that Finn was different with me, that he was affectionate, soft, and monogamous. But could he offer more than that someday?

  He looked me in the eye without blinking, full of the strength he displayed on a daily basis. “Yes.”

  20

  Colton

  The Uber stopped in front of the house, and I hopped out of the car and walked to the front door. It was Sunday morning and I’d had a great night with Tom last night, but he had plans today and kicked me out.

  I let myself inside and was greeted by Soldier’s wagging tail and his eager paws. He stood on his hind legs and greeted me with a quiet bark.

  “Hey, boy.” I scratched him by the ears then lowered him to the floor. Soldier was still a brand-new addition to our lives, but I’d become so comfortable with him. Now I was used to having him around. He was a beautiful and affectionate dog, and I kinda never wanted to move out because I would miss him.

  I moved into the kitchen and found Finn sitting at the table, reading the paper with a mug of hot coffee in front of him.

  “Morning.” I poured myself a glass then took the seat across from him.

  “Morning.” He folded his paper and set it on the surface of the table. There was a bottle of scotch beside his glass, like he’d been spiking his morning coffee with booze. Instead of ignoring me like he usually did, he looked me straight in the eye.