“You were thinking about Gracie?”
“Of course I was! When they took me, all I could think about was you and her, all I could think about was how I needed to get all three of us out of this.”
All three of us. It feels so good to think about that.
“Anyways, Victor got impatient. Or maybe Melodie put him up to it, I don’t know. And then my plan of impressing Dr. Yates backfired and I stumbled into this whole money laundering thing. They took me - “
A sob catches in her throat. I pull her into me tightly and whisper into her ear.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” I say. “It’s ok. It’s over now.”
“No, I want you to know.” She pulls away and looks deep into my eyes. Her brown eyes are shining bright with determination. “She offered me a deal. She told me I could turn you in and I’d have my debt wiped clean. Gone, like it never existed.”
“And you risked yourself for me.”
“For you and Gracie. For us,” she corrects. “Elliot, I wasn’t joking when I said I love you. I want to be with you.”
I can’t wait any longer. I tilt her chin towards me and kiss her deeply. Our lips come together and I can feel the power of her love in every touch. I pull away and look at her again.
“I love you too Emma. When you were gone this week, I…” I can feel the tears welling up in my own eyes now. “I didn’t know what to do. I went crazy. I couldn’t take it.”
“I know. I wanted to tell you when I got back but it was too risky. They were watching me. And then I thought I’d messed it all up when I couldn’t get Dr. Yates to admit to anything.” She looks at me and smiles. “But you did.”
“At least I could do something in the end,” I respond, grinning.She pauses and chews the inside of her mouth.
“Elliot,” her eyes are lasered in on me now. “What was your involvement in all this? I overheard you and Dr. Yates about him helping you out a few years ago. I… the gambling…”
I know what she’s thinking. She’s thinking of her father.
“That was only a desperate attempt to pay for Chloe’s medical bills. I don’t gamble anymore, Emma. I haven’t played poker or stepped foot inside a casino in seven years. Well, except for this week when I was tearing the city up looking for you.”
“You looked for me?”
“You have no idea. I’m not kidding when I say I went crazy.”
“So the gambling… that’s over?”
“The thought of it makes me sick. I asked Stuart for a loan, as a friend and a boss, and he said we could run it through the practice to make it legitimate. Legitimate! What a fucking fool I was to trust him. I didn’t think about it at all until he told me it was my name all over this whole thing.”
“He set you up from the start.”
“And that bastard looked me in the eye and told me he was doing me a fucking favour.”
She nuzzles into me.
“I only had enough evidence to implicate her. I was hoping she would turn on Yates when the police questioned her but it was still a risk. If you hadn’t gotten that confession from him… I was so worried. I was so worried it would all fall apart.”
Her voice cracks and I pull her in closer. We stay motionless in each other’s arms.
“Thank you,” I whisper to her. “What do you say we go get Gracie from her grandmother’s house?”
“I’d love that,” she says with a smile. “And Elliot… There better be brownies left over. I didn’t stay locked up in a dark room for days to miss out on Gracie’s baking.”
I laugh and give her another kiss.
“There’s brownies left. And when they’re done we’ll make more.. As a family.”
Epilogue - Emma
Two months later…
The room fills with thunderous applause and I am beaming as Gracie takes her bow. She is a natural, born to be on stage. Elliot looks prouder than I’ve ever seen him, clapping his hands together with enough force to be heard across the country.
The students walk off stage and Elliot and I stand up to wait outside the auditorium.
“She was amazing!” I say. Elliot nods and smiles at me, gently kissing my forehead.
“She had your help along the way. I don’t know if I’d have had the patience to learn those lines with her.”
“It was fun! Didn’t I ever tell you I was an actress?” I say with a dramatic flourish of my hand. Elliot laughs. His laughs come more naturally now. I see him smile all the time, even catch him smiling when no one is looking.
Gracie runs down the hallway towards us and Elliot extends the bunch of flowers he bought towards her. She flies right past them into his arms.
“Daddy! Did you see me?!”
“Of course I did, kiddo. You were amazing.”
“Emma! You were right, once I got up there I wasn’t nervous at all. It was so much fun!”
I smile and ruffle her hair just like her dad does to her. She grins and backs away, finally taking the flowers from Elliot.
“Thanks Dad,” she says. “Can we go get ice cream?!”
“Of course, Gracie. You earned it.”
Elliot and I glance at each other. I know he’s about to ask her what we’ve talked about and my heart starts jumping out of my chest. I’ve slipped into life so easily with them, and I know that Gracie likes my company, but this is a huge step for all three of us.
“Gracie, Emma and I wanted to ask you something,” Elliot starts. He kneels down so he’s eye to eye with her, and I glance at the two of them feeling my heart grow. The love I have for them is unbelievable.
Gracie holds up a hand.
“Wait, I think I know what it is,” she announces. Elliot and I exchange a glance and he grins at his daughter.
“Ok, smartie pants, what is it?”
“You want Emma to move in with us.”
How did she know?! That kid is way too smart for her own good.
To be fair, I’ve been spending almost every night there, only going back to my apartment a day or two a week. Elliot and I have been busy since the arrests. He’s been setting up his own practice and I’ve been doing the financials. Every day is a long day and a lot of times it’s easier just to come home together. I wouldn’t want to go home anywhere else, if I’m honest. My apartment seems cold and lonely since Elliot and Gracie came into my life.
Elliot laughs. “Well, what do you say? Would you be happy if Emma came and stayed with us?”
“She basically already does, Dad,” Gracie says with an exaggerated eye roll. “When are you guys going to get married already?!”
“Alright alright, let’s get you some ice cream,” Elliot responds as he stands up. He looks at me with his blue eyes sparkling. “Well, when are we going to get married?” he asks me as Gracie runs ahead..
I don’t know how to respond. My eyes widen and Elliot laughs.
“Don’t look so scared Emma,” he says with a grin.
“Are you proposing?” I ask him, looking at the school hallway and wondering how this happened.
“I think Gracie did that for me,” he responds with a laugh.
“Well in that case, I think we’d better do it. You know that she always gets her way,” I say with a wink. “Spoiled rotten.”
We’re walking down the hallway hand in hand when Elliot stops. He turns to me and puts his hand on the side of my face, pulling me in for a deep kiss. He pulls away, just inches from my face as he stares into my eyes.
“I’m serious, Emma. Marry me.”
My heart explodes in my chest and I can’t help the smile that spreads on my face.
“Ok,” I answer simply. He grins and pulls me in for another kiss. I wrap my arms around him and lose myself in his lips. We stay like that, kissing in the school hallway until we hear a familiar voice calling out to us.
“Gross! Get a room you guys!”
Elliot and I burst out laughing and turn to see Gracie with her hands on her hips, looking at us
with raised eyebrows.
“We’d better go and get some ice cream,” I say.
“To celebrate,” Elliot responds with a wink. He puts his arm around me and we walk out with Gracie. I look at my new family and wonder what I did to get so lucky. I’ve never been as happy as I am right now.

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Doctor ‘O’:
A Modern Romance
Lilian Monroe
(Twitter: @Lily_Author)
Chapter 1 - Valerie
I’m lying in bed staring at the ceiling for the thousandth time. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to focus on my hand as it moves down and over my mound, savouring the electric warmth that ripples with every movement of my fingers. I concentrate hard, trying to think of something sexy. Abs, or… muscles. Hands gripping me. The touch of a man’s tongue over me. Umm… throbbing… members?
There’s a warmth growing inside me and I move my fingers faster, travelling up and down between my lips. My brow furrows as my fingers move faster, circling around my clit with more intensity. I’m holding my breath.
It’s going to happen, I can feel it. I’m going to feel the shockwaves course through my body and the anticipation is making my heart hammer in my chest. I concentrate harder, moving my hand faster with the excitement.
And then all of a sudden, nothing.
It’s gone. My orgasm slips away into oblivion, just like it does every single other time I’ve ever tried. I sigh.
This isn’t going to happen. Not this time, not ever.
I let my hand fall to my side and open my eyes back up, looking up at the ceiling again. Every single time I feel something, anything close to an orgasm it somehow escapes me. Maybe I’m thinking too hard, or I don’t know how to touch myself properly.
It’s even worse when someone else tries to give me one. I tense up or think too much about what I’m doing or what I look like or what they’re thinking.
Even when I am able to relax into the moment somehow it always seems to slip away at the last second. I can be completely in the mood and excited but for some reason I’ve just never gone over the edge. I’ve never felt the fireworks that everyone describes. The back arching, leg shaking, head melting feeling of pure, unadulterated pleasure.
Not once, and it kills me.
My ex boyfriend gave up trying in the end. He’d play with me until I was wet enough for him to enter me and then take his own orgasm without any worry about my own pleasure. I broke it off with him three months ago and since then, like every month and year before that, I’ve been unable to get myself off.
When I broke it off with my ex, my best friend Emma was there to pick up the pieces. We were out at our local cocktail lounge and I’d had two or three glasses of wine, just enough to be a bit giddy. I remember looking at her and blurting it out:
“I’ve never orgasmed.”
She’d nearly spat out her drink and looked at me in shock. Her mess of brown curls bounced around her face as she turned to look at me. She was wearing her signature bright red lipstick and her mouth hung open.
“You mean in the four years you spent with that idiot he was never able to make you come?!”
I’d looked around, worried she was being too loud. We were in our favourite booth in the back corner, with a perfect view of everyone in the bar but shielded from any unwelcome attention. I glanced around to make sure no one had heard her outburst.
She didn’t care, as usual. She never seemed to be self conscious or insecure. She walked into any room like she owned it, swaying her hips and walking in with purpose. All eyes were on her, always. Her figure was a perfect hourglass and she had the attitude to match.
Where she is all curls and curves, I’m wavy-haired, blonde, lanky. I always seem to feel a bit awkward when men talk to me, like somehow they’re making fun of me, or they’re just passing the time until they get their turn with her. She’s the centre of attention and I’m her sidekick wherever we go. I don’t mind, not really. I love her to bits. She’s my rock, my best friend, my confidante. I couldn’t imagine my life without her by my side. She’s been there for me through thick and thin.
The past three months she’s helped me move into my new apartment, made me laugh, brought me ice cream when I needed it. We’d moved to New York five years ago together and would not have survived without each other. She is the best friend I’ve ever had, and it felt good to open up to her about my orgasm-less existence.
I couldn’t help but smile at the horror on her face when I told her my secret.
“No, I mean I’ve never had an orgasm.. Ever. Like, not just with Bryce. Never.”
Emma put down her glass of wine and brought her hands to her temples. This seemed to be difficult for her to understand. She stared at the table intently, processing what I’d just told her.
“Never. As in… Ever? Not once?”
She looked up at me, searching my face. I shrugged, not knowing what to tell her.
“I mean, I’ve tried. Don’t get me wrong.”
I looked at her sheepishly.
“Val, girl. You need to sort this out. I’m telling you this as your oldest and dearest friend, and as someone who has had many mind blowing orgasms. This is a very, very important part of any woman’s life. Did Bryce know? What did he do to try to get you off?”
I’d felt the tears welling up in my eyes when she mentioned him. I didn’t want to tell her how bad our sex life had gotten, how selfish he’d been in bed. How selfish he’d been in general!
She’d understood without me saying anything, as usual. She’d just waived the waiter over and dramatically ordered another round of drinks for us and then turned and winked at me. I’d laughed and the constriction in my throat had disappeared.
I smile as I think back on that conversation. She’d been so concerned, so intent on helping me. She’d given me tips, she described her most intense orgasms, the way they rushed from her centre outwards in waves of warmth and pleasure.
She had been so open and candid with me, talking about the way her back arched and her legs trembled. How her partners had actually enjoyed giving her pleasure, it wasn’t a chore to them at all. I’d listened to her describing her experiences and wished I could feel the same. I’d tried the tricks that she’d told me and tried to relax into it.
It just seems like I… can’t. I can’t do it. No matter how hard I try I still haven’t felt an orgasm rip through my body. I haven’t been with anyone since Bryce but I can’t bring myself to go through that again. To explain that it won’t happen, it’s not them, it’s me. To see the disappointment in the guy’s face as he tries and tries to get me to climax only to ultimately fail.
Some guys take it on like a challenge but it only makes me feel worse when it doesn’t work. I’ve learned to live with it, sort of. I’ve thrown myself into my career and most days it feels like that’s enough.
I lay in bed wondering if maybe there’s something wrong with me, and it makes me not able to orgasm. When the thought crosses my mind, I turn and reach for my phone. I pull up Google and within a millisecond I’m presented with ten thousand reasons that I’m not able to get off. I start clicking through the top few results.
Maybe there really is something wrong with me. Doctor Google certainly seems to think so. Apparently I need to relax more, but the next article tells me to tense my leg muscle
s. I just need to try masturbating, duh, as if I haven’t tried that a million times!
I sigh as I click from one result to another. Hormonal dysfunction, chronic illness, nerve damage, there seem to be countless things that might be wrong. I feel the familiar frustration bubbling up inside me as I keep reading. All I want is to feel what everyone else can feel! I want that for myself and I want that connection with someone else.
I don’t think that’s too much to ask. It’s a basic human biological function.
I can feel the tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. I don’t want to cry, not again. I’ve been crying for three months. I take a deep breath and gather my resolve. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow for a medical, maybe I’ll ask the doctor if there’s something wrong with me. My cheeks burn at the thought of asking that, of admitting once again that I’ve never felt the rush of an orgasm through my body. To make matters worse, I’ve just changed doctors and I haven’t met this one yet.
I look at my email confirmation from the doctor’s office and see the name: Doctor O’Neill. I hope it’s a woman, and I don’t have to embarrass myself in front of yet another man. I let my phone fall beside me and look up once again at the ceiling. It’ll drive me nuts to keep thinking like this.
I can endure a few minutes of embarrassment if it means I get an answer. I’ll ask the doctor tomorrow. Male or female, it doesn’t matter. Doctors have heard worse, I tell myself. All I want is a simple little orgasm, is that too much to ask? It doesn’t need to be earth shattering. I’ll settle for a regular old, middle of the week Wednesday-style routine orgasm. That’s a thing, right?
I feel the familiar stubbornness growing inside me. When I set my mind to something, nothing can stop me. I’ll get my answer tomorrow.
I turn to my side and close my eyes, just wanting to go to sleep.
Chapter 2 - Clay
“Good morning, Doctor O’Neill!”
I look over and smile at our receptionist. She’s standing tall in her chair, pushing her tits out towards me. She bats her eyes at me as I walk by.
Doctor D: A Single Dad Romantic Suspense Novel (Doctor's Orders Book 2) Page 18