Doctor Next Door

by Rush, Olivia

  “Not exactly,” I replied and turned toward her, grinning now.

  “What do you mean, not exactly?”

  “I mean, I’m not moving anymore.”

  “Anymore?” A frown creased her forehead, still dirty after her ordeal, and she didn’t take another step inside. “Care to explain what you mean by that?”

  Chapter 28

  Rebecca

  I stared at the boxes, gripping my bag to my side, still smelling of smoke and hoarse from the entire ordeal. “Mason?”

  He set Ty down, and the puppy gave a little bark and padded over to my side, jumping up and licking at my knees. Mason still didn’t answer me. He tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and glanced over his shoulder at the boxes, then back at me.

  “Mason?”

  “I was going to get this all squared away before you came over,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  “The boxes. You weren’t supposed to see them.”

  “OK. What the hell? Why not?” I remained exactly where I was in the doorframe with Ty now sitting at my side. He whined, lay down, and rested his little head on my foot. “Are you moving?” I asked again.

  Mason cleared his throat, then put out his palms as if I were a wild animal he needed to calm down. I wasn’t even mad, just confused. This didn’t make sense. We’d spent the past month getting to know each other, slowly becoming more than just friends having fun. We’d gone on dates. He’d invited me over to celebrate with him tonight.

  Why the hell would he be packed and ready to go? Though, judging by some of the stuff that spilled from the boxes, he wasn’t fully packed. Just in a rush to get there.

  “No,” Mason said, still with his palms up. What the hell is that about?

  “OK, then why are you packed up to go?”

  “Let me explain,” Mason said and moved closer to me. I stood my ground, but there was a strange sensation seated deep in my chest. It reminded me of…finding out that Kieran was cheating on me. It felt like betrayal.

  “Go ahead,” I said, waving my free hand through the air between us. My throat still killed, but it didn’t matter right now.

  “I was planning on moving before you came to town. I wanted out of Stoneport because of Perry and Tabitha and all the crazy shit that went down here. Just wanted to leave and forget, but then I walked by your house and saw you.”

  “And that changed?”

  Mason let out a low sigh. “Not for a while,” he replied. “I’ll be honest with you, when we were messing around, before things started going down this road, I still had my mind set on packing up and leaving. But, Becca, each day I spent with you just made me want to stay. Being around you is like—”

  I put up my hand. “Wait one damn second,” I replied. “You still wanted to leave. When did you change your mind? When did you officially decide you weren’t going to move?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Yes, it matters.”

  “Becca, me leaving had nothing to do with you. It wasn’t like I wanted to run away from you or some shit.”

  I folded my arms again, staring him down, that horrid feeling in the center of my chest amplifying by the second. “But you did sleep with me without telling me that you might be gone the very next day.”

  “It was never like that,” he said, firmly. “I would never fuck you and then leave the next day without another word. I’m not that type of man.”

  The warnings that Kathy had given me echoed somewhere in the back of my mind. The history lesson on what had happened with his ex, that he’d left her in Stoneport, came too, even though they were irrational. They weren’t good examples of who he was as a man, as a person.

  Oh yeah, then why was he planning on leaving again? Why didn’t he just tell you from the start?

  “Really?” I asked at last, tilting my head to one side. “Mason, I’ve been through a lot today. I’d appreciate it if you’d cut the crap and just tell me the bottom line here. When did you supposedly change your mind about leaving? Shoot, when did you decide it would be a good idea not to tell me you’d even planned on moving away? We’ve been seeing each other for what, five, six weeks now? Talking about our dreams, me blabbing on about owning a restaurant or starting a bed and breakfast someday…” I sucked in a breath. “I always wondered why you were so mute about your future. About where you wanted to work next. Now I see why.”

  “It’s not like that,” he repeated. A broken record. Couldn’t he just level with me here?

  “Tell me the truth,” I said. “Stop blocking me out. I need to understand what’s going on.”

  “I was going to leave. I decided not to a few weeks ago.”

  “When exactly?” I asked. This wasn’t just important. This was everything. How long had he been keeping this from me? How long had he been pretending that he was interested in what I had to say, all the while planning some weirdass escape into the sunset? “Did you want me to see this?”

  It wasn’t irrational for me to be upset about this. We weren’t technically dating, but we’d spent more than a month together. Even if we’d just been friends and nothing else, I would’ve expected a heads-up. That was what people in any form of a relationship did. They let each other know when something big was about to happen in their lives.

  That was fucking normal.

  But nothing about my relationship or friendship with Mason had ever been normal.

  “I don’t fucking know, Becca. Two weeks ago, three weeks ago?”

  “And you didn’t think to tell me any of this?” I asked.

  “It wasn’t important. What difference does it make now? I decided to stay. I decided that what we had going on was more important than following through on anything else.”

  “What’s anything else?” I asked.

  “A job. I had an opportunity in Vermont lined up, but I put it off. I called them and told them—”

  “Mind blown,” I said. “I—wow. Wow.”

  “For you, Becca. All I’ve done is for you.”

  “How can I possibly know that?” I asked. “Your boxes are still out here in the hall. How do I know that you’re not still moving away tomorrow? How can I possibly trust anything you’re saying right now?” Hysteria built in my chest, that feeling of betrayal too big now to bury down. It clouded my thoughts, my judgment, overtook everything.

  “Are you fucking kidding?” Mason growled, his sharp, intelligent eyes burrowing into my resolve. “I just ran into a motherfucking burning building to save you, Becca. If you can’t figure out what kind of man I am after this past month…”

  “I thought I knew what kind of man you were until I walked into this house. I don’t know why I even care,” I said, throwing up my arms, my bag slamming into my side. “I mean, it’s like you said. It’s nothing serious. We’re nothing. It probably doesn’t matter that you didn’t tell me you were moving. I probably have no right to be angry with you. But I am. I am so fucking mad at you I can’t even think straight right now. I need to go.”

  “Becca, no. You can’t leave. You have nowhere to go,” he said and took hold of my hand, stunning me with that connection between us. I couldn’t handle any of it. I was still in pain and aching from the fire.

  “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a wilting flower,” I replied and tugged my hand from his grip. “I’ll be fine, Mason.”

  “Becca.”

  “No,” I said and bent, picking up Ty and pressing him to my chest. “No. Just no. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Thank you for saving my life. I can never repay you for that. The carpentry, however, I’ll pay you for after I’ve saved up some cash from working at Betsy’s. I…think this is it for me.”

  “Don’t let what happened in your past overwhelm what’s happening between us right now,” Mason said, not asking, but commanding. Commanding me to stop and listen and change my mind.

  I shook my head. “Have a good evening. Don’t follow me, please.” I trudged out onto his front por
ch, burning with a mixture of pain and anger. There was confusion mixed in too. My tired brain tried putting the puzzle pieces together to form that bigger picture, but I couldn’t make sense of it now.

  I needed time and space. I needed anywhere but here.

  “Becca.”

  I walked out the front door and down the steps, heading back toward the sidewalk. I’d put my keys in the bag of smoky clothes at my side, which meant that I could get in my beat-up VW—thank god I’d splurged on a battery for it—and hightail it over to a hotel. Maybe call my sister and ask for some advice.

  Hopefully whatever hotel I went to would be dog-friendly, or I’d have to spend the night in the car with little Ty.

  I strode down the sidewalk, refusing to look back, to feel anything, even though my heart was a brick weight in my chest. Every inch of my skin itched to turn back right now, to run back up the stairs and give Mason another chance, but I couldn’t do it.

  Not after today, after the confusion of the fire and the reminder of what Kieran had done. How had I let myself trust again?

  “Ugh,” I groaned, and Ty nuzzled the underside of my chin with his cold nose and whined softly. “It’s OK, Ty. We’re OK.” But as I said it, tears welled up and blocked my vision. A lump formed in my throat.

  I hurried up to my gate, opened it, and walked up the drive toward the VW. Two minutes later, it was unlocked, and Ty was in the backseat. I bundled my bag onto the passenger’s seat and—

  A hand closed around my arm. “There you are, you slippery little bitch.” The voice blasted me with the worst kind of nostalgia. Deep, throaty, and full of contempt. Kieran hadn’t changed, then. Not in that, at least. “Did you really think I’d let you get away for a second time? Did you? I should’ve ended you when I had the chance.”

  He spun me on the spot, slammed me against the door, closing it so Ty could do nothing but bark inside.

  Kieran wore a dark shirt and a pair of matching jeans, his hair slicked back in his classic fuckboy style. He was stringy, but strong as hell.

  I jerked against him. “Let go of me, or I’ll call the cops.”

  He sniggered at me. “Because that worked so well for you the last time. You ran away, baby girl. You ran away, and I still found you. You had to know I started that fire. You had to know. I’m surprised you didn’t set the cops on my ass. Why not, huh?”

  I’d had my suspicions, but I’d never have been able to prove it. “What do you want, Kieran?”

  “What do you think? I want you. I always wanted you. I told you I wouldn’t let you leave me.”

  That conversation was blocked out. The memory was painful. He’d told me I belonged to him, and I’d told him that I was done. He hadn’t hurt me. He hadn’t screamed. He’d just burned down the restaurant around me, apparently, and I’d moved on.

  “And if I can’t have you, then you’re worth nothing to me. And if you’re worth nothing to me, why should I let you live, huh?” He shook me against the car, slammed my back into it, eliciting another volley of barks from Ty.

  I raised my knee and rammed it into his crotch.

  He wheezed and doubled over. I aimed a kick for his head and let it fly, knocking him back a step. “Fuck you.” I opened my door again and tried getting into the car, but the thunder of footsteps across the lawn brought my focus up again.

  Mason charged toward Kieran, the devil in his eyes, his fists coiled tight.

  Chapter 29

  Mason

  The memory of that fucker grabbing her, of me rushing across to end him, of Becca’s scream for me to stop, sat front of mind even after he’d been arrested. I’d barely restrained myself. Kept him in a chokehold until the cops had arrived, all while I contemplated breaking his fucking neck on the spot.

  Not exactly a doctor’s MO, but this was the asshole who’d broken her trust. He’d hurt her. He’d screwed our pseudo-relationship from beyond the grave before it could take off.

  I shook my head and tried to focus on the present. I leaned against the side of my Dodge, my arms folded across my chest, studying the front of the police station, waiting.

  I’d stayed out here after giving my statement for fear of what I might do given the chance. Becca was still inside.

  An officer exited the building, tramped down the front steps, then turned and walked through the parking lot toward a cruiser. At least ten had come and gone in the past half an hour, and each time that door opened, my heart stopped beating in my chest.

  Screwed. You’re beyond screwed. You’re falling for her.

  For once, I couldn’t control the thought and put it aside. I gravitated around it, examining it from every angle. It’s true. I was fucked in so many ways.

  I’d never wanted this. I’d sworn off love and marriage after witnessing Tabitha’s decline and my best friend’s betrayal.

  The front door to the station opened again, and Becca emerged at last. My insides squirmed around like I was a fucking horned-up teenager all over again. Shit, worse than that. Like it was prom night and she was my date.

  She spoke briefly to an officer in the front then walked down the stairs, those baby blues fixed on me now. So clear, and filled with…something. Something I couldn’t place.

  Jesus Christ, I love her. I fucking love her. Look at her.

  I could see beyond who she was on the outside. She wasn’t just my gorgeous next-door neighbor or the office assistant I’d fantasized about at the practice. She was Becca. My Becca.

  She was rose petals, and strength, and a dirty mouth.

  “Hey,” she said and halted in front of me.

  “You all right?” I asked, gruffly. Didn’t want to open up to this too much or I’d end up fucking myself again.

  “I’ve been better.” She gave a soft smile. “I—uh, I filed a restraining order against Kieran, and he’s been arrested. He pretty much admitted to setting the fire and to stalking me. He crumbled the minute one of the cops laid into him. That’s what they tell me, anyway. Regardless, he won’t be a problem again.”

  “You’re damn right he won’t be a problem again,” I growled. “Becca, Christ, if you think I’m going anywhere after this… Angelface, I’m never leaving Stoneport while you’re here. I’ll be your neighbor for as long as you live here.” I held up a hand to block her complaint. “You don’t have to believe me. I’ll show you.”

  “That’s not what I wanted to say.” She stepped a little closer and took my hand, stroking her small fingertips across it. “Thank you, Mason. Thank you so much for coming over when you did. I was terrified.”

  “Hey, don’t undersell yourself here,” I replied, lifting her hand in mine, examining the fine veins along the back of it, turning it over and tracing the lines of her palm. “You kicked him so hard in the nuts he choked on ’em.”

  Becca burst out laughing—a true tinkle of mirth, which gave me relief. She was herself. She was fine. She wasn’t fucking scarred from what’d happened. But the laughter died after a minute and was replaced by the silence of the evening, broken only by a car passing and the clack of the doors at the front of the station.

  “Can I ask you a question, Becca?”

  “Shoot.”

  “Why him? What did you ever see in that guy?” It’d been eating at me ever since I’d cooled down enough to think about it. He wasn’t a bad-looking dude, but his personality was a kick in the face. He was a stalker-creep.

  Becca wrinkled up her adorable nose. “I could ask you the same question about Tabitha. She’s not anything like me.”

  “True,” I replied, but I left the question hanging between us.

  “He wasn’t that way when we started dating,” Becca said at last and met my gaze head-on. Another thing I loved about her. She never backed down from a challenge. “He was sweet and kind and he filled my head with big ideas and dreams. Maybe I was young, or maybe…he was just a manipulator. Whatever the case was, I trusted him. His true colors only came out later on.”

  I could relate to that
.

  “That’s why,” she continued, “I’m so scared of—” Becca clammed up and looked away, out at the parking lot and the distant trees, the light of a nearby lamppost catching her features just so, casting half her face in shadow. “That’s why.”

  “I get it,” I replied. “But I’m not going to let some dumb motherfucker ruin what we have going on. Hope you understand that.”

  “What are you saying?” She turned back to me.

  “I’m saying that this is not a fling. It’s not friends. It’s not some shapeless weirdass semi-dating deal. You’re the one I want to be with. I wasn’t going to leave you, Becca. I didn’t want to tell you about the plans I had before I met you because I didn’t want to piss you off. I didn’t want you to leave.” I didn’t want to lose you. I couldn’t say the words yet. Couldn’t bring out the fact that I’d fallen for her.

  “Mason—”

  “I know, Becca, but it wasn’t so much a conscious decision as it was…unimportant. I forget everything when I’m around you. I refuse to believe you can’t relate to that.”

  Becca bit on her bottom lip and looked down at her feet.

  “I’m not letting you go. I’ve told you before, tell me to leave and I’ll leave, but until then…” I let it hang in the air between us, waited for her to give me the signal that she was, in fact, done with all of this.

  She didn’t.

  Becca looked up at me, at last, and met my gaze, blinking fast. “What do you want, Mason?” she asked.

  I hadn’t been asked that question in a long time. Nobody had given enough of a fuck to bother with it—cry me a river, right? But now, it meant something.

  “You,” I said. “All I want is you.” I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her to my chest, working my fingers down her spine and to her hips.

  She was still hoarse, still smoky, still soot-streaked, but she melted into me like she’d forgotten everything that’d transpired over the past couple hours.