“A vacation sounds lovely, but we’re a team. Where you go, I go.” She looked down at her paper and made her notes. “You’ll just have to give me some pointers on how to prepare, and I guess I feel comfortable because I’ll be with a doctor the entire time.”
“I’ll keep you safe, Sic.” I would keep her with me the entire time, made sure she slept with me too, just to make sure no one saw her as a target.
She moved past it. “I have everything ready for the dinner on Saturday. Anything you need me to do at the last minute?”
I shook my head and kept eating.
“I kinda have something planned, if that’s alright.”
I swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“You’re doing a presentation for all the guests, and I have something to piggyback off that, if that’s okay. It’s a surprise, but I also didn’t want to catch you off guard either.”
“Can I ask what it is?”
“If you really want to know, I’ll tell you. But I’d rather keep it as a surprise…if you can trust me.”
I wanted this night to go perfectly and didn’t want anything unexpected to happen, but she had absolutely earned my trust, and I wouldn’t deny her that if that’s what she wanted. “You have my complete confidence, Sic. Just make sure I don’t look like an idiot.”
She smiled. “Never.” She looked down again and made a few more notes.
I went back to my sandwich, watching her all the while, getting a slight whiff of her perfume over the desk.
“I’m going to head over to—”
“How’d your date go?” Like spontaneous combustion, it just happened, erupted in a fiery explosion. I’d just taken a bite of my sandwich, so I spat out the question around a mouthful, abandoning my manners because curiosity had me by the throat. I instantly regretted the question once I asked it, but it came tumbling out…like fucking vomit.
She lifted her chin and couldn’t hide her surprise at the question. She never asked me about the women I spent time with, so she probably assumed I would never ask her something like that. And she was right—I shouldn’t have asked.
I had the opportunity to tell her it was a joke, but I didn’t. I continued to eat.
When she realized I was serious, the question was really on the table, she answered. “It was good. I was an hour and a half late, but he was totally nice about it.” She cleared her throat and looked down at her notebook.
I wanted to press for more information, but that was so goddamn inappropriate, and it was none of my goddamn business. None at all. “Good.” That was all I could bring myself to say. If a woman who looked like Sicily showed up for our date three hours late, I still wouldn’t give a damn, so it was no surprise he didn’t either. She was worth the wait. “Going to see him again?” I tried to sound casual, like two friends talking, but I feared it was coming off as an interrogation instead…because it was.
She kept her eyes down, like she was just as uncomfortable by the question as I was. “Yeah.”
My food wasn’t the only thing that sank into my stomach. There was something else, something heavy, like a big-ass rock. “Great. That’s just…great.”
I really was a fuck boy.
Natalia texted me and asked me to come to her apartment.
She was a good lay, was down for pretty much anything, and the fact that it was so wrong made it hot. All I wanted was something so meaningless that it barely required talking, and that’s exactly what she gave me.
She opened the door in a black teddy and garters, her blond hair big and all over the place, her lipstick bright red so she would leave marks all over my neck and dick. She had this irresistible confidence that I didn’t see in women my age, so that made me come back for more.
She grabbed the front of my shirt and tugged me inside, ready to fuck my brains out.
But I wasn’t into it at all, no matter how hot it was, no matter how dirty it was.
When she crushed her lips to mine and yanked down my fly, it felt weird.
Like, really weird.
I grabbed her arms and pushed her slightly away. “Look, this needs to stop.”
“Why?” She reached for me again, pulling me close.
“Because.” I wasn’t caving this time. My hands kept her at a distance from me. “It just does. Natalia, you’re a beautiful woman and I enjoy being with you, but I just… This doesn’t feel right.”
Stung by the rejection, she crossed her arms over her chest, and her eyebrows arched in offense. “It seemed to feel right to you up until now.”
“It never felt right—that was why I kept coming back. But now…I feel like I shouldn’t be here. You’re someone I admire, someone I still consider a mentor, so I’m ending this.”
“I’ve always been your mentor, so that’s not the reason, Dex. What is the real reason?”
I didn’t have an answer. “I guess I don’t have one.” I stepped back to the doorway and left her behind. I should have told her no when she texted me instead of making it all the way over here. “But it’s over, nonetheless.” I turned back around to look at her once more before I walked away for good. “I hope that we can continue to be professional going forward, that we can be colleagues again, that we can forget this ever happened.”
She continued to stand there with her arms over her chest, pursing her lips like she was furious about this. “Dex, you don’t need to worry about my professionalism. Am I angry that I’m getting dumped by the best sex I’ve ever had? Absolutely. But I know how to take rejection in stride and move on. I know how to not hold a grudge. The next time we see each other, it’ll be exactly what you want it to be. But don’t expect it to be that way tomorrow or the next day.” She grabbed the door and prepared to shut it in my face. “Goodbye, Dex.”
Daisy sat across from me at the restaurant, picking up her taco before she took a big bite. Her margarita was on the table, the rim covered with salt. She stared at me as she chewed, those smart eyes constantly absorbing the world around her, and then spoke her mind when she got the food down. “What’s your deal?”
I grabbed a chip and dunked it into the salsa before I threw it in my mouth. “I don’t have a deal.”
“You totally have a deal.” She grabbed a chip and copied me, this time dunking it into the guacamole we split. “Something happen at work?”
I kept in touch with Ginny’s parents while she was resting at home, and they had nothing but good things to say about her recovery. She was breathing normally, so she was eager to go outside and ride the new bike they got her, but they forced her to stay in bed and watch her favorite movies. “I had a rough surgery last week. Five-year-old girl, sweet little thing. She had a hole in her heart, but she also had a valve issue and some buildup in her arteries, so I basically had to race the clock to get her fixed up before bypass ended. Her heart wouldn’t restart for a while…scary fucking shit.”
“Geez. How is she now?”
“She’s great,” I said, so thankful that I got to say that out loud. “I would have thrown myself off a fucking bridge if she didn’t make it.”
“I’m glad she’s doing well. I’m surprised she had that hole for so long. Five is pretty old, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah.” But our health care system was a fucking joke.
“Is that all it is?” she asked. “Because you seem particularly down.”
“I just have a lot of stuff going on, like that dinner on Saturday…stuff like that.”
Daisy went back to eating her tacos and accepted my answer. “You still nailing your old professor?”
I rolled my eyes. “No.”
“Good. That was so gross.”
“She’s only in her midforties—”
“No. It’s gross because she’s your old teacher. That’s…just weird. I’m glad you broke it off.”
“What makes you think I broke it off?”
“Because you aren’t an idiot.” She kept eating. “Why would she want it to end? She’s got this young guy
to come at her beck and call. No woman would ever put a stop to that. The only way that was ever going to end was if you pulled the plug.”
I took a drink of my margarita then scanned the restaurant, doing some people watching. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Pull the plug on Mason?”
“Why would I pull the plug on that fine piece of man?” she asked in between bites of her chips. “He’s gorgeous, confident, sexy…hell no. I’m not letting him go.”
Damn. I kept my eyes averted and picked up my other taco.
“What about you? Seeing anyone?”
I shook my head. “I never see anyone.”
“So, just pushing those women through the grinder, then?”
“I guess.” I didn’t go out last weekend. I was in a bit of a dry spell, not really interested in women or sex right now. It was like my hormones had changed, and now my sex drive and libido evaporated. Never happened before, but I was almost thirty, so maybe my youth was fading.
“Did Sicily tell you I ran into her the other night?”
I talked to Sicily every day, even Saturdays, and that hadn’t come up once. “No.”
“Yeah, Mason and I were out for dinner, and she was in the same restaurant.”
And I bet she wasn’t alone. I continued to eat my tacos even though I wasn’t even hungry anymore.
Daisy kept carving out the guacamole with her chips before throwing them into her mouth, her eyes on me. “I didn’t know she was seeing anybody.”
“She’s a single woman, not that surprising.” I did my best to deflect Daisy’s observation as much as possible, but she was too fucking smart, and she would eat me alive.
“Does that bother you?”
“Why would it bother me?” I countered.
“Because your face is turning red.” She chewed her chip as she gave me that obnoxious, victorious look, like she had me by the balls and she fucking knew it. “The vein that only pops out when you’re mad, it’s pretty big right now.”
“Maybe it’s big because of you.”
She shook her head. “I doubt it. I’m a delight.”
“You’re a pain in the ass, that’s what you are.”
“If you don’t like it when I call you out on your lies, then join me on the side of truth.”
“What did I lie about?”
“Oh, come on.” She rolled her eyes and ate another chip. “It’s driving you goddamn crazy.”
“It’s not,” I said with confidence, but I could hear the slight drop in my voice.
“Really? So, it wouldn’t bother you if I told you he’s super hot and ripped?”
My eyes narrowed. “Like hotter than me?”
She leaned her head back and laughed as she clapped her hands slowly. “Oh my god, that was so freakin’ easy. Jesus, Dex. You have the worst poker face I’ve ever seen in my life.” She grabbed her margarita and took a drink.
I could feel the vein bulging further on my head, feeling it throbbing.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her. Wouldn’t throw you under the bus like that.”
“So, is he actually hot, or…?”
She chuckled with glee. “Yes, unfortunately. I guess he’s a trainer. That’s how they met.”
So, if I hadn’t told her to exercise, she never would have met the guy? This was all my fault, being a doctor and shit.
Daisy stopped the taunts and turned serious. “I don’t understand, Dex. Just go for it.”
I shook my head.
“Why? Give me one good reason—”
“I’m not having this conversation again.” I was tired of repeating myself. My family needed to get off my ass. “Just drop it.”
Daisy recognized my tone and let it slide, grabbing her margarita to take another drink. “Alright…whatever. But in case you haven’t figured it out, hot bitches like that don’t stay single long.”
We finished dinner then walked together on the sidewalk, her penthouse and my apartment in the same direction.
She was bundled up in her thick jacket, her hands deep in her pockets with her scarf around her neck. “Dude, I’m so sick of winter. I want that unbearable humidity to hit me the second I step outside.”
“I’d take the cold over the heat any day.”
“Well, you can’t wear cute sundresses and heels. If you could, trust me, you’d feel differently.”
Really doubt it.
When we approached the entrance to her building, she didn’t dodge inside as quickly as she could. She gave me a quick hug before she pulled away. “So, I was thinking…maybe we could go out to dinner with Mom and Dad in a couple weeks.”
“Why?” We saw them all the time, and why just us and not Derek?
“Well…” She looked down for a second, like she was trying to figure out the best way to word her next sentence. “I was thinking about introducing Mason to Mom and Dad, and I thought it would be less tense if you were there. Since you’ve already met him a couple times.”
She couldn’t be serious. I stared at her for a solid three seconds as I digested the worst idea I’d ever heard.
“I’ve already told Mom about him because, you know, I tell her everything. But I’m kinda nervous about Dad. He always has such a hard time talking to people as it is. I feel like I’m putting him in a bad position.”
She was putting him in the most uncomfortable position possible.
“Why haven’t you said anything?”
“What do you want me to say? It’s way too soon for you to introduce Mason to Mom and Dad. Are you crazy?”
“I’ve been seeing him for months now.”
“So?” I challenged.
“You brought Catherine around immediately, and Emerson was part of the family before Derek even married her. Why is it so fucking casual for you guys to bring women around, but when I want to bring a guy—”
“You know exactly why, Daisy. Come on. I understand why it pisses you off, but it’s not going to change anything. You’re going to put Dad through the fucking wringer if you bring Mason around.”
“There’s nothing wrong with Mason—”
“Doesn’t make him right. I’m surprised he even wants to meet Mom and Dad.”
“Well, I haven’t told him yet, but he will.”
“Why are you forcing this?”
“Because he knows how important my family is to me, so if we’re going to make this work, I need to know he’s going to get along with you guys. Look, I want this to go somewhere, but I don’t want to let my heart get in that deep if he’s not compatible with everyone.”
When I sighed, my breath escaped as a long trail of smoke. “Do you love this guy?”
Her eyes immediately flicked away at the question.
I got my answer.
She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it from her face because the wind picked up for a random gust before it faded away again. “Are you willing to do that or not?” She slid her hand back into her pocket.
I had a gut feeling that Mason wasn’t the right guy for her, that he was too handsome and rich to settle down with someone when he was so young. Daisy was the most perfect woman on the planet, so he probably stayed because it was too hard to leave; he gave her what she asked for because he didn’t want to lose her. But when she asked for too much, he would bail.
But she was in too deep, and there was nothing I could do.
All I could do was support her and be her crutch for the fallout. “You know I’ll do whatever you want me to do, Daisy. I’m always here for you. Always.”
I didn’t mention what Daisy had said to Sicily.
I refused to ask her any more questions about her personal life because it was none of my business, especially when I had no intention of stepping up. She told me how she felt, and that was my opportunity to do something about it. I chose not to. I had to accept those consequences like a man instead of acting like a jealous asshole.
But when she walked into my office to b
ring lunch, wearing high-waisted jeans with a blouse slightly tucked into the front, I remembered why I was so jealous.
Because she was a fucking bombshell.
My heart always raced a little faster when I looked at her, my pants fit a little tighter, and my fingers usually gripped whatever I was holding. My eyes raked over her body and admired her slender waist, her nice tits, and those lean legs that would fit nicely around my waist. She always wore the most flattering clothes, looking professional with her bracelets, watches, and necklaces, but her perfect figure couldn’t hide what was inside. She couldn’t hide that hourglass frame, skin so bright and translucent that she seemed to possess the complexion of a doll.
She placed my lunch on the desk in front of me. “You got a minute?”
“Never. But I’ll make one for you.” My dad always said that when I asked him for something while I was growing up. If he was working at the dining table and I came over for something, he stopped what he was doing and gave me all of his attention. Now that I was a man and a working professional, I understood just how valuable time really was, but he’d give up all his time for me at the drop of a hat. That was the ultimate sign of love, which I learned later in life.
She pulled out a thin black chain that seemed to be darkened stainless steel. “Can I have your necklaces?”
I obeyed without question, unclasping all of them and setting them on the desk in front of her.
She pulled the crosses off the original chains and slid them onto the new one. “I just figured you’re going to keep getting these, and maybe we should consolidate so you don’t have a bunch of chains hanging from your neck. Also, so when you lean forward, they don’t all hang out and get stuck in anything.” She pulled out another cross and slipped it onto the chain.
“What’s that?”
She didn’t look at me as she clasped the necklace closed and handed it back to me. “My grandmother’s.”
The Doctor Who Has No Closure (Soulless Book 10) Page 16