Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
When I saw her sitting at the bar at Bailey’s, I never imagined I’d end up back at her place. In her bed. Touching her. Kissing her. Exploring her. Making her come.
The sex was explosive. Ten years ago, I would’ve just chalked it up as a night of hot, mind-blowing sex. But I didn’t know my head from my asshole back then.
Bottom line, last night meant something to me. And while I wish I could say it meant something to Sammy too, I’m mostly in the dark about her feelings. She always keeps everything so close to the vest, which I can’t even blame her for. Her life for the last decade has had some serious ups and downs highlighted by a lot of disappointment—courtesy of a shitty ex-husband and the family he left her to take care of all on her own.
And to add insult to injury, I didn’t even get to wake up with her this morning and do something pathetically telling like fawn all over her while I made us breakfast. Instead, I watched Dr. Weller, our lead cardiologist, perform a six-hour triple bypass on a little boy with Kawasaki disease after he came into the emergency department in bad shape.
I couldn’t use or check my phone for the entire morning, and now I’m wondering if she was even truly awake when I told her the reason I left so early.
Shiiit. Does she remember? Or does she think I left in the middle of the night like some kind of dick?
I glance at my watch and see it’s a little after eleven. Surely she’s awake by now. Two seconds later, my phone is out of my pocket, and my fingers slide across the keys as I type out a message.
Me: I can’t remember a better night than last night, Sam. I’m sorry I had to leave so early this morning to go into work.
I hit send, but I also reread it three times, trying to decide whether it’s right. There’s only so much you can convey in a text, you know?
I almost send her a second message, but Chanandler Bong’s impatient whine grabs my attention. I look over at Kendall to find her still stretching. “Be patient, Chan,” she tells her big Lab, scratching the top of his head. “He’ll be here soon.”
“I’m with Bong.” I make a show of dramatically looking at my watch, even though nary a full minute has passed since the last time I looked at it. “Where in the hell is your husband?”
I roll my eyes when Kendall shoots me a glare that suggests I will never, ever know the annoyance she feels.
“Trust me, if I could control his arrival, my life would be a lot different.” She leans over to stretch out her hamstrings. “As it is, my only revenge tactic against his constant tardiness is trying to look as hot as possible so he’ll at least have to worry about other men hitting on me when he’s not here.”
I chuckle. Kendall is a blonde bombshell any guy would be hard-pressed not to notice. But she’s also intimidating. I don’t think half the guys who think about hitting on her even bother with an approach. No doubt her husband Dale knows that.
“Hey, guys!” the man of the hour finally greets, strolling down the path with a coffee cup in hand. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Hey, guys? Hey, guys?” Kendall questions loudly, making me smother a laugh. She’s going to have his balls.
Dale’s eyes dance with amusement. “I mean, hello, beautiful, amazing, brilliant love of my life.”
“That’s what I thought you meant to say.” She purses her lips. “And don’t forget Noah.”
“Right. And Noah,” he agrees with a chuckle and rubs an affectionate palm over a wagging-tail Chanandler’s back.
“I hope that coffee cup is an optical illusion, Dr. Hopkins,” I say chidingly. “Because I know you didn’t keep us waiting on you while you stopped to caffeinate.”
“I got it from the hospital cafeteria…six hours ago. So, you can relax. Some of us didn’t have the luxury of sleeping in our own beds for the last twelve hours.”
“That’s because you chose to work in the ED,” Kendall teases. “Chump move.”
“Excuse me?” I question with narrowed eyes. “I didn’t sleep either because your ass called me in.”
“Oh yeah,” he answers with a nod. “I almost forgot about that.”
“That’s convenient because I sure as shit didn’t forget about you ruining my night.”
“Ruin your night?” Dale scoffs. “I called you at four this morning, Philips. What else were you doing besides sleeping?”
Sleeping with a soft, warm, perfect, very naked Sammy wrapped around my body like ivy, my mind silently corrects him.
“And how bad could it have been?” he questions with a real dickish smile. “It’s not like sitting on a little stool and monitoring O2 sats is hard labor.”