Doctor Dearest

It’s better to just take a deep breath and calm down. Tomorrow, I’ll see Lindsey and let her run whatever tests she’d like. Tonight, I want to sit at the kitchen island and dip my bread into my warm soup and ask Connor about his day and about Jade. I smile when he tells me she’s recovering really well and hasn’t missed a single outpatient appointment, and she’s been living full-time with her grandmother.

We finish eating as the doorbell rings.

Connor volunteers to answer it as I rinse out our bowls in the sink. When he strolls back into the kitchen a minute later, he’s carrying a box.

My delivery.

My delivery of sex toys!!!

He sets it down and starts to open it, no doubt trying to be polite.

“Ah!” I leap around the island and push it out from in front of him. The box crashes to the ground with a heavy thump. The lube probably bursts open inside. “Don’t open that!”

He shoots me a confused look. “Why?”

“Oh. It’s just…it’s filled with tampons and pads.”

“What?”

“Yeah.” I glance down at it. “It’s packed to the brim with a whole lot of feminine hygiene products. Nothing you want to see.”

He reaches down to grab it and plops it back down on the counter. “I’m not a teenager, Natalie—periods don’t gross me out.”

I yank the box over in front of me, covering it with my torso so he can’t wrench it free even if he tried. “Well they should.”

He assesses me carefully, eyes narrowed, mouth slightly upturned in a smile. “Fine, you open it then so I can break down the box. Recycling gets picked up in the morning.”

“Okay. I’ll do it right when I get back to the guest house.”

“No,” he says, taking on a playful tone as he steps near. “You’ll do it now.”

Adrenaline spikes my blood. My fight-or-flight instincts kick in. For every step he takes toward me, I take one step away, box in hand. We’re playing a game of chase, but this is only a slow warm-up. I could still dissuade him from continuing.

“Connor, c’mon. Haven’t you heard of privacy?” I adopt a very serious How Could You tone.

“Sure, yeah, privacy is great,” he says, brushing aside my feigned indignation, “but you’re lying. You don’t want me to see what’s inside that box. So naturally, I have to see.”

“No! It’s a present for you!”

“Christmas is still months away,” he points out dryly.

“I shop early.”

My heart is racing. This won’t end well.

He picks up his pace and I squeal and flee around the island, taking off in a full-out run as I peel out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Like every predator from every horror movie in existence, he’s on me in a flash. As soon as I touch the second floor, he scoops me up, box and all.

“Connor!” I shout. “Put me down.”

“I will,” he assures me, taking me into his room and dropping me on his bed. The box is torn open with one brutal go and I waste no time rolling over and stuffing my face into his comforter. It smells lovely, just like him, which is a nice distraction right up until I hear the crinkle of paper. Or is that bubble wrap? There’s silence in his room like the aftermath of an explosion. I hold my breath.

“Natalie,” he says softly.

I can’t assess his mood. He could be shocked or curious or amused.

There’s more rustling then the peeling of plastic and the pop of a lid. He sniffs. “Strawberry. Interesting.”

I burrow deeper into his bedding like I’m hoping I’ll find a portal to another world. Hello? Narnia?

“Oh, it’s expired,” he notes.

That finally catches my attention. I sit up and reach out for the little plastic bottle of lube that’s sporting a cheesy picture of a lady with red lips biting into a juicy strawberry.

“Seriously?!” Yup, he’s right. It expired last year, says so right there on the bottom. “I’m demanding a refund.”

He reaches back into the box and comes up with the little pink vibrator inside its thick plastic casing. I snatch it from his hand and toss it clear across the room. It smacks his wall and leaves a little mark before it falls to the ground.

“I’m going to tell Noah you did that,” he says with a teasing smile.

“Oh ha ha, make fun of the girl who tried to bring a little steam into our sex life.”

His brow quirks. “You think we need steam?”Chapter TwentyNatalieI shoot to my feet to exit the room. “No. You know what? It’s been a long day. And if you must know, the vibrator was for you. I hope you like pink.”

He blocks my path and lifts his hands up to my shoulders.

“Natalie.”

He tries to get me to meet his eyes, but it’s futile. There’s such a thing as having too much on your plate. I have to be careful right now, specifically with my feelings, knowing tomorrow might bring change I’m not quite prepared for.