Part of Your World(60)

I had these visions of what kind of guys probably hit on her over there. Older, successful—rich. Driving expensive cars, taking her to places I could never afford in a million years. It felt impossible that I’d managed to get her to agree to this. But I wasn’t gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. I was going to take it, say thank you, and run.

I heard a huffing noise, and we both looked over. Hunter had put his chin on the bed to look at us, his tail wagging. His lip was curled up around a single snaggle tooth, and his bushy eyebrows pivoted as he looked back and forth between us. This dog loved her.

Alexis laughed, smiling up at me. “Did you know that dogs developed eyebrow muscles to better manipulate us?”

I propped myself on my elbow. “Really?”

“Yup. Wolves don’t have them. Dogs that had more expressive faces were more likely to connect with their owners. So they evolved.” She nodded sideways. “To this.”

Hunter backed up and let out a long roooooooo!

I laughed and slid a hand down the back of her thigh to wrap her leg around my waist. She took it one step further and rolled on top of me, straddling me. The shirt I’d loaned her was pushed up around her hips. She put her hands on my bare chest and lowered to kiss me, her hair falling around my face in a curtain.

There were a million other things I should have been doing. Working on the unfinished pieces in the garage, getting the house ready for guests, repairing the loose step by the four-season porch—I didn’t give a shit about any of it. I’d work harder and faster to make up for the lost time, I’d take the hit, because this was worth it. It was more than worth it.

I was so proud for everyone in town to see me with her yesterday. I was proud of what she did with Lily—I was proud to even know her.

I don’t think she realizes how exceptional she is. I got the sense nobody tells her, which is weird.

She rolled her hips against the hard-on she was causing. Our breath picked up and our kiss deepened. In one fluid movement, I rolled her onto her back and slipped a hand into the top of her lace underwear. She was wet, and the thought that she was wet for me made my dick even harder than it already was.

Damn, she turned me on.

I circled two fingers around the knot of nerves between her legs, and her breath shuddered at the caress.

She bit her lip. “How do you do that?” she breathed.

“Do what?” I asked, my voice husky.

“Know how to touch me.”

“I pay attention to you,” I said, kissing her collarbone gently. “How you feel matters to me.”

Something changed in the set of her body. I brought my face up to see what it was. There was something in her expression I couldn’t read—and maybe she didn’t want me to read it, because she pulled me down on top of her and kissed me.

I was glad I was going to have the shirt she was wearing after she went home. Something that had her perfume on it, smelled like her.

When she left, the only proof I ever had that she’d been here, or that she even existed at all, was the ache I was starting to feel when she was gone.





Chapter 24

Alexis



It was early May, a few days after I’d delivered a baby in Wakan, and Mom and I were celebrating Mother’s Day.

She was on call so much when I was growing up that celebrating on the actual day was almost never possible, so we’d started the tradition of doing it before the holiday. Today we went to the Mad Hatter Tea House in Anoka. It was a historic home on the Rum River that reminded me a lot of the Grant House, actually. It was built by a doctor in 1857. Going there was one of my favorite things to do with Mom.

She was better when Dad wasn’t around. More…her.

She had on a white lace dress with a brimmed hat that had white feathers on it. She wore my grandmother’s pearls and elbow-length satin gloves. Her makeup was delicate and natural. She looked like she belonged to a different time.

Mom was elegant, always perfectly put together. She made it seem effortless, though I know it wasn’t.

Mom had been personally responsible for the continued success of Royaume over the last forty years. She and Dad were a power couple. He made the medical journals and posed on the covers of magazines, and Mom brought in the money and the talent. She charmed donors and doctors alike, bringing in gifted physicians from all over the world.

And these were the shoes I had to fill.

I couldn’t be Dad. And I couldn’t imagine ever being Mom either. I didn’t know how.

I was struggling with what I was going to do in my new role.

Derek’s path had been obvious. He was a little of everything. One part both my parents. Charming and charismatic, driven and successful. He would have probably ended up with a reality TV show on TLC or something. Then he would have used his fame to attract donors and continue to elevate the hospital.

I had no idea what my thing was going to be. I hated networking. My field didn’t really allow for notoriety. I couldn’t stand the idea of being on television.

I’d have the hospital’s resources at my fingertips. I could start a clinical trial or get behind some other initiative. The board would approve anything I wanted. But what? What was I passionate about? I didn’t really know.

And it terrified me.

I was afraid I was going to drop this ball so completely it would shatter, and I’d never be able to put it back together again.