I glared at him.
“You stopped being my doctor the moment my tongue was in your mouth.”
“Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
I walked to the door and opened it.
He raised his brows. “You holding that door open for a reason?”
“You were just leaving.”
“You used me for sex and now you’re kicking me out?”
“Isn’t that the way this is supposed to go?”
“If this was the way it was supposed to go, I wouldn’t have bothered putting on a button-down shirt and wearing my best pair of jeans. I wouldn’t have asked you to wear something fancy. You look dynamite, by the way.”
My expression didn’t change, and I didn’t move away from the door.
“Broom?” he asked.
“Hall closet,” I said before I could stop myself.
He walked to the closet and pulled out the broom and dustpan. And then he began to sweep up the mess I’d made.
I slowly closed the door.
He wasn’t showing any signs of pain, but I was instantly ashamed of myself. He was still healing, and I’d used him as my own physical playground. I’d unleashed my rage and demanded escape from my anger. His body had been a balm to my battered emotions. I’d never escaped my feelings using sex before.
He swept broken dishware into a few piles. I grabbed the dustpan and squatted down so he could sweep the rubble into it. It felt strange, what we were doing. Like all the boundaries and rules we’d erected had been shattered like the china the moment he’d stepped into my apartment.
I wasn’t the Linden he was expecting tonight.
“Sorry I ruined your plans,” I said.
“What plans?” he asked as he began to sweep again.
I walked over to the trash can and dumped the broken glass into it. “Your plans to wine and dine me.”
He shrugged. It looked deceptively casual. But something about his posture told me he felt anything but. “Don’t worry about it, Doc. You gave up the goods before I had to shell out a small fortune. I guess I won, in the end.”
The lightness of his words belied the truth.
“Boxer,” I said softly.
He kept sweeping even though there was no longer even a speck of china dust on the ground.
“Will you look at me?” I pleaded.
After a few seconds, he paused and met my gaze.
“I’m sorry.” My voice sounded small. “I’m sorry I used you the way I did. I’m sorry you walked in and I…”
“Couldn’t keep your greedy hands to yourself?” he asked with a forced grin. “It’s fine, Linden. Really.”
It wasn’t fine.