“A week?” Her mood drops. “A whole week?”
“I know. It suddenly feels like a really long time, huh?”
She nods and picks at her food. “Right. It shouldn’t feel like a big deal, but…”
“But we just started,” I finish for her. “We just got to the good bits.”
“The good bits being…” She leans forward, as though to scope out her surroundings, then whispers, “Sex?”
“No, Priss.” I chuckle. “The good bits, as in admitting you’re mine and spending time in my home. The good bits, as in that time you mentioned loving me.”
When her cheeks flame, I take a moment to fall in love all over again.
I was already there, already invested, already willing to lay my life down and declare this forever. But now it doesn’t seem so scary. It doesn’t seem so hard to give into what my body and mind already want.
“Priss?”
She peeks up from beneath her lashes. “Mmm?”
“I’ll probably screw this up a million times. I’ll probably make you cry by accident. I’ll make you mad sometimes…”
Her eyes flicker between mine with worry. “Okay…?”
“But I love you.” It’s like a weight lifts from my shoulders. Like the fear of rejection is gone, despite the fact I knew she wouldn’t reject me. “You’re mine. I’ve already demanded that, and won’t accept anything less. But I’m yours too, okay? All yours.”
“What if you’re gone too long?”
I frown. “What about it?”
“You’ll want… ya know. You’ll want to be with a woman. With any woman.”
“No, baby. You’re not replaceable. You’re not something I can replicate for convenience. If I say I’m yours, I mean that. I could be gone a week, a month, a year…” Her eyes turn fearful the more I speak. “It doesn’t matter how long I’m gone, I won’t accept a cheap version when I know I have you at home.”
Her voice quivers as her eyes flicker between mine. “Promise?”
“Cross my heart. Now eat your breakfast, and stop worrying about things you don’t have to worry about.”
“Okay.” She brings her donut up. “Love you.”
Those simple words make my heart soar. “Love you, too. What are you up to today?”
“I have a new bride coming in at nine for a consult. Her wedding is a couple months away. And I have another wedding next month, so I’m working on that. I’m heading up to see Marcie after lunch, too.”
“Your friend at the hospital?”
She tosses the last of her donut into her mouth and grins. “Yup. She’s nearly eighteen, and thinks that gives her the right to check out my brother. It’s weird, so I take my whip and try to beat it out of her on a daily basis.”
I chuckle. “Which brother is she sneaking looks at? I can’t say I see the draw. Your brothers are annoying as fuck, and they look nothing like you.”
She purses her lips with disapproval. I don’t actually have a problem with them. Not truly. They’re looking out for their sister.Their previously sick sister.
“She likes Mitchell. But I figure that’s a proximity thing, mostly. He’s brought her in a few times over the last year when her folks called. He’s grown and strong, he’s handsome and holds her hand when she’s scared. I get why she’s kinda smitten.”
“Did you ever have the hots for one of your medical team?”
Her cheeks flame anew. “Uh-huh. Doctor Rhett. He was young, handsome. He had big hands, and used to pat my hand when he spoke.”
“I’m gonna kill him.”