Chapter 21 #2
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t not say it,” Logan points out.
“And she was your surgeon?” Zoe asks.
“Well… yeah. She assisted Moreno.”
“She cut you open,” Chase says reverently. “And now she’s cutting in line to brunch.”
Eli groans and places his head in his hands.
“Honestly, that’s kinda hot,” Charlie admits.
“She told Logan to sit quietly in the waiting room, and he did it,” says Jake.
“It was the tone!” Logan protests. “She used that end-of-the-world voice. I thought if I moved, she’d revoke my health insurance.”
“I’m—” I pause. “She… she’s—”
“Oh my god,” Lulu says in awe. “You are fucking her.”
“And she’s younger than you, right?” Zoe looks like she’s already mentally putting a list together of all the PR scandals that could arise.
“Yeah, but, uhh…” I am officially clutching at straws to deflect. “Gremlin likes her?”
Chase gasps and looks up at the cat with betrayal in his eyes.
“She must be a witch,” he says.
“A hot witch,” Lulu murmurs.
There’s a knock at the door, and everyone turns to me with glee in their eyes.
I smooth my T-shirt and take a breath. My heart is thudding hard in my chest, but I keep my tone even.
“Everyone be calm.”
No one is fucking calm.
And I swear to God, every molecule of oxygen in the house vanishes as I make my way to the door. When I open it, she’s lit from behind in the late morning sun, dressed in jeans and a soft sweater, hair loose and tucked behind her ears. A little windblown. A little hesitant. Gorgeous.
“Hey,” she says almost shyly.
I want to kiss her.
“Hey.” I step aside, but my hand lingers on the doorframe, resisting the urge to touch her as she moves past me. We haven’t discussed how much affection we’re showing yet, and I’m sure as hell not about to spook her by being too touchy.
The scent of her follows—clean laundry, citrus, warm skin—and I fight the instinct to ask if she’s cold, if she wants tea, if she needs to sit.
Carina meets my eyes nervously. “Too late to back out?”
“Way too late,” I murmur, flexing a finger out to brush her arm.
Gremlin suddenly chirps a meow and jumps down from her perch, trotting over and twining herself around Carina’s ankles.
“Hi, pretty girl,” she says softly, crouching to scratch behind her ears. “So nice to see you again.”
Zoe nudges Charlie in the ribs, and they exchange a look that says they’re absolutely discussing this later.
Gremlin purrs loudly, tilting her head to allow Carina to pat her more.
“What the fuck,” Chase breathes from the dining room.
Carina startles and looks up, realizing she has an audience. Everyone is watching from the long wooden table—mugs in hand, forks mid-air. A collective, badly hidden attempt at polite neutrality.
“I—hi,” she says, straightening quickly. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to be late.”
“No, no,” Chase says too fast. “You’re not interrupting. You’re just—wow. She never purrs, like ever.”
Everyone nods quickly in agreement, like one giant nodding carousel.
“And she bit Jake’s kid once,” he adds helpfully.
“Twice,” Jake corrects with an awkward nod. “Same day.”
Cool. Cool, cool, cool. This is a great start.
“She doesn’t like most people,” I say dryly. “You all know that.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Chase says, making his way over and crouching beside Carina to enter negotiations. “But you love me, don’t you, Gremmy? Come on, sweetheart. We’ve been through so much.”
Gremlin growls, raising her hackles, and Chase flinches with a shriek.
“Aww, Gremmy, c’mon. We’ve got history!” Chase tries again, extending a finger. “I gave you a piece of smoked salmon earlier, don’t be a bitch, I’ll be your favo—”
Gremlin hisses, flicks her tail, and bolts for the door.
“This feels personal,” he murmurs.
“You did try to put her in a Santa hat once,” Lulu reminds him.
“She looked adorable.”
“She looked like she was planning your murder,” Tamara says.
Carina presses her lips together, clearly trying not to laugh as she takes them all in. I clear my throat, partly to ground myself, partly because I’m suddenly very aware of how exposed this feels.
“Everyone,” I say, pressing a hand to Carina’s lower back. “This is Carina.”
There’s a brief pause, but then the smiles shift. They’ve all met her once or twice—in scrubs and under fluorescent lights, when I was fresh out of surgery, and everyone was asking too many questions she didn’t have time to answer.
But this is different. This is real clothes, real light, real laughter threading the edges of everything.
“Hi,” she says, offering a small wave. “I remember most of you from the hospital.” She glances at the guys. “Especially you four, though my memory is a bit patchy.”
“Probably best to scrub the whole thing from your memory.” Jake nods. “Hutch wasn’t exactly the world’s easiest patient.”
“I was fine,” I mutter.
“You were feral,” Chase says. “Logan made you a stress ball, and you threw it at him.”
“It was shaped like a turtle,” I say flatly. “He knows I don’t do turtles.”
“I didn’t realize you’d scream like a child seeing a ghost,” Logan adds.
“You did.”
Carina’s mouth curves, eyes darting to mine. “I feel like I’m learning so much right now.”
I exhale a laugh, my own eyes darting to her mouth, then back up. Everyone is watching silently, completely enthralled.
“Sorry,” Charlie says brightly, stepping forward. “You also met me, Tam, and Zoe briefly in the waiting room. We were on our way to the cafeteria, which is frankly a crime against food.”
“Oh yes, I remember,” Carina says. “Sorry, that was a big week, and names start to blur.”
Zoe smiles warmly. “It’s really nice to see you.”
Lulu steps in next. “We haven’t met properly, but I’m Lulu. I overshare, but I mean well, and I’m engaged to Logan, which unfortunately means we come as a set.”
“Tragic,” Logan adds. “But true.”
“Would you like a mimosa?” Zoe holds up a flute. “We have plenty.”
“Oh, uhh…” Carina’s eyes dart to mine. “Thank you, but I can’t—I’m on call. Tea will be fine.”
It’s a lie. She’s not on call today, but it’s the perfect excuse to not draw suspicion or announce her pregnancy to everyone.
“I’ll make it,” I say, already moving to grab a mug, not making eye contact with anyone.
I open a drawer and reach for the small jar of honey tucked behind the spices—the one I usually hide like it’s contraband during brunch—and set it on the counter.
Zoe’s eyes narrow. “Is she getting the good honey?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my god.” Zoe gasps. “You never let us have the good honey!”
“That’s because you drink it straight from the jar.”
Chase pops up beside her. “Excuse you. I use a spoon.”
“You double-dip.”
“I don’t blame you,” Carina says, watching the exchange with a small, knowing smile. “It’s excellent honey.”
Zoe raises an eyebrow, a hand on her hip as her eyes spring between me and Carina. “So you’ve tried the honey before, then.”
“Yeah,” I murmur, refusing to meet her knowing eyes as I hand Carina her mug. “She has.”
Her fingers wrap around mine momentarily, and it makes me want to wrap my entire body around her.
Chase shakes his head. “This is how we find out we’re not special.”
Carina lifts her mug and meets my eyes over the rim, something warm and private blinking there before she takes a sip. “Thank you.”
Before she can sit, Theo toddles in from the hallway. Half a slice of toast in one hand, the other dragging his stuffed bunny by the ear. He stops short at the sight of her, his big brown eyes going wide.
Then he pivots and beelines for me.
“Hut!” He lifts his arms.
“Hey, Theo.” I scoop him up without thinking, settling him against my chest. He immediately lays his head on my shoulder, his stare never leaving Carina.
She gently smiles, like she knows better than to rush him.
“Hi,” she says quietly, “you look very busy.”
Theo doesn’t smile back; he just watches her with wide, suspicious eyes. A new human in his midst that he hasn’t decided if he can trust yet.
“Oh, man,” Charlie murmurs. “He’s doing the Look of Judgment.”
“Yup,” Jake says. “That’s how he looked at the nanny for a while, too.”
Carina’s mouth twitches, and she lifts her hand in a small wave, keeping it a safe distance from him. “Hi, Theo,” she says. “I’m Carina.”
Theo tightens his grip on the bunny’s ear and turns his face into my throat.
“That bunny’s seen some things,” she adds thoughtfully. “You okay there, bud?”
I feel it in my chest, the way she’s talking to him as a person and not a performance. His head shifts again on my shoulder, just enough that one curious eye peeks at her from the safety of my collarbone.
Her gaze lingers—not on Theo, but on me. On the way he fits there, and the way my hand automatically cups his back.
Something unspoken passes between us. A spark of knowing, of possibility. A quiet, startling sense of what we have that I am absolutely not ready to explain to anyone in this room.
“Hi!”
We all look down as Meadow appears at Carina’s elbow, a juice box in hand and glittery barrettes askew in her curls. She places a hand on her hip, in full assessment mode.
“That’s Theo,” she announces, unnecessarily. “He doesn’t like strangers.”
Carina glances at her, smile warming a fraction. “Good to know.”
“Are you Uncle Hutchy’s girlfriend?”
The room stills and I try to remain calm against the pounding in my chest. Theo chooses that exact moment to shift again, his fingers curling into the collar of my shirt, anchoring himself there.
Carina shakes her head with a smile, as though she’s answering a perfectly reasonable question.
“I’m Carina,” she says instead. “I’m his… Carina.”
The crew all exchange a look, and Meadow squints.
“Like his wife?”
I stop breathing entirely. Charlie chokes on her coffee, and Jake makes a sound that might be a prayer.
Carina’s lips twitch, fighting a smile. “No,” she says carefully. “But I like him.”
She hums, seemingly satisfied, and then leans in with a conspiratorially low voice. “He’s grumpy, but he can twirl you really high in the sky. And he lets Theo watch TV when Mama says no.”