Chapter 4 – RHETT
RHETT
Asound stirs me from the best sleep I’ve had in a while. Normally I sleep like shit in hotels. Not this time, and it’s all because of…
I blink open my eyes and find Quinn standing with her back to me at the foot of the bed, zipping up her dress. Her red hair is tangled. A beautiful mess, thoroughly fucked and tousled by my hands.
I squint, working the heavy drum of sleep from my head. The shades are drawn, but they don’t have to be open for me to tell it’s still dark outside. I roll over and grab my watch from the nightstand.
“Why are you leaving at not even five in the morning?” I rasp.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, she turns around as she slips on one shoe, followed by the other.
“I have an early shift.”
“I have an early flight. I was still planning to get your number before I left, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to sneak out on you without saying goodbye.”
She sighs, and I sit up, rubbing the sleep from my face and eyes. I grab my glasses from the nightstand and put them on so I can see her.
“What’s the point?”
Wow. Blunt even at this hour. “I have several actually.”
She shifts her weight and eyes the door like she wants to make a run for it, and fuck that. I shoot to the bottom of the bed, grab her by the hips, and fall backward onto the bed. She lands on top of me but instantly plants her hands into the bed to create distance.
“Tell me the truth. Why are you running?”
Another sigh, and she tries to skirt me, but I catch her chin with my thumb and forefinger and bring it back.
“I’m not running, I’m leaving.”
“Same thing. Tell me.”
“Last night was great. Why ruin it?”
I choke on an incredulous laugh, my eyebrows at my hairline. “Saying goodbye to me would ruin it?”
“I don’t like goodbyes, especially awkward, unnecessary ones.”
Okay. I can work with that.
I run my fingers through her hair and tuck a strand behind her ear so I can see her face better. God, she’s so pretty. No way I’m letting her walk out of here like this.
“Why is it unnecessary? The awkward part I get.”
She lifts a shoulder. “You don’t live here.”
“And if I did?” I challenge.
“But you don’t. You had an interview. That could turn into nothing.”
“It wasn’t nothing. It was a lot of something I can’t discuss yet.”
She tries to wiggle out of my arms, and I roll us so I’m on top of her with my hands on either side of her head.
“The not living here thing isn’t a thing. It might be a few months until it happens, but it’ll happen. Next issue?”
“Listen, we just met—”
“Did you have fun with me?” I cut her off.
She huffs an irritated breath. “Yes, I had fun with you, but—”
“If I had been the loser you originally went out with and I asked to see you again for a second date, would you have said yes?”
“No. He was a loser.”
“Quinn, if it had been me you went out with instead of him, and I lived in Boston, and we had a great time like we did last night, and I asked you out again, would you have said yes? Answer me without being a brat.”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t looking to date anyone. My intern set up the date. I work a lot.”
I smirk. “I do too.”
“I work a lot of hours in a very competitive field, and I make no apologies for my ambition. I am the best resident in my program, and it’s not a position I’m willing to compromise.”
“Hold up.” I flop onto my side and prop myself up, but I keep myself glued to her side with one hand on her opposite hip so she doesn’t try to run off. “Why would you feel you have to compromise that in order to see me again?”
She rolls her eyes as if the answer is more than a little obvious. “Men don’t like a woman who prioritizes her job over them or works too many hours and isn’t at their beck and call.”
I can’t help how my lips bounce into a grin. “Baby girl, those were boys you were dealing with. A real man doesn’t expect a woman to do that for him.”
“Then you’re like the fucking unicorn of all men because even the doctors I’ve gone on a date or two with didn’t get it. It’s like I can see their wheels spinning, wondering if I’ll be too tired to suck their dicks, cook their meals, and tend to the children.”
I choke on a small laugh. “I cook. I like to cook. I’m even good at it.
If memory serves, you sucked my dick last night in the shower, so clearly there was time for that, and my child is grown and doesn’t like it when even I try to take care of him.
Plus, we just met. This feels like we’re skipping steps. ”
She frowns. “I like knowing all the steps before I make an incision. I don’t like surprises, and I don’t like being blindsided.”
I roll us again so she gets a better sense of comfort and control, but I hold her on my hips so she’s straddling me.
“Listen, I’m not asking to marry you. I’m not asking for monogamy, I guess, though I will pretty fast if this thing hits where I think it will, since I do not like to share.
We have a spark, and I don’t get those often, if ever, so I don’t want to let that go so fast. How about we start with you giving me your number because I’d like to call or text you or both? ”
I get a dubious eyebrow. “My number? That’s it?”
“For now. As I said, I might not be back for a few months. But I will be back.”
She gnaws on the corner of her lip. “I don’t know.”
“Are you reluctant because you felt that spark too?”
She doesn’t answer, but I can tell that’s what it is. She’s trigger-shy, but I am too, so it all works.
“I’m asking for possibility and for you not to strike it down before it can form.
That’s all. I work a lot too. Way too many hours, and the type of work I do requires a lot of travel.
I don’t make excuses for it because that’s how it is.
Women have trouble with that too. Trust me.
I get it. But I like you. Either way, whether you give me your number or not, I don’t want you leaving before dawn. It’s not safe.”
She folds her arms over her chest.
“I have to be at the hospital by seven. I need a shower and to change, and I live on this side of town.”
“How will you get home?”
“I ordered an Uber. It’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“Good. Then I’ll get dressed and walk you down.”
She narrows her eyes. “You’re very insistent.”
“I was hoping for persuasive.”
She smiles, and it’s better than dawn in the desert, better than sunsets on the ocean or the Eiffel Tower when it’s drizzling or everything else I can think of with my tired, foggy brain.
“Is that a yes?”
“It’s a yes.”
To my shock and amazement, she collapses on top of me and kisses me. My hands dive into her hair, and a smile erupts across my lips, and with it, my heart does something funny. Maybe it’s an extra beat or a jump in the rhythm. Whatever it is, I like it.
I like her.
I like that she doesn’t know who I am or what I do and doesn’t care enough to ask because it’s not important to her and it’s not why she’s here with me.
I like that she’s a strong, smart, self-sufficient woman who doesn’t take men’s shit.
I like that she feels as good and as natural in my hands as a football.
I like that I can call her and hear her voice or flirt-text her.
I like that in a few months, I’ll be here, and she’ll be here, and maybe she’ll let me see her again.
Maybe I’ll get to see her as much as we both can manage with our lives.
Honestly, I can’t think of anything else that would be more perfect than that, other than having my son back in my life too.
We kiss until her phone chimes, announcing her Uber is here.
I throw on a pair of joggers and a hoodie and take her hand.
I hold her closer in the elevator, hiding my yawns in my sleeve.
We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, and I have a long flight this morning and a lot of work to do when I get back to Denver.
“What’s your number?” I ask as we step off the elevator. I smirk down at her. “Don’t give me a fake one either.”
She snickers and says, “It’s as if you know me so well” before she reads off her number so I can program it into my phone.
I lean in and nip her earlobe. “I know what you sound and look like when you come. I know you have the most beautiful green eyes and the best smile. I know you’re not only sexy as hell but extremely smart and driven.” I suck on the sensitive skin beneath her ear. “And young.”
She laughs. “We haven’t talked about that. I’m not sure I want to know exactly what our age gap is.”
I send her a text, and her phone chimes in her purse.
“I’m older than you. Probably by a decent amount. Does that bother you?”
She thinks about this for a moment as we step out into the cool Boston morning. The sun is just starting to brighten the sky, and I take her in my arms, even with the car waiting on the curb for her.
“No. It doesn’t bother me. As I said, I don’t want to know. Not yet. Do you want to know how old I am?”
“Older than twenty-five?”
“Yes.”
I shake my head. “Then not yet. I want to get to know you better and have it no longer matter once we reach that point.”
“Honestly, I kind of like the idea of not sharing too many personal details. We’ll keep it light and easy with zero expectations.”
“That works.”
I lean in and kiss her before she slips out of my arms, throws a wave to me over her shoulder, and gets in the car. I watch her drive off, unable to wipe the stupid grin off my face. All I know is this is the best I’ve felt about anything in a very long time. Both the girl and the job.