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Tilly
“I need to take you out for lunch one day this week as a huge thank you, Tilly.” Carolyn sits in the chair next to me in the break room.
“It’s my job to go over post-operative care with the clients.” I push the small fruit salad I brought with me for lunch toward her. “Feel free to indulge. I packed way too much food for myself.”
She pops a green grape into her mouth and chews. “I was talking about the set-up with Darrell. He’s a great guy.”
I gave her his number two days ago. I’m a little surprised that she’s called him and gone on a first date within the past forty-eight hours. “I don’t know him all that well, but I get a sense that he’s one of the good ones.”
“He is.” She picks up a piece of apple and takes a small bite. “He had a lot of complimentary things to say about both you and Sebastian.”
I’m sure that everything positive Darrell said about me was limited to how well I cared for his dog. Sebastian is another story.
It would take one phone call to Julian for me to find out everything I could possibly want to know about the man I’m crazy about. The problem is that Sebastian and I haven’t discussed when we’ll tell Maya and her fiancé about us, or what we’ll tell them about us.
We haven’t defined our relationship at all, beyond roommates and friends.
“The last time I saw Darrell we talked about Sebastian too.” I shift in my seat.
“Cooper even talks about Sebastian with me. The man has quite the fan club.” She laughs as she slides the plastic container of fruit across the table toward me.
I snap the lid back on. “They had a great time together the night we watched Coop.”
“Sebastian stopped by here yesterday when you were in with a patient.” She eyes the clock on the wall. “He had a solar system book in his hands. He wanted me to give it to Coop. We must have read that thing ten times last night before bed.”
I’m both shocked and surprised by the gesture. “I didn’t know that.”
“He was here to see you.” She turns her head to look back at the break room door. “You didn’t catch up with him after work?”
I shake my head. “Our schedules haven’t matched up this week.”
“If I were the one in charge here, I’d give you a day off just to spend with him.”
I wring my hands together. “I can’t tell you how much I wish you could make that happen.”
“You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”
“I have fallen.” I laugh. “I’m gone over the edge and there’s no coming back.”
“Good.” She pushes to her feet. “With any luck, I’ll be the next one to fall in love.”
***
“I heard that you brought a book to the clinic for Cooper.” I rest my head against his right shoulder.
“Office gossip?” Sebastian cocks a dark brow.
I blink. “What do you think?”
His hand cups my cheek. “I think I want to stay in this apartment with you forever. Can you make that happen?”
I nod my chin in the direction of the kitchen. “You’ll find a hammer and a package of nails under the sink. Put your big muscles to good use and nail the door shut.”
He flexes his left arm under the T-shirt he’s wearing. “These muscles?”
“Jesus,” I whisper.
His tongue strokes his bottom lip. “I’ve missed you, Matilda. It’s been hell not seeing you for days.”
It’s been hell for me too.
Every day that we’re apart, my heart aches.
I need to tell this man how I feel, but there’s still this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that I’ll scare him away if I bring up the L word.
Love.
I need to do it soon though. My heart is about to burst open.
“I have a day off on Thursday.” My gaze holds his. “Tell me that you do too.”
He brushes a strand of my hair back from my cheek before he kisses me softly. “I do, Matilda, but...”
“But?” I almost scream that I don’t care what it is. I want this man to myself for more than an hour or two at a time. I want to have a chance to tell him that I’m in love with him without him rushing out the door.
“I have somewhere I need to be.”
Somewhere that isn’t with me.
“Where?” I ask because I’m on the cusp of begging him to spend Thursday with me.
He closes his eyes and rubs his forehead. “Trust me when I tell you that if I could cancel it, I would, but I can’t. It’s been in the works for months.”
“Is it work related?” I press as I tug on the hem of my white T-shirt.
“It’s related to my future.” The pad of his thumb skims over my bottom lip. “You’ve helped me see that anything is possible.”
I love knowing that and I want it to be true.
I want to believe that anything is possible.
“Can you give me one more hint about where you’ll be on Thursday?” I nip his thumb between my teeth.
He pulls it back and sucks on it. “I’ll give you a hint of where I’ll be in two minutes.”
I laugh. “You’ll be right here beside me.”
He moves fast. He grabs my waist, picks me up and tosses me on my back on the sofa before he lowers himself to his knees on the floor.
His breath travels hot over my inner thigh before he kisses the outside of my panties. “I’ll be tasting this in two minutes, Matilda. Tasting my heaven.”
I close my eyes when I feel him slide my panties down and when his tongue lashes at my tender flesh, I get lost in my desire.
Everything else slips away.
