“To tell you the truth…” I pause, feeling her ears perk up. “I went into the field hoping some day I’d befriend the Chief of Surgery, and that he’d have a super hot daughter that I could—” I grunt when Annaliese squeezes my sides, trying to climb on top of me to tickle but I easily hold her arms back. “Seriously,” I grunt, grasping her hands to stop her attack. “You should see her. She’s so hot, so smart, so—”
“I’m trying to be serious, you jerk!” she squeals playfully as I hold both of her hands with one of mine, using my free one to tickle her sides, eventually giving up and crawling into my arms. We lie in silence for a minute, and I stroke the long path from her hip up to her shoulder.
“Do you remember when you asked me if I believe in silver linings? When you told me about Asha?”
She nods against my bare chest.
I hadn’t thought much about silver linings before. I thought that any success I had was because I made it happen for myself. My cousin passed when I was nearing the end of med school, and I met Richard the year after. At the time, I thought of him as a father figure. He taught me things a dad should have taught his son. We went on weekend trips together. Hell, we’ve even picked up women together, but Annaliese doesn’t need to know that.
“I hadn’t ever believed in silver linings before. It seemed like some weird hippie voodoo something-or-other.”
She playfully squeezes me, and I grip her arms to hold her back from tickling me.
“Just listen before you attack,” I tease, using my grip on her arms to pull her on top of me. She lies on me, chest to chest, sweeping her long dark hair over the opposite shoulder so she can lay her head next to mine.
“Maybe everything I went through was meant to happen, because it brought me to this moment right here. With you.”
Her body tenses a little, and she adjusts her head. When she doesn’t run away screaming, I continue, “If I hadn’t been so alone prior to starting my residency, maybe meeting your dad wouldn’t have had the impact on me that it did. If I wasn’t as close to him, he likely wouldn’t have asked me to mentor you when you came back for your residency. We wouldn’t have ever met, and I wouldn’t get to be lucky enough to be lying here with you tonight, with your hot little body tempting me even though I’m an old man and you have successfully worn me out.” I’d do it all again. I’d go through every shitty moment with my dad, I’d watch my cousin die a slow death all over again if it meant I’d get to meet Annaliese.
She chuckles a little, but keeps her body still and her head tucked against mine. It isn’t until I feel the trickle of tears against my neck that I realize she’s crying.
“Annie?”
I force her to roll to the side, and I move out from under her, lying her on her back so I can hover over her.
I swipe her thick curls away from her face, smoothing them back and over her forehead while I give her a moment to talk.
She stares at the ceiling behind me, refusing to meet my gaze, and I wonder if maybe I said too much. Leave it to me to fall head over heels for a woman and confess shit that should wait until we’ve at least had a proper first date.
“Does that freak you out?”
“No,” she croaks, sniffling as she does. “No, that’s…” She blows out a heavy breath, and then her chocolate eyes finally fall to mine. “I have already thought the same thing. I was so sad when my grant fell through. When the director found me on the ship and said I’d have to fly back to the States, it was like a kick in the gut.”
I grimace a little, knowing the reasoning behind her grant falling through, and that I can’t continue to keep that secret from her.
“I was pissed at the world. Pissed at my dad for assigning me to you like I was a child. For not treating me like any other resident would have been treated.”
She finally meets my gaze and reaches her hands up to grip my face. She wiggles her legs out from under me to wrap them around my hips. My cock comes to life, nestling in between her legs like he’s found his favorite home.
“But then I got to know you, and it all made sense, I guess. I’m leaving in a few months—”
“I know,” I interrupt, wanting her to know that while my feelings for her are so fucking complicated, I won’t hold her back from her dreams.
“I’m leaving,” she says again. “But for the first time since I was a teenager, I’m not sure I want to leave.”
My eyes fall to hers, and another unspoken truth volleys back and forth between us. We both know what we mean to one another; we know what we have together is really something, but we both know it has to come to an end.
In a way, I think I care about her too much to even let her think of staying. If she gave up her dream to stay here and work with me, to have to suffer through the complicated and awkward relationship she has with her dad, I think she’d regret it. She might come back eventually. God, I hope she does. But if she does, it has to be on her terms. I don’t ever want her to wake up some day and wonder what she missed out on, or if her life would have been better off if she hadn’t met me.
“But we don’t need to think about that right now,” I tell her, pulling her to me to brush my lips against her neck. I tease her with soft kisses, feeling her twist her body to give me better access. Once she’s warm and wet and rocking her hips against me, I quickly slip on a condom and line myself up. As I sink into her, I wrap my arms around her and send up a silent thank-you for silver linings.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Annaliese
“Tellmewhat’sgoingon with Dr. Andrews.”
I nearly choke on the expensive champagne, the bubbles bursting up my nose as I lower the flute from my lips. “Excuse me?” I rasp, swiping the dribble from my lower lip as I turn to face Martin. “What makes you think I know anything about Dr. Andrews?”
