“You’re married?”
She turns to see what I am looking at and then back to me. She holds up a finger. “I will not forget to get that answer from you, Doctor.” I smile sheepishly. “But no, I’m divorced. I just love how hot I am in that photo.”
She’s not wrong.
She’s stunning.
“How long were you married?”
“Three years. I married my high school sweetheart, and he decided he wished he hadn’t gotten married so young and wanted to experiment more with people other than me.”
“What a fucking douchecanoe.”
“My dad would totally agree with you,” she says with a chuckle. “It’s been almost ten years now, and I don’t miss him at all. I love that picture, however, and it reminds me that even though that marriage failed, my happily-ever-after is out there.” I watch as she kisses Kip’s nose. “I just gotta find the guy.”
“I bet you have a line of guys waiting for your attention.”
She scoffs loudly. To Kip, she asks, “Are you my guy?”
Kip licks her nose eagerly, and I smile. Then she looks at me. “To your assumption, not even sorta,” she laughs. “But he’s out there.”
The way she says it, with such confidence and hope, leaves me breathless. Hell, I believe her. He is out there, and damn, if I don’t wish it were me.
Could it be me?
When she yawns, I tuck my hands into my pockets. “Why don’t we turn on a movie, relax?”
She eyes me. “You’re really staying?”
“I told you I would,” I say, coming around to sit on the other side of her sectional. “I want to make sure you’re okay. I have my earbuds in and an alarm set to wake me every hour to check that you’re breathing. I don’t have appointments in the morning, so if I don’t get enough sleep, I can sleep in a bit.”
She exhales, and I can tell she’s not fully on board with this. “I feel bad you’re doing this.”
“Don’t. I want to.”
“Good, because I really don’t want to stop talking to you,” she answers quickly, as if she knew I was going to say what I did.
Her honesty hits me in the gut. “Really?”
Maggie’s lips curve just as she curves her finger around Kip’s fur. “Yeah. I’m having fun getting to know you.”
I run my hands down my thighs and then sit back, feeling like I have spiders crawling all over me. “I’m not that interesting.”
When her gaze meets mine, heat burns down my spine. “I beg to differ.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” she says softly. “I want to know everything about you.”
I just blink. She does?
“Why?”
She eyes me and then leans over Kip so that she’s near me but not crowding my space. “Can I be honest?”
I chuckle lightly. “I thought you were being honest.”
“Sure, but when someone asks that, it’s because they’re about to be super-super honest.”
