“I don’t understand,” I finally said.
He set the boxes down and proceeded to unbutton the cuffs of his sleeves and roll them up, thick blond hair coursing over his forearms. A single vein wound along the back of one of his arms and disappeared into his shirt. He had always been so hairy. I’d been so oddly mesmerized by that. Hair poking out the collar of his T-shirts. Trailing down the front of his belly. There were no men in my house growing up and something about being surrounded by so much testosterone in college left me fascinated in an anthropological sort of way.
Or maybe I was just super horny.
So much about him was the same as it was eighteen—no,nineteen—years ago, but the manicured beard on his face was a departure from the clean-shaven treasurer of Sigma Chi I remembered. He was softer now too and had a few creases at the corners of his green eyes. Yet he was still just as barrel-chested and capable of filling up a room without ever saying a word. And his clothing... it was less frat boy with his parents’ credit card and more tailored and sleeker with a nod to Palm Springs in the 1950s. He was... stylish. And thoughtfully so.
“The maintenance guy ran off with a resident’s grandson to Venezuela a few weeks ago, and we haven’t found a replacement. Ruby needed help changing out some lights. Obviously, we prefer the residents not get on ladders.”
“So you work here, then?” I asked, fidgeting with the ring on my right hand that once belonged to my mother.
He nodded, his green eyes briefly glancing down at my hands. “You could say that. I’m the head geriatric physician on staff.”
I folded my arms over my chest, tucking my hands away. Geriatric? From what I recalled, Eli had big plans of following his father’s footsteps into cardiovascular medicine. He once said that it was the type of medicine that attracted adrenaline-fueled fuckboys.
Eli had never really seemed like a fuckboy, but he was, however, annoyingly good at everything. Not only did he never seem to try, but he hardly seemed to care and I found that most frustrating of all.
And now heworkedhere. I knew I needed to get out of Ruby’s hair immediately, but this was definitely a reason to expedite the process.
“I guess I should ask what you’re doing here.” He cocked his head tothe side, scratching his chin. “You know, residents have to get special permission for long-term guests, so if you’re crashing on Ruby’s—”
The front door swung open and Ruby stepped inside followed by Hollis.
“Dr. Buckley,” Ruby said, trying to mask her shock immediately followed by dismay at the sight of me still in the clothes I fell asleep in. “What a nice surprise!”
“I said I could change those bulbs for you,” Hollis told Ruby.
“I don’t need any of my residents needlessly climbing ladders,” Eli said. “Even you, Hollis.”
Hollis rolled her eyes.
“Well, I see you’ve met my granddaughter,” Ruby said as she dropped a few shopping bags on the kitchen table. “I see she didn’t go out of her way to dress for the occasion.”
Low blow there, Rubes.
“We are previously acquainted,” Eli said. “Isn’t that right, honey?”
My nostrils flared at the pet name. Could I at least put a bra on before shit hit the fan?
“Is that so?” Ruby said, patiently waiting for the story there.
“Honey,” Eli said again, his tone dry. “Should I tell them or would you rather?”
Well, shit. This was going to be a doozy. Might as well get it over with. Bra be damned. “Uh, Rubes. Meet Elias Buckley. My ex-husband.”
Ruby froze. She was so still that had we been on a video call, I would have told her we should hang up and try again. For the first time in my life, I had left Ruby Stein speechless. Sadly, it was due to one of the worst mistakes I’d ever made, but it was satisfying, nevertheless.
And then the silence was gone, and her eyes lit up. “A doctor!” she exclaimed. “You secretly married a doctor and I am just now finding out?”
“He wasn’t a doctor at the time,” I muttered.
Hollis grinned as she leaned against the counter. “Well, I’m glad I decided to help bring the bags inside.”
“It was... very brief,” I told them.
Eli backed me up with a nod.
Ruby smirked, but before she could ask another question, there wasa knock at the door, which was then immediately swung open without waiting for an answer.
